Take a look at the orignal cover of this 1967 King Records Live LP by James Brown..
Now Check this 2009 Reissue of the same LP.....
The new cover is the truthful one..Sure, James Brown made his debut at Madison Square Garden in 1966, but the LP issued as Live at the Garden was not recorded at midtown Manhattan's legendary arena, but instead, at the more modest (but very swanky), Latin Casino, in Cherry Hill,New Jersey. Sadly, the original LP (which is included in Hip-O Select's 2 cd and very deluxe package), doesn't even hint at how good the James Brown Experience was; shifting the order of tunes, eliminating the opening band set (which JB played organ for), editing out most of the stage patter, and adding fake crowd noise/arena ambiance. Maybe that's why it became such a minor part of the JB canon. Although the original LP running order from the January 67 Latin Casino run is presented on disc 1, you'll want to move right on to disc 2.
The new expanded edition of Live At The Garden, dispenses with the lies and half-truths (that were pretty common in the day), and on the second CD, gives you a typical (though a little truncated) James Brown supper club set. The nod to crossover, not included in the original LP, Come Rain Or Come Shine, is more of a wink, 'cause for the most part, JB and the band (led by Pee wee Ellis) rip it up. (Not that there's anything wrong with supper club crossover bids-see Sam Cooke at the Harlem Square Club). On top of the tinkling glasses, there's also a ton of audience interaction and clowning that you never saw in arena or larger venues, and that's what makes this new offering unique in the JB oeuvre.
At the time of the record's original release JB was embroiled in his ongoing feud with King Records head Syd Nathan. Though they respected each other and made each other a lot of money, they agreed on almost nothing. Nathan hated live records and that's why this one was so tinkered with..plus thought Nathan, the LP would be stepping on 45 and album sales for the newest hit, Bring It Up, and JB's latest full length, Raw Soul (March '67), which was released a mere 2 months before Live At The Garden hit shelves. James won the argument, but this time Syd Nathan was right. For aesthetic and marketing reasons the record didn't do too much.
This wasn't of much consequence to JB..he felt that if he recorded it, it was a waste not to put it out. I guess JB and Prince went to the same school of marketing. Chuckles aside though, the gussied up version of Live At the Garden is a nice addition to any JB collection, capturing the band on the cusp of their funk breakthrough. As an added track, a rehearsal piece recorded on an empty stage in Cherry Hill, Let Yourself Go, hinted at the full blown funk of Cold Sweat that would be released in June.
original Osaka Monaurail post 2.14.2008
After the FIFA World Cup ended this summer, I put together a battle of funk and groove bands that replicated the South African tournament. I "replayed" all the matches and came up with quite a different result. One of the surprises of my Funk and Groove World Cup was Japan, who advanced to the Quarterfinals. A big part of Japan's deep run in the tournament were it's two main raw funk exports...Osaka Monaurail and Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro. Take a look at the 2010 Funk and Groove World Cup final 16 bracket.
I first wrote about Osaka Monaurail for a Funky Friday post back in 2008 after I finally heard about their collab (15 months after its release) with James Brown alum, Marva Whitney. New, New Superheavy Sushi Funk
I know a phone call that made somebody's day...This was the call when Marva Whitney's (that's the Marva Whitney that sang with the James Brown review) manager called the manager of the Osaka Monaurail (Japan's primo JB-esque funk kings, named after a late period JB's album), and said,"Yes,Ms.Whitney would be glad to cut a record with you."
If you are the top funk band in Japan, and have pretty much styled your sound on the James Brown big-funk-band model, you would be ecstatic to back one of The Man's best singers. The fact that the vocals are really the only thing missing from your complete mastery of the JB sound, does not escape you, and so,problem solved, you go out and cut the best post-James Brown, James Brown record by a country mile. Marva Whitney w/Osaka Monaurail
This is good old funk here folks, with strong female vox, and a tight-as-a-drum band, that knows where The One is, and takes solos the way Fred and Maceo used to do. Like the myriad of soul artists "coming back" with new records Marva Whitney proves age ain't nuthin' but a number, and, in fact, the added maturity adds even more grit to a voice that was already down and dirty. I think it was an article in Wax Poetics where I found out about the Osaka Monaurail, and I have to admit, I was mighty skeptical. Truth is though, these cats can lay it down. If you enjoyed the funky soul that Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse have made with The Dap Kings, then this record should be right up your alley. Please have a funky friday.
back to 2010..
So coming into the tournament this fall, I knew Japan had at least one strong entrant, in the form of the Monaurail, but without repeating myself, how would Japan compete in their group with Holland, Denmark, and Cameroon. A little research delivered, Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro. The MMK drop some fine instrumental funk, but the Osaka boys come with longevity (and vocals), having been working on their JB-styled grooves since back in 1992, releasing upwards of 7 albums worth of material, since the 2000 debut, What It Is , What It Was. Still though, the MMK spreads it's wings a lot further and faster than the Monaurail, covering grooves in quite a different bag from the Godfather. And yet, the Osaka Monaurail does the JB thing so well (with and without vocals), you can see why they wear the crown. But let's let the music decide this matter.. Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro- S/T (2009)
The MMK have a second LP, that goes by the name of, Uhuru Peak. Check out an interview talking about the new record at Jelly Jazz and see the vid for the lead track (Aint Got Nobody) I'm Just A Ramblin' Man right here:
For their part Osaka Monaurail have been very busy with European tours (they just released a Live in Spain record) and putting out a steady stream of releases since their debut. All of these, excluding the Marva Whitney record , have gotten very little coverage here in the US, although Dusty Groove tries to keep their records in stock (at $30 bucks a pop, this can be a pretty expensive crate dig).
