Robert Randolph & The Family Band aced last nights performance on BBC2's Later, not only for the energy and funk the Family Band put out live but the starring role of Randolph's redefining Jackson Steel playing, an instrument long associated with country music.
Performing the track "Amped Up" from their latest Blue Note album 'Lickety Split' it was a rare chance to see a band actually having a lot of fun performing. On all accounts a mere taster of the energy they put into a live show.
Until someone posts the actual Later performance this film of them recording the track in the Blue Note studio comes a pretty close second.
Remember the great guitar funk riff that runs through the film "Shaft"?
Well Charles “Skip” Pitts was the guy who created it when he was tuning up for the session with Isaac Hayes. When Hayes heard the riff he told him to just "keep playing that octave G".
Skip Pitt died only a few days ago on May 1st 2012.
Played his riffs with the mighty Isley Brothers as well.
A true funk guitar master. Go on you know you want to hear it.
Unfortunately the actual soundtrack video is covered in YouTube ads so here's the next best thing, Isaac Hayes live in 1973
Lester Chambers, former lead singer of The Chambers Brothers, speaks about the record company’s exploitation of its artists.
"I AM the former Lead Singer of a 60’s BAND. I performed before thousands at Atlanta Pop 2, Miami Pop, Newport Pop, Atlantic Pop. I did NOT squander my money on drugs or a fancy home. I went from 1967-1994 before I saw my first Royalty Check.
The Music Giants I recorded with only paid me for 7 of my Albums.
I have NEVER seen a penny in Royalties from my other 10 Albums I recorded. Our Hit Song was licensed to over 100 Films, T.V. & Commercials WITHOUT our permission. One Major TV Network used our song for a national Commercial and my payment was $625. dollars. I am now 72, trying to live on $1200 a month. Sweet Relief, a music charity is taking donations for me.
Only the 1% of Artist can afford to sue.
I AM THE 99%"
And we read that travesty as YouTube enforce advertising via record company copyright on just playing a video even when the song is over 50 years old!
One such example was found when we recently tried to embed a video here on the garage and couldn't find one without the dreaded 'ad' in place! (we do our best to keep this an ad free zone).
Some also may have noticed on past posts we've actually reduced the player to just the 'play' controls to avoid the video with advertising. Not anymore, YouTube have tumbled that and spring the controls-only player back to their page with... guess what, the advertising. No doubt in support of having to fork out the royalties to record companies that will think nothing of leaving a man such as Lester Chambers near destitute.
So the record company's have the cheek to enforce advertising for their own advantage with no care for the artist who made them all the cash in the first place.
A plague on their houses!
Here's an advert free video of the Chambers Brothers in the seventies. Note an appearance of John and Yoko presenting an award to the brothers.
In 2010 Lester Chambers was sleeping in a rehearsal room, until Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon offered to pay his rent on a home for him and his son.
There was at least someone who remembered and cared.
A rare and recent YouTube posting of a James Brown performance on Italian TV in 1971.
The singles and albums that Brown released at this time always came with the emboldened subtitle to the credits on the disc centre "Minister Of The New New Super Heavy Funk", and in this form he truly was.
A rhythm section of two drummers, a young 19 year old Bootsy Collins on bass and a horn section like cut glass a band didn't get tighter than this.
Note an audience overcome with enthusiasm seeing a rare performance of the man in their country. And a pedestal at the back of the group with super hip disco dancer.
The guitarist who created the "chicken scratch". Jimmy Nolen was James Brown's key player for the sound of his band from 1965-83 (although absent from 1970-72) and virtually invented the "funk" rhythm style influential to many of the groups that followed. Much sampled by rap producers in the late 80's and 90's his sound has been heard by millions, yet Jimmy Nolen is still largely unknown by the wider audience. Always standing to the edge or with the back line of Brown's tight bands and only occasionally heard to take a solo during a set. On stage he appeared modest, unassuming and serious. Have no doubt Jimmy Nolen is one of the great guitarists of that era. Jimmy died on December 18th. 1983 aged 49.
"His guitar style was affected not only by Nolen’s choice of two and three note chord voicing of augmented 7th and 9th chords, but also by his strumming straight 16th note patterns. Gibson ES-175 and an ES-5 switch master, both hollow body jazz guitars equipped with single coil P-90s. He also relied on a Gibson Les Paul Recording model with single coil pickups, an Acoustic Black Widow, and a Fresher Straighter, which were also single coil instruments. The single coil pickups on these guitars produced a thin "chanky" sound; Nolen ran these guitars through a Fender Twin Reverb with the treble set at 8 out of 10. The result of these factors was a rhythm guitar sound that seemed to float somewhere between the low-end thump of the electric bass and the cutting tone of the snare and hi-hats."
Sadly there is little clear video footage of Jimmy Nolen but this is possibly the best. That great rhythm guitar style putting the funk into James Brown's "Rapp Payback" live in 1980.
We are going back to the 90's now where the dress sense was terrible and videos looked like a kids tv nightmare. Fortunately, aside from the hundreds of electropop songs by instantly forgettable artists a few bands came out of the 90's with a good track record.
Faith No More mixed rock and metal with funk, jazz, hip hop and anything else they took a fancy to, to make some of the greatest alternative tracks of the 90's. Although 20 years on and this video still makes no sense... Falling To Pieces
