Bob Babbitt | Motown bass player, 74

Motown bass player Bob Babbitt, 74, whose work lit up a host of hits in the '60s and '70s, died Monday morning in Nashville, friends said.

Mr. Babbitt had been diagnosed in early 2011 with an inoperable brain tumor. He was recently readmitted to the hospital after a year of home hospice care.

"Bob was a teddy bear of a guy," former Motown engineer Ed Wolfrum said. "And he was an extraordinary musician - a player's player."

At Motown Records in the late '60s, Mr. Babbitt's thick, fluid bass lines drove the groove on songs by the Temptations ("Ball of Confusion"), Stevie Wonder ("Signed, Sealed, Delivered"), Rare Earth ("I'm Losing You"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tears of a Clown"), and many others. - Detroit Free Press