Julius Pittman & The Revival - Live Tonite

 


I was hoping I wouldn’t like this album. I didn’t even want to listen to it.   It says on the cover, just below Live Tonite, “funky southern soul!”. I turned the cover over and there is a photograph of a brick wall full of middle-aged white men in their best blue jeans with their names under each of their visages, “Velpo, Randy, John, Julius, Dave, Audie, Howard and Chris.”

That alone was enough to tick me off.  I thought “Funky southern soul my arse!  Ray Charles was southern soul, James Brown was southern soul, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, now that is southern soul.  I don’t remember one non-African American ‘southern soul’ band that I would give any more than a Texas two-step to listen to.”

The second thing that pissed me off was that it was a live album recorded in a Richmond, VA pub.  Richmond, VA! Give me a break.  That ain’t the real south.  Richmond, VA is closer to Washington, D.C. than it is to Memphis TN or Mussel Shoals,AL.  I also know that a small pub recording too often means bad sound and, when it is a live album, the sheer presence of the audience during recording can hurt the quality of the recording

So, great.  Here is what I thought I was looking at - fake soul music by a bunch of Mid-East Coast middle-aged white guys, badly produced, played live in a small room before a drunken pub crowd.  Like I said, after seeing the cover and back I didn’t even want to crack the cellophane. I chucked the unopened CD into the back seat of my car along with whatever else lurks back there out of sight and out of mind.

One Thursday evening, a week or two later,  I was driving in rush hour traffic down the Diablo Valley to an appointment in the Livermore Valley.  There was massive road construction and virtual gridlock on the highway.  Local hills, power lines and ghost radio stations resulted in fuzzy static on the radio. Even my bluetooth transmitter was useless.   In 3 mile per hour stop and go traffic I hastily grabbed at the backseat for one of the legion of CDs that seem to multiply there - ripples if you will.  Traffic started to move so I quickly, without looking down, slit the plastic wrap, opened the cover, grabbed the CD, threw the cover into the back seat and popped the CD into the dashboard player. Traffic stopped. The CD didn’t.

The damnedest thing happened. The slickest James Brown-inspired music filled the car with soul horns, rhythm, and an amazing vocal presence that I later discovered was Julius Pittman, a long-haired blonde dude with a Tom Waits visage and the voice of Wilson Pickett. 

Wow!  I listened transfixed, rather oblivious to the mind-numbing traffic. One great high energy soul and blues track after another pushed me back in my seat.  The band played its own songs as well as obscure songs by some famous artists (such as Gloria Houston and Isaac Hayes.)  The sound engineering and mixing were impeccable.  The crowd was excited, appreciative and unobtrusive.  They may actually have made the music better by their presence.

I got into the rhythm.  I got into the beat. I got into the whole white southern soul thing.  I opened the sunroof and windows.  Three guys in a Black Chrysler M300 with large chrome wheels inched next to me in the fast lane.  The traffic stopped and they yelled to me,

“Whose that youz listening to there brother?” 

I quickly grabbed at the backseat and fumbled for the CD cover.  I looked down and saw it was the album for which I had had such preconceived distain. I yelled,

“Ummm, Julius Pittman & the Revival.”

He yelled back,

“Yo, whazza the name of the album?” 

I inched forward and replied,

“Live Tonite.”

The Chrysler stopped and I inched forward until we were even. The passenger in the Chrysler front passenger seat hung both of his arms out the passenger window and said it all to me,

“Man, those guys got soul!” 

Need I say more?

Yup.  The album will be released on October 7, 2011.  No video is yet available from the new album, but you can listen to a few cuts  here.

- Old School

James Brown – The Payback

 

1973 was a great year for heavy music – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Raw Power, Billion Dollar Babies, Tres Hombres, Razamanaz, Houses Of The Holy and the debut from Montrose among many others. And yet, James Brown’s massive 2LP set The Payback might just be the heaviest of the bunch. Recorded throughout the year as JB dealt with controversy over his endorsement of Richard Nixon and, more importantly, the tragic death of his son Teddy, The Payback is as heavy as it can get.

The massive title track was one of the first to be recorded after his son’s death. If you’ve ever wondered why this song is so intense, that’s why. James Brown is well known for his incredible grooves and this is one of the all time best. To literally add insult to injury, this song was submitted for use in a movie soundtrack but the director rejected it for not being funky enough! Can you believe that shit?! The two ballads of the album, “Doing The Best I Can” and “Forever Suffering,” were also recorded at this session and it’s obvious that James is trying to alleviate some grief. Even if you didn’t know the back-story the raw emotion is obvious.

