He had a few cameos and bit parts over the years. He always did just fine. I think it would have been fun to see him act more, too.
'Never Leave Me'
Buffista Music III: The Search for Bach
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
Oh, thank you Theo for reminding me of the Undercover Brother cameo. He gave me many smiles through the years. If I name my favorite by the number of times I have imitated the man, I have to say
I feel good!
James Brown and the JBs were great stuff, but I think his earlier pre-funk material deserves more attention than it gets.
My favorite: Try Me.
I'm amazed at how hard he was performing up until he died. He just had a massive concert in Dublin in October, I think, that was sold out months and months before that. Just incredible.
"Superbad" is also my favorite JB track, and it's a stunner. It took me near forever to realize that the bulk of the track is played by a three-piece, with horn accents and the bridge, but almost everything else is on Bootsy and Catfish time.
Speaking of Bootsy and Catfish, my favorite JB album is Love Power Peace, the only live document of that version of the band, and maybe the best live album ever recorded.
My favorite JB thing was his tendency to come up with extremely odd shout-outs during songs, and the way that his band was so attuned to this that they could incorporate it into the music. For instance, I used to have a video of a live show from the mid-70s where JB somehow made reciting the zodiac into the centerpiece of "Sex Machine." I mean, the music was blazing, the momentum so powerful that JB could walk offstage for a full minute or two to switch to jumpsuit no. 4, and when he came back, he'd start this zodiac nonsense to a perfectly cued band: "Aries!" (horns: BLAT!) "TAURUS!" (horns: BLAAAAT!) "LEEEEEEOOOOO!" (horns: WAAAAABLAT!) SAGI-(music: stops on a dime) (pause pause pause) -TAAAAAAAAARIUS! (crazy sax solo). And this went on, and even though that tape is lost now, in my memory, it is still on of the most exciting things I ever saw.
Anyway, if I wasn't away from the drives holding my music collection back in Austin, I'd upload "Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" for y'all. Merry Christmas, babies, sure do treat me nice.
I'd upload "Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto" for y'all. Merry Christmas, babies, sure do treat me nice.
Oh, I can put it up.
eta: It's up. Merry Christmas, my fellow music fiends.
You remain The Man, David. Happy holidays to you and yours.
The DH stopped in at Ameoba yesterday and got me a Finnapalooza. Copies of Everyone is Here by the Finn Brothers along with One All by Neil (I ADORE me some Neil) and Feeding the Gods by Tim.
He truly is the WBDH!