Robert Andrew Kreinar (November 26, 1937 – July 16, 2012), known as Bob Babbitt, was an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith, he formed the band

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

, which lasted until 1970. He is ranked number 59 on ''Bass Player'' magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time".

Biography

At Motown, Babbitt traded off sessions with original Motown bassist

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

. When Motown moved to Los Angeles, Babbitt went in the opposite direction and ended up in New York as well as making occasional trips to Philadelphia. In this new city, he worked on recordings for

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, Barry Manilow,

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

, Robert Palmer, and Alice Cooper. During this time, his most notable successes were " Midnight Train to Georgia"(1973) by

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...

and " The Rubberband Man" by the Spinners. The

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

-born Babbitt's most notable bass performances include " Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (1970) by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

; " War" (1970) by Edwin Starr; " The Tears of a Clown" (1970) by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles; " Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (1971) and " Inner City Blues" (1971) by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

; " Band of Gold" (1970) by Freda Payne; " Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", " Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" (1971) and "

Masterpiece A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

" (1973) by the Temptations; " Scorpio" (1971) by Dennis Coffey; and " Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" (1973) by The Main Ingredient. He participated in hundreds of other hits, including " Little Town Flirt" by Del Shannon and "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band. He played on the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

album '' Crash Landing''. He also played bass on Cindy Bullens' 1979 album '' Desire Wire''. He accepted an offer from

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

to perform on his album of Motown and 1960s soul classics, '' Going Back'', and also appeared in Collins' ''Going Back – Live at Roseland Ballroom, NYC'' concert DVD. He appeared on stage in an episode of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', backing up Jacob Lusk's performance of " You're All I Need to Get By" for AI's Motown Week in March 2011. The Funk Brothers

In 2003, Babbitt played on Marion James' album ''Essence'', and amongst others playing on the record were Beegie Adair, Reese Wynans, Jack Pearson ( The Allman Brothers), and drummer Chucki Burke. He was added to the Music City Walk of Fame in June 2012. Babbitt died on July 16, 2012, aged 74, from brain cancer.

Discography

With Frank Black * '' Fast Man Raider Man'' (Cooking Vinyl, 2006) With Blue Magic * '' The Magic of the Blue'' (Atco Records, 1974) With

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

* ''

'' (Elektra, 1980) With

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith (country musician), Carl Smith. Since 1978, Carter has ...

* ''Two Sides to Every Woman'' (Warner Bros., 1979) With Joe Cocker * '' Hymn for My Soul'' (EMI, 2007) With

* '' Going Back'' (Atlantic, 2010) With Lou Courtney *''I'm In Need of Love'' (Epic, 1974) With Tim Curry * '' Read My Lips'' (A&M, 1978) * '' Fearless'' (A&M, 1979) With Peter Frampton * '' Thank You Mr. Churchill'' (New Door Records, 2010) With

* '' What's Going On'' (Motown Records, 1971) With

* '' Never Can Say Goodbye'' (MGM, 1975) * '' Experience Gloria Gaynor'' (MGM, 1975) * '' I've Got You'' (Polydor, 1976) With Major Harris * '' My Way'' (Atlantic Records, 1974) With Richie Havens * ''Connections'' (Elektra, 1980) With Cissy Houston * '' Cissy Houston'' (Private Stock Records, 1977) With Sass Jordan * ''Get What You Give'' (Universal Music, 2006) With Margie Joseph * ''Sweet Surrender'' (Atlantic, 1974) * ''Margie'' (Atlantic, 1975) With Eric Kaz * ''Cul-De-Sac'' (Atlantic, 1974) With Ben E. King * ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' (Atlantic, 1975) With Gladys Knight * '' Miss Gladys Knight'' (Buddah, 1978) With Nils Lofgren * ''Nils'' (A&M, 1979) With

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

* '' Evolution (The Most Recent)'' (Warner Bros., 1978) With Barry Manilow * '' Barry Manilow'' (Bell, 1973) * '' Even Now'' (Arista, 1978) With

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

*'' Surprises'' (Atlantic, 1976) With Moon Martin * ''Mystery Ticket'' (Capitol, 1982) With Kathy McCord *'' Baby Come Out Tonight'' (Manhattan, 1979) With

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McGriff started playing pia ...

