Support NeoGAF

[Stoney Mason]

When I was a kid I grew up liking whatever was the popular music of my time which was a mix of pop music, contempary R&B, and hip-hop like many kids did. And then I listened to James Brown and you can pretty much carve out my music appreciation history as pre and post JB because nothing was the same after that right up until now and almost certainly into the future.

This is just a little tribute thread to one of the genre kings who essentially crafted a perfect blend of Blues, Jazz, and R&B into what become known as funk. But one thing I wanted to do was give a little bit of credit to the entire extended collective that created the music. When you talk about the music of James Brown it's a bit of a misnomer because he had some of the most talented people in music that filtered in and out of his band over the years. If you get a chance to catch any of them on tour you should definitely check them out and pay tribute. Not a complete listing but at least some of the highlights follow.



The James Brown Family

The Famous Flames- The R&B backing group that shared the stage with JB in the early years of his career. Founded by Bobby Byrd.

Bobby Byrd - The leader of the Flames and with JB throughout much of key years. His call and response style on vocals with James brought the intensity of gospel music to the secular and raw funk sound they crafted. Passed a few years back.

Pee Wee Ellis - Great Jazz saxophonist that played with JB during the late 60's and can be heard on such tracks as Cold Sweat and Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud. Played with an incarnation of the JB Horns later in his career and still occasionally tours.

Clyde Stubblefield - The original Funky Drummer who can lay claim to one of the most sampled drum breaks in all of music. Played and toured for many years but has fallen ill recently.

"Jabo" Starks - The other funky drummer who along with Clyde backed on classic tracks like The Payback, Sex Machine, and Super Bad. Still tours and performs.

Maceo Parker - The well known great funk jazz saxophonist played with JB in the 60's, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 70's, and Prince in the 90's along with his own work. One of the seminal figures of funk over the history of the music. Still tours and performs widely.

Fred Wesley - Jazz trombonist that bounced between his work in jazz and funk over the course of his career and life. Equally at home in the Count Basie Orchestra as with a group like the The Horny Horns Wesley has a scholarly approach to his music.

Bootsy Collins - One of the giants of the funk genre, Bootsy got his big break before he become a star with P-Funk and on his own as a backing bassist in The J.B.'s and played on such tracks as Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine, Super Bad, Soul Power, and Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing. Still actively and frequently tours.

Vicki Anderson - The original lead female backing voice in the James Brown Revue and the best singer he ever had in the words of JB himself.

Lyn Collins - The Female Preacher, Lyn Collins replaced Vicki Anderson as the femle voice of the James Brown Revue and carved out her own unique presence. She died in 2005.

Essential Discography

If you want to introduce yourself to the music of James Brown or a few related artists here are some of the album compilations you need. Some have been discontinued but if you search you can always find them.

Live at the Apollo (1963)
Star Time
James Brown's Funky People
James Brown's Funky People, Pt. 2
James Brown's Funny People, Pt. 3
Life on Planet Groove
Funky Good Time: The Anthology
Foundations of Funk: A Brand New Bag: 1964-1969
The Singles Volume 1: The Federal Years 1956-1960
The Singles Volume 2: 1960-1963
The Singles, Vol. 3: 1964-1965
The Singles, Vol. 4: 1966-1967
The Singles, Vol. 5: 1967-1969
The Singles, Vol. 6: 1969-1970
The Singles, Vol. 7: 1970-1972
Soul Pride: The Instrumentals (1960-69)
Make It Funky - The Big Payback: 1971-1975


YouTube Videos

Obviously since youtube music is a weird area where things are constantly taken down and being put up it's hard to post links that represent a music legacy but it does still present some interesting opportunites to post different music items.


James Brown: Blind man can see it
James Brown, Bobby Byrd, & The JB's: Get Involved & Soul Power
James Brown: Mother Popcorn
Bobby Byrd: I know You Got Soul
Fred Wesley and the J.B.'s: Damn Right I Am Somebody
Maceo Parker: Shake everything you've got
Pee Wee Ellis: Moonwalk
James Brown - People Get Up And Drive Your Funky Soul
Vicki Anderson: I want to be in the land of milk and honey
Lyn Collins: Think
James Brown: There Was A Time. Actually this one is a bit of a trick. It's done by the Dee Felice Trio but it appears on a James Brown album and is a funky little song.
Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns: Rehab
James Brown & The JB's: Sunny
The JB's: Pass the Peas
James Brown: King Heroin (Part II)
The JB's: King Heroin (Instrumental)
James Brown gives you dancing lessons
Bootsie and John 'Jabo' Starks explain the JB's "One"
James Brown: There Was A Time (Letterman 1982)
Christina Aguilera: Grammy 2007 Its a Man's Man's Man's World


Essays/Articles

We Called Him Mr. Brown
James Brown's Musicians Reflect On His Legacy
All Music Guide Biography

 

[zero_suit]

Yeah, he's awesome; definitely one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century.

