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December 27, 2005
It's a New Day
> James Brown - Blind Man Can See It
I could devote multiple posts to upbeat, start your day right horns and hand claps of the James Brown King (45-6292) original, but in this case I use it as a reference; the song I want to talk about, released as part of the re-issue of Brown's 1986 JBs compilation throwback album In The Jungle Groove on which the aforementioned single also finds a home, is a slow cooked crock pot cousin named “Blind Man Can See .“ The song, which saw its original birth on Brown's soundtrack to the 1973 Blacksploitation classic Black Ceasar, reappears on this collection as an extended and unreleased studio vamp. It proves as unfinished and dirty as Brown's hair in that notorious mugshot but, much like the photo it has an authenticity and a drawl that recasts its unintelligible moans and seemingly incoherent musical direction as a natural insight into the funk machine that was born when the Collins duo left The Pacemakers / New Dapps and brought their nascent talent under the direction of Bobby Byrd and Fred Wesley. My favorite moment in the track happens about 6 minutes into it when the bass and drums pause while the guitar and shaker create a canvas for what is one of the best examples of the type of Brown antics that inspired the classic joke: “What's James Saying?”, “I don't know, we getting paid?” Yes, yes you were and whether he feels the need to ramble about grits, pork and beans and paying his taxes, when the break kicks back in you might have to step back and kiss yourself because that smooth smooth Byrd organ eases your soul.
Posted by pd3000 at December 27, 2005 4:42 PM