I don't know karate, but I do know ka-razy: the JAMES BROWN TRACKS POLL voting/nominations thread (voting closes FRIDAY, FEB. 17 at midnight est)

http://simpsons.skewsme.com/img/james_brown_simpsons_2.jpg

Greetings. So the time has come to finally poll the most important pop musical artist of the second half of the 20th-century.* This poll will encompass not only tracks recorded by the Godfather himself, under his own name, from all his various eras and with all his various bands, but also acts JB produced, wrote for, or was otherwise involved with. That includes everyone from the JBs to Lyn Collins to whomever.

Please don’t get creative and include Bootsy’s Rubber Band or whatever. I want records that JB was actually, even if minimally, involved with, not records by former sidemen or proteges, however good they are.

Pretty standard voting rules apply, if you’ve ever voted in one of these things before. Please compile a list of up 40 tracks, with the usual 50 points for track No. 1 down to 11 points for track no 40. For example:

1. James Brown - “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine Pt. 1” (50)

And so on.

Please note that songs JB recorded multiple times will only be included ONCE. Votes for live versions will also be counted as votes for the track in general, however much you argue for that live version of “Hot Pants” from a 1974 Zurich bootleg.

Obviously Wikipedia’s “official” discography is woefully incomplete, especially as regards JB’s productions and songwriting credits, but here it is anyway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown_discography. Hopefully people in this thread can fill in the gaps.

Email all ballots to jess dot harvell at gmail dot com by midnight EST on Friday, November 11. That’s two weeks, because I wanted everyone, especially people not that familiar with the JB and friends discography, to have time to dig in. You can vote for as many songs as you’d like, but please don’t vote for any less than 20, if at all possible.

SIDE POLLS:

If you wish, please include a list of your three favorite JB related albums, from most fave to third most fave, no points required. Studio albums, live albums (e.g. “Live at the Apollo”) and fake live albums (e.g. “Sex Machine”) and studio compilations (e.g. “In the Jungle Groove”) can be included in this albums list. Please note: the “Star Time” box set is DISQUALIFIED. Mostly on the grounds that a.) I’m perverse but importantly b.) I think it’d be too easy of a sweep if I allowed it.

Also please send, if you wish, a list of your three favorite songs that SAMPLE JB or a JB-related act, from any genre, rap to dance to whatever, also from most fave to third most fave. (Why do I have a feeling this is going to prove to be the hardest part of this whole poll for a lot of people?)

Thank you. I will be monitoring this thread, so even if I don’t have much time to post over the next two weeks, know that I’m paying attention, and if anyone has any pressing questions/concerns/reasons their ballot will be late, I’ll be around. I now turn the thread over to you fine, funky people for nominations, arguing, and passionate pleas.

*Geir, fuck off.

speaking of AMAZING live (well, fake live) tracks i will have to count as a vote for the song itself in any version, yo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01enu5oqmRE

Spotify's going to be great for this, but dang, his page is eight miles long.

i seriously will not begrudge anyone who sends in a list of dude's 40 most well-known hits. the guy has eleven "complete" multi-disc singles collections. so far.

gonna try my best to binge on Spotify over the next couple weeks and come up with a good ballot

Argh how am I supposed to do this? Will get exploring, but thus far to me he's one long groove, which I like more or less all the same.

fwiw, Geir never votes in these Ballots (not even the Beatles one)

Right, have sent ballot.

Tough one this.

I always heard that line as, "I don't know karate, but I do know ka-razor."

Thanks for doing this, and for laying out the terms as you did. It's giving me ideas for how to conduct the Who poll, particularly live-vs-studio votes.

I can't wait for Geir's contribution to this poll

Turn on your funk motor. Get down and praise the lord.

lol opening jpg well done

first time I heard this on vinyl my head exploded. so heavy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-4VxEtWyRo

Funky Good Times is such a great anthology.

I'm ashamed to admit that outside of "Star Time," "Sex Machine" and at most a couple dozen tracks he produced for others, I'm not overly familiar with JB's oeuvre. Ashamed because I've already spent so much time listening to, reading and writing about funk music. The Godfather deserves better. I could easily, easily compile a top 40 from that corpus alone - the music's that good. But I think I'd better listen more first.

get The Payback

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFNMsxcO9yk&feature=related

XP: Get The Payback, Funky Good Time (aka James Browns Funky People Vols 1,2 and 3), Jungle Groove, Reality, Hell, Say It Loud: I'm Black And I'm Proud and Get On The Good Foot.

Get On the Good Foot is such a weird record. not that it's uncharacteristic really, he released a lot of weird records!

for ex. the track where Bobby Byrd just recites James Brown song titles over some re-used studio track lol

wonder if will anyone vote for Grodeck Whipperjenny

for additional reference: my sad poll that only got two votes

oh hello, this thread

It'll be interesting to see how much love pre-funk JB gets.

At some level of my psyche 'Hot Pants' and 'The Payback' are on constant roation

rotation even

there should be a sub-poll of just the best bridges in JB tracks

Votes for live versions will also be counted as votes for the track in general, however much you argue for that live version of “Hot Pants” from a 1974 Zurich bootleg.

