JAMES BROWN - THERE IT IS

[JSngry]

Just finished a micro-mini 30 minute obsessive replay of this song, neither the first time I've done so (not by a long shot) nor the longest (ditto - the longest would be about 1 week, although not non-stop, obviously).

I'm becoming convinced that as great and epochal as JBs King years were, that this one song might be his heaviest moment. Unlike most, nearly all, of his Polydor output, the band here is HOT funky, not just groovy funky. The wah-wah chicken scratch guitar is the type of thing that Miles was into, no doubt courtesy of JB, but here they actually get into that EVIL vibe that Miles made his own. The bassist his holding it down and wouldn't give it up even if you put pistol to his head and another one up his ass. The drummer is, like on any happenin' JB side, locked into Brown's mind, soul, body, and feet whether he wants to be or not. Brown had a SERIOUS mojo in those years, and nobody got caught up in it musically more than his drummers.

"So what?", you'd be well excused for thinking. "That's James Brown for ya'". And you're right. What trips me out about this cut is, don't laugh, the lyrics. The standard for funky internal psychodrama lyrics is nearly always cited as Sly's THERE'S A RIOT GOING ON (justifyably so), and Prince in general (somewhat justified imo). But what the hell got into JB when he cut this one? There's enough ambiguity and internal conflict coming out of this man's grunts, squeals, screams, and decidedly non-linear stream-of-consciousness variations on a loosely preset lyric to scare the shit out of anybody who has just a fraction of the same thing going on inside themselves (and that's most of us, if we're honest).

No, these aren't "lyrics" in the tradititonal Tin Pan Alley sense. These are more like symbols, shorthand, with a phrase of just two or three words conveying a fullbodied scenario worth the proverbial thousand words, and this scenario is of a man haunted by time closing in on him for no particualr reason other than that's the nature of he beast, and by a pathological fear that somebody, ANYBODY is going to run a game on him and bygod that's NOT going to happen. These lyrics take HARD left turns - one minute he's pumped as hell that his main thing is in town, so pumped that he wants her to get up in front of everybody and do her thing. Why? So the world can see that her game don't mean nothing to him. Then he's off to the Georgia sun, home sweet home, where he's gonna "wiggle". You'd think he'd be happy, and oh yeah he is, at least until when, literally out of nowhere, time starts getting short and he's got to move because, yeah, you can't run a game on him.

It's a harrowing ride, I tell you, if you can set aside the "typical" tendency to pay less attention to Brown's actual words that their rhythmic placing and colorations. Franklyn Ajaye's old joke about the James Brown lyric sheet rings true, for sure. But here, there seems to be something really, REALLY deep going on in the lyrics, something primal, like the man who made it a point to be TOTALLY invincible to all emotional peril finally got scared shitless once too often and once too heavily and had to battle it out in public, in front of a microphome and a band to be captured for the whole world to witness in a desperate attempt to banish the demons through public humiliation, not private triumph.

There's three choruses here. The first is straightforward enough, at least in JB terms, although it's obvious that the heat is turned up WAY high, higher than anything he'd done in a while, and possibly, POSSIBLY, higher than anything he'd done before. The second is where things start getting really scary, what with Brown literally fighting with his emotions, getting caught up in a lyrical phrase/emotional meaning and wrestling it into submission. Or so he hopes - the third chorus doen't sound too optimistic in this regard, as Brown resorts to nonverbal communication of the same claustrophobic sentiments of the lyrics, and he is DEEP into it, as sharp in his timing, as fiery in his temperature, and as deep in the pocket as he's EVER been. And oh yeah, these "typical" Brown grunts, squeals, and screams come in a decidedly NON-typical flow, conveying the sound and feel of a man who feels terrifyingly close to being trapped once and for all and is using his resources to punch his way out, the same way that Ali would rope-a-dope and bust-a-move when the time was right. Only, Ali KNEW that he had the upper hand, and Brown doesn't sound like he knows ANY such thing, only that you're not going to run a game on him and recognizing, for once, and with horrific if fleeting clarity, that quite possibly, by not letting that happen that he's being his own worst enemy, but dammit, that's ALL he knows and it damn well BETTER work.

Seperating the three choruses are two intervals of electric piano (Wurlitzer?), played by Brown. Now, this guy was NOT a "player" by any stretch of the imagination - he had a hip bag of tricks that he employed artfully, but that was it. Hipper than shit, but not a player with a deep well to go to, if you know what I mean (although his work on "Papa Don't Take No Mess" comes REAL close to making me reconsider that assessment...) Here, however, his electric piano work serves the function of a fighter's time in the corner between rounds. You can hear him getting his thoughts together, giving himself advice and tips, all in anticipation of the next round. And in the second interval, you can here him REALLY getting anxious about Round Three, and sure enough, Round Three is the one where words don't suffice anymore, where he takes the battle to the abstract realm, perhaps because he senses he's not winning it taking his typical tact.

