George & James

***George & James*** (subtitled **"*American Composer Series - Volume 1*"**) is the eleventh studio album by The Residents, released on Ralph Records on March 13th 1984.

The first in the group's American Composer Series, *George & James* profiles the work of George Gershwin and James Brown (specifically, the first half of the 1963 album *Live At The Apollo*).

The American Composer Series was intended to last from 1984 until 2000, with each volume profiling two American composers. The series was ultimately abandoned by The Residents after the release of the second volume, *Stars & Hank Forever,* in 1986.

## History

The project had started off as a simple James Brown cover album, but eventually, as the American Composers concept evolved, the group decided to add three George Gerswhin covers to it. Even if the body of work of these two artists had little in common, they were selected because of their interesting backgrounds and their role in evolving American music.

Furthermore, The Residents had been fans of both artists since their pre-history. Geshwin had his work previously loosely covered on their 1970 demo reel *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger,* which had a rendition of "Summertime". And a member of band even got an autograph from Brown after a concert in 1965.

The James side of the album was based on the 1963 album *Live At The Apollo*, one of the first live albums and the most successful R&B album ever. The Residents' version of *Live At The Apollo* is a suite which roughly covers the first side of the original.

The sound of the concert is simulated by using edited crowd noises taken from aMole Show performance in Utrech, Holland (the same show used for the *Mole Show: Live In Holland* recording). James Brown is here personfiied by The Residents' lead vocalist, who transforms the Godfather of Soul into a growling, low-pitched voice similar to the Angakok from their 1979 album *Eskimo*.

Recording likely began following the release of *The Tunes of Two Cities* in April of 1982, with frequent interruptions caused by The Mole Show tour throughout 1982 and 1983. The audience noises featured on the second side are notably sampled from a radio broadcast of The Mole Show on June 4th 1983.

Following The Mole Show, the group likely continued vocal work on the album without their emulators, as they had been left in storage in London after the last Mole performance. Production had to be halted again in September, as The Residents' attention was shifted to their unfinished collaboration with Renaldo & The Loaf, *Title In Limbo*. In October, the group likely took a break to rehearse for The Uncle Sam Mole Show, with sessions continuing in November. From November 1983 to February 1984, the album was finally finished.

## Release

   *George & James* was the first Residents studio album to use computer-created graphics on its cover art, created with a Koala Pad graphics tablet. Computer graphics and animation are also featured prominently in the Mole Show home video release, as well as the music video for "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World".

The album's liner notes include a brief introduction to the American Composer Series concept, followed by brief biographies of the two artists and of The Residents, describing them as "a group of pseudo-artists who freely indulge themselves in the Great American Culture".

Because of a miscommunication between the record plant and Ralph Records, who had yet to approve of the test pressings of the LP, the first 180 copies suffered from sound distortion at the end of George side, and had to be left unused. A clear vinyl, limited edition of the album was published by Ralph in Spring 1984, with only 75 copies available. It was also repressed as part of Ralph Records' 13th Anniversary re-issue series in 1986, though this version is largely identical to the original release.

Korova handled the manufacturing and distribution of the LP in Europe. They also produced a cassette release, exclusive to european regions, that included the "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World" single as a bouns track after James side. This version is also notable for featuring more accurate writing credits than the LP. Where the vinyl editions simply credit side one to Gershwin, and side two to Brown, the cassette edition credits the song's co-writers, and in the case of "Think*"*, and "Night Train*"*, their correct writers.

### Reissues

*George and James* would finally get a CD release in 1993, when Euro Ralph published it as the first in their line of re-releases. To promote this, the label put out a very short run of promotional cassettes, with only 20 copies being made, alongside of an Infobook, consisting of two 3.5" floppy disks with contents related to the album. Information about these disks is scarce, and no screenshots from it have surfaced yet, but it's likely that they were similar to the *Third Reich 'n Roll* multimedia edition released the following year.

The album received a digital remaster in 1999, which was released in Japan by Bomba Records that same year, and in North America by East Side Digital (with slightly different biographies of both composers) in the year 2000.

Cherry Red Records has announced a compilation of The American Composers Series as part of their pREServed campaign of Residents archival releases. This package, called *The American Composers Box*, will include an expanded edition of *George and James*. However, while originally planned to be released in 2020, it has been delayed several times because of issues licensing rights of some of its contents. As of this writing, even though the boxset seems to have been already compiled for quite some time, no official release date has been announced yet.

