Still Black, Still Proud is the brainchild of James Brown’s most famous band leader, Pee Wee Ellis. The idea behind the project is to trace the roots of funk from Africa to Brown, and how Brown, in turn, influenced popular music in Africa. Together Brown and Ellis created the musical form we now call funk and, with Still Black, Still Proud, Ellis shows us how subconsciously the rhythms of Africa influenced the rhythms of funk.
It was a special weekend in Toronto when CBC Music recorded Still Black, Still Proud. You could say that funk invaded the big smoke. Still Black, Still Proud had been slated to play Koerner Hall on Saturday, Nov. 26 for months. As a music producer for CBC Music I had pitched the concert recording to Canada Live, and the concert recording was approved. Needless to say I was pretty excited, and Toronto funk fans knew well in advance that both Ellis and Maceo Parker would be in town. Then, from out of nowhere, as is typical for the purple one, Prince booked two nights at the Air Canada Centre. Any self-respecting fan of funk had to know that Parker would be on the stage with Prince.
I'm a long-time Prince fan, and having the chance to see him on the Friday and then record Still Black, Still Proud on the Saturday was a dream come true. For me, Prince and James Brown came at about the same time. I must have been 11 or 12 years old. I grew up in a small town just outside of Windsor and music to me was what was on the air from Motown and by the late 1970s and early 1980s, Prince was already a household name in Detroit. I clearly remember seeing videos of the purple one and my mom saying “He's just copying James Brown,” and when black-and-white footage of Brown came on the TV, I was forced to agree.
When Parker hit the stage on Friday, November 25 last year with Prince it was magical, and my mind started racing. If Parker is joining Prince on his show then maybe Prince will make an appearance at Koerner Hall for Still Black, Still Proud. Saturday at Koerner Hall was filled with great moments, both on the stage and backstage. Being present to hear Ellis and Parker joke around about having to share a monitor mix and the guys in the band all asking Parker about the Prince show the night before was a thrill. Prince never did show up for Still Black, Still Proud, but a limo was waiting outside for Parker at the show's end to whisk him off for another night of funk with Prince.
Listen to Still Black, Still Proud at Concerts on Demand to hear how Brown's sound developed. Drop into the later part of the concert and hear Brown’s first big hit, "Try Me." That is some pretty straight forward R&B/doo wop. But once Brown met Ellis, things changed. The funk Ellis and Brown created is on display here in the form of "Soul Pride" and "The Chicken," two instrumentals that burn with all of funk's force.
Listen to "The Chicken"
To hear how Africa influenced Brown, give a listen to Cheikh Lo's transition from his "Bambay Gueej" to Brown's "I Feel Alright." And to hear how Brown influenced the Afrobeat sound that came from Africa in the 1970s, check out "No Discrimination."
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