James Brown always had the greatest bands and this is certainly no exception. His musical director at the time was the incredible trombonist Fred Wesley. It was Fred’s job to translate JB’s humming and grunting into something the musicians could understand. The core of the band includes the saxophones of Maceo Parker and St.Clair Pickney, Fred Thomas on bass, Jimmy Nolen and Hearlon Martin on guitars and John Starks on drums. Sweet jeezus, what a line up. These guys can play anything and James really puts them through the ringer. “Shoot Your Shot” contains a monster bass-led groove and everyone takes turns on some rapid fire solos. Total high energy and very spontaneous sounding.

“Take Some…Leave Some” is a slower one built around a funky wah-wah guitar lick with great counterpoint from the horns and a nice message from James about sharing what you have. “Time Is Running Out Fast” is a deep, deep swamp boogie complete with jungle call vocals and exotic percussion. “Mind Power” is another unbelievable groove with some excellent cowbell. “Stone To The Bone” was released as a single but in edited form. The LP version is 10 minutes long and an unedited masterclass of pure funk power.

The original double LP had two songs per side, each one ranging from about 7 to 12 minutes but not one of them ever seems too long. When the grooves are this strong you want them to go on forever. This is without a doubt some of the heaviest music JB ever committed to wax and it’s often overlooked in his discography because of the lack of multiple hit singles, but it’s long been a favorite of musicians and dope heads for decades. There’s been a massive energy crisis ever since JB left this planet. It’s up to the rest of us to replenish the fuel. So the question is are you ready for The Payback?

--Woody

John Butler Trio - Sunrise Over Sea

Okay . . . this little gem has been in steady rotation for what feels like forever. I must have picked it up when it originally came out, way back in . . . 2004? Are freaking kidding me? In one way, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been listening to this album for all this time, in another way, it’s not all that surprising. If you’re not familiar with John Butler and his fabulous band of stalwart musicians, then please, go out, get yourself a copy of Sunrise Over Sea and kick back, grab a cup of tea, cross your legs while sitting in a Queen Anne, maybe smoke a little of that funny stuff, roll out your yoga mat, hug a tree, get all hippie with your bad selves, and enjoy.

John Butler is Australian (though born in the U.S.,) and has managed to fuse the sounds of bluegrass, country, folk, Americana, and straight up rock n’ roll to create his own signature sound. Combining socio-political lyrics with this stripped down style of music seems to make the man’s ideals, positions on environmental preservation, social change, mental perception on the world issues at hand feel that much more real and  . . . well, honest. It’s one thing to preach about world change and hide behind the relative safety of the studio walls, it’s something all together more real to get arrested for protesting a governments wrongs or to live in a tree to make one’s point. Don’t know about any of you, but I can’t really imagine living in a tree . . . though, in some ways, it totally sounds cool!

On to the album!

Kicking off the disc is “Treat Yo Mama” is a heavy blues-based burner, powered by a swampy sludge groove, filled with some outstanding slide work and made infectious by the catchiest of catchy choruses. Butler’s vocal performance is more rapped than traditionally sung, building a more dramatic and immediate mood than sung otherwise, and his lyrics initially will have you thinking that the song is all about treating one’s birth mother, one’s flesh and blood with respect. But as we get to the last verse, the meaning broadens and becomes all about treating our earth mother with respect. The way he weaves the lyrics never ceases to amaze me, and the way he strung these words together shows a dude who not only has a mastery of the English language, but someone who is clear in thought with the conveyance of his ideas. Musically, while you’re getting your primitive groove on, listen to the guitar work as Butler effortlessly plucks notes from some hidden treasure trove of taste and class.

One of the underlying themes in John Butler’s music is corporate greed and how big business has no morale qualm with raping the earth so that a small percentage of humanity can live it luxury. No song captures this message as well as “Company Sin.” With upright bass boppin’ along and polyrhythmic percussion poppin’, the song has a vibe mixed in reggae and juke joint jazz. Butler’s voice is rich and soulful on this particular track, and his passionate performance draws the listener ever so close to standing in a dusty wasteland created by higher profits. The guitar solo is wah drenched funky jam with a huge jazz tone running through it. I find it a weird contrast of moods to hear music so upbeat and soulfully powerful, yet to have the lyrical content as dark and filled with personal struggle. But, like the reggae masters who called for revolution in thought and, ultimately, through action with their airy style of sound, John Butler has culled a style of music from a similar vein.

