Gettin Down to It

James Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B000A32KM8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,544 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Godfather of Soul takes on the Chairman of the Board! Brown's taste for jazz culminated in these 12 tracks recorded with the Dee Felice Trio in 1968-69, featuring his unique versions of the Sinatra standards Strangers in the Night; All the Way; Willow Weep for Me , and That's Life , plus jazzed-up versions of his own hits Cold Sweat and There Was a Time . The results are swingin'-- it's a brand new bag!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JB After Hours?, October 6, 2005

By 

Phil S. (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gettin Down to It (Audio CD)

The title of this Verve-King reissue suggests the expected funk and fire of James Brown during his 1967-73 period of ascendence, indeed the title is shouted during "Cold Sweat", his only (recognizable) vocal on a very familiar JB classic, but the song titles suggest a much quieter, introspective side, and quieter it is: with the Dee Felice Trio. [A mellow, jazz-inflected back-up gig with Brown on "Playboy After Dark" comes to mind].
Last year Verve gave us "Soul On Top" - ofcourse Jazz and Soul, but in a "Big Band" setting. Here...a small band. And it works.
The highlight is the opener - "Sunny" - with JB harmonizing up a storm with Marva Whitney. This is his only released version (apparently issued on CD only one time before on an Australian collection). The intro. is slow, voices in a whisper; then into the verse with a passion. No screams here...just Soul in a different light. [Not long after this issue, it appears Brown introduced the song as a set-list piece. It's been written that it remains an unissued track from the "Love, Power, Peace" set from '71].
"That's Life" is very subdued compared to the version heard on a couple of 1968 TV Specials; although the two released Apollo versions were more in the "Gettin' Down..." vein. Some nice improvizations on this one. Nothing to return to very often but well worth hearing.
"All The Way" is tremendous. This is perhaps his most *controlled* vocal...ever. On The Louis Bellson album mentioned above there are occasional uncomfortable sudden shifts in the decibel level and the track as a whole suffers. On this cut a great singer gets a chance to stretch and invites the initiated to relax and enjoy the change of pace.
The mix is fine, however, I would have preferred a bit more echo on most of the numbers; also a slower tempo in a lower key, here and there.
This is an important release. It also serves as a reminder to the historians collectors that there's still plenty of never-on-CD JB in the files, including some titles that a Jazz-Blues label like Verve might not touch, namely "Live At The Garden", an incredible live set at a New Jersey venue. Let's hope this notable set begets a few items not exactly similiar in content but in...Soul!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars James Brown - "Gettin' Down To It" (1969) & "Soul On Top" (1970), June 14, 2006

By 

Hector Verdu Marti (Barcelona, Catalonia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gettin' Down to It (Audio CD)

Better known for a personal assembly of different black music styles in what was to be called `funky' music, James Brown, also known as `Mr Dynamite' or the Godfather of Soul has two diamonds in his discography that have remained mostly unnoticed, despite the stunning performances there recorded.

The first time I heard of them was when I caught one of my jazz teachers singing a fragment of "Sunny". Seeing my astonished face -I had always thought of it as a soul hit-, he explained me he hat been listening to a recording where James Brown sang jazz classics with the accompaniment of a jazz trio. He didn't tell me anymore, just the impression that hearing Mr Dynamite squeezing his voice in a funky fashion in the middle of a jazz standard produced to him. No title, no more clues... Since then, I've spent four years of my life looking for it -well, maybe it's saying too much. Anytime I entered a record shop I asked unsuccessfully for it. My internet researches were unlucky too. Finally this year I had news about the reedition of "Gettin' Down To It" (1969) and I went for it. But, what a surprise I had when it came across that this wasn't Mr. Brown's only jazz incursion. One year later, in 1970, the Godfather of Soul hadn't had enough jazz and hired a big band to go further in "Soul On Top".

The first thing that draws your attention into the music is how comfortable Brown seems to be in an environment that, anyway is not that strange to him. Used to repetitive rhythms, he moves softly but also firmly along the swinging scales and notes of jazz. Anyway, he can't help rowing to his port, so that some jazz standards become funky exhibitions, especially those supported by the big band. Then, Mr Dynamite's throat, playful in the slow tempos, climb higher and higher, in a desperate need for generating faster frequencies. That shouldn't be the goal. Mr Brown is capable of doing better. He's got the technique, a gifted voice and an enormous musical talent that allows him to explore softer registers. Shouting is not expressing.

However, on the other hand, the experience of dragging a jazz trio into funky grooves is a kind of illumination. James Brown shows able to keep the powerful performances of his funky combos with just a piano, a bass and the drums. Though stripped, the Godfather of Soul sounds powerful, and even richer in musical shades. Just an experience to take into account.

3.0 out of 5 stars RECORDED AT THE PEAK OF JAMES BROWN'S FUNK YEARS...HE THROWS ONE OF HIS MANY CURVE BALLS OF MUSIC STYLES...THIS DIDN'T WORK!, February 19, 2010

By 

Mr. Nightshift (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Gettin Down to It (Audio CD)

Recorded between December 1968 to March 1969. By the time this album was released (Around May of 1969) James had a #1 Billboard Hit Single with "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose", and a Billboard Top 10 Hit Single with "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing" This album came as a major surprise especially with a title "Gettin' Down To It"...VERY MISLEADING! Even with the Dee Felice Trio backing James Brown it just didn't work. The bulk of songs were standards, but we find James trying to turn them into lightweight funk workouts which again...It just don't work!. A few songs sounds like they were done on-The-Spot without ANY rehearsal what-so-ever! This is not one of James Brown's shining moments (On wax). No charted hit singles from this album, but a Single of "There Was A Time" was released under The Dee Felice Trio on Bethlehem label in late 1969. Since that time this cut has become a 'Sample' Favorite as well as an 'Underground' Club Favorite. I really don't think this was Reissued by popular demand...It was probably just something to release simply because it was James Brown, and the powers that be at Polydor (Verve) figured SOMEBODY will by it just because it's James Brown. If I just had to pick a few cute cuts from this album they would be "There Was A Time" which I spoke on earlier, Oh! And James brown is nowhere to be found on this Instrumental! Not even a scream or talking!!! This track alone is worth the price of the Compact Disc! "For Sentimental Reasons" is nice, but an Edited Version would have been much better. For a far better of "That's Life" check out the version on "Live At The Apollo, Volume II". On "All The Way" (Which is safe to say was rehearsed) we find our hero not trying to turn a good standard into a funk song...It's real nice. This project would have faired better if it had been a Dee Felice Trio instrumental album because James Brown's yelling and off-singing was not a match made in heaven...If James Brown just had to do something with The Dee Felice wouldn't it have been easier to call it "James Brown presents The Dee Felice Trio"?. To further prove how good the trio is without the help of James listen to the instrumental cut "Uncle" and you'll have a real good picture of what I'm talking about! Or for a perfect display of this group's talent James Brown produce a album on The Dee Felice Trio that was released about 2 (Two) Month's after the "Gettin' Down To It" album entitled "In Heat" you can even pick it up for under or around $1.00! Oh! And it includes a different mix of "There Was A Time" (has Added Horns) and "Uncle" is on that album as well! It's worth seeking out.