Chubby Jackson

Chubby Jackson was the 1947 Down Beat magazine’s reader poll winner for the best bassist of the year. When the Kay Music Company of Chicago told Chubby that they would be presenting him with a new bass to mark the occasion, Chubby had one request – add a fifth string. Jackson played that bass around the world with such superstars as Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, and Lionel Hampton. The 5-string bass soon became a standard product for bass manufacturers. Chubby was also an early promoter of the Ampeg Baby Bass model of the early 1960s. We completed several NAMM Oral History interviews with Chubby beginning in 2000 through 2002.