Utilisateur:Calvus mons/Brouillons
La Plaisanterie de Kundera[modifier | modifier le code]
La Plaisanterie est le titre du premier roman publié par Milan Kundera en 1967. Il retrace une partie tragicomique de la vie de son narrateur principal, Ludvik Jahn, enrôlé de force dans l'armée avec les « noirs » (les déviants politiques et ennemis de classe du régime socialiste tchèque) pour avoir, dans une carte postale destinée à une jeune étudiante qu'il courtisait, inscrit une phrase au second degré : « L'optimisme est l'opium du genre humain ! L'esprit sain pue la connerie ! Vive Trotski ! »
Roman polyphonique, il fait se croiser quatre destins ; outre celui de Ludvik, narrateur des trois quarts du livre, il donne ainsi la parole à son ancien meilleur ami Jaroslav, musicien attaché à la fois au socialisme —- par pragmatisme —- et aux traditions populaires de son « pays », la Moravie.
"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written by his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a #1 R&B hit. A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album Cold Sweat.
In the song's lyrics Brown protests that he doesn't care about his woman's past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him "I break out - In a cold sweat."
Characteristics[modifier | modifier le code]
Like "Out of Sight" (1964) and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965), "Cold Sweat" was a watershed event in the evolution of funk music. As in the earlier songs, all the band's instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively in "Cold Sweat," and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of every measure ("on the one"). But while "Out of Sight" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" are based on a conventional I - IV - I - V - IV - I chord progression, "Cold Sweat" has no real chord changes at all, other than a move to the subdominant in the bridge, and very little melody either. It is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo ("give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music. It also features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker.
Impact[modifier | modifier le code]
"Cold Sweat" was recognized as a radical departure from conventional songwriting at the time of its release; it is sometimes cited as the first true funk song.[1][2] Jerry Wexler recalled that "'Cold Sweat' deeply affected the musicians I knew. It just freaked them out. No one could get a handle on what to do next."[3] Cliff White described it as "divorced from other forms of popular music."[4] Some musicians criticized it as simplistic. Fred Wesley recalled that before he joined Brown's band he "was very unimpressed with ['Cold Sweat']. . . It only had one change, the words made no sense at all, and the bridge was musically incorrect."[5] Critic Dave Marsh, while acknowledging the song as pivotal, argued that "the post-'Cold Sweat' de-emphasis of melody" was partly responsible for a "decline in the number of genuinely memorable songs" in the years since its release.[6] Nevertheless, Brown would continue to use the rhythmically intense, harmonically static template pioneered on "Cold Sweat" as the basis for a large proportion of his later recordings. Other musicians followed his lead, and by the early 1970s funk had emerged as a full-fledged genre.
Like most of Brown's funk hits, "Cold Sweat" has been extensively sampled by hip hop DJs and producers. It has also been covered by various bands and musicians, including Mongo Santamaria.
Personnel[modifier | modifier le code]
- James Brown - lead vocal
with the James Brown Orchestra:
- Waymond Reed - trumpet
- Joe Dupars - trumpet
- Levi Rasbury - trombone
- Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis - alto saxophone
- Maceo Parker -tenor saxophone
- Eldee Williams - tenor saxophone
- St. Clair Pinckney - baritone saxophone
- Jimmy Nolen - guitar
- Alphonso "Country" Kellum - guitar
- Bernard Odum - bass
- Clyde Stubblefield - drums
Produced by James Brown
References[modifier | modifier le code]
- Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm & Blues (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 101.
- Rickey Vincent, Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1996), 123.
- Vincent, Funk, 123.
- Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom (New York: HarperCollins, 1986), 242.
- Fred Wesley Jr., Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002), 80.
- Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock & Soul : The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (New York: New American Library, 1989), 451.
External links[modifier | modifier le code]
- "Cold Sweat" lyrics
- List of songs that sample "Cold Sweat"
- "Cold Sweat" song review from allmusic.com
Category:1967 singles
Category:James Brown songs
Category:Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles
Category:Funk songs