James Brown
Sex Machine

THE REVIEW

Here I am, somewhere between 1969 and 1970, and I'm about to attend a James Brown concert. There he is, he's entered. Damn, that's James Brown! A scream comes out of my throat, of its own accord. I don't care too much because in two seconds he'll scream too and the first piece will start. But no. He starts chatting with the band members, a back-and-forth: the intro of "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine!" If the first one was a scream, I don't know what this wild shriek coming from my throat is.

Pure adrenaline. Ten minutes of animal power, without a moment's pause. The songs of the "Godfather of Soul" induce a sort of hypnosis, and this one in particular. And when that brief, simple piano phrase comes in...well, it's the most beautiful thing that could happen in the whole world. The groove is constant, it never drops, the tension is sky-high. I wish it would never end, but it does. It ends, and the baton passes to a section where the soul component is more evident: "Brother Rapp" and then in succession, like machine-gun fire, "Bewildered", "I Got The Feelin'" and "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose".  The concert could end here, my body is exhausted from the movement and the violence of the James Brown impact. But I want it to continue, I haven't had enough, because when on "Bewildered" Mr. Dynamite self-quoted, semi-singing a line from "It's a Man's Man's Man's World", a smile appeared on my face, a smile of complicity, a thread that connects him to me and, I'm sure, to the rest of the audience as well. And while I'm thinking about threads and smiles, the Godfather shoots out "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing", a tight funk as only he can do, and the very brief "Licking Stick-Licking Stick". Two songs I don't know, but who cares! It hardly matters, because I'm dancing, I who can't dance! I'm shaking my head and my always too long hair, who cares if I can't dance? If I don't know the words? I've entered the essence of James Brown's music, I can perceive it. And it takes so little!  I don't know the subsequent "Lowdown Popcorn" "Spinning Wheel" either, so what? I hear the organ playing the theme of "Spinning Wheel" for the first time and I'm happy, its beauty is immediate.  "If I Ruled The World", a great soul ballad that takes us back to the glories of the '60s, evolves into the very rhythmic "There Was A Time". There he is, the '70s Brown! Primordially funk, looking to the future, but carrying along, dragging with it the soul roots that will always be so evident in his music.  Then, almost unexpectedly, come the notes that announce one of the most beautiful songs of the Godfather of Soul, "It's A Man's Man's Man's World". Another scream, who knows how many I've let out tonight, I've lost count, and this time yes, I sing. I sing, and I sway, rocked by the powerful sweetness of the song.

What have I done to you, James? Do you hate me? Why do you want to deal me the fatal blow, by singing, after such a piece, precisely "Please Please Please"? Do you want my heart to crash, to collapse. I'm sorry, my beloved Who, but as he sings it, no one does.  And before releasing us, sending us home to reflect on what happened, before leaving us to alcohol and insomnia—how can you sleep with this dose of adrenaline in your body?—Mr. Dynamite gives us a "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" followed by "Mother Popcorn". He must be really fixated on popcorn. And while I'm thinking about popcorn, I'm happy. Without even a crumb of vital force, but with so much energy. Paradox yes, that's what James Brown can do. It drains your energy but at the same time triples it. I found myself at the center of the groove, in the precise meeting point between the horns and the guitar, between the robust bass and drum duo, between piano and voice. And that's enough for me.

Then I woke up, all sweaty. Not because it was a nightmare, but because dreaming of seeing a James Brown concert, a concert where he plays the whole "Sex Machine" from beginning to end...it's best not to think about it.  Truth be told, only part of this record was recorded live (tracks 6-15, except for 8), with the historic lineup that included, among others, Melvin and Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, and Jimmy Nolen. Track number 8 ("Lowdown Popcorn") features the same musicians but is studio recording with some applause to pass it off as live (without succeeding much). More or less the same band recorded (always in the studio) "Brother Rapp", while the only tracks featuring the original lineup of the J.B.'s (that is, with Catfish and Bootsy Collins but still without Wesley and Parker) are the title track, "Bewildered", "I Got The Feelin'" and "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose". Here too, applause was added afterward; in reality, they were studio recordings. Quite a mess, huh? But these technical details matter little, almost not at all. Because when you listen to this record, you're at the center of the groove, and that must be enough.