Jul 10
14
James Brown – The Payback
Every once in a while an album comes along that helps to define a certain genre. An album of such stunning beauty and perfection, that to not have it is a crime. In 1973 James Brown delivered that album to the funk world and generations beyond. It was time for Payback, and the revenge was indeed funky.
For all the funk found on The Payback, this is an album of grievances. It is a soulful reflection of James’ state of mind in 1973. He had just lost his lover and girlfriend to another man whom he had thought his friend. Double crossed and lied to he took out his rage in the perfect self-titled opener. His rage and anger come to the forefront in an excellent delivery of stabbing lines of revenge. When he claims to not know karate but knows ka-razy, you know he means it. He’s hurt, but he’s too angry to dwell on it and instead delivers one of the funkiest songs ever committed to tape. That bong rattling bass, the wah-wah guitars, the “hit me” horn lines swell and surge for over 7 funky minutes with not a moment lost.
But losing a lover was not the only thing on James’ mind here. During recording, which took time over several months between touring, he lost his 18 year old son in a car accident. James was stricken with grief, guilt, and near madness. He could overcome his own troubles, growing up with poverty and whatnot, but this, this was too much. You can literally hear a man broken during Forever Suffering. I knew what this song was about going into it, but hearing those words of “give me back my kid” towards the end was almost too much to handle. Throw in the chorus of women singing “Suffer-ing” and you have a fitting requiem for beloved son.
The grief of loss, cheating, poverty, starvation, and care for his fellow brothers in similar situations comes forth in the sparse production, which although slick and professional, has a certain raw quality that only adds to the heaviness. Everything hits hard and drills into your subconscious. The horn lines are dense and thick, the bass rattling your very core. It’s almost as if the band was feeling the same grief and loss as their leader. They very well may have since an angry JB is an angry band.
But let’s not forget that this is James Brown and it is 1973 so you know it’s all going to be funky. I mean really funky. Funky with a capital F three times taller than you. “Take Some…Leave Some” starts out with a slinky little wah-wah line that you just know it going to take you where you need to go. JB starts ranting about taking some food and leaving some in the pantry and how he needs it. “Take the meat…don’t take it all. Leave some.” True words James, true words. He makes a call to his brothers when he reminds them that “you know where I’m comin’ from.” We all know where you came from JB, hard times.
“Take Some…Leave Some” comes to an abrupt end and we are immediately plunged into the insane funk of “Shoot Your Shot.” The intro alone is more than enough funk to warrant the album into an all time funk machine. But then the song shifts into further funk overload at the 45 second mark with a gloriously dense and rich horn line from the JB’s. James lays out on the organ for a spell and lets out a defiant yell at 1.32. The congas, the insistent horn lines, that ever present bass, and JB’s yelps about “doing what he want to do” and “trying to get over” all gel together and it’s almost too much. It shouldn’t be. It just should. Not. Be.
Later in the album we get some great JB organ explorations on an extended cut of “Stone to the Bone.” One of the things I always love about how James plays the organ is the abstract quality he employs; he doesn’t play in a traditional b3 Hammond Jimmy Smith way. Instead he plays almost like he sings, with lots of musical grunts and screams. It’s very primitive and wholly satisfying. And speaking of extended cuts, every song on here is an extended cut. It was originally a double album with 2 songs per side, leaving plenty of space for the groove.
Don’t think for a second that JB isn’t going to end the album with a supremely funky jam and a ridiculous rant about politicians, biblical loaves of bread, and shout outs to all the funky city areas that need help. Yes, he’s been ranting this whole time about anything and everything but he really lets loose here. The song rambles on steadily until about the 4.30 mark where the band shifts into a totally liquid bass driven funk and James calls to Maceo for some funky flute. The jam here, with the band so locked into one another, is insanely heavy. Not heavy in your face, but heavy in your mind and in your soul. It’s deep. So deep you can cut it. So deep you do not want it to end. The kind of sick groove that only James Brown and the JB’s could ever muster. The groove that proves why JB will always reign supreme in the world of funk. The real deal funk.
James touches on so many subjects on this album, both lyrically and musically, that it easily enters my all time list. A must have if I ever heard one. As JB says, “What it is, is what it is.”
Track List
- “The Payback” – 7:39
- “Doing the Best I Can” – 7:39
- “Take Some…Leave Some” – 8:20
- “Shoot Your Shot” – 8:19
- “Forever Suffering” – 5:39
- “Time Is Running Out Fast” – 12:58
- “Stone to the Bone” – 10:14
- “Mind Power” – 12:04