What about votes for, say, "Medley: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag/I Got You (I Feel Good)/I Got The Feelin'" from Love Power Peace...how would they be counted?

It'll be interesting to see how much love pre-funk JB gets.

honestly I'll be hard-pressed to vote for anything prior to Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

debating how high my "for goodness sakes, just look at those cakes" joke vote is going to be (although i honestly have love for later 'dead on the heavy funk' period JB)

Nobody forget this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmSPlyRhJz0

for consideration pt 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYSsU9m7bR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTZHie6dTdM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC2ZY2loo74

yeah that's a cut xp

it is kind of insane how much of this guy's stuff I still haven't heard

how about covers? like this version of 'tighten up' that basically invents jungle at 1:40:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYv2E9Ek4Q

jesus fuck who is that, Jabo?

man, there is this one JB cut that i love, but i can't think of the name and it's killing me. it's on the slow side, descending minor bassline, lots of horns...anyone?

gotta be clyde, back when he did stuff like that.

yup: http://www.discogs.com/James-Brown-Say-It-Live-And-Loud/release/1438546

just incredible. nice find.

i've got that 'tighten up' on this 2-cd set of (mostly) early instrumentals. it's the highlight but there is some interesting stuff for super geeks, not to mention 'the chicken' (which was basically ruined for me back in my jam session days): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjSIpOUp-5M

Living In America gives Geir Norwegian wood.

Definitely going to vote for some Christmas songs.

covers are collaborations are fine.

medleys...will have to becounted as their own thing i suppose.

You got me in the mood for some Apollo Creed there and damn if Living In America isn't pretty great after all.

Man, Apollo is taking a pounding here.

Currently revisiting the 1969 oddity Gettin' Down To It which saw Soul Brother #1 step away from the relative (and a long time coming) militancy of Say It Loud: I'm Black And I'm Proud and go immediately back into straight up entertainer mode. It's a collection of standards, some of them pretty obvious - Sunny, Strangers In The Night, Chicago, That's Life... - but he attacks all of them as if there were a riot going on in the actual studio. The disconnect between the relatively polite (and two thirds white) Dee Felice trio and Brown letting rip makes for interesting listening. The trio are pretty smooth but Brown fucking monsters them with his plosive vowels, grunts, screams and yells, weirdly only reining it in for Cold Sweat. I wonder if producer Bud Hobgood tried to get him to sing "normally" and suffered the same fate as Jones with Michael Jackson. Either way an interesting record.

drums on this one are crazy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6l5_FxjlaQ

ahhh, "drive your funky soul" is the one i was thinking of! whole album is great. people, do not sleep on this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrITP7DZjE

blimey. this is tricky, but i think the singles of 'super bad' and 'soul power' take the top 2 for me.

Oh, I forgot I had that album

the only thing I could find from what I think was his last album...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQzdYZXNCbA

ahhh, "drive your funky soul" is the one i was thinking of! whole album is great

yet another comp of "previously unreleased" stuff from the peak period I had never heard of before thx!

you're welcome!

whoa, just came across this while reviewing jb tunes, michael jackson doing his jb moves at age 10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3joe0GdTA

yeah his band was just unstoppable during that period, and the records sound so good. the real secret weapon isn't even the bass and drums, it's those dual interlocking rhythm guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFIDDzGgwqc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ODghRTeyQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWnXhws7eHM

the only (?) James Brown track to feature an analog synthesizer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XzKrYHGxzU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKpQwQ4ZGQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqUKydxDmBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hkC8jOqH4E

*Geir, fuck off.

extra thanx for this btw

another great one from that Motherlode comp Jordan ref'd above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1ddtJGr_P0

that one is pure funk science

Dr. Dre appears to have been fond of it

man, you coulda released "blow your head" at any point in the last 40 years and it probably woulda "worked."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnO8sHmkbv4

Will re-listen to Star Time, In The Jungle Groove, There It Is, The Payback and Hell. What else do I need?

Motherlode is indeed a great one and so is Hot Pants. also can't recommend enough Roots of a Revolution.

i've said it many times before, but 'love power peace: live at the olympia, paris 71' is the one.

gonna go out on a challopy limb here and say I rarely listen to that one - I know it's canonical and is the only live document of the Bootsy/Catfish JBs lineup and it IS good but oddly the stuff I remember about it are not necessarily things I really want to hear again (yet another rendition of Georgia on My Mind for ex)

I love it. It's nearly up there with Live At The Apollo for me. The superfast medley is one of the highlights of his career.

So i am trying to comprehend his MASSIVE Spotify page into a proper playlist. I'm going to have every proper album on there (as opposed to the 1400 'things' which i guess are just random comps of the same name of EVERY album), try to attempt to get the canon live albums on there and the JBs too. Anything else I need? Or is it possible to make a Spotify playlist others can add to?

God knows how I'm gonna be prepared for the 11th, this is like a years worth of listening right here.

(If it doesn't have a cover or tracklisting on allmusic, it can go fuck itself unless you guys say to include it.)

ok i'm up to 1967 and this is already a ridiculous and pointless task.

spotify doesn't even have a copy of Cold Sweat (the album)! What is the point of life?

