HE WHO PUTS ANTS IN PANTS

I was shooting the shit with a younger DJ friend of mine yesterday. His music of choice is electronic, EDM of the "dooosh, dooosh, dooosh" variety. He also does weddings as a better paying side gig. This past weekend he DJ'ed a wedding so I thought I'd ask what a wedding go-to crowd pleaser is these days. You know, the one you throw on when the dance floor has started thinning out and you need to get them out there again. His answer was Bruno Mars. I thought about it and the one I would keep in reserve until that re-stoking was needed, this is back when I DJ'ed an occasional wedding, would have been James Brown. This lead to all sorts of thoughts later, long after our conversation ended. One is that his go-to was of current vintage in relation to when the weddings were taking place. While James Brown's or Aretha Franklin's (another go-to for me) stuff would have been about twenty five years old when I played them at events. Then I thought about the people at the weddings. I DJd only at friends' weddings, and my friends are all pretty musically educated. James Brown would have been a no-brainer.

Here's a couple lesser know James Brown cuts from 1968. (These were never dance floor tested by me.) The second song, "Funky Soul 1", is an instrumental. My guess is that the JB is on the organ. He had instrumental LPs in the past where he was the organist so I'm sticking with that (also, it's the featured instrument so...). I gotta say, the man had decent chops.

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Listen:
James Brown - There Was A Time mp3 at Groove Addict
James Brown - Funky Soul 1 mp3 at Groove Addict

GET SLAP HAPPY

I'm not sure if the term "gimme some skin" is used anymore, what with and fist bumps and high fives. Oh yeah, now elbow bumps too, thanks to covid. Back in the sixties "gimme some skin" was like a high five but at a more natural waist high level, a medium five, like the type a ball player gets from the third base coach on his home run trot. The songs below were posted a while back, but they stand up to repeated listens. There's another down there from of one of the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul compilations. Unrelated to all of that, a belated RIP for Sandy Nelson (above) who passed away a few months ago.

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Listen:
Sandy Nelson - Gimme Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Iggy and the Stooges - Gimme Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
James Brown - Give Me Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Frank Penn - Gimme Some Skin (streaming) at YouTube

IT'S GO POWER AT SLACKFEST TIME

Being someone without kids or immediate family under the same roof, the holiday season is something much more than gift giving, more than eggnog and Christmas caroling. It's more than a religious holiday and time off from work. It is the wonderful season of Slackfest. Hark, it's much easier to repost the Herald Angels. Soul Brother #1 falls under that category.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at New Times
James Brown - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
James Brown - Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year mp3 at Big Hair and Plastic Grass

THE HOLIDAY DUMP CONTINUES!

Here's a handful that have been sitting around since 2012, posted at Black Squirrel Amusements. They're all from the same post, there's thirty songs in all. A few others are worth checking out, and more than a few are worthless. The Chipmunks, really? Yeah, it's a real mixed bag. These are just vaguely connected, but if you file them under what-not, it gives you a license to lump just about anything together. Plus, they're good. The unexpected treat was Mr.President, who I've never heard before, so that was cool to run into. Afro-funk from France. I'll be damned. I wanted to hate it, but it's so damn catchy.

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Listen:

Nathaniel Mayer and his Fabulous Twilights - Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby) mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1962
Detroit Junior - Christmas Day mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1960
James Brown - Signs of Christmas mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1966
Mr. President - It's Christmas Time mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 2011

IT'S GO TIME SOMEWHERE

That photo of James Brown cracks me up, it's so damn corny. Not only does he have the Santa hat, but now he's pushed his funky skull through a wreath. What a nut! But you know the GFOS. You can dance to his farts. Seriously, his on base percentage is way the fuck up there. Not all them of them home runs. These funky jams are entirely worthy but are only relevant lyrically for a few weeks a year, at least for me. I just can't listen to Christmas songs in the off season, not even James Brown's. So yee haw. I'll just listen the shit out of 'em for the next week and a half.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Time At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Signs of Christmas mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements

HIGH FIVE, YOU'RE NEXT

The term "Gimme Some Skin" is doomed, for the foreseeable future at least. Between the Covid pause in physical greetings and the aging-out of cool old slang, there's a good chance of it being left in the dust. Sock it to me baby.

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Listen:
Sandy Nelson - Gimme Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Iggy and the Stooges - Gimme Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
James Brown - Give Me Some Skin mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People

RIGHTEOUS

Both songs below are essential. Not just today or this week, or this month. Because their intent, their meaning, their music and their place in the history of black America and popular music are still relevant.

The image above has a story behind it. Check it here.

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Listen:

James Brown - Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud mp3 at Autistici/Inventati

Nina Simone - To Be Young, Gifted and Black mp3 at Autistici/Inventati

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF SLACKFEST

Oh, just holy shit. I'd heard this song a handful of times last December but I obviously wasn't really listening. Or maybe it's just my mood tonight. Regardless, Nathaniel Mayer and his Fabulous Twilights' "Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby)" hits the spot. Big time. And it's not all his doing, though his voice is a large part of it. It's his larynx. He leaves it on the floor. He seems to get more raw as the song goes on, to the point that you find yourself thinking about how Merry Clayton's voice cracks on backing vocals of the Stones "Gimme Shelter". Once you're into the song that far you start noticing the other elements, the guitar tone, the beating the drums get, and the decidedly "one and done" sound of the studio. It really does sound like it was recorded in a garage.

