Customer Reviews

Funk Power 1970: Brand New Thing

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By this point the story is well-known: in 1970 James Brown's band quit en masse, and he recruited a group of unpolished kids featuring the 18 year old Bootsy Collins to be his backing band. He would hold this band together for a year before Collins et al. would quit.

This band was not without its weaknesses. The horn section was no match for Maceo Parker and the other 1960s veterans who had quit. The call-and-response was reduced to James and longtime sideman Bobby Byrd. But, heavens above, what grooves. They are absolutely relentless. If this music can't get you up, you'd better call the undertaker. Working with the resources at hand, pushing Bootsy's bass to the front, JB maximizes what he's got. The high point is a previously unreleased 15 minute version of "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" in which JB goes into a rant on self-respect, race relations, taxes, drugs, and whatever else came into head that night -- "I don't want a cat tryin' to drive a plane who hasn't been to school!"

If I wanted to explain to someone what America was, I'd hand 'em a copy of this CD. It's a true cultural artifact. It ought to be in the Smithsonian. It ought to be required listening in public schools. They ought to put JB on a postage stamp. Next time we send one of those vehicles into deep space we ought to broadcast this to anyone who's listening and help them get a groove on. Get on up! Get into it! Get involved! Get involved! Get involved!

Wow! James Brown and little else. The music on this CD enhanced my appreciation of the legend. Long-time associate, Bobby Byrd, is the link between JB and the talented crew of uninitiated musicians, chief among them William "Bootsy" Collins. Bootsy would go on to become a legendary funk pioneer of his own with George Clinton so, it is interesting to hear him in his formative year with JB. The notes written by Alan Leeds, who worked for JB during this period, fill in the background. It's an exciting story, but I won't spoil it for you by repeating it here. Leeds describes the young band as "everything the classic Brown Bands were not -- loose, unpolished, occasionally out of tune and SMALL." All of this puts more pressure on Soul Brother No. 1. Adversity only increased the determination of the Hardest Workin' Man in Showbiz. THERE WAS A TIME is characteristic of the best of this collection. The band locks into a solid groove that makes me move. It is simple stuff which provides a platform for the rap of James Brown, which is awesome. How he maintains interest for over 7 minutes in this loose format is a tribute to his innate sense of performance. The longest track is nearly 15 minutes, TALKIN' LOUD AND SAYIN' NOTHING, yet, I am disappointed to hear it end. Five minutes into the song, in a demonstration of supreme confidence, James Brown does "something funny"; he stops real quick; then, he and Bobby Byrd engage in an unaccompanied call and response for a full 20 seconds. That is heartstopping funk. When the band starts up, again, the song is completely rejuvenated. At 7 minutes, James Brown has fun with his own mistake. "Shape, shape, shape, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhape, shape, shape, (it's hard for me to say it sometimes), shhhhhhhhhhape. Shape up your thang, don't worry 'bout mine." Then, for a brief minute, I feel transported into JB's living room as he jokes with Bobby Byrd, which includes the Minister of Soul preaching a message of self-reliance before he seamlessly segues back into the song. If you are interested in the brief period when Bootsy Collins worked for James Brown, or if you want to hear incredible funk by a virtuoso performer, this CD will interest you.

If this CD doesn't make you want to get up and dance, you are surely not among the living. The JB's are a rawer, looser band than the Famous Flames--James Brown's band prior to this recording. This CD includes the full versions of classic JB tracks like "Super Bad" and "Soul Power." The band is in full-on funk mode, with the rock-solid Bootsy Collins providing the bottom end that will shake a million bottom ends. Jump back, I wanna kiss Polydor for re-issuing this monumental, classic music. This one is for anyone who likes it on the one.

I've had this cd since it was released in 1996, but diving into it once again the other night inspired me to share a few thoughts. Somewhere in my old vinyl collection is a JB compilation issued in the early '80's entitled "Can Your Heart Stand It?" That would have made a better parenthetical title for this disk: Heart conditions and pacemakers would be severely tested by daring to listen to this--because there's absolutely no choice in the matter: You Must and you Will get on up and get into it! I mean, people, this cd does not stop; it's just one hard-hitting groove after another. The only tempo breaks are the few seconds between tracks--and those'll do you no good unless you have a superhuman ability to stop on a dime. Another reviewer mentioned the full-length version of "Talking Loud And Saying Nothing" as one of the highlights; I concur heartily.. I also love the full, nearly ten-minute version of "Super Bad," which, along with a relentless groove, features a couple of the most gut-splitting high-pitched screams the Godfather ever uttered. Even the anti-drug PSA is supported by the JB's getting and staying on a groove while the Minister tells you why you should stay away from the stuff. Oh yes, you do get a few seconds to catch your breath at the beginning of the alternate version of "Sex Machine"--but you will hear James moving what sounds like a metal-legged kitchen chair out of his way, so he can do his thang yet again. ...

