PART 1,2,3 & 4
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases James Brown and the JBs' 1971 Funk record "Escape-ism.
That record consists of James Brown and his band talking over the music that they are performing. That talking can be considered to be rapping or pre-rapping.
This post includes information about James Brown and information about his 1971 two part tune entitled "Escape-ism".
This pancocojams post also presents an excerpt of a 2007 online transcription of this record that was made by African American writer Mtume ya Salaam* as well as one comment about that transcription and several comments about that record.
The content of this post is presented for historical, soc-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to James Brown for his musical and dance legacy. Thanks to James Brown's band that is featured in this record and thanks to Mtume ya Salaam for transcribing that record. Thanks to the publisher of this YouTube sound file and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
*Click https://genius.com/Mtume-ya-salaam-aesthetics-of-rap-lyrics for the words to Mtume ya Salaam's 1995 composition "Aesthetics of Rap"
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INFORMATION ABOUT JAMES BROWN
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown
"James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, and musician. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by various nicknames, among them "Mr. Dynamite", "the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business", "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk", "Godfather of Soul", "King of Soul", and "Soul Brother No. 1".[1] In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres.[2] Brown was one of the first ten inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 23, 1986. His music has been heavily sampled by hip-hop musicians and other artists.[3]"...
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INFORMATION ABOUT JAMES BROWN'S RECORD "ESCAPE-ISM"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape-ism
""Escape-ism" is a funk song by American musician
James Brown. It was Brown's first release on his own label, People Records. It
charted #6 R&B and #35 Pop as a two-part single in 1971.[1] Both parts also
appeared on the album Hot Pants in 1971, with the previously unreleased
nineteen-minute unedited take of the track appearing on the album's 1992 CD
re-release. According to Robert Christgau the song was "supposedly cut to
kill time until Bobby Byrd arrived" at the studio.[2]
A live version of "Escape-ism" is included on
Brown's live album Revolution of the Mind.
[…]
Genre Funk,
proto-rap"
****
TRANSCRIPTION EXCERPT- JAMES BROWN'S RECORD "ESCAPE-ISM"
https://www.kalamu.com/bol/2007/04/08/james-brown-%E2%80%9Cescape-ism%E2%80%9D-complete-take/ Breath of Life (Mtume ya Salaam)
"JAMES BROWN / “Escape-ism” (Complete Take) This entry was
posted on Sunday, April 8th, 2007
I’m going to try something a little different in this post.
Instead of doing a normal write-up, I’m going to attempt to transcribe the
lyrics (if we can accurately refer to what James and Co. are doing here as
‘lyrics’) to the uncut version of James Brown’s “Escape-ism.” Why? As I was
surfing the net looking for information on this release, I kept coming across
people writing about James’ “nonsensical rambling” and “random gibberish” and
“undecipherable accent” and so on. One reviewer even said (to paraphrase), “You
can’t understand much of what James says on this record, but then, it doesn’t
really matter anyway.”
I beg to differ. Throughout not just “Escape-ism,” but much
of James’ Seventies-era period, James was dropping some serious philosophical
knowledge right along with those serious funk bombs of his. Plus, the
back-and-forth between James and the band was often deeply comical. Listening
to them, you get a feel (albeit a somewhat sanitized feel) for what a bunch of
Southern-born, music-playing cats sound like when they’re just hanging out.
True, J.B. and his band members can be difficult to understand. The thing to
keep in mind is, there’s nothing unique about the way James talks. There are
lots of black men in the South who sound just like him – it’s just that they
happen to be auto mechanics or bus drivers or construction workers, as opposed
to one of the most often-recorded and truly funky men who ever set two feet on
the planet Earth. So for all of our overseas readers (who might have trouble
understanding James’ broken English) and for all of our non-Southern readers
(who might have a mental block against really listening to what a backwoods
Georgia cat has to say) and for everyone else (who might be able to understand
James but aren’t as music-obsessed as we here at BoL are), here goes nothing….
J.B.: That’s what’s
happening, man. It’s just like, we’ll rap. [Meaning, talk.]
Engineer: We’re rolling.
J.B.: Fellas!
Band: Yeah?
J.B.: Looka here.