The other three down there are from the same post at Black Squirrel Amusements and are every bit as good, though for different reasons. There's plenty more over at the post, but I'm four for four. I'm taking my winnings and going to dinner.

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Listen:
Nathaniel Mayer and his Fabulous Twilights - Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby) mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1962
Detroit Junior - Christmas Day mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1960
James Brown - Signs of Christmas mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 1966
Mr. President - It's Christmas Time mp3 at Black Squirrel Amusements 2011

NOW, BILL, ABOUT THAT TITLE...

Been a while since I actually took the time to make a mix for the car. I have enough that I've made over the years that the surprises when listening are few and far between. I'm always mixing different types of music and I've found that the songs I'm pleasantly surprised by are the obscure instrumentals, the type you might not remember a few months after making the mix, when you'll actually have to look at the playlist to remind yourself who did this mighty fine version of this or that. So that's what these are. Putting in the folder as segues, for when you need to throw a curve.

NOTE: All of these are from Groove Addict. If you decide to explore over there, a few hints: Only the old posts, roughly pre-2015, have mp3 downloads, the newer posts are all YouTube. The most important thing: should you decide to download any of the full LPs, beware of the album links on the older posts. Some of the old LP zip links (usually "link" or "zippy") have been hijacked and unless you have good virus protection, you may get stung. Don't let that scare you, there's a lot of good music there if you just keep your guard up.

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Listen:
Wild Bill Davis - C.C. Rider mp3 at Groove Addict
Johnny Guitar Watson - Summertime mp3 at Groove Addict
Big John Patton - Amanda mp3 at Groove Addict
James Brown - Funky Soul mp3 at Groove Addict

TAKE IT HIGHER FRED

If a song makes you forget about everything for nine minutes, that's really more than you can ask for. I don't know what I was looking for when I saw Fred Wesley's name mentioned, but it sent me lookin' for some J.B.'s stuff. One long version (but not the longest) of "Doin' It to Death" later, I don't even know what kinda mood I was in when I walked in the door. I've no idea the science behind it and it doesn't quite matter anyway. It worked.

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Listen:
James Brown and the J.B.'s - Doing It To Death mp3 at Frederator
Fred Wesley and the J.B.'s - It's the J.B.'s Monorail mp3 at ATumblr (?)

TOO MUCH GO POWER

I don't care if you've heard these before. They're awesome and there's only about a three week period when they're not premature or wholly inappropriate. That's Christmas music for you. Just dig on these, before they go back in the rafters for another year. They're textbook GFOS. You could do much worse.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at The Mob Third Coast
James Brown - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream
James Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream

I'LL TAKE GO POWER AT ANY TIME

So you won't have to go digging for them, here's three from the GFOS, Worth at least a few listenings per year, You've only got a few weeks to enjoy them, in season anyway. So yeah, I'll post them again.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at The Mob Third Coast

REALLY. GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME.

Clyde Stubblefield passed away today. His name may not be immediately recognizable to a lot of people, but chances are most people have heard his playing. He's best known as James Brown's drummer from the period that produced Brown's funkiest sides. No small feat there, considering Brown's pioneering funk, his predilection for extraordinarily tight backing bands, and the fact that the rhythm section is essential to making that spit shined funk happen. Stubblefield was the man.

But you've heard him on other stuff as well. Check James Brown's "Funky Drummer". Stubblefield was that funky drummer. Listen. Heard any of those beats before? Check the end of it, just after 8:50, the breaks on the fade out. You know those. The drums on "Funky Drummer" are widely thought to be the most sampled in history, but really, though the drums on the song are badass and sample worthy, the fact that it's been sampled a zillion times just means there's a whole lot of copycats. And one funky drummer.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Drummer mp3 at Isoamerica (?)
James Brown - Sex Machine mp3 at Drummer World
James Brown - Cold Sweat mp3 at Drummer World With John Jabo Syarks also on drums.
Visit:
Clyde Stubblefield page at Drummer World Several videos and short bio
Clyde Stubblefield, the ‘Funky Drummer’ for James Brown, Dies at 73 at New York Times
Songs that sampled Funky Drummer at Who Sampled

GO POWER? HELL YEAH.

You can just about see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you're the type that has shopping to do, it's time to get that shit done it you want to have a weekend of whooping it up. Otherwise you'll be sitting around your pad wrapping presents listening to Perry Como whilst your friends are shakin' their asses to the Godfather at the house of nuts.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at The Mob Third Coast
James Brown - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream
James Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas at Panic Stream

THE SECRET WEAPON

If you're working for "the hardest working man in show business", a workaholic in need of an endless supply of funky grooves behind him, you have no choice other than to be a ultra tight well oiled machine. The J.B.s were, integral to James Brown's sound in the seventies, as well as Lyn Collins, Marva Whitney, Bobby Byrd and others in his funky family. This shit is tight.

