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LP
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GET 54080LP
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"In 1974 one of James Brown's most important band-leaders and sidemen -- trombonist Fred Wesley would release not one but two albums as a leader including Damn Right, I Am Somebody. Starting with an evocative cover it was clear to fans that this album wasn't all about a party. Deep messages abound in the songs here, such as the nearly 10-minute workout 'I'm Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying.' Social messages aside, Fred and his assembled JBs were a party-moving funk machine at heart, as heard on 'If You Don't Get It The First Time, Back Up And Try It Again Paarty' and the laid-back groove of 'Same Beat' (with prototypical sampling of Jesse Jackson exhorting an audience to chant 'I am / Somebody'). Nestled among these raise-your-fist classics is one of the most experimental funk cut ever made: 'Blow Your Head,' known to relatively modern listeners as the backbone of Public Enemy's 'Public Enemy #1' (from 1987). Get On Down pays reverent tribute to this classic by pressing it on 150-gram vinyl, housed in a 1970s style Stoughton jacket. In addition, the package comes with a 22" x 22" poster featuring the original cover art."
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LP
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GET 54074LP
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2017 repress. "'So many times we refuse to go back and break bread with our parents, relatives and old friends... Times are tough, the economy is rough, everybody's tryin' to make a dollar. Sometimes you get away from yourself. Won't you go back and break bread, while we still have some to break?' So implored James Brown, Fred Wesley and even album engineer Bob Both, on the back cover liners of the 1974 soul classic Breakin' Bread. Times were indeed tough for everyday folks in the waning days of the Nixon era. Escape-ism was needed. Humanity sometimes seemed to be in short supply. But James Brown and his assembled People Records roster were always there to take soul music fans away from their everyday trials and tribulations, even while occasionally funking up negative situations (for instance, 'Rockin' Funky Watergate,' one of the centerpieces of this album). The heavy grooves laid down by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley, saxophonist and arranger St. Clair Pinckney and Fred's assembled 'New J.B.'s' were, almost literally, comfort for the ears. 1974 saw a vortex of superfunk coming out of James Brown's People Records stable, and this platter wasn't even the only J.B.'s album that year (see also: Damn Right, I Am Somebody, also reissued by Get On Down). But it is one that added to the powerful musical and social legacy of that crew. It's an air-tight, eight course meal, with most platters clocking in at four delicious minutes each. Breakin' Bread is a truly memorable funk stew, with warm, call-and-response vocals, complicated-but-laidback soul, and an important message ? alluded to in the back cover plea. 'I Wanna Get Down,' 'Rice 'N' Ribs' and 'Funky Music Is My Style' all feature intricate, infectious grooves. In fact, there isn't much time to catch your breath on Breakin' Bread, and that's a beautiful thing. Reissued on LP with a sumptuous, five-color, 22" x 22" poster of the cover art, all wrapped in a Stoughton Tip-On jacket and thick polybag, there is never a bad time to revisit this classic (maybe replacing your worn-out original copy). Or, just as importantly, let it blow your mind for the first time."
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7"
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GET 725EP
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"Though they already were known as a funk/soul force to be reckoned with, as the backing band to the Godfather himself, James Brown, The JBs distinguished themselves throughout the 1970s as a top-tier instrumental group in their own rite. 1973 saw the release of their single 'Same Beat', divided into two parts, spanning the A & B-Side of a 7". Driven by sinuous organs and manic brass sections, and later sample-mined by Run-DMC, The Jungle Brothers, and Atmosphere. This deep funk must-have is now available as a standalone single for the first time in well over 30 years."
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LP + 7"
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GET 54069LP
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"In 1974 one of James Brown's most important band-leaders and sidemen -- trombonist Fred Wesley would release not one but two albums as a leader including Damn Right, I Am Somebody. Starting with an evocative cover it was clear to fans that this album wasn't all about a party. Deep messages abound in the songs here, such as the nearly 10-minute workout 'I'm Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying.' Social messages aside, Fred and his assembled JBs were a party-moving funk machine at heart, as heard on 'If You Don't Get It The First Time, Back Up And Try It Again Paarty' and the laid-back groove of 'Same Beat' (with prototypical sampling of Jesse Jackson exhorting an audience to chant 'I am / Somebody'). Nestled among these raise-your-fist classics is one of the most experimental funk cut ever made: 'Blow Your Head,' known to relatively modern listeners as the backbone of Public Enemy's 'Public Enemy #1' (from 1987). Get On Down pays reverent tribute to this classic by pressing it on 150-gram vinyl, housed in a 1970s style Stoughton jacket in an 8-gauge custom polybag emblazoned with an embossed People Records logo. In addition, the package comes with a 22" x 22" poster featuring the original cover art, as well as a 7-inch flexidisc of the rare 'Unrubbed Version' (without Moog) of Fred Wesley & The JBs' 1973 single 'Blow Your Head.' This version was only available previously on 2000's James Brown's Funky People Part 3 compilation."
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LP
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PE 6604LP
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Exact repro reissue of this 1974 release and the J.B.'s last album for the People Records label. Tracks include "Rockin' Funky Watergate," "Makin' Love," "Funky Music Is My Style" and "Step Child."
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LP
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PE 6602HLP
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180 gram exact repro reissue, originally released in 1974 and recorded during the same session as James Brown's The Payback album. Fred Wesley was a long-time director of Brown's backing band The J.B.'s -- and essentially was responsible for a lot of Brown's drug-addled ideas coming to fruition, having even written classic songs like "Doin' It To Death" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess." Damn Right I Am Somebody and Breakin' Bread contain classic Wesley-Brown proto-funk cuts, and this album includes covers of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love To Ball" and "Going To Get A Thrill."
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