 

[Deleted member 20415]

You put a lot of work into this one Stoney... nice work. Take it to the Bridge!

 

[Stoney Mason]

You put a lot of work into this one Stoney... nice work. Take it to the Bridge!

It was going to just be a regular old normal thread with a few youtube links but then I said fuck it .

He's the Godfather!

 

[gdt]

Never really got into his music, but he was always, always great on the Stern Show.

 

[tatsu1]

His beats have been a staple of hip hop since it's inception. And, though i NEVER understand his lyrics, his music has ALWAYS been dope to me.

 

[shintoki]

I always like to believe that Funk is the definition of good taste with music. :lol It took Jazz, Soul, and R&B. Mixed them together and give them a slight pop music appeal.

James Brown was the second artist from the genre I heard. The first was George Clinton and I discovered him when I was 9 or 10 through watching Good Burger :lol Being young in the 90's wasn't a good time for music. It was either Rap, Current pop, or Punk/Rock(Nor was my family big on music), but finding Funk and enjoying it so much. Led me to play the Saxophone and discover 70-80's pop/rock, Jazz, Classical, and many other types of music that weren't played much at the time. There is just something about the style of music that is so alluring to me.

 

[FreezeSSC]

Definatly wouldnt be the way i am now without him, such an influential person!!

 

[Scribble]

Yes!

James Brown, Bobby Bird, and Parliament were playing 24/7 in my household when I was a little one.

 

[ShinobiFist]

Hey OP, you should checkout "Fela Kuti" This man was like Brown times 100! Just Youtube him. Back on Topic. Payback was the first song I heard from James Brown. The first time I heard it was in 89 in NYC. I never forget, it was blasting out of a Drug Dealer's car(Jetta)The reason I remember that is because homeboy got Murder a month later and when they were drawing his mural, Mum told me "Don't be a pusher, that's what happens" When I was teen(Years later, thanks to the Dead Presidents film)I realise how ironic the situation was.

 

[Stoney Mason]

I always like to believe that Funk is the definition of good taste with music. :lol It took Jazz, Soul, and R&B. Mixed them together and give them a slight pop music appeal.

James Brown was the second artist from the genre I heard. The first was George Clinton and I discovered him when I was 9 or 10 through watching Good Burger :lol Being young in the 90's wasn't a good time for music. It was either Rap, Current pop, or Punk/Rock(Nor was my family big on music), but finding Funk and enjoying it so much. Led me to play the Saxophone and discover 70-80's pop/rock, Jazz, Classical, and many other types of music that weren't played much at the time. There is just something about the style of music that is so alluring to me.

"Jazz is the teacher, funk is the preacher"

I think Funk is a perfect gateway music. It has roots in blues, jazz, R&B. It helped spawn Disco, Hip-Hop, and a lot of the sound of current dance pop music if essentially in stripped down easily digestible form.

Once you understand funk and rhythm you hear it everywhere from Led Zepplin to Prince. I wouldn't have a wide music palette if I hadn't became enamored with funk because that was how I got into other forms of music.

 

[STG!]

Great thread and I agree, totally essential stuff. I just picked up some of his 7" releases off of King Records recently, fantastic music.

And like others have mentioned, he gave us some of the finest breaks next to the amen.

 

[Davidion]

All praise the funk

 

[PhoenixDark]

Great thread. My grandma played a lot of James Brown, but I've never sat down and listened to one of his records front to back. I'll have to pick some up

 

[Ovid]

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag and Living in America are my favorite songs.

 

[smallmouth]

I love James Brown.

I'd add Make it Funky The Big Payback: 1971-1975 to the essential Discography. It includes full length songs with the instrumentals, which is great. I Can't Stand it '76 is like the greatest thing ever.

 

[shintoki]

Once you understand funk and rhythm you hear it everywhere from Led Zepplin to Prince. I wouldn't have a wide music palette if I hadn't became enamored with funk because that was how I got into other forms of music.

I think this is what Funk does to people. It's so easy to digest and fantastic to listen too. But since it comes from many other styles of music and influenced dozens more. It's a great way to expand upon.

