FRED WESLEY & THE JBS - Damn Right I Am Somebody (Repress) - LP - Vinyl [SEP 20]

LP - Black Vinyl Repress housed in a 1970s style Stoughton jacket.  

In 1974 one of James Brown’s most important band-leaders and sidemen - trombonist Fred Wesley – would release not one but two albums as a leader including Damn Right I Am Somebody. Starting with an evocative cover it was clear to fans that this album wasn’t all about a party. Deep messages abound in the songs here, such as the nearly 10-minute workout “I’m Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying.” Social messages aside,

Fred and his assembled JBs were a party-moving funk machine at heart, as heard on “If You Don’t Get It The First Time, Back Up And Try It Again, Party” and the laid-back groove of “Same Beat” (with prototypical sampling of Jesse Jackson exhorting an audience to chant “I am / Somebody”). Nestled among these raise-your-fist classics is one of the most experimental funk cuts ever made: “Blow Your Head,” known to relatively modern listeners as the backbone of Public Enemy’s “Public Enemy #1” (from 1987). Other tracks have been sampled by EPMD, Run-DMC, De La Soul, Digable Planets, and Ice-T among others. 

Get On Down pays reverent tribute to the reissue of this classic housed in a 1970s style Stoughton jacket. 

Tracklist: 

Side A
1. Damn Right I'm Somebody  [6:00]
2. Blow Your Head  [4:43]
3. Im Payin' Taxes, What Am I Buyin'?  [9:28]

Side B
1. Same Beat (Part 1)      [3:30]
2. If You Don't Get It The First Time, Back Up & Try It Again, Parrty  [3:36]
3. Make Me What You Want Me To Be  [3:34]
4. Going To Get A Thrill  [6:00]
5. You Sure Love To Ball  [4:13]