### Related releases

While it doesn't feature songs from the album, *The White Single* has been generally considered to serve as a companion single for *George and James*. As even though its B-Side, "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie", has no relation with the concept of the album, the single is lead by "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World", another cover of a James Brown song. Korova months later released the single over at the United Kingdom, changing the single's name to that of the main song, and replacing the B-Side with "I'll Go Crazy", a track from George side.

In early 2011, *JB@45* was released over at the Robot Selling Device. This was an edited version of only James side, meant to emulate how that side of the album would sound at 45 RPM, instead of the standard 33 RPM of the original vinyl. To do this, all of its tracks have been slightly sped-up, but with the pitch altered so that the deep vocals from the original don't get lost.

## Track listing

### Original LP (1984)

#### George Side (17:37)

1. Rhapsody In Blue (George Gerswhin) (10:30)
2. I Got Rhythm (George/Ira Gerswhin) (3:02)
3. Summertime (Heyward/George/Ira Gerswhin) (4:05)

#### James Side (18:40)

1. I'll Go Crazy (Brown) (2:42)
2. Try Me (Brown) (0:40)
3. Think (Pauling) (2:15)
4. I Don't Mind (Brown) (2:29)
5. Lost Someone (Brown/Stallworth/Byrd) (5:52)
6. Please, Please, Please (Brown/Terry) (1:17)
7. Night Train (Forest/Simpkins/Washington) (3:25)

### CD version (1993)

1. Rhapsody In Blue (10:31)
2. I Got Rhythm (3:04)
3. Summertime (4:09)
4. Live At The Apollo (0:55)
5. I'll Go Crazy (1:45)
6. Try Me (0:50)
7. Think (1:57)
8. I Don't Mind (2:39)
9. Lost Someone (5:40)
10. Please, Please, Please (1:19)
11. Night Train (3:38)

### CD version (1999)

1. Rhapsody In Blue (10:31)
2. I Got Rhythm (3:04)
3. Summertime (4:09)
4. Intro (0:54)
5. I'll Go Crazy (1:46)
6. Try Me (0:50)
7. Think (1:57)
8. I Don't Mind (2:40)
9. Lost Someone (5:39)
10. Please, Please, Please (1:19)
11. Night Train (3:38)

## Liner notes

### Original release (1984)

>
> ### The American Composer Series
>
>
> America, in its relatively short history, has produced an astounding number of talented individuals in the field of music. The Residents are deeply indebted to the American composer for the spunk it has given the melting pot.
>
>
> This series is to be recorded during the final 16 years of the 20th century (1984-2000). While each record will be released upon completion, the work, as a whole, will not be available until 2001 and will contain the works of not less than twenty composers.
>
>
>
> ### George Gershwin (1898-1937)
>
>
> Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 25th, 1898. At 21 he had his first hit with "Swanee". In 1922, Gershwin wrote a one-act opera, "135th Street", which paved the way for his 1924 premier of "Rhapsody In Blue". Few pieces written before that time had both the quality and general Americana of "Rhapsody", and it made Gershwin famous throughout the world of music.
>
>
> After that he split his time by writing both for Broadway and the concert hall. Other works are: "An American In Paris", "Porgy and Bess", "I Got Rhythm", "Nice Work If You Can Get It", "Somebody Loves Me", and many other '30s pop tunes. He died in 1937 of a brain tumor.
>
>
>
> ### James Brown (1933- )
>
>
> Overcoming a childhood of poverty, Brown rose to become America's first successful black artist. His first record was "Please, Please, Please" (1956). In 1962, he recorded one of the first live albums, "*Live at the Apollo*". It immediately became the most commercially successful R&B album ever recorded.
>
>
> James has had over 20 singles that sold a million, including "It's A Man's Man's Man's World", "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Papa's Got Brand New Bag", "Prisoner of Love", and "Sex Machine".
>
>
>
> ### The Residents
>
>
> The Residents are a group of pseudo-artists who freely indulge themselves in the great American culture. While the results have been of debatable value, for over a decade The Residents have munched away at music with the enthusiasm of a grasshopper.
>
>
>
> Their major contributions to society have been "*Eskimo*", an album of enviromental soundscapes; "*The Third Reich 'n Roll*", a survey of twisted Rock and Roll sentimentality; and "The Mole Trilogy", of which this is not part three.
>
>