Man, I sure ‘nough feel good. I know the jocks [radio disc jockeys] feel good
too. ‘Cause we sure coming through with our thing. See, these other cats [are]
afraid to get down like this. And, you know, you know, we’re going to say…
[stuttering] …we’re going to do our thing, man! You understand. I mean, you
heard of Night Train. The Funky Walk. Man, they got a thing called ‘The Funky
Train.’ [James is naming dances, presumably.]
Unknown band member: Called what?
J.B.: The Funky
Train! … I gotta kick this thing off. Can I kick it off?
Band: Yeah! Yeah, do it.
J.B.: One, two, three, four! … Huh! … Hey! Huh! … Ain’t it
good to you. Is it good to you? Is it good to you? Look here! … You know when
you forget that grits is…when you forget that grits is groceries and that eggs
is poultry, you lose your thing. Now, you can lose your thing out there
wandering around. … I was, I was talking to a cat the other night. He said what
everybody’s looking for is, what everybody’s looking for today, they’re looking
for ‘escape-ism.’
[James almost seems to be talking about himself. The quote
about forgetting that “grits is groceries and eggs is poultry” basically means
forgetting where you come from or getting so involved in whatever you’re
involved in that you forget the obvious truths in life. Also, throughout this
‘rap,’ you’ll hear references to drugs and alcohol. The basic theme of the
record is about how you have to stay real and true and not try to get into
‘escape-ism.’ Several times, James says ‘I ain’t got no dust.’ On the one hand,
it’s just part of a little rap routine that he’s doing with the band. On the
other hand, especially given his later problems with angel dust and the police,
you have to wonder if James wasn’t clowning around a little close to home, so
to speak. He even ends the record by repeating the ‘I ain’t got no dust’ line
then saying he’s going to go because “there’s a whole lot of cars with lights
running around,” meaning, the police are coming. He’s joking, of course. But….]
J.B.: Huh! … Huh! … Ain’t it good to you? You know what? I
love to get down, Jack. And when I get down, you understand, I don’t have to go
into no funny bag, saying [in a proper tone of voice], “I con’t do this.” You
know what I mean. I say what I want. “I can’t.” You understand. That’s the way
I feel. … You know, I believe I’ll get down right about here.
Bobby Byrd: Go ‘head on!....
[…]
[J.B] You ready, Byrd?
Byrd: Yeah, let’s do it.
J.B.: Get down! [Drum break and the band switches to a new groove.] Huh! Ain’t
it good to you? Ain’t it good to you? Ain’t it good to you?
Unknown: Yeah, I
know what’s good too about that.
J.B.: [Laughs.] Huh!
Looka here. What you said, Fred?
Fred Wesley: Man, you know we better take it on the lam!
[Meaning, run away or escape.]
J.B.: You better watch your man! … I don’t think they heard.
What you said, Fred?
Fred: I said, we better take it on the lam out here.
J.B.: Huh. You better watch your man! … Byrd! Come over
here, brother. Let me tell you something. You think we’re talking to loud?
Byrd: Hush that fuss!
J.B.: Huh! I ain’t got no dust. … I don’t have to take it on
the lam. … Take—.
Unknown: You better watch that man!
J.B.: Huh?
Unknown: You better watch that man!
J.B.: Watch him? Yeah, alright. You’re right. Yeah. Yeah,
coming from some funny places. What you say, bro?
Unknown: What’s happening, Brown?!
J.B.: Huh! Trying to get down. … Well, you know. Looka here.
We can’t help it.
Unknown: That’s right. Right on!
J.B.: Ain’t no alcohol. Man, I don’t dig it. What you say,
uh, Jasaan?
Jasaan Sanford: Say, don’t be so mean!
J.B.: You know I’m
clean, now.
Unknown: And on the scene.
J.B.: ‘Scuse me, cat, while I rap! Looka here. Now, what you
saying, um…?
I’m walking all over this place, man, ‘cause we’re having a good
time.
Unknown: Well, go on and do it!
[…]
Unknown: Go on talk to ‘em, brother! … Go on, rap! …
Testify! … Do it! …
[…]
[St. Clair Pinckney solos.]
J.B.: Wait a minute,
Pinck! Pinck! Pinck! Wait a minute, Pinck! Hanh?
Unknown: Look at Pinck going.
J.B.: Hey, Pinck. Wait a minute, Pinck. Pinck. Wait a
minute, Pinck. Pinck.
