Getting To Know Billy Brooks

It’s very uncommon to find someone who actually knows Billy Brooks, ask people around, even musical people and they’ll probably respond with “Who?” This is nothing new in music, there have been countless talented musicians littered along the path to fame. Yet his impact on music should not be put to waste.

Billy Brooks had mostly gained notoriety as a sideman among fellow musicians, having played for the likes of Ray Charles and Tina Turner and also pioneering his own patented double barreled trumpet giving him a wide range of sounds that he could produce from the horn.

His album, Windows of the Mind would come out in 1974, boasting a jazz-funk groove that many before and after had tried in failed. The genre had seemed doomed to fail, jazz purists would cast off the funk influence as too simple, and those who liked funk didn’t like the jazz fusion involvement.  Somehow Billy Brooks manages to meld the best of both worlds.

Take “C.P. Time”  a slow burning jazz burner for the purists out there with some great horn and lead guitar work along with Brook’s fantastic trumpet improv.

There’s also “The Speech Maker” who’s soaring horn lines and moving rhythm beg for it to be cast in a soundtrack for an old school caper, or a Bond film.

Then there is the rollicking funk of Rockin’ Julius, with its pounding bass and foot-tapping rhythm.

Then of course, there is “40 Days” a song which was by far Billy Brooks lasting influence, a perfect jazz-funk meld that would later be sampled to perfection in A Tribe Called Quest’s Luck of Lucien, it’s a shame that ATCQ only brought attention to the song’s great groove, because the solos on here are sublime. I also made a remaster of this track to give it a more live sound, it’s up to you whether you dig the gritty 7o’s production or one that gives the horns some air to breath:

Original:

Remaster:

 

Overall, Billy Brooks proves to be a great arranger and this is a must have album for anybody who likes jazz or funk. All the downloadable tracks above, plus some bonus ones, including a fantastic remix of “40 Days” are all here  after the jump.

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Song of the Day: He’s Got You, Elvis Costello

It was a surprising move for Elvis Costello fans when he came out with this entirely country and western album in 1981, though it was packed along with the typically cynical Costello quip that stated “”WARNING: This album contains country & western music and may cause offence to narrow minded listeners.”. Yet Costello is no rube when it comes to interpreting other peoples music (Just look at “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding”) and he performs these country standards with quite able hands.  This cut, originally left off the LP, was a Hank Cochran written, Patsy Cline performed “She’s Got You”, a beautifully delivered lyric about loss.  The arrangement here is worked to perfection with some sparkling piano flourishes and Costello’s isolated lyric pushed front and center, with some heartbreaking slide guitar holding the background. Just a great performance. The downloadable song after the jump.

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Song of the Day: Too Far Gone, Four Mints


Culled from the same compilation as the wonderful “You and Me” featured a few days back, this vinyl crackling, bass thumping, vocal jumping Four Tops styled groove is a wonderful upbeat arrangement about, what else, losing a lady but delivered so earnestly that there’s no time to sit around and mope, enjoy this lost vinyl classic.

If you’re interested, the collection is entitled Eccentric Soul, there are many volumes, this song is found on the first.

The downloadable song after the jump.

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Song of the Day: You and Me, Penny and the Quarters

I don’t think I’ve seen a more affecting and raw film in the past year than what I found in Blue Valentine a romantic drama that does not shy from exposing a relationship at both its most earnest and its most raw.  While the soundtrack as a whole is amazing, with great work from indie bands Grizzly Bear as well as the fantastic “In Ear Park” from Department of Eagles, interwoven with the emotional film.

Yet of all things on the fantastic soundtrack, (including a very sweet bare bones ukelele song by Gosling himself) the song that stands out is this beautiful soul number.  Gosling’s character introduces it in the film as their song, and its beautifully worked into the plot to symbolize what’s changed.  It’s a retro number that’s perfectly used to illustrate its timeless beauty, and how the meanings of words can be changed just by feeling. The song after the jump.

Continue reading Song of the Day: You and Me, Penny and the Quarters