### CD reissue (2000)

>
> ### George Gershwin (1898-1937)
>
>
> George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York. At 21 he had his first hit song, "Swanee". At 24, Gershwin wrote a one-act opera, "135th Street", which paved the way for the 1924 premiere of "Rhapsody in Blue". "Rhapsody" combined elements of European classical music with jazz, which was gathering much interest at the time.
>
>
> One of America's most prolific songwriters, Gershwin wrote for Hollywood, Broadway and the concert hall before succumbing to a brain tumor at the age of 39.
>
>
>
> ### James Brown (1933- )
>
>
> Overcoming a childhood of poverty, Brown rose to become America's first successful black artist with his recording of "Please, Please, Please" in 1956- Six years later he recorded "*Live at the Apollo*", which became the largest selling R&B album of the time.
>
>
>
> James Brown has had over 20 singles that sold a million copies and is still regarded as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business".
>
>

## Credits

#### Original release (1984)

* Performed By: The Residents
* Produced By: The Residents
* Computer Art Cover Produced By: Pore Know Graphics
* The Residents Are Personally Managed By: Bill Gerber
* The Famous Flames on "James" Portrayed By: Raoul N. Di Seimbote
* The Audience on "James" Portrayed By: The "Mole Show" audience in Utrecht, Holland.
* George Written By: George Gerswhin
* James Written By: James Brown

Additional Credits (Featured on later pressings)

* 'I Got Rhythm' Written by: George & Ira Gerswhin
* 'Summertime' Written by: DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gerswhin
* 'Think' Written by: Lowman Pauling
* 'Lost Someone' Written by: James Brown, Lloyd Stallworth & Bobby Byrd
* 'Please, Please, Please' Written by: James Brown & Johnny Terry
* 'Night Train' Written by: Forrest / Simpkins / Washington

## See also

* The American Composer Series
* *Stars & Hank Forever*
* *The White Single*

## External links and references

* *George & James*at The Residents Historical
* *George & James*at RZWeb
* *George & James*at Discogs

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Cryptic Guide to The Residents*, 1986

**Ralph Records (1972 - 1987)**
*Meet The Residents* (1974) · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (1976) · *Fingerprince* (1977) · *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen* (1978)*Not Available* (1978) · *Eskimo* (1979) · *Commercial Album* (1980) · *Mark of the Mole* (1981) *The Tunes of Two Cities* (1982) · ***George & James*** (1984) · *The Big Bubble* (1985) · *Stars & Hank Forever!* (1986)
**Ryko and Enigma (1988 - 1989)**
*God In Three Persons* (1988) · *The King & Eye* (1989)
**East Side Digital (1990 - 2002)**
*Freak Show* (1990) · *Our Finest Flowers* (1992) · *Gingerbread Man* (1994) · *Have A Bad Day* (1996) *Wormwood* (1998) · *Demons Dance Alone* (2002)
**Mute Records (2004 - 2007)** *Animal Lover* (2005) · *Tweedles!* (2006) · *The Voice of Midnight* (2007)
**MVD Audio (2008 - 2015)**
*The Bunny Boy* (2008) · *Lonely Teenager* (2011) · *Mush-Room* (2013)
**MVD Audio and Cherry Red (2016 - present)** *The Ghost of Hope* (2017) · *Intruders* (2018) · *Metal, Meat & Bone* (2020)

**Fan club / off-label albums**
*Buckaroo Blues* (1989) · *The 12 Days of Brumalia* (2004) · *Night of the Hunters* (2007)*Hades* (2009) · *Dollar General* (2010) · *Night Train To Nowhere!* (2012)
**Soundtrack albums**
*Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (1984) · *The Census Taker* (1985) · *Hunters* (1995) · *Icky Flix* (2001) *I Murdered Mommy!* (2004) · *Postcards From Patmos* (2008) ·  *Strange Culture/Haeckel's Tale* (2010)*Chuck's Ghost Music* (2011) · *Theory of Obscurity Soundtrack* (2014) · *Sculpt* (2016) · *Music to Eat Bricks By* (2019) · *Triple Trouble* (2022)
**Collaborative albums**
*Title In Limbo* with Renaldo & The Loaf (1983) · *I Am A Resident!* with You? (2018)
**Live in the studio**
*Assorted Secrets* (1984) · *Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions* (2000) · *Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California* (2010)*Mole Dance 82* (2021) · *Duck Stab! Alive!* (2021)
**Related articles**
The Residents discography (W.E.I.R.D., 1979) · Ralph Records discography