Song of the Day
There Was A Time- Dueling Versions: Kenny Dope Remix vs. James Brown's Original Mix
There Was A Time (Kenny Dope remix) - James Brown The song still clocks in at the original mix's breakneck speed of 138 beats per minute and the breaks/beats remix master Kenny Dope subverts the original by reshaping it into jazzy Vegas/lounge version. The song doesn't started until 1:36 to play the selection to show the short selection of greatest performance of the song medley that the clever video editor used to construct the faked video performance of the song.
It's an interesting reworking of the song and it's been on my turntable quite a bit in the past year. Kenny D. shows a great deal of reverence for the original material and does offer a fresh perspective on a great song. This isn't just some by-the-numbers, template remix that a lot of beat/break artists pass off as brilliant.
As appealing as Mr. Dope's remix is, the gritty Augusta Georgia soul of JB's original is the hands down winner. Kenny Dope's version simply doesn't have the deep groove dance riddims because he replaces most of the drum lines with a drum machine and mutes most of the electric bass lines replacing it with an accoustic bass. Mixing down Charles Sherill's bass and Melvin Parker's drums takes a lot of the high voltage kick out of the song. There are some things you just can't improve on, no matter how hard you try.
The Remix: By Kenny Dope from the album
Verve Unmixed (2008)
The Original: James Brown 7" single on King Records (1968)