Pinck: Alright, brother.
J.B.: I think Pinck’s doing his do, though. He’s doing his
do! He’s doing his do! He’s doing his do!
Unknown: That sure is smelly! … He’s doing his do!
J.B.: He’s doing his do. He’s doing his do.
Band: Doing his do!
J.B.: He’s doing his do.
Band: Just doing his do!
J.B.: He’s
doing his do.
Band: Just doing his do!
J.B.: He’s doing his do.
Band: Just doing it too.
J.B.: He’s doing his do.
Band: Just doing it too.
J.B.: You know, another thing about us all. What I really
dig about, you know. Everybody here, you know, like we’re from down home.
[Meaning, the South.] We’re together. I don’t know about Jasaan though. I think
Jasaan’s from down here, but he don’t want to tell it. Know what I’m saying? He
says, “I’m from ‘Ohius.’” That ain’t, ain’t no such place name as ‘Ohius.’ I
know where ‘Ohio’ is. “Hey, where you from?” “I’m from ‘Ohius.’”
[…]
Um, Pinck. You might as well tell ‘em where you’re from one
more time.
Pinck: Yeah, I’m from Georgia too. Yeah.
J.B.: What part [are] you from?
Pinck: Your hometown, bro.
J.B.: No, you ain’t from my hometown, man! I stay on the
other side of town. I’m on the other side of the tracks, man.
Pinck: Other side of the tracks?
J.B.: Yeah! I’m from, um, uh, The Terrace. Where you from?
Pinck: From The Terrace?
J.B.: Yeah.
Pinck: [Laughing.] Well, you know you got it.
J.B.: See you was eating a little higher on the hog than me.
[‘Eating higher on the hog’ means living better. Poor people ate pig’s feet and
chitlins…cuts of meat that come from ‘low on the hog.’]
Pinck: You got it. ‘Cause I’m from [unintelligible].
J.B.: We got a lot of cats, them well-to-do cats like Pinck,
that come from the other side of town.
Right, Henry? Oh, Henry, stand up there in the booth. …
Where you from, uh, um, Fred? I mean, Thomas. [James is calling Fred Thomas by
his last name so as not to confuse him with Fred Wesley.]
Fred Thomas: Washington, Georgia. J.B.: Washington, Georgia?
That’s on the other side of, um, um, Thomson.
Pinck: That’s right. That’s right.
J.B.: Between Thomson and Sparks. Right at Albertsons. Oh, I
know where you’re from. Down the road a piece from Toccoa!
[Loud laughter from the band.]
[What’s going on here is J.B.
is showing off his knowledge of backwoods Georgia. He’s also making fun of both
Thomas and himself for being country boys. In other words, if you’re from a
small town between two towns that no one outside of Georgia has ever heard of,
you’re a real backwoods country boy. And if you know where any of these places
are, then you’re a real backwoods country boy too.]
J.B.: But, now, we ain’t
gonna let [leave] the other people out. I mean, we love [naming Southern
states] Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, you understand, North
Carolina, South Carolina, uh, um, Virginia. Where you say you from, ‘Ohius’?
Yeah, we like [naming cities in the state of Ohio] Cincinnati, Dayton,
Cleveland, all them places. What about you, Cheese?
Cheese Martin: La Grange, North Carolina.
J.B.: What?!
Cheese: La Grange, North Carolina.
J.B: La Grange?! … What? What’d you say?
Cheese: La Grange.
J.B: Now, we got a La Grange, Georgia. La Grange, huh? Don’t
‘lay’ so deep in your ‘grange,’ brother. Yeah. … Grange? That’s what the…yeah,
that’s what the…that’s what the horses do. They—. No, no, no. That’s right. I
was thinking about grazing in the grass. But, uh. Y’all don’t—. No, no, no.
Only horses graze in the grass. Right?
[Laughter.] [James is making a marijuana reference.]
Unknown: They want you to get down just a little.
J.B: Get down!
[James Brown solos again.]
J.B.: … Is it good to you? … Ha! …
Unknown: What kind of train you said you know all that from?
J.B.: The Nasty Train! … You know, I used to be sanctified
and holy. Yeah. Any kind of way you look at me you could always see my leg.
