Damn Right I Am Somebody

Description

To me, happiness is Fred Wesley playing his horn. James Brown.. In 1974 one of James Browns 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 wasnt all about a party. Deep messages abound in the songs here, such as the nearly 10-minute workout Im 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 Dont 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 Enemys 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.