Here's the story: While on the road, James Brown's band came to him with a list of demands, not the least of which was for more pay. James kicked them ALL to the curb (a drummer and a saxist thought better of it, and stayed). But James had been rehearsing a group of kids as a backup band up at King Studios in Cincinnati. He got on the phone to Bobby Byrd, and THAT NIGHT those kids were his new backing band! That's how the JB's were born. James recorded with this band, which featured Catfish and Bootsy Collins, for just over a year. What came of it? Only "Sex Machine," "Super Bad," "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved," "Soul Power," and "Talkin' Loud And Saying Nothin'"! That's all! In other words, five of James's baddest, most influential grooves. There is also a slew of other notable performances here. But the version of "I Got To Move" that's included here pales before the version on "In The Jungle Groove." Regardless, make sure to bring this disc with you anytime you plan on flying over the ocean. After your plane has crashed and you been reported missing and presumed dead; after 7 years have passed and they finally find you on that desert island, eating coconut and listening to this album on your discman, tell them, "Hell, no! I ain't goin' back! "

Soul Brotha #1, indeed! We know him as James Brown, and we love him as James Brown; the one who is credited as inventing funk as we know it. On this compilation, we are treated to the funkmeister, while he gels with his short-lived band called The JB's (featuring a young Bootsy Collins before he would join Parliament), who created some majorly super-bad (pun intended) funk during their short-lived period in 1970. The music on here will most definitely get you shaking; it'll make you want to dance, work up a sweat; anything which'll get you moving, and you won't wanna stop till you drop!

While the music alone is powerful enough, it's also moving to hear James talking about important societal issues: drugs, race, poverty, the need for harmony amongst all people & all races, and the need for people of society to come together to help make the world a better place. To hear these messages infused in his (already powerful and empowering) music is something truly moving. However, reality can sometimes be a devastating thing to accept, as evidenced on this disc: at the end of the disc, James is heard in a 1970 recording warning many of the dangers of drug abuse, and encouraging many to stay away from them. It's heartbreaking to hear this from him, only to find out that he himself would have his own battle with drug addiction in subsequent years. It's truly a tough pill to swallow in many ways.

From James' fiery, manic, impassioned vocal delivery, to Bootsy's propulsive basslines, to Bobby Byrd's commading supporting role as co-vocalist, and the rest of the band's performance, the music on here is an unrelenting assault on the soul: it's a funk-attack, guaranteed to get that old rump of yours shaking, followed by the rest of your body. If you can grab hold of this compilation, snatch it up, as if your life depended on it! It's truly worthwhile to have in your collection: funk addict, or not!

this band is so loose&funky.anytime you get a raw bootsy collins on board that alone says adventure&greatness awaits in the style&sound of the music.james brown gets so much out of the musicians that he has playing for him.he is the ultimate band leader.a must have.true rawness.

In my old neighborhood when I was growing up the Beatles may have been more popular than God, but James Brown trumped even the Beatles. Which made James Brown the divine ruler of the metaphysical universe of the kids who hung around Prospect Park, in Flatbush Brooklyn in the late Sixties and early Seventies. The Beatles were the young princes of pop music, but only a heretic would refuse to pay tribute to the Godfather, the hardest working man in show biz.

"Funk Power" is significant because it represents an entirely new direction for the music of James Brown. It is a snapshot of James Brown's short one year association with a revolutionary group of musicians who gave birth to da funk.

It all began when Maceo Parker and all of the members of his legendary JBs were abruptly fired by James over a salary dispute in March, 1970. James turned around and hired on a crew of unknown, unproven crew of teenagers to replace his veteran JB members. The new band featured the Ohio based Bootsy Collins, his brother Phelps, Clayton Gunnels, Daryl Johnson, Robert McCullough, and Frank Waddy, and when Brown hired them, they were gigging at a joint called the Wine Cellar.

Prior to forming the new JBs, Bootsy's crew was variously known as the New Dapps, the Blackenizers, or the Pacemakers depending on the day of the week. Of course many of the players in this refurbished edition of the JBs went on to become players aboard the Parliament/Funkadelic Mothership founded by the legendary George Clinton.

Bootsy's crew of the young turks places James Brown at the very foundation and on the cutting edge of the Seventies funk explosion. This Collins led edition of the JBs had a high decibal stripped down sound with a heavy bass and drum sound influenced by the raw and shambling garage sound of the psychedelic bands of the late Sixties.

The highly professional and polished JBs led by Maceo Parker sounded like the London Symphony Orchestra compared to the radical funk and jungle riddims of the reorganized Collins edition of the JBs.

Much of "Funk Power" contains material that Brown had already recorded with the old JBs but the contrast in how each edition of the JBs play the music is striking.

This album was recorded in 1970 but never released until 1996, "Funk Power" documents the James Brown's reinvention of soul music into funk. Brown's year long association with Booty's crew in 1970 transformed R&B in as profound a manner as hip-hop transformed R&B in 1980 with the breakthough of Kurtis Blow, the first commercially successful rap artist.


RECOMMENDED SONGS: "Give It Up or Turnit Loose", "Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine", "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing."

I would love to find a true copy of this album--- it is reputed to be a classic compilation of J.B. and Co. at their funky prime.

However, BUYER BEWARE:

I have purchased this CD three times-- from more than one seller--- and each time the CD that is in the case is "The James Brown Ultimate Hits" and is NOT Funk Power 1970.

I do not blame the sellers for the CD being faulty, since the insert and even the label on the CD itself wrongly identify it as Funk Power 1970.

If there is a seller out there who can listen to the CD in the jewel case and confirm that it really is Funk Power, please email me and let me know--- since I would still very much like to purchase this album.

thanks

My first James Brown disc was "70"s Funk Classic's" and that was always my favorite, until I finally found this disc which has the unedited versions of "SEX MACHINE" and "SUPER BAD". Boy am I glad I found this one- HOLY-HOLY-HOLY!! This is 100% straight up no filler funk on the one!! From beginning to end is one groove after another. I also recommend the above mentioned disc which has "AINT IT FUNKY NOW", "FUNKY DRUMMER" and "THINK 73"-all classic must hear songs. Keep the Funk Alive!!