You can make an open list, yes - can't remember how but I did it once and it was easy enough iirc.

WHY ARE SO MANY SHITTY COMPS NAMED THE SAME THING AS ACTUAL ALBUMS HE MADE? FUUUUUUUUUCK YOU THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO SKIM MONEY OFF THIS DUDE.

its has two 'say it loud' 's but not the proper album. because its not like its a famous or important record or anything, no-one will notice.

i think this may be my favourite album cover ever:

http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/jbrevolutionofhemind.jpg

Say It Loud is there, but only as a part of a two-fer with Sex Machine:

http://open.spotify.com/album/7vFlxjBvt8xWRv18vOeObQ

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd300/d345/d3453454wd0.jpg

i'm back, also help me my face is melting

cheers!

http://open.spotify.com/user/sutrarama/playlist/1S4ZXWiFXw8KsSBteVlsMs

^^^me going through the list of 'main albums' on allmusic to see what their was. going out now but later i'll do live albums, jbs etc.

I can't even fathom slogging through all of his albums, not just because there's so many (which there are) but because there's so much garbage

I mean how many different versions of Cold Sweat are there for ex.

the only (?) James Brown track to feature an analog synthesizer

btw I was definitely wrong about this there are a bunch of other JBs tracks w/analog synth - I think they're all on the same album tho

Well, he's not going to spend all that money and only use it on one track.

This is fucking hard. I'm tempted to just skim a few of the singles comps, Funky People, and some '70s albums and pull the rest from Star Time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwhSkEwlf9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXKLVcvu-y0&feature=related

i went hard on this poll, no ballads (not that jb ballads aren't great, but there's just too much funk)

^^^where I'm goin too, I think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdi2q5Q9y50

always thought this version was amazing - would've fit right in on The Payback LP if it was stretched out to 10 minutes like the other songs

There's sooooooooooo much stuff I've got to listen to before I can make my ballot, but I want to echo what someone said upthread and recommend people check out 'People Get Up And Drive Your Funky Soul'.

Thank you Naive Teen Idol - I've had the bassline to Funky President (People It's Bad) stuck in my head for about five years with (until tonight) no idea what song it was.

Both Black Caesar and Slaughter's Big Rip Off are worth checking out if we're talking soundtracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC2ZY2loo74

b-side of "Think '73," and George Harrison's favorite version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u0OwmlNfF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07SWjWaOxc4

I'm having King Heroin very high on my list.

I kinda wish there were "session box sets" for a bunch of this stuff, like with Miles Davis. The released version of "Papa Don't Take No Mess", for example, is only 4:30, but you just KNOW that song probably went on for 20 minutes.

I love JB's funk as much as anyone, but am I gonna have to put some ballads in my top 10 to right the balance? I mean, someone needs to rep for "Bewildered."

But back on the funk tip, if you don't vote for "Doing it to Death," you don't have an ass and you've got ears like Geir's.

This poll will encompass not only tracks recorded by the Godfather himself, under his own name, from all his various eras and with all his various bands, but also acts JB produced, wrote for, or was otherwise involved with. That includes everyone from the JBs to Lyn Collins to whomever.

Does this stretch to Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul?

To Shakey re. session box sets: yeah, I agree. It was a revelation to hear the full "Super Bad" on the Funk Power - 1970 volume.

Almost all the full versions are on the "Foundations Of Funk", "Funk Power" and "Make It Funky" comps from Polydor. And you NEED every extended jam cause it feels so GOOD after 10 minutes!

the full Papa Don't Take No Mess is on Hell and Make It Funky.

huh I must have known that about Papa Don't Take No Mess but my copy of Hell appears to have vanished... thx for the tip about those comps tho, I'll find those. I really prefer him in extended jam mode, things become very hypnotic

Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing - 14:42

ooh!

ooh indeed - what's that on?

that Polydor Funk Power comp

aha. man, just playing the clips of the two different versions of 'sex machine' here seems to confirm my suspicion that most of the released jb studio cuts are slightly sped/pitched up.

Tempo's proving to be an embarrassingly big thing in what I mark up and what not, because for the vast main body of this stuff there isn't much to distinguish A from B, to my ear at least. 'Man's World' came on in the middle of a run of 1974 cuts today and the contrast was shivering.

god the organ solo in the extended take of Make It Funky is probably Brown's single greatest moment on an instrument

XP Ismael: Focus on the guitar figures and the drumming (not necessarily in that order). Also, discs 2 and 3 of Star Time are pretty unimpeachable for a funk primer, and more varied than most individual albums by dint of being more selective (obviously).

And don't forget about "Doing It To Death."

strictly speaking, Doing it to Death is not a funk song

it is a song that is funky though

I'm not complaining, 75% of this stuff is great! It's just that it's like listening to an endless DJ set, after a while you're aware there was a whole succession of terrific horn solos, jazzy breaks and other awesome moments, but attributing those to track X over Y and Z is hard.

