My favorite bass player of all time. There are many who blow him out of the water technicaly but I listen to his base lines like I do to a good story. Bernadette is my favorite Jamerson baseline. Innercity Blues off this album is on my top ten song list. I like to play it loud, move however my spirit hits me while loving the message.
With Inner City Blues, I usually wanna start out with like a slow head nod (during the cool fucking buildup) and when the nonsense lyrics come in (da da la da da) begin to add a little body movement. Then the first "make me wanna holler" -- some snaps. Maybe over my head if I'm feeling daring. Get the shoulders involved. This section lasts a while. Use it to find your groove. Then there's a long bridge/slowdown (more scat). Can do a good damn shuffle in there. Next, "oh honey I can't pay my ... taxes" and the song starts to pick up, there's that owwwwwww and some jive about the cops. Then Marvin's voice mimicking a horn. Key change (lower) signals a dance change (circa 3:50 maybe?). Hands at hip-level, doing a sort of movement I should just record and upload because I can't describe it. Hula without the hoop. Another raw scream, a great piano bridge... Then, absolute stillness. The mood change in the song is abrupt. "Mooooooooooother, mooooother..." "wooooo-ooooo" -- Marvin's voice starts a note and an instrument finishes it, in a way he alone could do. Fade to black.I like to play it loud, move however my spirit hits me while loving the message.