Bassist Bob Babbitt - Bye Bye

Even though James Jamerson played the lion's share of bass parts for the Motown hits, Bob Babbitt has his time too. Reading his obit in Bass Player magazine tonight, I see that he appeared on more than 200 hit singles and more than 25 gold records.

Great songs, like Cool Jerk, by the Capitols. Smokey Robinson's Tears of a Clown. How about Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed Delivered? Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight? Great stuff.

Sometimes, it's these unsung but wonderful studio musicians that make life great for radio listeners like me. Bob got some notoriety when the Funk Brothers (the Motown studio musicians' unofficial name) were featured in the 2002 documentary film, Standing in the Shadows of Motown. I saw Bob all the time in ads in Bass Player, too.

Bob died on July 17th of complications of brain cancer, which he fought as long as he could. He was (only) 74.