"Make It Funky" from Revolution Of The Mind has one of my all-time favorite JB moments, the "L.A." dialogue with Fred Wesley.

voted. lower reaches of the ballot were kinda random but given the ridiculous volume of high quality material I don't feel like I voted for anything bad per se

the "L.A." dialogue with Fred Wesley.

yeah this is in the studio version on Get On the Good Foot too, always cracks me up

you NEED every extended jam cause it feels so GOOD after 10 minutes!

This is true as well. I'm not sure how much of it is from me getting into a groove with it, and how much is from the dynamic of a really tight band getting into it. I'd like to know their studio set-up, actually.

will be curious to see where my #1 places, I don't think it's a very canonical selection.

i remember reading that they played tracks for so long in the studio because the grooves got deeper as they went on, and the released version would be cut from the best-feeling section(s).

can't find a version of "sex machine '76" anywhere online...

i remember reading that they played tracks for so long in the studio because the grooves got deeper as they went on, and the released version would be cut from the best-feeling section(s).

yeah this jibes with the account in Fred Wesley's bio (which is a great read btw)

that's probably where i read it!

Is there a decent James Brown bio...? I assume his autobio is all self-aggrandizing nonsense, but I wonder if anyone ever really got close enough to him and those around him to really get the story. (JB's use of cocaine, for example, seems self-evident, but many bios of him appear to totally gloss over this)

this 9-minute version of Superbad is nuts - some serious "out" solo-ing going on with Maceo

three ballots in. nine days and change to go.

So is I Know You Got Soul eligible or not?

why wouldn't it be?

produced by James Brown, with the JBs iirc

Just checking, I don't want to waste a vote.

this 9-minute version of Superbad is nuts - some serious "out" solo-ing going on with Maceo

that's pee wee ellis iirc. i've always kinda hated that solo.

urgent update: wiki says that the sax player is robert mccullough, not pee wee.

huh. it definitely... stands out.

one thing about these longer versions is it's funny to hear James call out someone to do a solo and then berate them at the same time and/or cut them off when they don't deliver

the Polydor Funk Power comp is so great

the full "Super Bad" is what got me to finally make the effort to try to "get" jazz, no lie; kinda think JB would be down with that. to me he's the central American artist, like if you had to boil down American music into one person, he's the one.

there's a reason all those Blue Note jazz guys covered James Brown

Above all else the worse thing about ILX is all the try-hard, if-you-like-Vanilla-Ice-but-don't-listen-to-Three-6-Mafia-you-must-be-racist bullshit hyperbole. That said, I genuinely think that if you don't like James Brown you should be made to stand barefoot on upturned plugs before being shot out of a cannon into the caldera of an active volcano.

urgent update: wiki says that the sax player is robert mccullough, not pee wee.

― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), Wednesday, November 2, 2011 5:53 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Always loved that solo. On subsequent parts of "Super Bad," you can hear JB say, "Trane!" It's a nice affirmation that, yes, James Brown listened to late-period Coltrane.

but it's such a terrible example of out playing, and feels weirdly abrupt and tokenistic.

I'm way too much of a novice to participate in this, but I'm psyched to use it as a guide to explore beyond Star Time

xp I actually think it's incredibly effective, and works perfectly within the context of the song. McCullough sounds like someone who was aware of the new music without being a student of it (although his phrasing and smearing bear a striking resemblance to trumpeter Dewey Johnson); nonetheless, he plays with reverence, and approaches his solo in a way no established saxophonist in the new music would have.

Doran you think if you like Vanilla Ice and not the 3 6 you aren't a lil bit racist?

If you think I'm falling into this trap you're tripping. I'm holding Vanilla Ice out of the window by his ankles and listening to 'Blow A Nigga's Ass Off', so leave me out of it.

guys there will be no talk of race or racism on this james brown thread.

Now's as good of a place as any to recount the James Brown story my friend had. His friend was a session player, I believe, who fould himself recording with James one day, playing keyboards. There was this monster groove going, and everyone was having a good time, so this friend of a friend moves from the lower keyboard to the one above it. Immediately, James Brown yells for everyone to stop, then turns to him and scolds: "What are you doing up there?! You have no *business* playing on the upper register!!"

You don't fuck with a good pocket, especially when the Godfather's calling the shots. I bet JB had ears like a fox, too.

JB is soooooo great I really never got into funk beyond him. I've heard plenty, and it's fine, but it's not as utterly entrancing as hearing JB grunt and groan through stuff like "Mother Popcorn". Holy crap, that one...

the 13 minute version of Papa Don't Take No Mess is not long enough

No "Cottage for Sale" on YouTube!

I've listened to 105 different tunes, of which 43 have made it onto my list, so I could turn in a ballot now but that'd feel like a dereliction of duty because it's not like I'm down to dreck yet. Otoh the discography's long enough that you could go on forever, so I'm going to have to say 'that'll do' at some point.

the 13 minute version of Papa Don't Take No Mess is not long enough

^^^

otoh I kinda feel like I never want/need to hear "I Got You (I Feel Good)" ever again

http://www.theonion.com/articles/bad-to-the-bone-to-be-used-in-film,3903/

I went through a similar thing with Sex Machine in the 90s. It was like Soul Brother #1's Blue Monday or Window Licker. Sure it was a good tune but it was the only JB tune you'd ever hear in your run of the mill club. It was just played out.