Many people have made many attempts to convey the greatness of James Brown in his prime, and I'll not even attempt to do that - the music literally speaks for itself, no words are going to be as great as the actual music. But I'm sure I'm not the only person who's wondered what made this guy tick, what drove him to such superhuman heights, just what made him SO damn super bad, how he could say "HIT ME" so defiantly, so confidently, so GODDAMN sure that it wouldn't hurt, or if it did, that he wiould be stronger than the hurt, MUCH stronger, strong enough to laugh it off and kick it's ass with the goodfoot. Just what the hell was going on inside this motherfucker anyway, this man would be king, who WAS king, and who in his own mind would always be king, not just of his world, or THE world, but of ALL THAT EVER WAS OR WOULD BE? Well, for whatever reason, consciously or not, I think he let us see all the way inside himself for just once, opened the door for us to see, and dared us not to flinch, gave us a chance to get hit with the same shit that he'd been hitting himself with for God knows how long, perhaps forever...

Yeah - there it is. Indeed.

Hit me.

Edited September 14, 2003 by JSngry

[Noj]

Great read as usual JSngry. I broke out my copy of THERE IT IS for a proper soundtrack to your words.

[John L]

Nice post, Jim. I am sure that "There it is" has never received a more detailed examination. Your text reads the way that Greil Marcus would probably write if he were able to write in a coherent and understandable manner.

I will never listen to "There it is" the same way again.

Despite all of the recognition, I still contend that James Brown is underrated and underappreciated. He changed American music in the 20th century as much as anyone. Even his band members underestimated his role in the mix. When his illustrious bands quit him in the 60s and 70s, Brown responded by putting together a group of relative unknowns who, within a couple years time, were playing the best funk on the planet. There was only one common denominator and that was James.

Good God!

[Joe G]

Thanks Jim. I just went to BMG and ordered some JB. I found THERE IT IS on a 2cd complilation of late 60's early 70's stuff. I think it was called The Big Payback-Make It Funky. Also ordered Funk Power.

[Eric]

Jim/Others,

What lp (CD) is the best place to find this tune?

Thanks,

Eric

[JSngry]

Probably the 2CD set that JoeG mentions. Uneven, as were those years, but enough killer stuff to make it worthwhile, and then some. Good liner notes too.

You can get the actual THERE IT IS album on CD, but I don't know but that the amount of filler on there ends up making it less of a value than the 2CD set in the long run.

[John L]

Can we assign your essay in Philosophy 280B (Existentialism)?

[Chuck Nessa]

This made me remember an evening in our apartment in 1967 or 8. Lester Bowie and Roscoe Mitchell were visiting, playing records, drinking, bull shitting, etc - Lester went into a 10 minute animated lecture on the supreme qualities of the current JBs. "They are BAD Jack!".

Edited September 14, 2003 by Chuck Nessa

[JSngry]

Can we assign your essay in Philosophy 280B (Existentialism)?

Screw my essay, assign the RECORD!

[JSngry]

Chuck, Lester was one who should know, eh?

Fred Wesley's memoirs have been published just recently. Highly recommended, and worthy of a thread of its own. Tomorrow, perhaps...

The '67 JB band? Maceo, Clyde Stubblefield, PeeWee Ellis, Waymon Reed, Jimmy Nolan....yeah, they WAS bad!

Edited September 15, 2003 by JSngry

[Harold_Z]

I guess I have what was the first side of the 45 - "THERE IT IS - PT 1 on the JB STARTIME set. It's a burner for sure. Just one Wurlitzer (definitely) chorus. Saxes are groovin'! I wonder if the recording date can ever be pinned down - I have a feeling it's earlier than the 1972 date given in the box . Don't know for sure -but it sounds like that to me.

Two notes on the bass...and he's killin' them!

Edited September 15, 2003 by Harold_Z

[Soul Stream]

Jim, I don't know what took longer. Cutting the tune, or your reply! I don't think James even thought about it that much. Dude, you NEED to get a job reviewing shit. MOJO Magazine NEEDS your insane enthusiasm on such matters.

[Jim Alfredson]

Just one Wurlitzer (definitely) chorus.

Definately.

[mikeweil]

Thanks a lot, Jim, for that lecture ... as underappreciated as JB is, the band members are just as underrated for their contributions to the architecture of funk: Pee Wee Ellis, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and all those rhythm cats. They really were bad motorcycles. I listened to that stuff for hours way back then, 'cause I liked it much more than all the white rock stuff, it had so much more groove, and I tried to figure out whar was African about that music, because it appeared so deep black to me. Sometimes the interplay between horns or in the rhythm section are purely African in structure.

I'd recommend the Polydor Chronicles compilations over the original LP's or their CD counterparts: their playing time is much longer, they omitt the lesser tunes and present the development of the music in chronological order, often in extendedversions and the commentaries are excellent.

Soul Pride: The Instrumentals 1960-1669 - Polydor 517 845-2

Foundations Of Funk - A Brand New Bag: 1964-1969 Polydor 531 165-2

Funk Power - 1970: A Brand New Thang - Polydor Chronicles 531 684-2

Make It Funky: The Big Payback 1971-1975 - Polydor Chronicles 533 052-2

Indispensable are the live recordings:

Live at the Apollo, Volume II - Polydor deluxe edition 549 884-2

Love Power Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971 - Polydor 513 389-2 (the only live recording of the Collins brothers lineup.

