I Feel Like Talkin About James Brown

[nancyb]

I just finished listening to the song, "Get Up Offa That Couch." Now that's a good party song, like most of his stuff. He is the Godfather of Soul.

[Dr. Wankler]

Whenever I think of James Brown, I recall a party wayyyy back in college. Hosted by 4 of my best friends, it broke up around 4:30 a.m. I was crashed on the couch when, at 7:00 a.m., one of the guys woke as was his habit. A hangover was no excuse for missing his morning run. But the house was a mess, so he wanted to clean it up first. He put on James Brown's Sex Machine on full blast. "Get on up," indeed.

He moved out a month later incidently.

I also liked the scene in The Commitments when they're watching a tape of James Brown and one of the guys in his band comes out with the cape to take him off stage. One of The Commitments thinks it's like a soccer match and suggests that James must be hurt and maybe they need a sub (or something. It's early).

[odg78]

--I wish more people screwed me over so I could extract my revenge while "The Big Payback" played in the background.

[nancyb]

Whenever I think of James Brown, I recall a party wayyyy back in college. Hosted by 4 of my best friends, it broke up around 4:30 a.m. I was crashed on the couch when, at 7:00 a.m., one of the guys woke as was his habit. A hangover was no excuse for missing his morning run. But the house was a mess, so he wanted to clean it up first. He put on James Brown's Sex Machine on full blast. "Get on up," indeed.

He moved out a month later incidently.

I also liked the scene in The Commitments when they're watching a tape of James Brown and one of the guys in his band comes out with the cape to take him off stage. One of The Commitments thinks it's like a soccer match and suggests that James must be hurt and maybe they need a sub (or something. It's early).

I don't remember that scene. Maybe I need to re-watch the Commitments.

[Real Ray]

Random James Brown Thoughts:

If I ever come back in another life as an MLB relief pitcher, I want my intro music out of the pen to be, "Papa Don't Take No Mess."

I'm sure the name has been used, but when I sometimes think about what I would name a race horse if I ever owned one, "Go Bootsy!" always comes to mind-been stuck in my head for years. I need to play Lotto.

The concert he did in Zaire before the Ali-Foreman fight-I sometimes jump ahead to that scene in "When We Were Kings."

[nancyb]

As kids, we would never miss an opportunity to watch James Brown on TV. I grew up in a racist household, but the God Father was always welcome there.

I love the Eddie Murphy impression of him on SNL - Gettin' in the Hot Tub!

[FlashMan]

nancyb is the coolest!!!

[Dr. Wankler]

I can't believe I forgot this. A friend of mine in college went to Tufts to get a master's in Ethnomusicology. He was influenced by a book called African Rythm, African Sensibility (and today he lives outside Chicago and teaches music in the schools, does things with the Primal Connection drumming people, etc.). He had a chapter in his thesis on James Brown. He had to stick around another semester writing it, because it took him that long to assimilate the stuff he learned from his two days interviewing James Brown. He assumed that Mr. Brown had an intuitive understanding of polyrythms, etc. Turns out that the Godfather actually had done a lot of listening, reading and thinking, and wound up holding forth authoratatively in an almost-scholarly manner. To this day, my friend kicks himself for losing the tapes in his move from Boston back to Illinois.

[minorthreat]

Fellas, I think I'm ready to get up and do my thing!

I wanna get into it, man, you know.. like a.. like a sex machine, man, movin'... doin' it, you know!

Can I count it off?

[KDdidit]

--I wish more people screwed me over so I could extract my revenge while "The Big Payback" played in the background.
Well if you're into that thing it's on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, so it is possible, all be it in a video game.

[Crimen y Castigo]

My salute to but a few of the many conks, or righteous hair styles, of one Mr. James Brown:

http://www.born-today.com/Today/pix/brown_james.jpghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/wallpaper/images/800/james_brown.jpg

http://thepatmurphyband.com/jamesbrown.jpghttp://www.kunstwebdiemen.nl/images/Rico_D_Rozario/Jazz/JAMES%20BROWN.jpg

[Real Ray]

Turns out that the Godfather actually had done a lot of listening, reading and thinking, and wound up holding forth authoratatively in an almost-scholarly manner. To this day, my friend kicks himself for losing the tapes in his move from Boston back to Illinois.

This is so true-you get a sense of this in his autobiography. For instance, he really isn't a fan of the blues-he likes it, but aint crazy about it. But jazz and jump bands like Louis Jordan (who may very well be one of the great unsung heroes of pop music) were a bigger influence. You can hear it in the way he tinkered with chord changes, adding 9th chords instead of playing straight changes using major or 7th chords. That little tweak gives you that sound that is so linked to JB. Also, playing "on the one" which Funkadelics took to a ridiculous extreme-that's JB as well. He knew his sh!t.

[Malaga CF fan]

My high school graduating class song was "Livin' in America", the old Rocky III contribution by the Godfather of Soul. A group of my friends and I just wanted a James Brown song, and "Lickin' Stick", "Soul Power", or "Sex Machine" probably weren't appropriate, so we did the PC thing and went patriotic. It worked, we were laughing the whole time. We couldn't even believe we got enough votes to beat out the other, more serious contenders (like your class song means anything, really).

Anyhow, fun salute to a great American musician and original. I say hip-hop owes JB about 75% of their beats, he was the originator.

[metrocorazon]

Anyone wanna compile a list of his greatest hits so I can start downloading?

[nancyb]

Anyone wanna compile a list of his greatest hits so I can start downloading?

I like :
Get on the Good Foot
Get Up Offa that Couch
I Got You (I Feel Good)
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

[CHICO13]

I was lucky enough to see him in the mid 70's at the old Convention Center in Washington DC. Now I know why the called him "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business". I walked out of there drained. And his band was absoluetly the baddest, tightest band I've ever heard. A truly amazing performer.

[odg78]

Well if you're into that thing it's on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, so it is possible, all be it in a video game.
--I have extracted bloody, bloody revenge many times in the game while that song was playing.

[Real Ray]

Interview W/Terri Gross (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4475300)

I listened to it last night-thought it might be a good reason to bring back this thread.

[ElJefe]

--I wish more people screwed me over so I could extract my revenge while "The Big Payback" played in the background.
I don't know ka-rate, but I know ka-razy!

[Dolemite]

I love the Eddie Murphy impression of him on SNL - Gettin' in the Hot Tub!


IT'S TOO HOT IN THE HOTUB!


i still yell that from time to time when i'm drunk