UMe/Republic Records will release James Brown’s We Got To Change, a three-track EP featuring the previously unheard title track, on Feb. 16. “We Got To Change” was recorded August 16, 1970, at Criteria Studios in Miami, during a pivotal period in the world of James Brown, as longtime members of his famed James Brown Orchestra had walked out a few months earlier. Pre-order HERE
Brown quickly assembled a new group anchored by guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins and bassist William “Bootsy” Collins, two young brothers from Cincinnati. They brought a harder edge and a fresh identity to Brown’s music on such singles as “Get Up (I Feel Like Being) a Sex Machine,” “Super Bad,” and “Soul Power.” Brown called them The J.B.’s.
Their Criteria session featured a reunion with one of Brown’s 1960s sidemen: the great Clyde Stubblefield. “The Funky Drummer,” as he was known, would grace several of Brown’s subsequent hits, and would become one of the most sampled drummers of the hip-hop era. Also on the track is James Brown’s longtime no. 2, Bobby Byrd, who is heard alongside Brown on the chorus.
“We Got To Change” is another example of James Brown’s social outreach (and outrage), seen in singles like “Don’t Be a Dropout,” “Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud,” “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” and “King Heroin.” It is also a testament to Brown’s diverse musical language, quoting from Little Jimmy Dickens’ 1949 hit “Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait)” and the African-American anti-war spiritual, “Down by the Riverside.”
“The James Brown Revue invented the Funk,” says Funk author Rickey Vincent, “and the J.B.’s perfected it.” Newly unearthed and unheard, “We Got to Change” adds a critical page to the history of that perfection’s evolution.
UMe/Republic Records will release James Brown’s We Got To Change, a three-track EP featuring the previously unheard title track, on Feb. 16. “We Got To Change” was recorded August 16, 1970, at Criteria Studios in Miami, during a pivotal period in the world of James Brown, as longtime members of his famed James Brown Orchestra had walked out a few months earlier. Pre-order HERE
Brown quickly assembled a new group anchored by guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins and bassist William “Bootsy” Collins, two young brothers from Cincinnati. They brought a harder edge and a fresh identity to Brown’s music on such singles as “Get Up (I Feel Like Being) a Sex Machine,” “Super Bad,” and “Soul Power.” Brown called them The J.B.’s.
Their Criteria session featured a reunion with one of Brown’s 1960s sidemen: the great Clyde Stubblefield. “The Funky Drummer,” as he was known, would grace several of Brown’s subsequent hits, and would become one of the most sampled drummers of the hip-hop era. Also on the track is James Brown’s longtime no. 2, Bobby Byrd, who is heard alongside Brown on the chorus.
“We Got To Change” is another example of James Brown’s social outreach (and outrage), seen in singles like “Don’t Be a Dropout,” “Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud,” “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” and “King Heroin.” It is also a testament to Brown’s diverse musical language, quoting from Little Jimmy Dickens’ 1949 hit “Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait)” and the African-American anti-war spiritual, “Down by the Riverside.”
“The James Brown Revue invented the Funk,” says Funk author Rickey Vincent, “and the J.B.’s perfected it.” Newly unearthed and unheard, “We Got to Change” adds a critical page to the history of that perfection’s evolution.
Urban Legends, a division of UMe, Universal Music Group’s global catalog company, is continuing to spotlight one of the greatest artists of all-time, “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown, with the second installment of the animated mini-series Get Down, The Influence of James Brown.
On September 14, 2020, James Brown’s official YouTube Channel will unveil Funky President, episode two of the new three-part series, following the first episode, Funky Drummer, released on July 10th. Narrated by Questlove (The Roots, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), and featuring Lord Finesse and Co-founder/former EIC of Wax Poetics Magazine, Andre Torres, the three-part series was created by UMe along with Dreambear and explores the sonic DNA of James Brown whose music is continually sampled and whose trademark vocal phrasing is deeply woven into the fabric of Hip-Hop.
This second episode explores the fascinating and unpredictable politics of James Brown while following the influence of his second-most sampled track of all time, “Funky President (People It’s Bad).” Touching on the civil rights movement and Brown’s seminal “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” Funky President shows how James Brown, as well as his musical peers and successors, has been able to encourage social change and raise political concern from a black American perspective.
The full episode of Funky President premieres on September 14, 2020, and can be viewed here with part three (The Payback) coming later this year.
Urban Legends, a division of UMe, Universal Music Group’s global catalog company, is continuing to spotlight one of the greatest artists of all-time, “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown, with the second installment of the animated mini-series Get Down, The Influence of James Brown.
