Escape-ism

Last updated
"Escape-ism (Part 1)"
Single by James Brown
from the album Hot Pants
B-side "Escape-ism (Part 2 & 3)"
Released1971 (1971)
Genre Funk, proto-rap
Length
  • 3:14(Part 1)
  • 4:00(Part 2 & 3)
Label People
2500
Songwriter(s) James Brown
Producer(s) James Brown
James Brown chartingsingles chronology
"I Cried"
(1971)
"Escape-ism (Part 1)"
(1971)
"Hot Pants Pt. 1 (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)"
(1971)
Audio video
"Escape-Ism (Pt. 1)" on YouTube

"Escape-ism" is a funk song by American musician James Brown. It was Brown's first release on his own label, People Records. It charted #6 R&B and #35 Pop as a two-part single in 1971. [1] Both parts also appeared on the album Hot Pants in 1971, with the previously unreleased nineteen-minute unedited take of the track appearing on the album's 1992 CD re-release. According to Robert Christgau the song was "supposedly cut to kill time until Bobby Byrd arrived" at the studio. [2]

A live version of "Escape-ism" is included on Brown's live album Revolution of the Mind .

Related Research Articles

<i>Live at the Apollo</i> (1963 album) 1963 live album by James Brown and the Famous Flames

Live at the Apollo is the first live album by James Brown and the Famous Flames, recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in October 1962 and released in May 1963 by King Records. Capturing Brown's popular stage show for the first time on record, the album was a major commercial and critical success and cemented his status as a leading R&B star.

<i>Star Time</i> (album) 1991 box set by James Brown

Star Time is a four-CD box set by American musician James Brown. Released in May 1991 by Polydor Records, its contents span most of the length of his career up to the time of its release, starting in 1956 with his first hit record, "Please, Please, Please", and ending with "Unity", his 1984 collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa. Writing in 2007, Robert Christgau described it as "the finest box set ever released... as essential a package as the biz has ever hawked, not just because it's James Brown, but because compilers Cliff White and Harry Weinger invested so much care and knowledge in it." Its title comes from the question Brown's announcer would ask concert audiences, as heard on the album Live at the Apollo: "Are you ready for star time?"

<i>Sex Machine</i> (album) 1970 studio album and live album by James Brown

Sex Machine is a 1970 double album by James Brown. It showcases the playing of the original J.B.'s lineup featuring Bootsy and Catfish Collins, and includes an 11-minute rendition of the album's title song, different from the original recording of the title song which was released as a two-part single in 1970.

<i>And in This Corner...</i> 1989 studio album by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

And in This Corner… is the third studio album released by MC/DJ duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The album was released in October 1989, reaching #39 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. The album was not released on Compact Disc in the UK. However, it was available on this format in most of Europe.

<i>All Day Music</i> 1971 studio album by War

All Day Music is the fourth album by American band War, released November 1971 on United Artists Records.

<i>Funke, Funke Wisdom</i> 1991 studio album by Kool Moe Dee

Funke, Funke Wisdom is the fourth solo studio album by American recording artist Kool Moe Dee from the Treacherous Three. It was released in 1991 via Jive Records, making it the rapper's final album on the label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine</span> 1970 single by James Brown

"Get Up Sex Machine" is a funk song recorded by James Brown with Bobby Byrd on backing vocals. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother Popcorn</span> 1969 single by James Brown

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit, it was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance the Popcorn which Brown made that year, including "The Popcorn", "Lowdown Popcorn", and "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn". The "mother" of the song's title was, in the words of biographer RJ Smith, "[Brown's] honorific for a big butt".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make It Funky</span> 1971 single by James Brown

"Make It Funky" is a jam session recorded by James Brown with The J.B.'s. It was released as a two-part single in 1971, which reached No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart and No. 22 on the U.S. Pop chart.

"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" is a funk song written by James Brown and Bobby Byrd. Recorded in 1970 by Brown and the original J.B.'s with Byrd on backing vocals and updated with a new melody, it was twice released as a two-part single in 1972. It also appeared on the album There It Is.

<i>Rainbow Bridge</i> (album) 1971 compilation album by Jimi Hendrix

Rainbow Bridge is a compilation album by American rock musician Jimi Hendrix. It was the second posthumous album release by his official record company and is mostly composed of recordings Hendrix made in 1969 and 1970 after the breakup of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Despite the cover photo and subtitle Original Motion Picture Sound Track, it does not contain any songs recorded during his concert appearance for the 1971 film Rainbow Bridge.

<i>Guilty!</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Eric Burdon and Jimmy Witherspoon

Guilty! is a 1971 album by Eric Burdon and Jimmy Witherspoon. It was the first release by Burdon after he left War.

<i>Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds</i> 1972 studio album by Randy California

Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds is a 1972 studio album by Randy California.

<i>Live at the Apollo, Volume II</i> 1968 live album by James Brown and the Famous Flames

Live at the Apollo, Volume II is a 1968 live double album by James Brown and The Famous Flames, recorded in 1967 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. It is a follow-up to Brown's 1963 recording, Live at the Apollo. It is best known for the long medley of "Let Yourself Go", "There Was a Time", and "I Feel All Right", followed by "Cold Sweat", which document the emergence of Brown's funk style. It peaked at #32 on the Billboard albums chart. Robert Christgau included the album in his "basic record library" for the 1950s and 1960s.

"I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)", also known as "I Can't Stand It", is a song written and recorded by James Brown in 1967. It is the most successful of the handful of recordings he made with The Dapps, a band of white musicians led by Beau Dollar. The single release of the song, on which its transposure was pushed up a half step/key, rose to #4 on the Billboard R&B chart and #28 on the Pop chart. The single's B-side, "There Was a Time", also charted.

<i>Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III</i> 1971 live album by James Brown

Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III is a live double album by James Brown released in 1971. As its subtitle suggests, it is Brown's third album recorded at the Apollo Theater, following the original Live at the Apollo (1963) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968).

"It's Too Funky in Here" is a song recorded by James Brown. Released as a single in May 1979, it charted #15 R&B. It also appeared on the album The Original Disco Man. Critic Robert Christgau praised the song as the "disco disc of the year".

"Kiss in 77" is a song written by Charles Sherrell and recorded by James Brown. Released as a single in 1977, it charted #35 R&B. It also appeared on the album Bodyheat. Robert Christgau gave the song a negative review, commenting sarcastically that it was "as 'brand new' as the 'New Sound!' [Brown] promises" on the jacket of its host album.

"Funk on Ah Roll" is a song written by James Brown and Derrick Monk and recorded by James Brown. It appears in three different versions on his 1998 album I'm Back, two of which are remixes. A number of additional remixes of the song, including a popular UK garage mix by Grant Nelson as Bump & Flex, were issued on 12" and CD in the United Kingdom in 1999, resulting in the song reaching No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. It did not chart in the United States.

"For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes" is a song written and performed by James Brown. Released as an edited two-part single in 1978, it charted #52 R&B in 1979. A full-length version appears on the album Take a Look at Those Cakes. Brown talks loudly and clearly in rhyme with only brief singing involved, this track being in part a precursor to the hip hop style which was yet to mount on record in a few years time. Robert Christgau described the song as "a great throwaway--an eleven-minute rumination on ass-watching, including genuinely tasteless suggestions that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder join the fun."

References

  1. White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
  2. "CG: James Brown". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2016-10-03.