Damn Right I Am Somebody

• Artist: Fred Wesley & the JB's
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1974
• Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

Damn Right I Am Somebody captures the J.B.'s at the apex of their extraordinary powers. This James Brown-produced set is both their most fiercely polemical and their most musically daring, incorporating otherworldly electronic elements, eccentric time and rhythm shifts, and idiosyncratic studio effects to brilliantly articulate the increasing turmoil and insanity of the times. It's quite possibly the most challenging record ever released under the Brown aegis, favoring open-ended grooves and epic solos rooted in avant-jazz. The rhythms remain surgically precise and hypnotically intense, however, and every cut here, from the funk juggernaut "I'm Payin' Taxes, What Am I Buyin'?" to the righteously mellow "Same Beat," is a marvel. This is funk at its heaviest -- musically, yes, but intellectually as well. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Damn Right I Am Somebody	Fred Wesley, James Brown	Fred Wesley	(6:00)
Blow Your Head	James Brown, Fred Wesley	Fred Wesley	(5:05)
I'm Payin' Taxes, What Am I Buyin'	James Brown, Fred Wesley	Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s	(9:47)
Same Beat, Pt. 1	James Brown	Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s	(3:19)
If You Don't Get It the First Time, Back Up & Try It Again, Parrty	James Brown	Fred Wesley	(3:55)
Make We What You Want Me to Be	James Brown, Fred Wesley	Fred Wesley	(3:57)
Going to Get a Thrill	Hank Ballard, James Brown	Fred Wesley	(6:21)
You Sure Love to Ball	Marvin Gaye	Fred Wesley	(4:37)