On September 1, 2020, James Brown’s official YouTube Channel will unveil Funky President, episode two of the new three-part series, following the first episode, Funky Drummer, released on July 10th. Narrated by Questlove (The Roots, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), and featuring Lord Finesse and Co-founder/former EIC of Wax Poetics Magazine, Andre Torres, the three-part series was created by UMe along with Dreambear and explores the sonic DNA of James Brown whose music is continually sampled and whose trademark vocal phrasing is deeply woven into the fabric of Hip-Hop.
This second episode explores the fascinating and unpredictable politics of James Brown while following the influence of his second-most sampled track of all time, “Funky President (People It’s Bad).” Touching on the civil rights movement and Brown’s seminal “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” Funky President shows how James Brown, as well as his musical peers and successors, has been able to encourage social change and raise political concern from a black American perspective.
The full episode of Funky President premieres on September 1, 2020, and can be viewed here with part three (The Payback) coming later this year.
A woman connected to James Brown, Jacque Hollander, suspects that there was foul play and has evidence that she believes proves it.
TMZ reports that Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard met with the woman, who unsuccessfully tried to meet with him in 2019, and she handed him a bin with text messages and a list of possible witnesses.
Howard says his office is now interviewing Hollander and if her evidence sticks, an investigation will be launched.
James Brown died on Christmas Day in 2006 of a heart attack and fluid in his lungs, according to his death certificate. Like every major celebrity death, there were conspiracy theories surrounding his.
Dr. Marvin Crawford did an interview with CNN in 2017 and said he always wondered what triggered the singer’s heart attack after he signed the death certificate.
On August 10th, 2019, the 90th Bud Billiken Parade will take place in Chicago. The Grand Marshall for the event will be actor and comedian, Lil Rel Howery. Grammy-award nominee BJ The Chicago Kid and Academy-award winner Che “Rhymefest” Smith will be honorary Marshalls.
The theme for the Bud Billiken Parade this year is Celebrating “90 Years of Excellence.” Throughout its 90-year existence the likes of then-Senator Barack Obama, James Brown, The Supremes, Muhammad Ali to Chance the Rapper have all performed or appeared at the Bud Billiken Parade, the oldest African American parade in the country.
As the official Grand Marshal, Howery says, “I am excited and honored to be chosen as this year’s Grand Marshal at the Bud Billiken Parade,” said Howery. “I’ve attended and watched this parade on television with my entire family since I can remember. I’ve accomplished some amazing things in my career, but to be part of this amazing back-to-school tradition is on top of the list. I love my city so much, and to have a chance to see all those amazing young faces in the crowd will me make me so happy.”
The theme for the Bud Billiken Parade this year is Celebrating “90 Years of Excellence.” Throughout its 90-year existence, the likes of then-Senator Barack Obama, James Brown, The Supremes, Muhammad Ali to Chance the Rapper have all appeared at Bud Billiken Parade, the oldest African American parade in the country
According to the description, The Bud Billiken Parade, founded by “The Father of Black Journalism” Robert Sengstacke Abbott in 1929, is the largest African American parade in the United States. With education as its founding value, the parade takes place at the close of summer, ensuring that Bud Billiken kicks off the school year with high energy and enthusiasm. The parade highlights include contests featuring categories in Best Drill Team, Best Dance Team, Best Marching Band and Cheerleading Squad. At the close of the parade, all attendees are welcomed to join in the post-parade festivities in Washington Park.
For more information on the Bud Billiken Parade check out the website here.
If the debate for the King of R&B is up for grabs, followers of the late great James Brown can rest easy, as his position among the greatest to ever do it, is secure as a Master padlock. Known indelibly as the “Godfather of Soul Music,” Brown’s career covered successive generations that stretched from chitlin circuit pit-stops in the ’60s, through his own Funk era and ultimately, the birth of Hip-Hop. In the Netflix original documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown, the life and times of the oft referred “hardest working man in show business,” is examined fully. Questlove, Chuck D, Nelson George, Greg Tate, and others appear in the doc’.
It is common knowledge that Brown’s influence on Hip-Hop has been acknowledged and celebrated through countless samples – “Funky Drummer” being the most popular – but who knew Brown dipped into the sampling pool himself?
As it turns out, Brown’s saxophonist and bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, was called into James’ dressing room one night after a thunderous performance in the summer of 1967. Never formally trained to read music, Brown explained to Ellis that he had something in his head he needed to be transformed into song.
“I started putting notations to his grunts,” Ellis remembers with a hearty laugh at the 57:00-mark of the film, “which came out to be the bass line of ‘Cold Sweat.’”
Ellis goes on to explain that he had been listening to Miles Davis’ “So What,” which “popped up” while he was developing the track that would eventually become “Cold Sweat.”
