“Bernadette” (The Four Tops)

Today’s classic Motown song of the day is “Bernadette” by the Four Tops. It was released in February of 1967 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.

“Bernadette” was a ground-breaking tune, especially for bass players. Motown legend James Jamerson played bass and showed all the other players out there what could be done on the instrument.

Here’s what I’m talking about, in the form of Jamerson’s isolated bass line for “Bernadette.” Just listen to how he’s all over the fretboard, It’s not a normal root and fifth bass part, it’s full of passing tones, chromatics, and much, much more. This one song redefined the role of the bass player in rock and soul music. Every single bass part you liked from 1967 on started with James Jamerson on “Bernadette.” It is thrilling. (And you can follow along here with a detailed transcription of Jamerson’s bass part.)

James Jamerson was the bass player for the Motown sound. He played on all the big hits from Smokey Robinson’s “Way Over There” in 1959 through Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” in 1971. In all that time he never changed his bass strings (La Bella heavy-gauge flatwound), saying that “The dirt keeps the funk.” He played all those notes with a single index finger he called “The Hook.” His main instrument was a Fender Precision Bass, although he sometimes played upright bass.

“Bernadette” was written and produced by the legendary team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. It’s one of their more dramatic compositions, with the band dropping out for lead singer Levi Stubbs to passionately exclaim, for all to hear, “Bernadette!”

The secret to a lot of Four Tops songs, especially during the H-D-H era, was to put the melody right at the top of Levi Stubbs’ range. That caused him to almost shout out the lines, making the vocals more powerful. As fellow Top Duke Fakir recalls:

“Eddie [Holland] realized that when Levi hit the top of his vocal range, it sounded like someone hurting, so he made him sing right up there. Levi complained, but we knew he loved it. Every time they thought he was at the top, he would reach a little further until you could hear the tears in his voice.”

With Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops, it was all about power and raw emotion. Nobody did it better.

“Bernadette” was the fifth of six top ten singles for the Tops. They racked up a total of 23 top forty singles, including two number-ones: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be There.” The Four Tops were and are my favorite Motown group and Levi Stubbs is simply one of the top singers, soul or otherwise, of the modern era.