Miles' Funk vs. Godfather's Funk

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by zphage, May 16, 2009.

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  1. zphage

    zphage genre fluid Thread Starter

    Battle of the heavyweights, great men of music, great men of vision, each very aware of the other, breaking it down, getting very spare, funky and heavy, fielding great bands creating great music. Who was better?
     
  2. rcdupre

    rcdupre Flying is Trying is Dying

    Miles was on a whole 'nother, higher dimension, not even close...
     
  3. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    James was on a whole 'nother, higher dimension, not even close....
     
  4. RayistaGeoff

    RayistaGeoff Forum Resident

    Well there you go. I'd have said the exact same thing about the Godfather. Love Miles' funky stuff, but....

    Geoff
     
  5. James Brown... The New Minister Of Super Heavy FUNK!!!:righton:
     
  6. Evan Guest

    Evan Guest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Spokane, WA
    Battle of the heavyweights? Who was better? Everything else you wrote is thought provoking enough for me.I prefer Miles music but it would
    be insane to say he was BETTER than JB.Here's the question............If music were a sport, how would we keep score?
     
  7. snap

    snap Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, GA
    Unlike the Godfather, Miles wasn't necessarily a creator of the funk.

    Miles MO' was to surround himself with the baddest cats and turn 'em loose in the studio -- spending hundreds of hours to find grooves for him to play over. For example, the loping boogie riff for 'Jack Johnson' came from the jamming of John McLaughlin, who was joined by Michael Henderson, on bass and then Billy Cobham's drums. AFTER they set up the funky groove -- then Miles perked up and entered the scene.

    Cost-conscious James Brown was rarely afforded such studio luxury. He would usually dictate the groove in his head and the band would get with it -- real quick.
     
  8. LeftOfTheDial

    LeftOfTheDial Active Member

    Location:
    rhode island
    which is better: apples or oranges?
     
  9. lazarus

    lazarus Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    JB was much better than Miles to do JB-music and Miles was much better than JB to play Miles-music!!!!
    It would be ridicilous to say that one these giants are better than the other. They were both true Masters!!
     
  10. TMan

    TMan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    And...end of thread.

    Each were at a pinnacle of their chosen form, and not remotely comparable.
     
  11. ledsox

    ledsox Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    From noon till midnight-- JB
    Midnight till noon-- Miles.
     
  12. mrt2

    mrt2 Active Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI, USA
    Though I prefer Miles generically, I found his fusion electric stuff to be the nadir of his career.

    When it comes to funk, James Brown, and it isn't close.
     
  13. TMan

    TMan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    yeah, I discounted the thread title since the first post was a bit vague. I like a LOT of Miles, but I don't consider any of it 'funk', including the fusion. I love Pangaea and Agharta, but for FUNK JB vs. George Clinton would be a much more relavent poll. Creator vs. protege.
     
  14. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    This question's a joke, right? James Brown, of course! No one thinks of Miles Davis when mentioning funk.
     

  15. From Wiki:
    "Davis's influences included late 1960s acid rock and funk artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix, many of whom he met through Betty Mabry, a young model and songwriter Miles married in September 1968 and divorced a year later. The musical transition required that Davis and his band adapt to electric instruments in both live performances and the studio."


    For me Miles' funk influences show most clearly in On the Corner (1972) - you can feel a bit of Sly, James, Funkadelic, Parliament.

    Not everybodies cup of tea, but I love the funky Miles. :righton:
     
  16. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I'm not buying it. I've heard Davis's "funk". Perhaps I just have a different idea of what funk is.
     
  17. ATR

    ATR Senior Member

    Location:
    Baystate
    James Brown invented it and Miles Davis adapted it to jazz. Heck, Miles used several JB bass lines in his 70's compositions. I've heard Say It Loud, The Payback, and others pretty much note for note in Michael Henderson's arsenal of riffs on Jack Johnson and other albums. If you can't hear them yourself, go back and listen again. And just because Miles used them, it's no knock on him IMO. He turned them into something else that was totally unique and original. I agree with the poster who said you can't keep score in musical competition, although the impulse to do it is irresistible.
     
  18. zebop

    zebop Well Known Stranger

    James Brown. He was just an insanely funky human being. When he was confident and on his game, he just made everything funkier even when he was just talking.

    I don't think what Miles Davis did comes close. As much as I like some of it, some of Davis's "funky" work edges towards cacophony especially if you're not "ready" for it. When Miles did isn't that palpable or danceable but it's very interesting. Apples and oranges really.
     
  19. zen archer

    zen archer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston Ma.usa
    James Brown !
     
  20. mrt2

    mrt2 Active Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI, USA
    Wikipedia is a research tool for further investigating, but should never be relied upon by itself. It carries about as much authority as anybody on this forum.
     
  21. phish

    phish Jack Your Body

    Location:
    Biloxi, MS, USA
    picked miles although they were two totally different types of talent playing two different types of music, both with their place.
     
  22. albert_m

    albert_m Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atl., Ga, USA
    Yes, but many here don't even need to reference Wiki to know that Brown is one of the main people - or the person most associated with funk and people don't associate Miles in that category - even those of us who own On the Corner and are familiar with his being influenced by Brown and Sly etc.
     
  23. ATR

    ATR Senior Member

    Location:
    Baystate
    Miles' fascination and curiosity with different musics and musical genres, and his mind bending ability to effect an original synthesis is well known and well documented. Whose authority you accept is your own decision. I find Wikipedia, in general, to be fairly accurate but far from comprehensive. As for SH Forums, there is a lot of expertise lurking here, and if you read carefully you can separate the wheat from the chaff.
     
  24. rcdupre

    rcdupre Flying is Trying is Dying

    I recently go the CDs of JB's 1973-74 run of Black Caesar, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, and The Payback...I like this period of his music the best (probably because this is my favorite period of music for ALL music, including jazz) The double Payback is awesome stuff, especially the ballad Doing The Best I Can...I guess next to get is his next one Hell (1974)...I still think Miles' run of LPs from In A Silent Way thru Agharta / Pangea is more apropo to play on infinite repeat in my sealed casket though, when the time comes...:winkgrin:
     
  25. AerosSaga

    AerosSaga Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I love Miles to death, but in the funk department no one can better James Brown.....
     
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