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The J.B.'s | |
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![]() Fred Wesley & the new JB's in 2016 | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The New Dapps, Fred Wesley and the J.B.'s, Fred and the New J.B.'s, The James Brown Soul Train, Maceo and the Macks, A.A.B.B., The First Family, The Last Word [1] |
Origin | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
Genres | Funk, soul, R&B |
Years active | 1970–2006 |
Labels | King, Polydor, People |
The J.B.'s (sometimes punctuated The JB's or The J.B.s) was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Maceo and the Macks, A.A.B.B., Fred Wesley and the New JBs, The First Family, and The Last Word. [1] In addition to backing Brown, the J.B.'s played behind Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, and other singers associated with the James Brown Revue, and performed and recorded as a self-contained group. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [2] but failed to be inducted and can be considered for Musical Excellence in the future. They have been eligible since 1995.
The J.B.'s were formed in March 1970 after most of the members of Brown's previous band walked out on him over a pay dispute. (Brown's previous bands of the 1950s and 1960s had been known as The James Brown Band and The James Brown Orchestra.) The J.B.'s initial lineup included bassist William "Bootsy" Collins and his brother, guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins, formerly of the obscure funk band The Pacemakers; Bobby Byrd (founder of the original Famous Flames singing group) (organ), and John "Jabo" Starks (drums), both holdovers from Brown's 1960s band; three inexperienced horn players, Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells, Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison, and Robert McCollough; and conga player Johnny Griggs. This version of the J.B.'s played on some of Brown's most intense funk recordings, including "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", "Super Bad", "Soul Power", and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing". They also accompanied Brown on a European tour (during which they recorded the long-delayed live album Love Power Peace ), performed on the Sex Machine double LP, and released two instrumental singles, the much-sampled "The Grunt" and "These Are the J.B.'s".
In December 1970, trombonist Fred Wesley rejoined James Brown's organization to lead the J.B.'s. [3] Other former Brown sidemen, including Maceo Parker and St. Clair Pinckney, eventually followed his lead, while the Collins brothers and most of the rest of the "original" J.B.'s left Brown to join George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic collective. Wesley and Parker left in 1975. Brown continued to bill his backing band as the J.B.'s into the mid-1980s, when he changed their name to the Soul Generals, or Soul G's.
In addition to backing Brown on stage and on record during this era, the J.B.'s also recorded albums and singles on their own, sometimes with Brown performing on organ or synthesizer. Their albums were generally a mixture of heavy funk tracks and some more jazz-oriented pieces. Nearly all of the J.B.'s recordings were produced by Brown, and most were released on his own label, People Records. The band scored a number of chart hits in the early 1970s, including "Pass the Peas", "Gimme Some More", and the #1 R&B hit, "Doing It to Death". Credited to "Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s", "Doing It to Death" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in July 1973. [4]
Some of the J.B.'s releases have unusual characteristics. The 1974 album Breakin' Bread is unique in that most of the songs have a Fred Wesley spoken reminiscence dubbed onto the beginning of the song, each time over a canned backing track. It is in sharp contrast to James Brown's real-time dominance of the proceedings on the classic Doing It to Death LP. A similar oddity is encountered on the other 1974 album, Damn Right I Am Somebody, where that album have been spliced onto the beginnings of most of the other songs. Under the name A.A.B.B., the group released a single, "Pick up the Pieces One by One", which reached #108 on the U.S. chart in 1975. [5] Both the song and the name—which stood for "Above Average Black Band"—were a tribute to and tongue-in-cheek reply to the then-popular Scottish funk group the Average White Band (also known as AWB) and its #1 hit single "Pick Up the Pieces". [5] The J.B.'s final single for Brown's People label, 1976's "Everybody Wanna Get Funky One More Time", features a rare hornless arrangement.
As funk music gave way in popularity to disco in the 1970s, the group's material and arrangements changed accordingly, but their chart success declined along with Brown's own.
Like most of James Brown's music, the recorded output of the J.B.'s has been heavily mined for samples by hip hop DJs and record producers.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley intermittently toured under the name The JB Horns, sometimes with other former Brown sidemen such as Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. The JB Horns recorded several albums for the Gramavision label, which were later reissued by Rhino Records. They also recorded an album under this name with producer Richard Mazda called I Like It Like That.
