GET ON UP! JAMES BROWN

Rip It Up, Issue 126, 1 January 1988, Page 12

GET ON UP! JAMES BROWN

THE GOD-HEAD OF GET DOWN

by

Kerry Buchanan

Let’s talk religion. When God created rock’n’roll, when the beat was given and received, many were called, but only a few were blessed. There was Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and James Brown.

Yes, James Brown: Mr Please Please Please, the Godfather of Soul, Mr Dynamite, Mr Excitement, the Minister of the Heavyweight Funk, the Godhead of Get Down. There are many names for him, but just simple James Brown is enough, to render the rest irrelevant. So with joy and a touch of trepidation I spoke to JB, alas only for 10 minutes, but time is not important when confronted with that voice. James Brown talks like he sings, a warm consoling sound, but strident when he wants to make a point. Sure enough, he's still the hardest working man in showbiz: “We’re doing a lot of things, with NBC, CBS, the whole entire extravaganza, one for Sony, the World Peace Conference. . . I’m looking forward to coming to Australia and Auckland, New Zealand."

Apart from the stage shows, JB is recording again, currently doing sessions in New York with Full Force. “They doing fantastic. Gravity was one of the most fantastic things I’ve done in a long time . . . But this Full Force is going to be even better.” To some, Gravity was the “comeback, but to many others, the soul man had never gone away. Those who want a complete picture of what the man has done, check out his recent autobiography and the chapter in Gerri Hirshey’s essential Nowhere to Run — both full of historical and intimate facts. But just a quick musical aside. Get on the One JB is the Boss of the Beat, he hears rhythm in everything, a guitar sounds like a snare drum to him. In that churning beat lies the genius of JB. Starting with

the early days of rhythm and blues, JB was on the one and turning it around. The gospel feel of ‘Please Please Please’ led to the shuffle of ‘Good Good Loving,' which set the rhythm for the 60s. Songs like ‘l'll Go Crazy’ and his re-working of the Five Royales’ ‘Think’ led to soul music, but JB seeks out new rhythms and new truths. With 'Out of Sight’ he created funk, the chicken scratch guitar of Jimmy Nolan, the sax of Maceo Parker, the alternating horn and voice arrangements, which all come to a head on ‘I Got You' and ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.’ JB works a groove to death. On the forefront of every change in music, he’s influenced people as different as Led Zeppelin (‘The Crunge’) and Aerosmith (listen to their live version of JB's ‘Mother Popcorn’), right up to the current

B-Boysonthe beat. 1 987 was the year of J B without JB, listen to any hip-hop record and you hearthose hard funk lines put to vinyl decades ago by the Man himself. Things like Spoonie Gee’s 'The Godfather,' Eric B and Rakim’s sampling of‘You’ve Got Soul,’ Fresh Gordon’s ‘Feeling James,' LL Cool J’s ‘Kandy,’ and dozens more. All set their raps over JB's murderous rhythms. Now there is a heavy scene of litigation going down in the States over using other people’s material, and JB was none too pleased with this wholesale lifting of the Godfather’s beats. But when I asked him he seemed to have changed his mind: “I love that, I like to see people love the source of music, the flavour, it’s like Old Blue Eyes Sinatra and all these people. . .the music world is open to everyone . . . You see the world’s open to music, whether it’s James Brown, Sinatra, Bob Hope, any of the people that are in the music world.” Hear the Beat In a way, JB likes the attention he’s been given by hip-hop and rap, because it indeed makes people aware of the "source. " They hear the beat and understand.

It came as a slight surprise that, when asked about all those who have learned from JB, he replied: “Barry Gibb and Andy Gibb are my proteges, they like me very much too.. And indeed they do, and JB has influenced them. Because JB loves music so much, because he views music as

one, he can include Andy Gibb, and good God he's right. JB talks in mantras, repeats phrases and strings them

together, inaflowthatisatfirst disarming and then reminds you

of his records, where different call and responses become chants: “Godfather of Soul, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, world peace, love and peace, love and peace. . . fantastic A slight pause, then: “Godfather of Soul, the last soul man... forever. . . soul is satisfying... sentimental soul . . .the love of life. . .rhythm ... the rhythm of records, classical, R&B. . . great performers, inspirational. . . there’s no colour in music, I’m colourblind.” Once again the JB philosophy is stated, all the world is a rhythm that exists to express a one-ness, a soul power that unites and satisfies. JB has never made a negative record in his life, never about defeat, always about “getting on up and doing it” —the love of life.

Soul Power JB is about pride in the self, especially for those who feel none. Like ‘Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,’ ‘Don’t Be a Dropout,’ ‘Soul Power’ and 'King Heroin.’

That's why a lot of his records centre on the power of the self, the ego. Like 'l’ll Go Crazy' with “You gotta live for yourself, for yourself and nobody else ” or the best line his own Badself ever did, from 'Superbad': “Sometimes I feel so good, I wanna jump back and kiss myself. "The ultimate self-made man, who in every song recreates the pride he feels in himself. That’s why rap artists use JB, not only for those crucial beats, but forwhat he's saying, and the feeling it expresses. Like JB, rap is very much about the all-powerful self. To cut JB into the mix brings into play the whole JB thang, the rhythm and the message. Rap knows the powerofJß, who himself recorded what must be the first rap record with ‘America is My Home' and the thundering ‘Rap Payback (Where is Moses?)’. No one comes close to JB, one of, if not the greatest soul singer of all time. Not one to rely on past triumphs, he is a contemporary performer. He keeps working on the beat and expanding its form. We won't see anything like him again. Go on, take me to the bridge James: “Godfather of Soul, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. World peace, love and peace. God Bless You.” •