But I heard it again recently and it blew my socks off. And if I'm not mistaken, written and recorded in a few hours and Catfish and Bootsy's first recorded contribution to his back catalogue.

Okay, 'Recitation By Hank Ballard' is kinda great - what's the backing track though? It is totally my smoky thing.

'America Is My Home' is really amazing. He's so happy to be from America, he won't hear a bad word against it.

I mean, how do you write something like that? Tempted to make it #1 for its simple charm.

"write" is being a bit generous with "Recitation by Hank Ballard"

I can't remember what the backing track is, altho I remember it being cited in the liner notes of the CD

write 'America Is My Home', I mean - I can't imagine sitting down with those lyrics and not trying to sabotage them in some way

never heard it but now i'm curious

I think the backing track on Recitation is "World"...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHFcgq5Bkvo

It is 'World Pt I', thanks and xp. It's on Singles Volume Six and it's completely marvellous, though the lead is totally different (guitar and something else in place of that smoky trumpet sound)

voted!

that was painful, but it had to be done

Would it be sacrilege to vote for this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PG-W7-y7sE
Only I bought it when I was 14 and that's where I heard nearly all of those tunes for the first time

Maybe a bit, but I'll be voting for 'Living In America' so what do I know?

I've reached 'Hot (I Need To Be Loved)' - was amazed to discover that Bowie had so nakedly and shamelessly ripped it off for 'Fame'. Then I looked it up, and turns out it was the other way round.

yeah that's pretty legendary

Carlos Alomar played with James Brown prior to joining Bowie's band iirc

five ballots so far: ismael, shakey, gospodin, jordan, and mark. come on y'all.

like i might find a way to destroy this place if a fucking blur poll gets more ballots than jb.

Instant acknowledgement, I like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuQOCMd2mI

a fucking blur poll

Might not vote now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIXqmt0zw3Y&feature=related

was there anyone else that did the "Free James Brown" bit besides the Beasties and B.A.D.

ok i have listened to zero jb since this opened because i'm a fool. i will get in a ballot, but it may be in at the last hour.

like i'll just spend wed/thurs/fri listening to 40 hours of j-beezy, like i did with the stevie poll.

You gave us until the 11th for a reason, strongo, don't wig out just yet.

Always loved the rambling stream-of-consciousness on this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Fq_h8s76Q

Voted

I will vote, I promise

bump

what wufs said - bump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5uttI87Xko

well in that case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTdOcumz0wY

Hope to have my votes in soon.

Came up with a great drinking game foe James, as I was listening last night.

Every time he says "lookie here," you have to take a drink. fun times.

Going out of town tomorrow, so I'll get my ballot done today. Everybody vote!

Every time he says "lookie here," you have to take a drink. fun times.

If you only did that with the Revolution Of The Mind version of "Make It Funky," you'd die of alcohol poisoning.

my laptop dying and my jbeezy downloads and half-formed list going with it means i may just send an easy 10. boo technology.

VOTED VOTED VOTED

Got my ballot, just gotta put the songs in order.

How many ballots are in now?

you make six.

guh!

voted

trying to put together a ballot, hopefully i will either stay awake long enough to finish it tonight or get home early enough to finish it tomorrow

The Hell version of "I Can't Stand It" is one of my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UdtmOsdggo

Is there a thread about the phenomenon of folks releasing studio recordings with fake "live" applause overdubbed? (ala "Sex Machine" et al) Never quite saw the point of that myself...is it supposed to add extra "excitement" or something?

Um...

five ballots so far: ismael, shakey, gospodin, jordan, and mark. come on y'all.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Monday, 7 November 2011 22:47 (4 days ago)

Voted
― Mister Potato shares Manchester United’s commitment to (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Tuesday, 8 November 2011 22:32 (3 days ago)

VOTED VOTED VOTED
― Steamtable Willie (WmC), Friday, 11 November 2011 01:43 (6 hours ago)

How many ballots are in now?
― Steamtable Willie (WmC), Friday, 11 November 2011 01:53 (5 hours ago)

you make six.
― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Friday, 11 November 2011 02:03 (5 hours ago)

Are you saying you didn't get mine?

Bump. JB's a (uniquely?) hard artist to do, but he deserves better than this.

I mean, come on!

Unless you all want to sack this one and do a SMiths poll instead!

gonna try to get one in today so keep bumping this thread please, just can't be around here much these days & mostly away from intense music listening too lately

Bump. JB's a (uniquely?) hard artist to do, but he deserves better than this.

I think he is hard to do. Too hard for me at the moment anyway.

nine so far (including yrs nb&s), and mine will eventually make ten.

i'm into extending the voting if more people think they will vote.

I'll get mine in before midnight tonight, but I think you should hold out for at least 20 ballots. Even that is awfully low for the most important American musician of the last half-century. COME ON, ILM.

gah, can you plz extend voting?