“So I took that [dee dumph] part and repeated it over and over,” Ellis explains. “Then we added a very important guitar part, contrasting all of that – which is funky all by itself.”
An unquestionable masterpiece, “Cold Sweat” has been cited, by some (including in George’s The Death Of Rhythm & Blues) as the first true Funk song for all its moving parts. Aside from Brown’s grunts that laid the groundwork for the beat, the finished track borrowed from his previously-released “I Don’t Care” in 1962. Moreover, it incorporated Brown’s signature screams and solos from Maceo Parker on sax, and Clyde Stubblefield on drums.
“I didn’t write it to be so monumental,” Ellis confesses, “but my Jazz influence was creeping into his R&B, so the combination of the two is where the Funk came from.”
During the late 70s, when Brown was said to be losing a step, his Funk music was hot as ever in the Hip-Hop community and among DJs. Albums like Get On The Good Foot and Sex Machine were in heavy rotation, while “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” provided breaks that proved to be something of a goldmine. But it was the unlikely “Funky Drummer” that catapulted “Mr. Please Please” to un-chartered territory.
For the record, the actual Funky Drummer was not very fond of the tune. “I hate that song,” the late Clyde Stubblefield affirms in the doc. “We all was so tired and didn’t even want to record. So I started playing just the drum pattern. Brown liked it. We recorded it, and it came out ‘Funky Drummer.’”
#BonusBeat: The trailer for Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of JamesBrown:
If the debate for the King of R&B is up for grabs, followers of the late great James Brown can rest easy, as his position among the greatest to ever do it, is secure as a Master padlock. Known indelibly as the “Godfather of Soul Music,” Brown’s career covered successive generations that stretched from chitlin circuit pit-stops in the ’60s, through his own Funk era and ultimately, the birth of Hip-Hop. In the Netflix original documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown, the life and times of the oft referred “hardest working man in show business,” is examined fully. Questlove, Chuck D, Nelson George, Greg Tate, and others appear in the doc’.
It is common knowledge that Brown’s influence on Hip-Hop has been acknowledged and celebrated through countless samples – “Funky Drummer” being the most popular – but who knew Brown dipped into the sampling pool himself?
As it turns out, Brown’s saxophonist and bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, was called into James’ dressing room one night after a thunderous performance in the summer of 1967. Never formally trained to read music, Brown explained to Ellis that he had something in his head he needed to be transformed into song.
“I started putting notations to his grunts,” Ellis remembers with a hearty laugh at the 57:00-mark of the film, “which came out to be the bass line of ‘Cold Sweat.’”
Ellis goes on to explain that he had been listening to Miles Davis’ “So What,” which “popped up” while he was developing the track that would eventually become “Cold Sweat.”
“So I took that [dee dumph] part and repeated it over and over,” Ellis explains. “Then we added a very important guitar part, contrasting all of that – which is funky all by itself.”
An unquestionable masterpiece, “Cold Sweat” has been cited, by some (including in George’s The Death Of Rhythm & Blues) as the first true Funk song for all its moving parts. Aside from Brown’s grunts that laid the groundwork for the beat, the finished track borrowed from his previously-released “I Don’t Care” in 1962. Moreover, it incorporated Brown’s signature screams and solos from Maceo Parker on sax, and Clyde Stubblefield on drums.
“I didn’t write it to be so monumental,” Ellis confesses, “but my Jazz influence was creeping into his R&B, so the combination of the two is where the Funk came from.”
During the late 70s, when Brown was said to be losing a step, his Funk music was hot as ever in the Hip-Hop community and among DJs. Albums like Get On The Good Foot and Sex Machine were in heavy rotation, while “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” provided breaks that proved to be something of a goldmine. But it was the unlikely “Funky Drummer” that catapulted “Mr. Please Please” to un-chartered territory.
For the record, the actual Funky Drummer was not very fond of the tune. “I hate that song,” the late Clyde Stubblefield affirms in the doc. “We all was so tired and didn’t even want to record. So I started playing just the drum pattern. Brown liked it. We recorded it, and it came out ‘Funky Drummer.’”
Venisha Brown, one of the daughters of the late “God Father of Soul” James Brown and the late Yvonne Fair passed away on Wednesday. She was 53.
Brown died at Augusta University Health Medical Center in Georgia because of complications from pneumonia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced.
“The family thanks everyone for their prayers and telephone calls,” a statement read. “At this time we ask that you respect the privacy of the family.”
Funeral plans have yet to be determined.
An artist like her dad, Venisha Brown was likewise effectively involved with the James Brown Family Foundation.