[James is saying he always had holes in his pants.] … Yeah, you know,
sanctified—. No, really. Now, no, you’re not really so sanctified I always said
to that cat. The cat said, “No, I’m not really sanctified.” I said, “Well,
you’re holy,” you understand. ‘Cause, you know, the pants. You understand? Had
some extra places in them. But we always covered them up with newspaper and
things.
[…]
J.B.: Wait a minute. Now, Fred. What you said? … You know,
when we first started playing this thing, what did you say just now?
Fred: We better take it on the lam!
J.B.: You better watch your man! … What about it, Byrd?
Byrd: I think we better hush this fuss.
J.B.: What you say, brother?
Byrd: We better hush this fuss!
J.B.: [Incredulously.] I ain’t got no dust. I ain’t got no
dust. I mean, I ain’t got no dust, man. … Say man, like, I see a whole lot of
cars coming down with a lot of lights running around. Now, I don’t know what
y’all gonna do. You can end it or do what you want to. But man, like, I’m gone!
I’ll see y’all….”
-snip-
This is the end of that record.
[Transcriber’s comment]
…."despite being nothing more than talking over a groove, “Escape-ism” (in a
greatly edited form) actually hit the Billboard charts. In May of 1971,
“Escape-ism (Part 1)” peaked at #35 on Billboard’s Pop chart and at #6 on the
R&B chart. Unbelievable. Both the shortened hit version and the 19-minute
full take of “Escape-ism” are available on the CD reissue of the 1971 James
Brown album Hot Pants."
-snip-
I reformatted this transcription to enhance its readability
****
Here's a comment from that blog's discussion thread:
Rudolph Lewis Says:
April 8th, 2007 at 11:02 am
"Mtume, the real work you have done in transcribing this
“talking over a groove” must be applauded. For work creates value and shows the
temper of the man. Like James, you have a worker’s impulse. His was from a
working class background—a man of the people. That fact should not be
overlooked. I slept uneasily on your commentary, however, and woke this morning
thinking of your assertion James is “dropping some serious philosophical
knowledge.” One must ask, Can Southern Negroes, a “backwoods Georgia cat,” do “serious”
philosophy in a “broken English.” Language is always serious when there are
communicants, people digging each other. And it’s obvious these cats are
digging each other, even though James is the authoritarian maestro.
Midway you provide some context for this “nonsensical
rambling” and “random gibberish.” It’s indeed a typical scene of Negro’s
“jiving,” like what occurs on the corner with Richard’s or Colt 45 or in a
joint over a fifth of Jim Beam. James is holding court. He’s improvising on the
key word “escape.” He begins with, “when you forget that grits is groceries and
that eggs is poultry, you lose your thing. Now, you can lose your thing out
there wandering around.” He’s speaking about responsibility; the necessity of
“taking care business,” of staying focus, of balancing aspects of one’s life,
of working in unison with others—family, friends, lovers, one’s people.
In some sense this talk is autobiographical, which is
emphasized by JB’s asking the question, “Where’re you from.” Here’s a bit of
folk wisdom popping up here: “Don’t put on airs”—acting (talking) like you Mr.
Charlie, when you ain’t. That is, don’t pretend you’re something that you’re
not. Up North and out West, there was considerable mockery of “country ni-gers”* (those from the South)—you can take the ni—ger* out the country but you can’t
take the country out the ni-ger.”* For JB, that latter is a good thing; it is
to be savored. There’s gold (value) in them backwoods. One resource is the
church and the manner of worship—the sanctified and the holiness churches
(where rhythm and the Beat were emphasized), also objects of middle-class
mockery. So, Mtume, your impulse is on key. What we loved about James is that
he was no phony, never became phony. He realized that he could not escape his
history, his lack of formal education, his illiteracy. None of that, in any
case, was the determinant of intelligence or insight into the “truths” about
and joys of life itself. James exploited to the hilt that which he did know,
that which was handed down—the music, the passion, the commitment to hard work.
He embraced and expanded on that which was real and native in his people. And
for that we loved him, even when at times he was comical and an embarrassment.
If you wish to call that “serious philosophical knowledge,” then we jamming. —
Rudy
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
****
Selected YouTube comments from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnUM34orQ0M "James Brown - Escape-ism (Rare Extended Edit Of Full
Version)", by soulbrothanumbahone, May 11, 2011
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
"
5.
"James sounds funky even when he's TALKING over the track"