I will be posting MP3s on a regular basis, because what’s the point of having thousands of records unless you can share them with the world? Our initial posting actually turned out to be an easy choice. About 15 years ago, I had a job as a wedding DJ. I always started and ended with the same two songs. Once the equipment was up, the kickoff was always “The Grunt” by the J.B.’s from the Food For Thought album. The closing song was always “I Don’t Mind at All” by Bourgeois Tagg.
The J.B’s were, of course, the backing band for James Brown. Why do I love this song? Well, you clearly hear the roots of hip-hop that came out of the funkified James Brown. But there’s also a weird off-kilter nature that can be heard today in hip-hop productions from producers like the Neptunes and Timbaland (And, of course, samples from “The Grunt” were used by Public Enemy in “Night of the Living Baseheads” and “Rebel Without a Pause”). There’s a raw quality to the song: the sax has that rasping honk, the bass has a fuzz to it, the drums are flat, and the guitar slashes with a chicken-scratch rhythm line. This all serves to make it totally memorable.
Supposedly, the personnel on this cut includes such future P. Funk stars as Clayton ‘Chicken’ Gunnels (trumpet), Robert McCollough (tenor sax), Phelps ‘Catfish’ Collins (guitar), Williams ‘Bootsy’ Collins (bass), and Frank ‘Kash’ Waddy (drums). If this is accurate, it also suggests that the song was recorded earlier than 1972, when Food For Thought came out, since the Collins brothers had left J.B. by that time.
And, all right, I’ll give you the Bourgeois Tagg song too. Never let it be said I wasn’t thorough. They had a top 40 hit with this Todd Rundgren production. The band name sounds like typical rock artfulness, but it was actually two guys, Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg. Bourgeois became an addict and then a hardcore Christian and the band broke up.
The J.B.’s – The Grunt — BUY
Bourgeois Tagg – I Don’t Mind at All — BUY