“Betterman” is funky, upbeat jam. Again, the rhythm section provided the addictive groove while John Butler gracefully plucks notes or caresses the guitar neck with a slide. Pay close attention to the guitar work on the one . . . the harmonics, the slide, the fluidity that Butler plays with . . . damn! I love how he also has the presence of mind to stop playing and just lets the rhythm section push to the song along, then jumps back into the jam. The solo is slide players wet dream. Listening to him play is one thing, watching his utterly mindboggling. It simply makes me want to break my own fingers in frustration.

“What You Want” is a slower jam, but no less powerful. In fact, this song may be one of the heaviest tunes on the album, and I can only think that’s attributable to the open space for the sound to flow, as well as the lush richness of Butler’s voice. Strings arrangements fill some of the nooks and crannies with sound, but in essence, the song is the trio creating a picturesque beaut of a tune. The melody throughout is infectious, though laced with a subtle sound of sadness, it also has these great uplifting moments. Dynamic in tone due to the volume swells, the vocal harmonies, and the individual musical performances, “What You Want” is undoubtedly the song I hit repeat to every time through, and I find myself getting lost in the textural sounds and the countless musical subtleties.

“Seeing Angels” never fails to make me think of my wife. It’s one of those sensitive songs without being sappy. It’s one of those songs that will make most guys sit back and nod in respect towards their significant other, makes them realize that they are really nothing without a woman by their side. The second verse is a lyrical killer. Fuck. Dude can write a moving tune. “Zebra” is another funky number and the first song I remember hearing from the disc. Packed with great tones, the warm sounds of the upright bass groovin’ it’s groove, the vocals all over the place . . . jumping into the mix at odd times, emotion drivin’ guitar work, drums snappin’, crackin’, whackin’ away on the upbeat, on the downbeat, on the sidebeat . . . killer tune!

Sunrise Over Sea is, without a doubt, one of those albums that I can listen to anytime of the day. There is so much going on, not just in the music but in the lyrical ideas and conveyance. And, the more I listen to this album, the more I think that John Butler is a genius. I really don’t understand why he hasn’t picked up more popularity in the States, especially with the mindset of today’s nation. Who knows? Now that BP has gone a fucked life as we know it in the Gulf of Mexico, maybe people will gravitate to the words in the message of John Butler and realize that this earth is the only mother that really matters. Or then, of course, there’s also a greater chance that our nations media will bury the story under government propaganda and celebrity bullshit. Anyway, Sunrise Over Sea is a great disc, you should check out the tunes I’ve highlighted, then check into the rest of the album coz’ the whole thing is brilliant. Me? Well . . . I’m going to the record store to see if I can track down any of his more recent albums . . . after I take a nap in my garden.  -  Pope JTE

Buy here: Sunrise Over Sea

www.myspace.com/johnbutlertrio 

www.johnbutlertrio.com

Chillin' with the Rip - Featuring Alex Cuba, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Brookville, and Puracane

Sometimes you just want to turn off the noise.  Find something with a gentler vibe, more soothing, less harsh.  With that in mind, we present another in our occasional columns of Ripple recommendations for music to Chill to.

Alex Cuba - Agua Del Pozo

Quite some time ago, my wife and I ditched society and decided to spend the night out on my father's sailboat.  Not to go sailing, mind you, just to use it as a floating hotel.  We'd been working too hard, felt stressed and just wanted to get away.  The boat was the perfect place.  Just sleeping in a different place, out on the water, was rejuvenating.  The next morning as we awoke we heard the most amazing music; gentle, floating harmonies, lilting voices, angelic acoustic guitars.  That music brought us into the morning as the sun was rising.  Grabbing a cup of coffee, I asked the guy in the boat next door who that fantastic singer was.  Alex Cuba was his reply.

Alex Cuba is truly the new face of Latin soul.  Cuban by birth, but living in Canada, Alex Cuba's music is about as jovial and transcendent as you can imagine.  Alex's voice is smooth as the water was that early morning.  His music exudes a spiritual sense of harmony and purpose, and the melodies . . . ah, the melodies.

It doesn't matter where you drop the needle on this baby, you're going to find some simply moving Latin acoustic guitar dancing in and around a mellow Latin beat.  This isn't get up and dance, shake your "vida loca" music, Alex's music is deeply reflective, nearly sublime.  Sure it's all in Spanish, but it doesn't take a translator to express the sentiment of loss in "Lamento," or the reaching to the sky optimism of "Amor Infinito."   Emotion is emotion, truth is truth, and Alex Cuba is an artist very capable of finding that truth.  A simply gorgeous album.

buy here: Agua del Pozo



Me'shell Ndegeocello - Devil's Halo

There are only a small handful of artists who's music I'll buy completely unheard.  Nothing more than a mention that there's a new album out and I'll get it.  Not only that, but I'll find all the extended mixes, buy the singles, and pray for a live bootleg to make it's way somewhere within my arm's reach.  Me'shell Ndegeocello is one such artist.  Ever since her stunning debut of roustabout feminist groove funk, Plantation Lullabies, I've been under Me'shell's spell, and never once has she failed to deliver.

Now, what does that last sentence really mean?  Have I loved unabashedly everything she's ever done? No, not really.  But I've never failed to respect it.  Meshell's not an artist willing to ever sit still.  After carving out two dynamite urban funk albums, she changed gears completely with the mellow somberness of Bitter, then launched herself into freeform jazz territory, always bringing her amazing, looping bass with her.  With this, her latest album, Me'shell once again refuses to be pigeonholed.

Mixing in tones of rock, ambient and even noise rock with her under belly of funk and soul, Me'shell has produced a devastating album of love lost and vulnerability.  Never before has she worn her heart so openly on her sleeve and so clearly bruised and bleeding.  Songs like "Mass Transit," bounce with a familiar Ndegeocello funk (you gotta dig her bass line and vocal phrasing) but even there, the song is sparser, more bare, nearly raw.  On other songs like "Slaughter," and "Lola" the pain is so thick it hangs like a funeral tapestry.  With lyrics like "Don't say you love me/I'll run away/my love will lead you to slaughter/if you see me coming, I'd run the other way," you know we're in for something intense.

And intense it is.  Through the ambient tones of "Tie One On," through the addiction spiral of "Lola" all the way to the ending "Crying in Your Beer," Me'shell has produced a captivating album that drips with the rawness of emotion.  And through it all, Me'shell's voice has never sounded better, smoother, more refined.  At times, her tone almost sounds like Sade, and that's meant as a high compliment, not an insult, as her tone works perfectly here.

Once again, Me'shell has mystified me.  Once again I'm captivated.

Buy here: Devil's Halo



Brookville - Broken Lights

This album took me entirely by surprise.  Don't know what I expected.  Maybe something bluesy, maybe something country-ish?  Not here.  Brookville play a mesmerizing blend of slow-to-mid-tempo, neo-jazzy modern rock.  Immediately names like Prefab Sprout popped into my mind (particularly on the male and female vocal interplay of "Break My Heart.").   Then came other names like The Blue Nile, Level 42, Aztec Camera, and Ripple favorites, The Philosopher Kings.  All great purveyors of mood and nuance.

And that's what we have here.  A beautiful album of mood and nuance.  Crystal clear guitars highlight the gentle tone, leaving tons of room for some of the lushest melodies you'll ever hear. "Happy" is anything but, a song dripping with the pain of deception and lies.  But you wouldn't know that from the melody.  It simply soars and floats, instantly catchy, instantly addictive.  "Great Mistake," follows suit with just a hint of more buoyancy in the lilting tempo, while the lyrics reach into the deepest realm of juxtaposition.  "If you really love me,  you would let me make the great mistake of leaving you."  One listen to the hypnotic melancholy of "Dreaming On," and I was hooked for life.

Andy Chase, the lead man in Brookville, has crafted an album more of tone than actual beat.  The darkness of a somber sky hangs over this album like a field of crushed and empty dreams.  But rather than being a downer, the pure melodicsm of Andy's writing keeps the album from ever becoming cliche, or melodramatic, or even a downer.  It's strange when an album of ambivalent love can come across so pleasant, but there you have it.  Not one to miss.

Buy here: Broken Lights


Puracane - I've Been Here the Longest

Chill out music is supposed to fill that late night gap after the clubs have closed but before the day has broken into full intensity.  When I think of chill out, or trip hop, I tend to think of bands like Massive Attack or Portishead.  And now I'll add Puracane to that list.

Essentially a duo, Puracane is a collaborative effort between composer/producer Juan Massotta and singer/lyricist Ali Rogers, and also combines the talents of Chris Lee on bass, Emilio Teubal on keyboards and Antonio"Uka" Gameiro on drums. Coming purely from the world of British trip-hop (Rogers has worked with Tricky among others), Puracane still manage to sound unlike any of their predecessors by incorporating some strong songwriting craft, actual singable melodies and some gentle R&B groove. Throughout the album, the rhythms have a steady consistency, which perfectly fits the songs' come-down-from-a-rough-night feeling.

From the first moment of undulating bass, to the very second that Ali adds her heavenly vocals, I can already feel the tension of my day melting away.  This isn't ambient, background music.  The bass, the melodies, the beat demand your attention, but in a groovy way.  Not a scream, just an insistence based on that groove.  That always present groove.  Fans of the above bands shouldn't miss this one.

Buy here: I've Been Here The Longest

--Racer

James Brown – Live At The Garden (Expanded Edition)

Despite the title, this was not recorded at New York’s Madison Square Garden or any other venue with Garden in the name. It was in fact recorded at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ over a stretch of dates in January 1967. When it was originally issued it was marred by fake crowd overdubs and edited jams. At long last, this classic album has finally been issued on CD with over an hour of unreleased music. If you’re a James Brown fan or a soul music enthusiast, it’s an essential purchase.


Disc one presents the original album but without the dubbed crowd. That alone right there is worth the price because you get a killer but compact taste of JB and his awesome band in full flight and an excited crowd. 1967 is also an important year for James Brown. After revolutionizing music with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” in 1965 he was about to do it again in May 1967 with “Cold Sweat.” Both songs featured very little in terms of chord changes or musical sophistication but had incredible rhythms that had never been heard before. Musicians and record producers literally didn’t know how to respond to the challenge that James issued them. This live album catches JB in transition from more traditional R&B and creating what would be termed Soul and eventually Funk.


Older songs like “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Bring It Up” are done much faster than the recorded versions and ballads like “Prisoner of Love” are played slower. Without the fake crowd dubbed in, you can hear the interaction between JB and the audience. When the band goes into a fast vamp or solo section and the crowd roars you know James is doing some outrageous dance maneuver with The Famous Flames. When he says he feels so good he wants to scream, the audience goes nuts and screams with him. And this is at a swanky dinner club in suburban New Jersey, not the Apollo Theater in Harlem.


“Ain’t That A Groove” and “Hip Bag ‘67” (an excerpt of the jam during “Papa’s Bag”) are extended features for the supremely tight and talented band. Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis (tenor sax) had recently become musical director of the band and had a strong jazz background. He got to work with the amazing Jimmy Nolen on guitar, the powerhouse drummers John “Jabo” Starks and Clyde Stubblefield and all the other top notch musicians. No deadweight in JB’s band!


Hardcore James Brown fans will wet their hot-pants over the extras at the end of disc 1 and all of disc 2. Everyone knows that James was a great singer and entertainer but most are unaware of his musical skills. Before the main event, James would come out and join the band and get down on the organ to help warm up the crowd. You can tell he’s already sweating all over the keys during the first song “The King” before a spirited take on Ramsey Lewis’ “Wade In the Water.” “Night Train” ends the warm up set and then James would take a break.


If you’re ready for STAR TIME, then pop in disc 2 and get ready for a full set of uncut energy exactly how it went down over 40 years ago. The energy level is unprecedented and remains unmatched to this day. James starts off the show with a fast medley of “Out Of Sight” and “Bring It Up” before drastically slowing things down with “Try Me” and “Come Rain Or Come Shine” (featuring Miles Davis bassist Ron Carter). “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” is much faster than the original record and clearly points to the direction he was about to unleash with “Cold Sweat,” “Mother Popcorn,” etc. The band stretches the groove out for almost 10 minutes and it never gets dull.


The ladies in the crowd audibly swoon when James and the Flames harmonize on the ballads “Prisoner of Love” and “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” The Famous Flames were at one point 3 voices plus James, but at this point it was just Bobby Bennett and Bobby Byrd. Soon James would get rid of the Flames and drop songs like “Maybe The Last Time” from the show so it’s nice to hear James saying farewell to the past. Of course, Bobby Byrd would remain with James for years to come and his voice would be loud and strong on many hits to come.


The show wraps up with a triple whammy of “Ain’t That A Groove,” “Please, Please, Please” and a reprise of “Bring It Up.” You can hear the crowd go wild as James tries to leave the stage while his valet tries to put a cape on him and get him off the stage. They’re not having it. Even though James worked it into the stage act, he could make everyone believe he was exhausted and had to go but the crowd riled him up he had to come back and scream just one more time. You don’t get showmanship like that anymore.


If that wasn’t enough, after the crowd left James brought the band back on stage to record his next single “Let Yourself Go.” There’s an instrumental jam, a false start and finally the master take that was released. How many bands can you think of that would even attempt something like that now?


Ain’t that a groove? HELL YEAH!!

--Woody

Buy here: Live at the Garden