Even that is awfully low for the most important American musician of the last half-century. COME ON, ILM.

real talk

okay, okay. VOTING IS EXTENDED FOR ONE WEEK. this poll's voting now closes FRIDAY NOV. 18 AT MIDNIGHT. (can someone -- wmc? -- change the thread title to reflect this?)

thanks to everyone who actually got a ballot in on time.

just sent mine in.

smokin hot band, freakin timeless good time music.

forget "difficult" or "important," this shit will tower over sad computer produced music for a 1000 years to come.

Word.

Got the thread title -- everybody vote!

Ballot sent with minutes to spare!

(oh wait, i see we've got another week now...)

awesome, i will definitely find time to do some serious listening and come up with a good ballot now

BUMP AND VOTE AND BUMP SOME MORE

haha wmc is shepherding this better than i am at the moment.

btw folks, in terms of roll-out, since we'll be bumping right up against thanksgiving here in the states, which would you prefer: a monday to wednesday results (21st to 23rd) or wait until the following week?

xpost -- No worries -- Armand Ratfucker demonstrated on the jazz albums poll that shamelessly irritating the fuck out of everybody is an effective method for getting votes.

has everybody voted...?

plz don't do Wednesday results, I'm gonna be in the car all day!

has anybody voted...?

lol exactly

most importantly, has geir voted

Geir doesn't vote in these.

yeah that was a little joke

votey vote vote people

this thread needs to be bumped every hour or so

Everything on the 'one'

http://blahblahblahscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/james-brown-2.jpg

I'll post anything from blahblahblahscience.com

hello! i haven't gotten too many more ballots! tarfumes, to answer yr email question from today, yes i got yours. that makes 11 so far. (12 with mine, eventually.) let's keep it going people.

basically everyone who's pissing around on, like, that drake thread* should be spending their time listening to james brown imo.

*could say this about many threads, of course, but that's the glaring one near the top of the page at the moment.

i will be listening and shaping my list right down to the deadline but you can count on me

I will send a ballot! Even if it's a poor and ill-considered one.

yeah it's all good dudes. it's not like the deadline is tonight or anything, so y'all still got some time.

also not like it's really possible to make a BAD ballot for this, outside of like putting "living in america" at #1

btw everyone rigging the votes so that #1 and #2 are "living in america" and "soulful christmas" respectively

I need to check my ballot and make sure I didn't accidentally put "living in america" anywhere on it.

i put "living with a hernia" on mine

^ my man

More 70s fucked up JB:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXqmFPCtDKk

Let's go to the discotech and dance your ass off.

There's something for everyone with JB. You could easily make a 40 of pootling, organ-led instrumentals if that's your thing (geir).

only 12 votes wtf

are people just getting poll fatigue?

I'm wondering if it's some combination of a dauntingly huge discography and folks who have a few best-of compilations (or just Star Time) and don't feel qualified to vote.

I think that must be it. I thought it would eventually happen.
xpost

I think it's more that this is an insanely hard one to do. Also forty is a big ask, how many people could even name that many without a bit of research?

i said you could do as few as 20!

but yeah, i knew this would be a tough one. i'm also wondering if ilm's readership seeming to skew younger these days might have something to do with it.

like one weird thing is that i don't know anyone* who would argue against JB's centrality to the last 50 years of pop, but i listen to a lot of classic soul/r&b radio, and you really don't hear him that much. hardly ever, really.

*except geir.

whereas you still hear led zeppelin six to ten times a day on classic rock radio.

and i'm sure there are a lot of people who are aware of jb's influence via rap samples etc, but haven't really dug into the deep cuts.

btw i forget his name, but there's a dj out there who tours with a really deep j.b. set, like holding up placards that say who sampled the tune he's playing and dropping tunes i had never heard. it's edutainment!

And there are so many deep cuts. I checked out about 24 different albums before submitting, and that didn't even cover all the singles, half the key late-60s-early-70s period, or anything after about 1978.

Also he's got a ton of Christmas stuff, I was never even going to scratch the surface with that.

despite my joke above, "soulful christmas" is pretty wonderful.

it's basically a transitional jb tune, between the hard soul stuff and the funk years, with a bunch of christmas ad libs that sounded like they were added at the last minute. and yet somehow make the tune better.

MERRY CHRISTMAS UH AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR I LOVE YA JAMES BROWN LOVES YA

lather, rinse, repeat

http://live.drjays.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/james-brown-jump.jpg

are people just getting poll fatigue?

I don't think so - it's not a case of the same people voting in every poll, is it? Just people voting in the ones they're interested in. (Or is it? I don't know, I haven't even looked at the ones I don't care about).

I think it's much more a case of:
I'm wondering if it's some combination of a dauntingly huge discography and folks who have a few best-of compilations (or just Star Time) and don't feel qualified to vote
and
Also forty is a big ask, how many people could even name that many without a bit of research?

Last day you laggers - get on the good foot and vote!

i am suffering actual fatague. from illness. every day is 'i'll crack out the jb tomorrow because today is now the day of throwing up and sleeping.'

if someone wants to throw Hell, Revolution In My Mind and Black Caesar in a random order to come up w/ my vote, then i'll love you forever.

