Reissued on LP with a sumptuous, five-color, 22” x 22” poster of the cover art, all wrapped in a Stoughton tip-on jacket and thick polybag.
Times are tough, the economy is rough, everybody’s tryin’ to make a dollar. Sometimes you get away from yourself. Won’t you go back and break bread, while we still have some to break? So implored James Brown, Fred Wesley and even album engineer Bob Both, on the back cover liners of the 1974 soul classic 'Breakin’ Bread'. Times were indeed tough for everyday folks in the waning days of the Nixon era. Escape-ism was needed. Humanity sometimes seemed to be in short supply. But James Brown and his assembled People Records roster were always there to take soul music fans away from their everyday trials and tribulations, even while occasionally funking up negative situations (for instance, “Rockin’ Funky Watergate,” one of the centerpieces of this album). The heavy grooves laid down by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley, saxophonist and arranger St. Clair Pinckney and Fred’s assembled “New JB’s” were, almost literally, comfort for the ears. 1974 saw a vortex of superfunk coming out of James Brown’s People Records stable, and this platter wasn’t even the only JB’s album that year. But it is one that added to the powerful musical and social legacy of that crew. It’s an air-tight, eight course meal, with most platters clocking in at four delicious minutes each. “Breakin’ Bread” is a truly memorable funk stew, with warm, call-and-response vocals, complicated-but-laidback soul, and an important message - alluded to in the back cover plea. “I Wanna Get Down,” “Rice ‘N’ Ribs” and “Funky Music Is My Style” all feature intricate, infectious grooves. In fact, there isn’t much time to catch your breath on Breakin’ Bread, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Times are tough, the economy is rough, everybody’s tryin’ to make a dollar. Sometimes you get away from yourself. Won’t you go back and break bread, while we still have some to break? So implored James Brown, Fred Wesley and even album engineer Bob Both, on the back cover liners of the 1974 soul classic 'Breakin’ Bread'. Times were indeed tough for everyday folks in the waning days of the Nixon era. Escape-ism was needed. Humanity sometimes seemed to be in short supply. But James Brown and his assembled People Records roster were always there to take soul music fans away from their everyday trials and tribulations, even while occasionally funking up negative situations (for instance, “Rockin’ Funky Watergate,” one of the centerpieces of this album). The heavy grooves laid down by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley, saxophonist and arranger St. Clair Pinckney and Fred’s assembled “New JB’s” were, almost literally, comfort for the ears. 1974 saw a vortex of superfunk coming out of James Brown’s People Records stable, and this platter wasn’t even the only JB’s album that year. But it is one that added to the powerful musical and social legacy of that crew. It’s an air-tight, eight course meal, with most platters clocking in at four delicious minutes each. “Breakin’ Bread” is a truly memorable funk stew, with warm, call-and-response vocals, complicated-but-laidback soul, and an important message - alluded to in the back cover plea. “I Wanna Get Down,” “Rice ‘N’ Ribs” and “Funky Music Is My Style” all feature intricate, infectious grooves. In fact, there isn’t much time to catch your breath on Breakin’ Bread, and that’s a beautiful thing.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Breakin’ Bread
A2. I Wanna Get Down
A3. Little Boy Black
A4. Rice ‘N’ Ribs
B1. Rockin’ Funky Watergate
B2. Makin’ Love
B3. Funky Music Is My Style
B4. Step Child