Customer Reviews

Hot Pants

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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With the single of "Hot Pants" already on the street, as issued by King Records, it was left for this album to by the first release of James' new deal with Polydor. Financially strapped, King Records chief Syd Nathan sold the contract of his chief meal
ticket (along with James' well-stocked back catalog) to the European-based record giant. James would remain on Polydor for more than a decade, and the label continues to have successful releases on The Godfather, two decades after they parted ways. For this album, James got his band back in the studio and re-recorded the title cut. This "Hot Pants" doesn't start out with quite the same kick, but after the first bridge, this one is
even hotter than the hit single. Putting the tambourine higher in the mix was a stroke of genius. This is one nas-tay non-stop
groove. If you've never heard it before, be sure to have a copy of the single, so you can make your OWN comparison. There are two other key highlights to this CD. The lead cut, "Blues And Pants," gets my vote as being the birth of hip-hop. Listen to the intro, and you'd swear it was the late 1990's. Definitely, this is one of James' most under-rated cuts. The big revelation
of this set is the full-length cut of "Escape-ism," which times in at 19-plus minutes. James was just getting together his next great band (after the departure of the original JB's), but this album features some of Fred Wesley's first solos on trombone, as well as a chance for St. Clair Pinckney to stretch out on sax. James, as a producer, was not one to waste money on multiple sessions. He always recorded live. This version of "Escape-ism"
will really clue you in to how James went about his work. He had
the creative freedom to do anything he pleased, and more often than not, what he released was nothing short of genius. This was
the start of a new day for James Brown. The days of Syd Nathan's
oppressive control were far behind, and James would prove that he
still had a lot of new, vital, trend-setting funk to put out through 1981 on Polydor.

I love this whole cd features JB, Bobby Byrd, and the JB's once again who was one of the best jazz-funk bands ever check out hot pants, and escapism man that was so funky like all of JB's stuff in the pocket man deep Jb kept his funk slamming.

30 years later this still sounds funkier than a pot of chitterlings. Blues and Pants and all of 19 minutes of Escapism. You can never get tired of this album. This one ranks up there with "The Payback" album in '74.

A rush job and basically a throwaway and it still has 40 minutes of great groove. This was at the time when JB could make silence funky.

Yes, this one is most highly recommended for the bonus track alone--- the full, unedited 19 minute take of the classic "Escape-ism." But also well-worth having: "Blues and Pants" and the title track, which is a different take than the one found on the greatest hits sets.

Question,...
Who on the face of God's green earth can deliver a 6 track album and move the crowd like nobodys business?
The one, the only, Mr. Dynamite, the 'hardest' workin' man in show business,...The Godfather.
James, thats who!
Mr. Brown cold 'got down'!!!
Tupac once rapped,..."I wonder if Heaven got a ghetto"?
If it does, then James is conducting the funkiest block party band up there.
:-)

I personally challenge any artist old or new to drop a 6 cut CD today.
Even though 'Escape-ism' is broken up into 3 parts,...its still technically a 6 track project.
Nowadays U R lucky to buy a CD with 15 to 22 songs and have 3 to 5 'good' tracks on them.
James Browns 'Hot Pants' is funks finest hour. Classic James Brown funky voice-over backed by funky bass lines and guitars riffs.
If U R or were a James Brown fan,...this one better be in ya collection!!!
Feel me?

Nuff said.

Every dj who spins in a roller rink should have this album. Full of several skating classics, esp. "Escapism" and "Blues and Pants". An extremely cool album to have for your home collection as well!

Apparently issued as a kind of "bridge" between King and Polydor Records in 1971, this relatively "minor" effort still warrants heavy attention by fans and historians. "Blues & Pants" is a nifty stream-of-conscious opener; "Can't Stand It" (aka "I Can't Stand Myself...") is always fun; and the full-length (not on orig. vinyl) "Escapism" is a timeless rapp with the band members. Ofcourse it's now known that the title tune is actually a remake of the "Original Hit Single", which to me increases the value of the set.

Okay, so it's only four songs (Escape-ism being inexplicabily divided into two parts even on the CD reissue), and they're more lengthy vamps with semi-improvised vocals shouted over them than anythinng else. But that's the James Brown sound, y'know? And hey, you can't really go wrong with this one: I Can't Stand It doesn't do much for me, but this is one of the funkiest albums EVER outside of that: the nine-minute Hot Pants is a classic, and justly so: it SMOKES. Escape-ism is pretty much JB getting acquainted with his new band, with occasional anti-alcohol lyrics, but to quote the Godfather himself, Ain't That a Groove? But for me, the lazy, funky, ten-minute Blues and Pants steals the show here, great sax part especially. This is an awesome party record.