HIT IT!!!

[JSngry]

I don't think James even thought about it that much.

Exactly!

That's why it's such a gut punch emotionally. There it is, as raw as it's ever been. But what is "it"?

THAT'S what got me to thinking, after I recovered from that gut punch. And that took a good long while.

Brown was deep. Maybe an "idiot savant" of sorts, if you want to believe what some of his ex-sidemen say, not literally, just figuratively. But the deepness of the savant far outweighed the shallowness of the idiot, at least for a good long time.

[JSngry]

I'd recommend the Polydor Chronicles compilations over the original LP's or their CD counterparts: their playing time is much longer, they omitt the lesser tunes and present the development of the music in chronological order, often in extendedversions and the commentaries are excellent.

Soul Pride: The Instrumentals 1960-1669 - Polydor 517 845-2

Foundations Of Funk - A Brand New Bag: 1964-1969 Polydor 531 165-2

Funk Power - 1970: A Brand New Thang - Polydor Chronicles 531 684-2

Make It Funky: The Big Payback 1971-1975 - Polydor Chronicles 533 052-2

Indispensable are the live recordings:

Live at the Apollo, Volume II - Polydor deluxe edition 549 884-2

Love Power Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971 - Polydor 513 389-2 (the only live recording of the Collins brothers lineup.

Totally agreed, Mike, and I'd add SAY IT LIVE AND LOUD, a monster live gig recorded in 1968 in beautiful downtown Dallas, and another of the Chronicles series, DEAD ON THE HEAVY FUNK 1975-83. The latter is REALLY uneven, covering as it does the years where Brown really seemed to lose his way and DEFINITELY lost his commercial appeal. But even though it takes 8 years to get 2 CDs worth of good stuff (compare that to the other sets), the best of this stuff is not to be trifled with.

If you do vinyl, and if you get REAL lucky, you might find SOUL ON TOP, a late 60s collaboration between JB & the Louis Bellson Orchestra, w/arrangements by Oliver Nelson. This bad boy is a GROOVE, the occasional silly number notwithstanding. Yeah, it swings, and Oliver's charts are NOT throwaways.

Also on vinyl only (afaik) is TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE CAKES, which is partially covered in the DEAD ON...Chronicles set, but is really worth having on its own if you can find it. Some heavy grooves going on there, and it sounds like it ws recorded live in the studio just like the good stuff of yore.

Classic cover, too...

[John L]

...DEAD ON THE HEAVY FUNK 1975-83. The latter is REALLY uneven, covering as it does the years where Brown really seemed to lose his way and DEFINITELY lost his commercial appeal. But even though it takes 8 years to get 2 CDs worth of good stuff (compare that to the other sets), the best of this stuff is not to be trifled with.

You're getting the 9:14 version of "Get Up Off of That Thing" here. So what else could you possibly need??????

Maybe the devasting 12:00 remake of Sex Machine:

When I ride, I want to glide,

I need to ease my glide,

I need cushions in my ride,

I need cushions in my ride

Now THERE is some deep existentialist shit.

[JSngry]

Yeah, that SEX MACHINE kills. Another example of a classic album cover too:

In the late 70s, it seemed like you could find JB stuff in the used LP bins cheap and plentiful. Oh yes you could...

[Noj]

Yeah, that SEX MACHINE kills. Another example of a classic album cover too:

In the late 70s, it seemed like you could find JB stuff in the used LP bins cheap and plentiful. Oh yes you could...

Inevitably I start to think I was born late.

[John L]

You could even die back then as long you were dead on the double bump.

[riverrat]

Joining this thread late to add my $.02. We used to bring a personal cassette player with battery powered speakers on Colorado River trips.

I know this sounds like blasphemy in one the world's greatest wildernesses, but we never played it during the day, and the trips have a definite social component, especially in the evenings after dark and a few refreshments. Many evenings were fairly calm, spent stargazing, sitting around the campfire (fall trips) and the like, but at least a few times each trip, people really feel like partying.

Eight or nine days into a 2-week trip, and following a day of huge whitewater was a fine time to break out the tunes and pop in my "best of" James Brown tape, culled from the 4 CD "Star Time" box.

"There It Is" was the first cut, and by half way through the tape we could have even the stodgiest, middle aged, conservative clients dancing on the beach like tribesmen (and women). Really letting their hair down. Nothing did to 'em like ol' JB!

Edited September 16, 2003 by riverrat

[John L]

When I was in high school and we made the rounds to the parties on Friday and Saturday night, the first thing we would look for were the Brown records. No Brown? We were gone. It didn't matter how many fine single ladies were there.

Before long, we got smart and never came to a party Brownless. We started to Brown bag it.

Fellas ah...(boom-boom-boom)...a brand new funk ah...(boom-boom-boom)...a brand new funk....ah

Edited September 16, 2003 by John L

[Joe G]

BYOB: bring your own Brown.

[Noj]

More essential JB:

BLACK CAESAR

IN THE JUNGLE GROOVE

SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP OFF

[undergroundagent]

I actually prefer "Black Caesar" as my album of choice, but that's more JB's that anything.