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Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 08:19 pm: | 
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Hello All,
I finished Hit Me Fred by Fred Wesley, Jr. the other day. I liked the book alot. You may not think you don't know who Fred Wesley, Jr. is, but I'm quite confident that you have heard him. Wesley was one of the horns that backed James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic. It's a very good book. The most exciting chapters in the book was Wesley's reminicising about his time with The Godfather of Soul. I'm sure James Brown ain't happy with it. Hit Me Fred isn't a gossipy, expose type of book. It is about Wesley and his love and life in music. Although, he got on my nerves naming musicians that I know nothing about, I enjoyed the book, nevertheless. |
Sis E
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 08:28 pm: |
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Thumper, I have got to read that book. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Wesley way back in the day -- late sixties, I think -- and was able to spend a few hours with him and talk up a storm. I played my guitar for him, which I think gave him a headache. He's a fine man. I wrote a music column for a weekly Black newspaper back then. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 10:22 am: |
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Thumper:
And here I was under the impression you were one of the original Famous Flames. I'm gonna get that book. |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 10:39 pm: |
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Hello Chris,
*LOL* Now Chris, you know good and well that you're old enough to be my father. I only heard about the Famous Flames in history class. Did you get to see them live way back in the day? *smile* |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 11:42 am: |
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Thump:
I saw James Brown live four times (it seems like it was all in one year, but I am sure it was spread out over several ) the first time was in 1967-68--his big hits were Let Yourself Go, There was a Time, etc. The show lasted four hours. He had the Famous Flames, the band with Maceo Parker, Clay Tyson a comedian, a female singer a go go dancer and was backed up by strings. He changed clothes three times and each time he came out of his suits they was ringin' wet.
He was not yet the Godfather of Soul, but he was Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother #1. Often imitated, never duplicated--there were people who danced better and faster, people who sang better, people who had better bands, people who put on a better show, nobody who could do ALL of those better than he could--cept maybe Sammy Davis Jr. and I seen James eat him up dancin' one time on the tonight show (Sammy just faded to the sidelines).
Get the tape of the TAMI show and see James eating Mick Jagger for lunch (some idiot put him on right before the Stones and James should have closed the show--he was the show closer) you'll see what I am talking about. |
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