That excuse wouldn't wash with JB. Imagine Clyde coming in for rehearsals and being all "I'm tired, Godfather, someone switch on the Roland and put on some random 4/4".

i'm travelling and don't have time to do a full vote, but i hope all of you are voting for this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH62yywcECw

oh you can bet I voted for that

and that's just the short version!

another week?

Hope this gets some love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw18rTF5OIQ

Will try making a ballot today. Also: In The Jungle Groove is like the best album evah.

buuuuuuuuuuuump.

It seems odd that there's no James Brown song with "bump" in the title.

Hey wait...
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r12LnrZ02Do/TergrTwLD4I/AAAAAAAABLA/onrJXEQzVaI/s1600/R-1468702-1222075556.jpeg

Good god y'all...
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r12LnrZ02Do/TergrTwLD4I/AAAAAAAABLA/onrJXEQzVaI/s1600/R-1468702-1222075556.jpeg

I love that head shot on the label.

have often wondered what exactly the double bump is...

If this photo is any indication, it's very painful:
http://images.music-story.com/img/album_J_400/james-brown-everybody-s-doin-the-hustle-dead-on-the-double-bump.jpg

Sent from irl email.

voted!

okay NOW vote people

HELLLO???

also i really hope this is stet trolling geir

argh can't remember name of most recent rolling rap thread...

can i still vote in this?

jess seemed kind of relieved that the poll was unofficially open-ended because of the server problems and i don't remember him clarifying on the sandbox what would happen when we got back on the main board, but i think people who haven't voted should just keep sending him ballots and hopefully that'll motivate him to show up and close the polls and do the results whenever he's ready.

Damn, y'all, I vote in exactly TWO polls (this one & shakey's producer/engineer thing back in October) and BOTH times the results are delayed by a server crash! Better not to vote in any more just to be safe.

I wasn't sure Jess even knows we're back up... emailed him yesterday.

You know what is a great, great, GREAT track that I don't hear repped for much?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPMtIsOjaeo

wow wtf never even heard/heard of that one. continually amazed at how deep the catalog is

I think it might actually have been released as a pee wee ellis track? Or perhaps released under both respective names separately. But it's on a JB singles collection.

so is this just dead

:(

It had better not be, I spent about a week on mine.

I demand the results

Get (them) up

Were the poll results a casualty of the ILX outage? Is there still time to vote?

Lost steam with the discography but would certainly submit if given another shot.

i e-mailed jess about the idea of either setting an end date or passing it on to me or someone else to finish compiling and posting the results, i'll let y'all know if i hear anything back from him.

I'll take up the cause of tallying votes if no one else will. but people will have to re-send their ballots to me I guess...? Unless you wanna take over some dude

Where do you want 'em?

I guess people can just send them to conditionofmuzak at yahoo dot com. Unless some dude objects?

I'll try to figure out a deadline for submittals... I'd like to get more people to vote, plus I need time to re-do my ballot, which I think I've lost :(

voted

mods can we change the deadline to Friday, March 2nd...? and uh also note that stuff should be sent to me and not jess.

don't ask me, ask strongo! he's posted a bunch in the last few days!

he has? I haven't seen him

yeah i saw him post on a thread

voted

well unless jess explicitly comes in this thread and objects I'm takin this over I guess

why dont you add all the james brown tracks/albums to a spotify list

i e-mailed jess...shakey i suggest you like hold your horses for a goddamn second and do the same, just to be nice

sure no worries

fwiw I am spotify-illiterate/disabled kerr

you have spotify right? I'll do a playlist for you if you come in my funk/soul/disco soundrop room on spotify just click http://open.soundrop.fm/s/Vrth5L5e9bud3hKk

nah. I have a personal axe to grind against spotify

here's some JB albums anyway for everyone else
http://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/0OsqkC9t5hl4rYUEx7kcG3

so...

...you e-mailed jess?

new thread?

no new thread until the original poll runner gives permission, enough with this hostile takeover shit

and how long are we going to wait for that then

i dunno. what do people think is reasonable? the whole board going down/moving to the sandbox kind of fucked up the timing of it, it's not like he just dropped the whole thing out of nowhere. but seriously -- we waited a couple months, what's a few more days or whatever to just not be a dick about it?

some dude did jess reply to your email?

nope

I personally welcome the revote, so I can give much more love to Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose, which was inexplicably low on my last ballot.

^My (spoiler alert) #1.

I don't mean to be a dick about it, but people have been e-mailing jess about this for over a month now

yeah i get that it's not ideal and that's on him. but i a) don't see what the rush is, if this gets resolved tomorrow or in another month and b) don't understand where anybody gets off asking mods to change HIS thread without HIS permission.

and i fully understand that he may show up and laugh at the fuss i'm making and say i shouldn't have bothered, but i am bothering on the off chance that that's NOT how he would feel

it's cool

I just didn't want this thread to die a lonely death is all

yeah, i respect that.

jess is probably just busy. im sure he will reply or post in here once he has a chance

yeah let's wait

have a listen to http://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/0OsqkC9t5hl4rYUEx7kcG3

subscribe to it, the whole of Star Time box set is on there

...