*'' Red Beans'' (Groove Merchant, 1976) With

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Awards, Tony Award winning Broadway theatre, Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' ...

*'' Movin' in the Right Direction'' (ABC, 1974) With Jackie Moore * ''Sweet Charlie Babe'' (Atlantic Records, 1973) With Kenny Nolan * ''A Song Between Us'' (Polydor, 1978) With Laura Nyro * '' Smile'' (Columbia, 1976) With The O'Jays * '' So Full of Love'' (Philadelphia, 1978) * '' Identify Yourself'' (Philadelphia, 1979) With

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

* ''

Feeling the Space ''Feeling the Space'' is the fourth solo album by Yoko Ono, released in 1973. It was her last one to be released on Apple Records. History The entire album adopts a feminist theme, focusing on issues affecting women in the 1970s. Its liner no ...

'' (Apple Records, 1973) With Tony Orlando and Dawn * ''To Be With You'' (Elektra, 1976) With Robert Palmer * '' Double Fun'' (Island, 1978) * '' Don't Explain'' (EMI, 1990) With Teddy Pendergrass * '' Teddy'' (Philadelphia, 1979) * '' This One's for You'' (Philadelphia, 1982) With Roxanne Potvin * '' The Way It Feels'' (Alert, 2006) With Bonnie Raitt * '' Streetlights'' (Warner Bros. Records, 1974) With Irene Reid * ''Two of Us'' (Glades, 1976) With Vicki Sue Robinson * ''Vicki Sue Robinson'' (RCA Victor, 1976) With Rodriguez *'' Cold Fact'' (Sussex, 1970) With

Jimmy Ruffin Jimmy Lee RuffinRibowsky, Mark (2010), ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations'', Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 89. . (May 7, 1936 – November 17, 2014) was an American soul singer, and ...

* ''Jimmy Ruffin'' (Polydor, 1973) With Tom Rush *'' Ladies Love Outlaws'' (CBS, 1974) With Harvey Scales * ''Confidential Affair'' (Casablanca, 1978) With Helen Schneider * ''Let It Be Now'' (RCA Records, 1978) With Marlena Shaw * '' Just a Matter of Time'' (Blue Note, 1976) With Sister Sledge * '' Circle of Love'' (Atco, 1975) With Lonnie Smith *'' Keep on Lovin''' (Groove Merchant, 1976) With The Spinners * '' New and Improved'' (Atlantic, 1974) * '' Pick of the Litter'' (Atlantic, 1975) * '' Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow'' (Atlantic, 1977) * '' 8'' (Atlantic, 1978) * '' From Here to Eternally'' (Atlantic, 1979) With

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* '' Soulbook'' (J Records, 2009) With The Temptations *'' Puzzle People'' (Gordy, 1969) *'' Psychedelic Shack'' (Motown, 1971) *'' Sky's the Limit'' (Motown, 1971) *'' All Directions'' (Motown, 1972) *''

'' (Motown, 1973) *'' The Temptations'' (Gordy, 1981) With Stanley Turrentine *'' The Man with the Sad Face'' (Fantasy, 1976) With

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

* ''Our Day Will Come'' (Private, 1975) * '' Lady Put the Light Out'' (Private, 1977) With

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

* '' Then Came You'' (Warner Bros., 1975) With Deniece Williams * '' My Melody'' (Columbia, 1981) * '' Niecy'' (Columbia, 1982)

References

Sources

External links

Official websiteBob Babbit Profile -Pittsburgh Music History
*Interview with Bob Babbit
Part 1Part 2Part 3
by Bass Frontiers Magazine, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Babbit, Bob 1937 births 2012 deaths American rhythm and blues bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American session musicians American funk bass guitarists Musicians from Pittsburgh The Funk Brothers members Deaths from brain cancer in the United States American people of Hungarian descent Guitarists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Motown artists MFSB members The Group with No Name members