Jun 022008
In case you didn’t see Hrrundi‘s “urgent” request for assistance that he politely posted in an All-Star Jam from about 2 weeks ago, I’m bringing it to The Main Stage:
Hey, guys — anybody know where I might find an in-depth look at how James Brown recorded his music from around 1966-72 — you know, the crucial funk years?
Let me know as soon as you can… and thanks!
Help a Townsperson out with your superior knowledge, won’t you?
No, I didn’t see this when it first appeared.
JB did write a memoir:
I feel good : a memoir of a life of soul / James Brown ; with an introduction by Marc Eliot.
It’s at my library, but I’m not at work today, so I can’t run downstairs and see what’s in it. I wouldn’t expect detailed arranging/engineering type info, if that’s what you need.
Checking Amazon these look interesting:
The James Brown Reader: Fifty Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul (Paperback)
by Nelson George (Editor), Alan Leeds (Editor) [This just came out in April, and it’s 352 pages.]
The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections (Paperback)
by Allan “Dr Licks” Slutsky (Author), Chuck Silverman (Author) [Judging from the comments on Amazon, this looks like it might be more what you’re looking for. I wonder if co-author Dr. Licks Slutsksy is a part-time porn actor? Gelman Library at GWU has a copy of this. Don’t ask how I know these things.]
The Dr. Licks guy is all about the How-To’s of music, if he’s who I’m thinking of. It sounds like he’d help our man HVB. A drummer friend of ours who’s not an RTH regular has a video of James Brown’s two main drummers breaking down their beats. It’s amazing. I don’t recall if it extended much into recording techniques, but it sure told a lot about drum arrangements. I’ll see if I can contact him for the title of that video.
Thanks, but I tried Amazon already. I already own the “I Feel Good” autobio. Nothing in there. The Funkmasters book is sheet music, as far as I can tell. That Alan Leeds comp might be best. Still searchin’!
The Funkmasters book does have “two one-hour CDs” that claim to have “meticulously recreated” the songs they transcribed.
There’s also this DVD from Clyde Stubblefield and Jab-O Starks:
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Funky-Drummers-John-Starks/dp/B0002IQM70/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212432249&sr=8-2
BigDteve, I thank you — sincerely — for your suggestions. But I’m more looking for recording methodologies than arrangement details. How was the band miked, isolated, etc. I suspect it differed radically depending on what two-bit studio they found themselves in while on the road, but what do I know.
Thanks, though.
THAT’S the DVD, BigSteve!
look through interiews with bootsy.
he likes to talk about jb’s methods, and he relation between working out the groove and how important that is for the way it sounds recorded.
How bad do you want this info?
I’d spend a few hours down at the Library of Congress and see what you can find out. Maybe there was an article in the 70’s from some recording magazine? Maybe you can find the name of an engineer and to track them down? Back in the 80’s I did a paper on the first Monkees record (for a marketing class) and did most of my research at the LOC. It was very cool getting access to the original cashbox, billboard, tiger beat magazines!
Any luck with this quest yet, Hrrundi? Here’s one thing I found, with some highly technical information on the recording of “Cold Sweat”:
http://jinkzmusings.blogspot.com/2008/04/james-brown-cold-sweat-1967.html
I’m being a little sarcastic about the “technical information,” but it is what it is.
Here’s an interview with those drummers:
http://www.funky-stuff.com/drummers/Interviews.htm
There’s a drum tuning reference to JB down the page on this site:
http://www.peelerdrumcenter.com/tech_talk_drum_tuning.htm
Probably pretty obvious, but not a bad little article for a variety of styles.
Not what you were looking for, but I did come across some interesting reads in the process of trying to help:
http://www.funky-stuff.com/Divas/Index.htm