Posts Tagged James Brown
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July 6, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
James Brown: Live At Home With His Bad Self
James Brown Live At Home With His Bad Self Polydor In 1969 James Brown was one of the kings, hardest working man in showbiz, of the black acts working he was the gold standard; feared and admired bandleader and a singing, dancing machine. He was pumping out civil rights anthems, redesigning R’n’B as sinewy funk, […]Archive
June 6, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Movies of My Life # 18: Dead Presidents
I think about the movie Dead Presidents a lot – and I’ve seen it a few times too. It might not be many people’s idea of a true classic movie but it felt like a truly profound experience to me when I first saw it, I tried mentioning it to many others, tried introducing it […]Archive
June 3, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 30 – The King, “Gravelands”
The King, Gravelands, 1998 Actually his real name is James Brown – something pretty funny about a white Irishman named James Brown who makes a crust by impersonating someone else; not only just someone else – but Elvis (“the King”): A white singer who made his name and based his act on sounding as black […]Archive
March 2, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
The J.Bs: More Mess On My Mind (ep)
The J.Bs More Mess On My Mind (ep) Now Again These ‘from the vaults’-styled reissues really are turning out some classic finds. Last year there was two ‘found’ John Coltrane albums (to lose just one would be careless…right?) And there were other jazz gems – near-mythic stories of albums recorded and then shelved. Finally we […]Archive
July 1, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Yeahyeahabsolutelynoway!: Ah..
Yeahyeahabsolutelynoway! Ah.. Wizard Tone Records Adelaide power-jazz trio Yeahyeahabsolutelnoway! features drums (Stephen Neville) and two guitars (Sam Cagney, James Brown) and on their most recent full-lengther, Ah.., they ran the gamut from slinky, cocktail-hour groove pieces (Doubt) to post-rock-meets-prog/fusion workouts (Do – The Liquefactionist Jig).Archive
January 16, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
From The Archives: The Fred Wesley Interview
Sometimes the interview goes better than you could have planned – you’re into it, you want it to go well but the person on the other end of the line is a total pro, more than they they seem real – even if it’s the Staged-Interview Version of Real. So it was for me with […]Archive
December 8, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Music Biopics Usually Get It Wrong: The Problem Is Taking The Page To The Stage
The music biopic has a tough job I guess – it has to satiate the fan, someone who might know it all or be pretty sure they do. It has to also introduce people to the music, it has to explain why there is a narrative fictional film about this person – or at least […]Archive
December 7, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast: Episode 40 – Sean James Donnelly (SJD)
Welcome to episode 40 of Sweetman Podcast brought to you by Phantom Billstickers. A chat with Auckland-based musician/producer/soundtrack composer Sean James Donnelly – better known, in band and solo-musician guise as SJD. I’m a huge fan of Sean’s music – all of his albums, I think he’s one of the great talents in New Zealand […]Archive
August 14, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Mr. Dynamite – The Rise of James Brown: DVD
Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown Director: Alex Gibney HBO/Universal Music Group Alex Gibney’s great skill as documentary-maker – apart from his speed and ability to work on several projects simultaneously – is in unearthing the hard-to-find/previously-unseen footage. Here with his “Dynamite” profile of the making of James Brown it would be a good […]Archive
November 30, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
V/A: Instrumentals Soul-Style
Various Artists: Instrumentals Soul-Style History of Soul All those great soul/RnB combos from the 1960s – and so many of the great instrumental cuts, things from Junior Walker and Booker T, Ray Charles and Allen Toussaint…well they’re all here. Them and many more. A double disc packed with short, sharp blasts from horns and stabs […]Archive
July 29, 2015 by Simon Sweetman