The J.B.'s: "Food For Thought"

Get ready for a flurry of JB posts, folks, ‘cause I’ve been on a non-stop, half-crazed JB kick for the last couple weeks, and it shows no signs of mellowing (although, James himself always said, “make it mellow!,” pronouncing it “mell-uhh!).  James Brown is kind of like Prince or P-Funk for me, in that I can be away from his music for long periods of time, but always, ALWAYS find myself coming back to it, and when I do come back, it’s all I listen to for months, sometimes whole seasons.  Of course, “Food For Thought” can’t solely be attributed to Brown, even if he wants to make sure you know he was all over it (actual album credits read, back to back, “James Brown—The Creator/Produced by James Brown/All songs arranged by James Brown…,” etc.).  No, this is the JB’s (Brown’s instrumental backing band), during the time-frame where they were primarily led by Fred Wesley, who helped to give them their distinctly jazz-informed, diamond-sharp-pocket funk sound.  As for the music, what can I really say?  You’ve heard most of these tracks before, either in the original versions or in the billion times they’ve been sampled in hip-hop.  All-time funk anthems are generously portioned throughout the LP; unforgettable, hugely impactful and influential cuts like “Pass The Peas,” “Gimme Some More,” “Hot Pants Road,” “The Grunt,” “Escape-ism.” So-called “deep tracks” are the real finds for the more embedded JB scholars, like the Latin-jazz-funk stomper “Blessed Blackness” or the hypnotic, trance-inducing “For My Brother.”  The record closes with the band’s ultimate statement of purpose, “These Are The J.B.’s,” and so when the needle hits the dead wax the listener has truly taken one of the most integral and essential funk journeys in existence, ‘cause, like Danny Ray said on the intro to their subsequent “Doing It To Death” album, “without no doubt…theeeeeese…are the J.B.’s!!!!!!!”