Re:The Genius of James Brown
by golemotron on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @10:41AM
(#12344075)
It would've been nice if the review actually talked about his music. It made me wonder whether the bio made the same omission.
I don't know his earliest period, but hiring Bootsy collins, IMO, altered his music, and propelled bassline funk even higher than he did before. Bootsy was different. His work in parliament is unique, and pfunk is musically significant. Both in itself, in its direct influence, and indirect later gene spreading through samples. Dance music wouldn't be the same without this cat.
I think the Bootsy connection is over-stated, actually. He was only with Brown for 11 months, and while there were a handful of key singles cut (including Sex Machine), the associate was really quite brief and didn't result in that many recordings.
If you look at the recording from late 1969 and early 1970, like Mother Popcorn, Ain't It Funky Now, Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud), the direction to harder funk was already very apparent.
This is to say nothing of, say, what Larry Grapham was doing with the Family Stone circa '68-'69, or other west coast funk pioneers.
I really find Bootsy's basslines and overall music directions very different even from high rated funk musicians like Graham.
I'll dig further in the titles you listed to test my hypothesis.
Re:The Genius of James Brown
by Ericson2314 on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @12:25PM
(#12344970)
McBride is a musician, but sadly it's common for reviewers who aren't comfortable with that tend go just skip it.
Eventually the market will tap out, aka, "How many books about Abraham Lincoln do we need?!"
Disclosure: For biographies I primarily read ones about musicians. The Rex Brown autobiography was the latest, and I do want to get around to some others.