Tony Camillo

 

 

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get the week started with something smooth, and a little bit funky.

‘The Black Motion Picture Experience’ LP, credited to the Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds has long been a crate diggers staple, packed as it is with rerecordings of early 70s Blaxploitation soundtrack heavies.

As popular as it is, the LP has continued to elude me in the field. However, a few months back I was out digging and what should I turn up, but the 45 you see before you.

The big question for me, was always, who is ‘Cecil Holmes’?

The answer, as it turns out, is someone who had little or nothing to do with this record.

The Cecil Holmes that gave the record his name was a record executive (prominently for Casablanca Records).

There were a few different projects released sporting his name in the early 70s, including the Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds, and the Cecil Holmes Orchestra.

What both of these groups have in common, beside the lack of any direct musical involvement by Holmes, is the guiding hand of Tony Camillo.

Best remembered for his 1975 disco/funk hit ‘Dynomite!’ (credited to Tony Camillo’s Bazuka), Camillo was a NY/NJ-based composer/arranger/producer.

‘The Black Motion Picture Experience’ LP was recorded and released in 1973, featuring a band of East Coast studio heavies.

The track I feature today is their version of Curtis Mayfield’s theme from ‘Superfly’.

Camillo and band take the track, smooth it out and open it up just a bit, turning up the bass and giving the drums plenty of room to snap.

Naturally, things suffer from the absence of the mighty Curtis, but the sounds are still groovy.

There was one more LP by Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds, the slowjam collection ‘Music For Soulful Lovers’ (also 1973), again featuring Camillo.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

 

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

 

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

The Godfather of Soul

For the trainspotters in the crowd, this is the 1970 Capitol Record Club issue of ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’

 

Listen/Download James Brown and the James Brown Band – Use Your Mother

Listen/Download James Brown and the James Brown Band – Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Inst)

 

Greetings all

I had something else planned for today, but then the Missus and I took in a showing of ‘Get On Up’ at the local cinematheque, and those plans changed.

Back some months ago, when trailers started to emerge for the James Brown biopic ‘Get On Up’, I was both excited, and filled with trepidation.

I mean, someone was finally working on a biopic of the Minister of the Super Heavy Funk.

On the flip side of that coin was the thought, ‘Oh, shit, how many ways are there to fuck up such an undertaking?”

Since the last week saw reports from trusted sources start to dribble in, so we decided to catch a matinee.

I am here to tell you that – in the words of the corporate world left behind – my expectations were met, and exceeded.

The first thing you should know about ‘Get On Up’, is that it is quite good.

It certainly had weak spots from time to time, but I have to admit that it stood up relatively well to my own high level of James Brown nitpicking.

Chadwick Boseman, who plays Brown, was amazing, and if he’s not nominated for an Oscar, they need to turn out the lights and shut the doors on that operation.

The performance sequences of the film are fantastic, and beautifully filmed.

The supporting cast, especially Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, was excellent.

If I had a fairly substantial beef with the movie, it would be that whatever (or more importantly, whoever’s) source material was used had an axe to grind with Maceo Parker*.

The way he is portrayed in ‘Get On Up’ seems at the very least unfair. Though it was Parker that led the (just) band revolt against Brown, he is portrayed not only as an incessant complainer, but also seemingly oblivious to the evolution of the funk.

There’s a scene in the film regarding a rehearsal of ‘Cold Sweat’ in which Parker has to be stepped through the paces of the song like some kind of amateur, which makes no sense at all.

My suggestion would be that readers check out Maceo’s book ‘98% Funky Stuff’ for a look at his side of the story.

That said, I thought that Brown’s own story was exceptionally well told, with a pretty serious level of detail, considering that this is a major motion picture, and not a multi-part documentary (which he certainly deserves).

I’d like to hear what those of you that saw the movie thought about it, as well.

Since I’m writing about the movie, I thought that this was an excellent time to dip into the crates and pull out some little-heard James Brown (and band).

The 1970 LP ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ – credited to ‘James Brown and the James Brown Band’ – is a collection of mostly instrumental tracks (some original, others like ‘Cold Sweat’ existing tracks with overdubbed guitar**), some dating to 1966.

The tracks run from long-form funk vamps like ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’, to bluesy cuts like ‘Fat Wood’.

There are a couple of exceptional tracks, that never appeared (as far as I can tell) anywhere else.

The first of these is the funky ‘Use Your Mother’, with some tasty horns and a superb rolling bass line. It has the feel of a slightly underdeveloped James Brown funk 45 of the classic era.

The second, is an extended instrumental take of ‘Give It Up or Turnit A Loose’ with some exceptional guitar work from Jimmy ‘Chank’ Nolen and Alphonso ‘Country’ Kellum. This is one of at least three different LP versions of the tune released in 1970 alone!***

While I wouldn’t describe ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’ as essential, if you find it, grab it, if only for these cuts.

I mean, come on, it’s James Brown.

That said, dig the tracks, see the movie, and I’ll see you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

 

 

 * I have a suspicion that we may have litigation to blame for some of the omissions in the film

** There are several times on the album where JB’s original vocals bleed through into the instrumental track

***On ‘Ain’t It Funky Now’, ‘It’s a New Day So Let a Man Come In’ and ‘Sex Machine’

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.