Man's Man's Man's

I meant to post this video in the wake of Michael Jackson's death, but just realized I never did. It's of a poor quality and is widely seen around the intertubes but still pretty amazing: a 1983 James Brown concert in which he invites up on stage not only Michael Jackson, but then Prince, both in their 1980s heyday. I think they are vaguely playing "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."



Amidst all the amazing things about the video, check out at about 00:32, where you catch a glimpse of James Brown's fabled total control over the band. The band is just sort of grooving along while Brown and Jackson walk to the center of the stage chatting, and suddenly Brown just makes a little hand gesture and boom--they instantly cut out.

If you don't have the time to read Anne Danielsen's justly-praised
Presence and Pleasure, there was a decent Rolling Stone profile of the Godfather written by Jonathan Lethem that talked about those hand signals:

Throughout these ruminations, the members of James Brown's band stand at readiness, their fingers on strings or mouths a few short inches from reeds and mouthpieces, in complete silence, only sometimes nodding to acknowledge a remark of particular emphasis. A given monologue may persist for an hour, no matter: At the slightest drop of a hand signal, these players are expected to be ready...

During the playback session, guitarist Keith leans in and whispers to me, "You've got to tell the truth about what goes on here. Nobody has any idea." I widen my eyes, sympathetic to his request. But what exactly does he mean?..."We're supposed to follow these hand signals," Keith explains. "We've got to watch him every minute, you never know when he's going to change something up. But his hand is like an eagle's claw -- he'll point with a curved finger, and it's like, 'Do you mean me, or him? Because you're looking at me but you're pointing at him.'"