For examples, It got me into Bowie, specifically with the Song "Fame" which had a very funk/jazzish like beat going with it(To my ear at least). I enjoyed many of his other works from it. Bowie also lead me to other Glam rock, 80's pop, and more.

The same Micheal Jackson and Beat it, Which lead me Prince and so forth.

And of course, enjoying funk made me appreciate Jazz, which lead to Classical. It help me get introduce to Lyric-less songs. Other side of the typical school shit of...Beethoven was a great composer.

 

[speculawyer]

I wish I could have done an introduction for him:

The Godfather of Soul,
Mr. Dynamite,
Soul Brother #1, and
The hardest working man in show business!

Mr. James Brown!!

----------------------------------

I'm glad I was able to catch a performance of his before he died. An interesting performance of his was his televised performance in Boston after some black leader was killed. Interesting historical moment.

OMG, fucking kick-ass OP. Well done, Stoney.

Random fact: There is a cool character in 'Just one of the Guys' who is a quiet guy who has is a super-fan of James Brown.

Living in America was an awesome come-back hit. I always wanted to make a video for that song which showed what was being said in the song instead of a cheesy Rocky IV promotional video.

 

[skynet]

Great thread!

I was lucky enough to see him play live before he died, a true showman.

I also saw Pee Wee Ellis and the "Black & Proud - An African Trubuite to James Brown" group play last year - I literally couldn't stop dancing - best group of musicians I've ever seen!

 

[Stoney Mason]

I think this is what Funk does to people. It's so easy to digest and fantastic to listen too. But since it comes from many other styles of music and influenced dozens more. It's a great way to expand upon.

For examples, It got me into Bowie, specifically with the Song "Fame" which had a very funk/jazzish like beat going with it(To my ear at least). I enjoyed many of his other works from it. Bowie also lead me to other Glam rock, 80's pop, and more.

The same Micheal Jackson and Beat it, Which lead me Prince and so forth.

And of course, enjoying funk made me appreciate Jazz, which lead to Classical. It help me get introduce to Lyric-less songs. Other side of the typical school shit of...Beethoven was a great composer.

I grew up on the music of MJ and Prince and old school Soul and probably a healthy dose of hip hop. That lead me to JB, Sly & the Family Stone, and P-Funk which I sort of consider the holy trinity of funk. Then I branched out into more funk like Ohio Players, The Meters, The Isley Brothers etc.

That sort of led me to Jazz and Rock with Led Zepplin and Hendrix, and Coltrane and Miles. And it essentially keep branching and branching as I discovered more rock, more funk, more stax, etc, etc. That's the great thing about music. It's like a never ending family tree.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Great thread!

I was lucky enough to see him play live before he died, a true showman.

I also saw Pee Wee Ellis and the "Black & Proud - An African Trubuite to James Brown" group play last year - I literally couldn't stop dancing - best group of musicians I've ever seen!

My stupid regret is that I never got to see him live. I could kick myself. I was so busy working during that time that I never got around to it and now the opportunity is gone forever. I've seen a lot of the rest of them like P-Funk in various incarnations, and Maceo Parker, etc. They all are great but I wish I had gotten to see him before he passed.

 

[Marvie_3]

Awesome OP. Brown was amazing and his entire catalog is fantastic.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Shamlessly bumped for the evening crowd.

 

[Funky Papa]

<-----Hell, I owe my name to him, what else can I say.

 

[Undeux]

This is the only video I could find that has this particular recording of There Was a Time, but I'm always totally amazed by the drums in this track. I'm sure it's got two drummers, but it's just so crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2gEAvOW2nc&feature=related

 

[afternoon delight]

There is something in his delivery and lyrics that make you just instantly like the guy. He is a class of his own. Nothing like him.

Down and Out in New York City played for two years straight in the dorms, to be honest.

 

[shintoki]

About a 2 month bump, I rather bump this to ask a question than make a new one.

I need some help purchasing a James Brown CD. I run into the same problem as I do with every old timer(band). There are too many CDs too choose. I don't have much money either, but I want to get one. So any suggestions on which set or CD is the best to own? I guess a Greatest hits collection would be nice.

 

[Ether_Snake]

James Brown giving you dancing lessons

And the funniest shit ever: Being James Brown

 

[Corwood Rep]

There aren't many albums been made as good as Live At The Apollo.

That man was something else. One of the best. Second only to Otis Redding for sheer force of stage presence.