Here's a snippet of what you might've seen if you caught their 2010 Euro tour: Osaka Monaurail-Live
Osaka Monaurail - Just Being Free (2001)
Osaka Monaurail -Tighten Up (2006)-stretching a bit from the JB mold on a mostly instrumental soul covers record.
Osaka Monaurail-Quicksand (2006)
This is just a small sampling of the Monaurail's funk oeuvre, but I am going to let the challengers have the last live word. I'll leave the judging up to you. Wagering is not necessary, because funk is its own reward. Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro-Live
No surprise that James Brown is my most posted artist..I've probably got 6 posts on him. I won't trouble you with all of them..although this one does have working tunes..
Early on in my MOG tenure (less than a month) the Godfather passed away..reprinted below is my post from the day after Xmas '06, w/ music added..
I wanted to write something right off the top of my head the minute I heard about James Brown, maybe a guide to his music, or a personal story about how his music affected me, but I couldn't. I needed a little time to let it sink in. My first thoughts, though, were about a book written by Greil Marcus, called Dead Elvis. Dead Elvis goes beyond the usual depictions of Elvis as a product of his environment and the mirror by which the country saw itself . The book is about the IDEA of Elvis; not as an avatar of American Culture, but as America in total . I'm not sure where I stand on Mr. Marcus' assertion about Elvis, but I do feel James Brown and the IDEA of James Brown are the ultimate embodiment of America, warts and all.
The U.S.A. is a country built on contradiction, blood, and myth, cards that James Brown held in a spade royal flush. Elvis may be America, but James Brown is what America makes out of its ultimate believers. James had talent to burn and an incredible drive to succeed, but most importantly he believed. He believed so much he changed the world. He believed so much he became a myth. He believed enough for all of us.
He did all of this within the framework of the record business, as an ex-con black man, during Jim Crow , and hailing from Augusta, Georgia, which makes his ascendance all that more unbelievable. That is, unless you know anything about James Brown, because if you do, there was never any question he would rise.
The folks who lead JB's bands over the years pretty much say the boss knew absolutely nothing about music from a technical standpoint, and yet this man is universally credited with pushing forward American popular music from where it was in 1950 to where it is today in 2006. he was a man personally responsible for raising Black pride with his songs and yet he backed a man for president (Nixon) who was clearly no friend of Black people. He sided with the law and order folks when it came to quelling riots in Boston after Martin Luther King was assassinated, but he was no stranger to drugs, or violence, or shady business deals. All of this is textbook Americana.
More complicated than Shaft, JB was always headed toward the goal: a piece of the pie. It was always just ahead. One show away, One hit away..Got to keep on pushing. It is a wonder JB lived to be 73. In 1973 the man played shows in 51 weeks out of the year and dropped 5 LP's. Every minute of every day was committed to the dream. Getting money, women, and drugs, making records, hyping his songs at radio stations, lip synching on TV, running an empire, being a spokesman for a generation, performing, being the IDEA of James Brown, 24/7, his every movement, forward…
I've read interviews with JB and heard his pronouncements over the years and almost from the beginning he referred to himself in the 3rd person. The IDEA of James Brown was a myth almost from birth and everything he did was in the size and scope of myth. Though he may have been able to gauge the desires or feel the pulse of mortal men, he was surely not cut from their mold. Over the past few days I've gone back over his entire catalog trying to find a place where he let down his guard, where he was just James Brown. I landed on The Payback.
Cobbled together from various 1973 sessions, the remnants of a soundtrack to a movie that was never released, The Payback stands as Mr. Brown's most coherent album length statement. Clearly JB's constant touring was not geared toward making albums, most sessions were one day affairs done on the fly between gigs, and albums were necessary, but not the way he did things. For him it was all about the single, the radio play, and albums were often just a collection of his past (of that year) hits.
The recording process for JB basically consisted of him telling his band to show up at a studio and be ready to record. Normally, whoever was in charge of the band (Fred Wesley in '73) would gather the troops and come up with a groove, then at some point JB would arrive and tinker with it , bring out some lyrics, and in short order, make a record. The Payback was cut in 5 sessions, in studios from New York to Georgia to California, but the trip to the studio on August 4rth 1973, in his hometown of Augusta, might be closest we'll ever get to the real James Brown.
That day, one month after he buried his son, who had died in a car crash, he cut The Payback, Doing the Best I Can, and Forever Suffering. Its just a glimpse of a man who was a myth, but in true JB fashion (contradiction) these songs were cut for a blaxploitation soundtrack. Doing The Best I Can
At the end of Doing the Best I Can, the song fades out with JB pleading, "I'm just a man, I'm just a man, I'm just a man.." For a minute maybe that was true, but then it was back to entourages, tours, and chasing the dream for 33 years (the only rest he ever got was in jail).By sheer will, talent and belief in this country (and its myth), James Brown achieved things few people have even conceived. He pulled quite a few people up and tore just as many down, but he left a mountain of music that will move people for ages. His is a legacy befitting a true American Myth. I won't miss him because he will never be gone. The Payback
