Sam’s Jams: Junie Morrison, “Suziethundertussy”
One of the first songs that Morrison made in Detroit, pays tribute to some of his favorite bass players
Check out our Sam’s Jams playlist below and listen to CultureShift weekdays from noon. to 2 p.m. on WDET 101.9FM.
Junie Morrison is one of the most important figures in the development of funk music during the 1970’s. In 1970, he joined the funk band the Ohio Players as a producer, writer, keyboardist and vocalist, creating some of their major hits. He then moved to Detroit and became the musical-director for Parliament-Funkadelic in 1977. He made prominent contributions to the platinum-selling Funkadelic album One Nation Under a Groove, the single “(Not Just) Knee Deep”, the gold-selling Parliament albums Motor Booty Affair, and Gloryhallastoopid.
The song, “Suziethundertussy,” was originally released in 1976.
“Most of my early recordings in Detroit required that I, as a solo musician, would ultimately have to compete with pianists, drummers and bass players etc. from that city,” says Morrison. “Detroit had some great bassists, most notably, James Jamerson Sr. As a Detroit ‘bass player’ I felt it was important to know the techniques of the other players in that great city in order to tell the musical stories I wanted to tell.”
“This track represents, to me, the most fun I’ve had playing bass on a session. So, I now present to you Suzie Thundertussy a mixture of techniques from two of my favorite bassists, Mr. James Jamerson Sr., and [bassist from Ohio Players] Mr. Marshall Jones.”
The song was revisited by Kanye West for his song “No More Parties In LA” with Kendrick Lamar.
Sam’s Jams is the weekly song selection of WDET’s creative producer Sam Beaubien, a longtime Detroit musician who also helms the soul-funk band Will Sessions.
From 70 years ago to contemporary releases today, Sam’s Jams is the musical equivalent of digging for hours in dusty record store bins to find forgotten-but-should-be-remembered deep cuts pulled from the genres of funk, jazz and soul genres.
The Sam’s Jams Spotify playlist will update with a new song on Mondays after airing on CultureShift, so bookmark this page to find your new favorite song each week.
