the moment here occurs at 3:55.
but you can't skip right to it. that would be like reading the last page of the book--or, more to the point, like sex w/o the cathexis. listen; get the groove, driven along by two drummers; dance along, doing your best mashed potato. and then wait--count down, if you must--for the ground to fall out from underneath you, and for the screams of the women in the audience to reach their climax. (again, this is v. sexual.)
two things i wonder : what the hell does james do to elicit such screaming? but, more importantly, how exactly does the band fall back into line like that w/ such seeming ease? i always heard about the apollo '63 show, but was let down when i heard it, feeling that one really needs to see the imagery to really get it. this '68 show, w/ the band translating james's kinetic motion into music, is the nearest, apart from the t.a.m.i. show, any of us who were born too late will get to james brown in his prime and at his peak.
1 comment:
thanks for that funky soul song, fred, sad that it finishes so abruptly. my theory concerning the screaming of the female audience is that it is a call and response thing. brown himself goes into his falsetto just before and screams "i" (got that feel). the girls answer that with a multiple "i". btw there are two other points around the one and two minute mark where the same thing happens but the music carries on during the girls' screaming. i have never been a big fan of soul but this together with a handful of curtis mayfield songs is the best i have ever heard in that genre. the live atmosphere makes the difference, i guess.
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