Za> The Tune in question "The Chicken" was written by Alfred "Pee
Za> Wee" Ellis, who was James Brown's band leader during the late 60's. It
Za> was originally recorded around '67, and that version is available on
Za> the compilation "James Brown - Soul Pride: The Instrumentals."
Za> As already stated, Maceo re-recorded the tune with Pee Wee and Fred on
Za> his album "Mo' Roots," which, by the way, is a DOPE album for
Za> jazz-funk fans.
Za> Maceo seemed to be into redoing old classics at that point.
Za> "Southwick" on the same album (which also appears on the "Life on
Za> Planet Groove" album as "Shake Everything You've Got") and the tune
Za> "Got To Getcha" on the "Life On..." album are both tunrs from Maceo's
Za> 1970 album with his band All the King's Men.
z-love to the rescue! thanks for the info--i didn't know pee wee's first
name was alfred... it's kind of a jazz tradition to go and redo older tunes
in one's repertoire. miles covered a lot of standards in the 50s w/the
"coltrane" quintet (i.e. john coltrane, philly joe jones, paul chambers, &
red garland--dig "workin w/the miles davis quintet", "cooking...",
"steaming..." & "relaxin'..." on prestige, "round about midnight" on
columbia) and then reinterpreted them w/a 60s quintet (herbie hancock, tony
williams, george coleman & ron carter) on "my funny valentine" & "four &
more". herbie wrote & recorded "watermelon man" & "canteloupe island" in
the
60s for blue note, and then redid them in the 70s for
columbia--"headhunters"
& "secrets" respectively--he's also recently updated "butterfly" (originally
on "thrust" for columbia, now updated on "dis is da drum" for mercury).
t-bird