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Listen:
The J.B.'s - Pass the Peas mp3 at Internet Archive
The J.B.'s - Givin' Up Food For Funk mp3 at Smiles Davis
James Brown & the J.B.'s - Doing It To Death mp3 at Frederator

IT'S A MAN'S MAN'S MAN'S DEPOT

What the hell, eight versions, or in Ice Cube's case variation, of James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's Man's World", including the original. Here's just a couple. Some are better than others. I'm digging on Sekouba Bambino's version. The Resident's take is kind of creepy, Grand Funk's is surprisingly not awful, and Ice Cube's is as catchy as it is explicit. A little fucked up though, that one.

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Listen:
Sekouba Bambino - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World mp3 at Soul Donuts
James Brown - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World mp3 at Soul Donuts
Six more versions of It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World at Soul Donuts
Misc:
Large full version of JB's mugshot here

GIVE IT UP OR TURNIT A LOOSE DEPOT

I can't get enough of Jame's Brown's "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose". It's an awesome song, funky as JB gets, and up until a few hours ago I hadn't heard a version, be it a cover or one of several by Brown himself, that I didn't like. That streak has been broken. Today I heard a version of it by Dick Hyman, an early adopter of the Moog, the first commercially available analog synthesizer. Hyman pretty much banked on the novelty of the Moog, recording more pop oriented material then other early adopters. His version was released in 1969, the same year as Brown's original and is pretty out there for that early, but lacking the organic feel of the original. Funky it is not. To wit, I listened to it sitting down. I didn't even have an urge to get up and shake ass. Not so with other versions, particularly the Godfather's.

Besides Brown's original and instrumental versions, a rerecorded version and a remix, two members of Brown's extended funky family also recorded it, Lyn Collins and Marva Whitney, both maintaining the groove of the original.  Black Randy and the Metro Squad's instrumental version, released on a predominantly punk label, sounds more like no wave ala the Contortions than funk or punk rock. That they were a fixture in the late seventies L.A. punk scene speaks to the diversity of the era. Like many records put out back then, in hindsight it's amazing that it exists at all.

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Listen:
James Brown - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (LP Version) mp3 at ATumbler(?) With the JBs. Lethal. 1986 extended version of 1970 version.
James Brown - Give It Up or Turnit Loose (original) (streaming) at YouTube 1969
James Brown - Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (instrumental) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Note: Although credited to the James Brown Band, it is from an Iranian pressing that includes an instrumental Sly and the Family Stone cover, so...
Lyn Collins - Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (streaming) at YouTube
Marva Whitney - Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (streaming) at YouTube
Dick Hyman - Give It Up or Turnit A Loose (streaming) at YouTube
Wilbert Longmire - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Funky 16 Corners Go there to get it.
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Give It Up or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.

UFC? FEH.

It's probably not a cool thing to post a mug shot of the Godfather to accompany a post with some of his Christmas themed songs. But none of us is perfect. So, say James Brown did some things that landed him on the naughty list. Now take that one step further and imagine Krampus coming after him. Krampus vs the GFOS. Can you imagine the full on brawl that would be? I'd sure as hell pay per view that.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Power At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at The Mob Third Coast
James Brown - Let's Unite the World at Christmas mp3 at Panic Stream
James Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas at Panic Stream

THE OTHER GODFATHER

Yes sir, it's all godfathers, all the time, here on Godfathers Night. No. Just a coincidence that I ran into this, but I didn't want to leave you with just murky snippets of creepy nursery rhymes. So here's a swinging instrumental by James Brown. I believe he's on the organ, he did dabble on occasion. Really though I don't care who's playing what. The thing is a pocket night club. Lots of smoke and loosened ties.

As much as "Evil" swings, the flip side of the 45, "Caldonia", is rightfully the A side. Goes good with "Night Train".

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Listen:
Jame Brown - Evil mp3 at Boogaloo Time
James Brown - Caldonia mp3 at Boogaloo Time Go there to get it.

SOUL BROTHER #2

Do you know who you should thank for James Brown? Bobby Byrd. He took Brown in when he was fresh out of a reformatory prison. He gave him a place to live, turned him on to music, and gave him a job as the drummer in his band, the Flames. When Brown eventually stepped out to try vocals on for size, the whole dynamic changed. But, while Brown became the star, the bag was not wholly his. Byrd was integral to the sound that you and I know well, for the next ten years or so, and intermittently after that.

Check the two posts about Byrd at The "A" Side and the Wikipedia thing. Respect is due.

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Listen:

Bobby Byrd - Never Get Enough mp3 at Ubupopland
Bobby Byrd = Hot Pants (I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming) mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul mp3 at The "A" Side
Bobby Byrd - Keep On Doin' What You're Doin' mp3 at The "A" Side

Early Byrd (as Bobby Day):

Bobby Day - Sweet Little Thing (streaming) at YouTube
The Avons - Baby (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Bobby Byrd at Wikipedia