Damn this being a sports fan can
be stressful. Bruins go down 6-5 in overtime
and now we’re tied 2-2 with those pesky Blackhawks.
At least there is always music.
Disc 523 is…. In The Jungle Groove
Artist: James
Brown
Year of Release: 1986 but with music
from 1970-1972
What’s up with the Cover? James looks pensive as he reclines in a litter and
graffiti filled corner and enjoys a smoke.
He might be more relaxed if he wasn’t sitting in some stark corner, but
James is a man of the people, and people dwell in corners of every sort, even stark
and garbage filled ones.
How I Came To Know It: I’ve known James Brown since the late eighties but I
only got this particular album in the last year. My buddy Nick really likes it and when he
bought a remastered edition recently he gave me his original. So a shout out to Nick!
How It Stacks Up: “In the Jungle Groove” is a compilation album so it
doesn’t stack up as per long standing CD Odyssey tradition. I actually have three James Brown
compilations and I love all of them, but comparing them would come dangerously
close to violating the ‘doesn’t stack up’ provision of ‘best of’ albums, so
let’s not go there.
Rating: no rating!
Compilations and ‘best ofs’ aren’t rated, just reviewed.
My first
ever James Brown purchase was yet another ‘best of’ I bought in 1988 – then on
tape. I loved it, but little did I
realize that the songs had all been severely edited for length (most were less
than four minutes). This is not how
James Brown should be heard.
“In the
Jungle Groove” is exactly how James Brown should be heard: long sweeping mood
pieces where the mood is funk! This
album has only nine songs, but together they represent over sixty minutes of
music (the album cover even advertises this fact in the lower right corner).
The
songs have a lot of repetition but are never too long because they are about
the groove. Horn licks, guitar riffs and
funky drum beats (even a song called ‘funky drummer’) get your hips moving
right away, but it is the slow and steady build of the groove over six to nine
minutes that makes you truly appreciate it.
James
Brown is both talented and hilariously over the top. Asking his band for permission to scream
(like he wasn’t going to anyway), advising the aforementioned Funky Drummer
that “you don’t have to do no soloin’
brother, just keep what you got. Don’t
turn it loose, ‘cause it’s a mother!”
James Brown can even make giving his band instructions on how to play entertaining. Most of his outbursts seem made up on the
spot, and it is easy to see how he is one of the main inspirations for rap. My favourite snippet is from “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” where
he warns “you can’t tell me how to run my
mess.”
This
album is packed with songs that have become heavily sampled in years that
followed (something I believe Brown didn’t like). For someone who didn’t like being sampled,
Brown has sure had a lasting impression on the rap movement and many of the
little riffs and drum beats are both recognizeable in their own right, but also
from the many songs they’ve been used in since.
This music
comes from 1970-72, which I consider to be the golden age of James Brown. My other two records of his are from 1964-69
and 1971-75 so it is great to have found a record fitting right into the
missing couple of years.
I had
many of these songs on other albums, but “In a Jungle Groove” reimagines them
with a lot of different and interesting arrangements. At first it was weird to hear the songs done
in a different way, but it quickly grew on me as I realized how resilient these
songs are, and how clever James Brown and his band are at keeping them fresh.
In
addition to being a masterful (if demanding) band leader, a brilliant vocalist
and an inspiration to rap James Brown is just enjoyable to listen to. This is as good as dance music gets. Fads like disco
and techno wish they could make your body move like this stuff.
So if
you have a glass handy (as I do) raise it to Soul Brother #1, Mr. Dynamite, Mr.
James Brown and thank him for some great funk and a lasting legacy.
Best tracks: I like all these tracks, but I guess I’ll go with “Funky
Drummer”, “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing”, “Get Up Get Into It and Get
Involved”, “Soul Power” and the ever-amazing “Hot Pants” – even though this isn’t
the best version of “Hot Pants” I own,
it is just too good a song to leave off the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment