Peter Bochan offers up James Brown cleverly edited in this lively half hour of beats, actualities from the Godfather of Soul, samplings of studio outtakes TV appearances and more. There are a few times that I wish I knew who was commenting on James Brown, but when you get to the voice of JB himself explaining how he formed his music and the soul of the soul music, it's quite engaging.
Some bookend narration would help a lot , but the in the end, the music and the man, speak for themselves. Ow! Unh! Hit Me!
Fantastic editing job here, never a dull moment, nicely paced with the funky, the soulful, and the peaceful side of this one and only performer, whose musical legacy will remain with us for many years.
Peter's artful mix includes the voice that my special (In Search of James Brown) couldn't capture, that of James Brown himself. In intimate phone conversations featuring James, historical perspective from Dave Marsh and clips from James Brown TV appearances, listeners get an added flavor of the man behind the myth. When I was working in radio in Charlotte, NC, in the early 1980's, the overnight DJ used to tell me that James Brown would call him and talk at length from his home in South Carolina. I'm imagining that what we hear in Peter's special is what that might have sounded like. If you're looking for an effective hour-long tribute, try running this with the half-hour version of In Search of James Brown. In any case, try to get this on - and if you're just a fan visiting PRX, be sure to give it a listen. Nice work Peter.
Comments for The Big Payback-A Tribute to James Brown
This piece belongs to the series "Shortcuts"
Produced by Peter Bochan
Other pieces by Peter Bochan
Rating Summary
2 comments
Michael Johnson
Posted on July 16, 2007 at 09:47 AM | Permalink
Review of The Big Payback-A Tribute to James Brown
Peter Bochan offers up James Brown cleverly edited in this lively half hour of beats, actualities from the Godfather of Soul, samplings of studio outtakes TV appearances and more. There are a few times that I wish I knew who was commenting on James Brown, but when you get to the voice of JB himself explaining how he formed his music and the soul of the soul music, it's quite engaging.
Some bookend narration would help a lot , but the in the end, the music and the man, speak for themselves. Ow! Unh! Hit Me!
Fantastic editing job here, never a dull moment, nicely paced with the funky, the soulful, and the peaceful side of this one and only performer, whose musical legacy will remain with us for many years.
Paul Ingles
Posted on December 27, 2006 at 04:01 PM | Permalink
Review of The Big Payback-A Tribute to James Brown
Peter's artful mix includes the voice that my special (In Search of James Brown) couldn't capture, that of James Brown himself. In intimate phone conversations featuring James, historical perspective from Dave Marsh and clips from James Brown TV appearances, listeners get an added flavor of the man behind the myth. When I was working in radio in Charlotte, NC, in the early 1980's, the overnight DJ used to tell me that James Brown would call him and talk at length from his home in South Carolina. I'm imagining that what we hear in Peter's special is what that might have sounded like. If you're looking for an effective hour-long tribute, try running this with the half-hour version of In Search of James Brown. In any case, try to get this on - and if you're just a fan visiting PRX, be sure to give it a listen. Nice work Peter.