Posts Tagged James Brown
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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
The Best Guitarist in The World: # 3 – Prince
I’ve just started reading a book about the making of Purple Rain (the movie and album) – and I mean just started. I’m only a handful of pages in. The author is gushing about Prince’s guitar playing. I can tell it’s gonna be a good book. But I have this thought – geez, Prince could […]Archive
July 25, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: #115 – Soul Power, Wellington, 2009
Well it’s Film Festival time once again. And so by way of looking back I post this stub – not really all that exciting at all (though you might notice I’ve written a phone number on it, then scribbled that out…a hark back to landlines, and the days when the tickets sat next to the […]Archive
January 14, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The J.B.’s: These Are The J.B.’s
The J.B.’s These Are The J.B.’s Now-Again Records A special (ltd) vinyl-only release, here’s a shelved album (originally planned for a 1971 release) by James Brown’s backing band, The J.B.’s. The Godfather himself contributes organ to a couple of the tracks, but these are sinewy groove-workouts, four instrumental cuts, two elongated standouts each going over […]Archive
November 1, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
V/A: DJ Snowboy Presents The Good Foot
Various Artists: DJ Snowboy Presents The Good Foot – The Soundtrack To His Soho Night Ace/Beat Goes Public DJ Snowboy is a journeyman disc-spinner, one foot in the past and one angled toward the future – he’s been playing disco and northern soul, R’n’B and hip-hop, trance and techno and all points in-between and he’s […]Archive
August 19, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Get On Up: Film
Get On Up Director: Tate Taylor Imagine Entertainment/Jagged Films/Wyolah Films This James Brown biopic has been on the cards a while – and then it just seemed to arrive, no real fanfare. And it’s hard to know what to say really – for is it a fairly typical, mostly terrible biopic? And are all Hollywood-infused […]Archive
June 25, 2014 by Simon Sweetman