The JB Horns are also associated with The Horny Horns, staple members of P-Funk and Bootsy's Rubber Band, which was led by Fred Wesley and included Maceo, as well as Rick Gardner and Richard "Kush" Griffith on trumpets.
A version of the J.B.'s including Fred Wesley, Bootsy Collins, Pee Wee Ellis, Bobby Byrd, and Clyde Stubblefield assembled to record the 1999 "reunion" album Bring the Funk on Down, dedicated to the memory of St. Clair Pinckney. The album was released in Japan by P-Vine Records, and in 2002 it was reissued in the U.S. by Instinct Records.
A reunion of the original J.B.'s rhythm section, with Bootsy and Phelps Collins, Clyde Stubblefield, and Jabo Starks, and supplemented by Bernie Worrell, recorded the Superbad movie soundtrack. They went on to perform the first tribute concert remembering James Brown.
Fred Wesley (1968–1975, 1983)
Maceo Parker (1964-1969, 1973–1975, 1984–1988)
Jimmy Nolen (1965-1969, 1972–1983)
Fred Thomas (1971–1975, 1980-1983, 1993–2006)
John "Jabo" Starks (1966–1975)
Clyde Stubblefield (1966-1970)
Bootsy Collins (1970–1971)
Phelps Collins (1970–1971)
St. Clair Pinckney (1962–1999)
Johnny Griggs (1971–1979, 1984-1988)
Sweet Charles Sherrell (1969-1979, 1983-1997)
Pee Wee Ellis (1965-1969)
Bernard Odum(1959–1968,1994-1997)
Hearlon "Cheese" Martin (1970–1975)
Darryl "Hassan" Jamison (1970–1971, 1972–1975)
Jerone "Jassan" Sanford (1971–1975, 1978–1983)
Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells (1970–1971)
Robert "Chopper" McCollough (1970)
Jimmy Parker (1971–1975)
Ike Oakley (1972–1974)
Russel Crimes (1971–1978)
Robert Lee Coleman (1971, 1976)
Bobby Roach (1970–1972)
John Morgan (1971–1975)
Hollie Farris (1976–1994, 2001-2006)
Joe Poff (1976-1981, 1986, 1991)
Melvin Parker (1964-1969, 1976-1977)
Tyrone Jefferson (1976–1980,1984, 1991-2006)
Tony Cook (1976–1993, 2005–2006)
David Weston (1976–1982)
Keith Jenkins (1994-2006)
Jeff Watkins (1994-2006)
Arthur Dickson (1978– 1998)
Ron Laster (1978–2006)
Robert "Mousey" Thompson (1993–2006)
Aaron Purdie (197?–198?)
Erik Hargrove (1998-2005)
Jerry Pondixter (1978-1983, 1992-2005)
George "spike" Nealy (1991-2006)
Ray Brundidge(1998-2006)
Damon Wood (1999-2006)
Robert "The plaster"(2006)
Jimmy Lee Moore (1984-2001)
Joe Collier (1981-2000)
Larry moore (1984-1992)
Todd owens(1992-2001)
Leroy Harper Jr(1991-1993, 1997-2006)
Sir Waldow weathers (1993-2006)
George 'Haji Ahkba' Dickerson (1984-1988)
Tony Jones (1984-1988, 1994, 1997-2001)
J? Jackson (1991-1994)
Darryl Brown (1999-2006)
Parliament-Funkadelic is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their eclectic style has drawn on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor. They have released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work has had an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology has helped pioneer Afrofuturism.
Mothership Connection is the fourth album by American funk band Parliament, released on December 15, 1975 on Casablanca Records. This concept album is often rated among the best Parliament-Funkadelic releases, and was the first to feature horn players Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, previously of James Brown's backing band the J.B.'s.
Fred Wesley is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s, and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s.
Phelps "Catfish" Collins was an American musician. A lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist, he is known mostly for his work in the P-Funk collective. Although frequently overshadowed by his younger brother, Bootsy Collins, Catfish played on many important and influential records by James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic, and Bootsy's Rubber Band.
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.