Yeah get a move on Shakey, it's obviously terra nullius

I admit part of my antsiness is that we've been going through our LP collection alphabetically at home and we just got up to the end of the Bs.

I emailed him on Jan 3rd, no response. I think we should get things moving under the SMC regime.

http://2trak.com/hands_twiddling_thumbs_lg_clr.gif

ive seen him posting

he might be one of those who dont use new answers or site new answers and only goes via bookmarks.
but i assumed if he did that then this thread would be bookmarked

if you love POLL RESULTS NOW more than you love jess fucking harvell then you should get the fuck off this board imo

I love jess fucking harvell but the facts that he's been getting emails from ilxors for six weeks, has been posting here and there on ilx for the last couple of weeks, and hasn't appeared on this thread at all, all add up to an explicit "go ahead y'all" it seems to me.

i just don't understand the rush, there is literally no reason (besides Shakey alphabetizing his vinyl) that it has to be rushed through without his OK. stop whining about how hard it is to get in touch with him and get in touch with him.

if for no other reason than that jess already HAS a bunch of people's ballots and may have even tabulated them, which would save anyone who would be finishing organizing the poll a ton of work

dont you think they've been trying?
wm how about giving jess a yellow card with the message? At least it will get some dude to calm down.

I would webmail jess if I saw him on a thread but I have no idea what his display name is at the moment

'strongo hulkington's ghost dad' -- put it in search & 'newest posts' and see all the threads he's been posting in

hello all. honestly, i completely forgot all about this while ilx was down. i do apologize. all ilx webmail goes to my gmail account which i never use, hence why i didnt see/hear/remember until wmc facebook messaged me. i *did* tabulate everything. if shakey wants to run the results, that's fine by me. i wont have two weekdays off in a row until next weds/thurs to roll things out myself.

haha awesome, thanks for showing up dude

Ah, I figured yr gmail acct was reasonably active since that's what you sent yr Zeppelin ballot from. Thanks for checking in!

huzzah! good to see you jess

I'm cool with waiting for the results, especially if it means getting some more ballots in (but maybe that's wishful thinking...?)

would be good if we could change the dates in the thread title tho, so people would know they still have like a week to vote...?

can I still send a ballot? I got kinda lost at the end of the year being on the road a bunch, but I can whip one out in five minutes if you'll take it. if not nbd obviously

if people wanna send in more ballots until (say) friday at midnight est usa, i'd be okay with that. it'd give me time to re-tab over the weekend.

otherwise i will plan to roll out the list on weds and thurs of next.

obviously i'll be checking the gmail address if people want to send in more ballots.

awesome

need mod to change thread title

cool, thanks! voted

title updated

Fuck yeah, now I can vote and not feel like a hypocrite for trying to shame people into voting back in November and then forget about doing it myself.

this'll be kind of cool, now we can have the Jacksons poll results as an opening act for JB

yeah everyone vote who still thinks they want to. i got euler's.

that makes 18 (including mine). maybe we can get it to 20?

Outscoring the Jacksons then - godfather pwning king, I like it.

Ballot sent!

Outscoring the Jacksons then - godfather pwning king, I like it.

^^^

vote for the most important musical artist of the latter half of the 20th century ya goons!

otm

if MJ gets more votes than JB something is wrong

MJ has sold like 50 times as many records as JB so worrying about who gets a handful more votes on a message board poll is pretty beside the point

"something is wrong" is always a reasonable conclusion to reach

some times it's the small victories that count

EXCITED

well, don't be.

okay, funk fans. here is where i have to hang my head in shame and bow out entirely. back when these polls were being claimed/assigned to everyone, my life wasn't half as batshit insane as it has become. no excuses obviously, and i do apologize. but between work (which is sadly not the kinda job where i'll be at a computer all day able to roll these things out when no one's looking) and family stuff, i just can't find a couple extra hours in the day at the moment. i really was planning on making a valiant effort today, but instead i am back at my job, and i don't want to string everyone along any further. if shakey mo still wants to take over the roll-out, he's welcome to my tabulations. (i can email them after i get home from work tonight. probably around midnight est.) and i promise to never attempt to be responsible for anything on the internet ever again.

nothin beats a try but a fail

hey it's nice just to get it all settled finally, good of you to figure that out now and bow out instead of drawing it out any further strongo.

yeah, sorry it hasn't worked out.

and I'll totally do the roll-out, just send what you've got to my ilx mail and I'll take care of it

You could've made that post shorter and used the time for a top 5 rundown strongo

(just kidding, it doesn't matter who does it and we probably would never have had JB without you, so thanks & hope the pressure eases back soon)

First thing, hope real life eases up on you soon, strongo.
2nd thing, thanks for receiving the ballots and doing the math. Shit, that's 90% of the headache right there.

Thanks in advance to Shakey for taking care of the rollout.

2nd thing, thanks for receiving the ballots and doing the math. Shit, that's 90% of the headache right there.

yeah definitely - results roll-out is comparatively easy

the results are now in shakey's and (the) god(father)'s hands now.

huge new bio

I've never seen a decent bio of him, looking forward to this