The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein is the fifth album by funk band Parliament, released on July 20, 1976. The album is notable for featuring horn arrangements by ex-James Brown band member, Fred Wesley. The album charted at #3 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart, #20 on the Billboard pop chart, and became Parliament's second album to be certified gold. Two singles were released off the album, "Do That Stuff", which charted at #22, and "Dr. Funkenstein" which charted at #43.
Jerome Eugene "Bigfoot" Brailey is an American drummer, best known for his work with P-Funk, which included the bands Parliament, Funkadelic, and numerous related projects. Brailey is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
John Henry "Jabo" Starks, sometimes spelled Jab'o, was an American funk and blues drummer best known for playing with James Brown as well as other notable musicians including Bobby Bland and B.B. King. A self-taught musician, he was known for his effective and clean drum patterns. He was one of the originators of funk drumming, and is one of the most sampled drummers.
"Soul Power" is a song by James Brown. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features backing vocals by Bobby Byrd. It charted #3 R&B and #29 Pop.
Jimmy Nolen was an American guitarist, known for his distinctive "chicken scratch" lead guitar playing in James Brown's bands. In its survey of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," the English magazine Mojo ranks Nolen number twelve. Rolling Stone named Nolen the 12th greatest guitarist of all time in 2023.
"Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)" is a 1971 song by American singer James Brown, released as a single on his People Records label (then distributed by King Records) in July of that year with "Pt. 1" on the A-side and "Pt. 2 and 3" on the B-side. It was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and reached number fifteen on the Hot 100 and number ten on the Cashbox magazine charts. "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he and the People label moved to Polydor Records.
"Doing It to Death", also known as "Gonna Have a Funky Good Time", is a funk song recorded by The J.B.'s featuring James Brown. A 10-minute, two-part version of "Doing It to Death" was included on a J.B.'s album of the same name. The complete, unedited and nearly 13-minute-long original recording of the song was first issued on the 1995 J.B.'s compilation Funky Good Time: The Anthology. Performances of the song also appear on the albums Live at Chastain Park and Live at the Apollo 1995.
This Boot Is Made for Fonk-N is the fourth album by the American funk band Bootsy's Rubber Band, released through Warner Bros. Records in 1979. Unlike previous albums by Bootsy's Rubber Band, the album did not generate any hit singles. The album was more experimental in nature than previous efforts. It would also mark the last time that the name "Bootsy's Rubber Band" would be used on a Bootsy Collins related project until the 1982 12" single release "Body Slam". This Boot Is Made for Fonk-N peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 52 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The One Giveth, the Count Taketh Away is an album by William Bootsy Collins, released by Warner Bros. Records. It would be the last album that Bootsy Collins would record for the label. It would also be the first album produced solely by Bootsy Collins, with the exception of the track "Shine-O-Myte " which was produced by Bootsy Collins and George Clinton. The album was released on April 28, 1982.
A Blow for Me, a Toot to You is a 1977 album by funk musician Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns featuring Maceo Parker.
Say Blow by Blow Backwards is the second and last album by Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns, featuring Maceo Parker. The album was released in August 1979 by Atlantic Records and was produced by George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Fred Wesley.
The Final Blow is a compilation album by Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns. The album first released on the P-Vine record label in 1994, then on the Sequel label in the United Kingdom, and the AEM label in the United States. The album is made up of unreleased tracks recorded during band's heyday in the late 1970s.
Blasters of the Universe is a 1993 2-CD set by Bootsy's New Rubber Band. The album was first released on the P-Vine record label and then by Rykodisc in the US and the UK. In terms of musical personnel, the album features more P-Funk and Funk alumni than any other Bootsy Collins related release. It also contains one of the last tracks to feature original Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel, to whom the album is dedicated. The album also contains a lyric sheet and a comic book called "Back 'N' Dah Day: A Boot Tune Adventure".
Live in Oklahoma 1976 is a live album by the American Funk band Bootsy's Rubber Band. The album was released in 2001 and represents a collaborative effort between the Funk To The Max label, based in the Netherlands, and Bootzilla Records in the U.S.. The performance was recorded while Bootsy's Rubber Band was the support act for headliners Parliament-Funkadelic.
This is the discography of American musician Bootsy Collins.