ROBERT COLEMAN AND HEARLON “CHEESE” MARTIN * itars + @ auite appropriate that the maiden voyage of the new guitar duo ison an Fi8th chord, 5th fret postion. One of the most prominent guitar mixes in James Brown's recorded catalog, “Hot Pants” features “Cheese” Martin on scratch guitar and Robert Coleman with a simple, repetitive blues lick up at the th position. Martin's scratch rhythm had its origin ina tune cut eleven months earlier, “Catfish” Collins had developed the same steady sixteenth note fel inthe verse of “Super Bad.” Previ- ‘ously, all scratch parts on James Brown records featured com- binations of eighth and sixteenth-notes, ties, and rests to create ssmncopations. In both “Super Bad” and “Hot Pants,” the only unit of scratch rhythm is the sixteenth-note, and there are no rests or ties. The rhythmic accents that make these guitar [: keeping with time-honored James Brown traditions, its parts feel funky and syncopated come from “choking” or dead ening the strings with the left hand to create the percuss ‘muted notes (marked with the X's). The right hand has a "no- brainer” role. All it has to do is play a steady down-up-down-up strumming pattern of even sixteenth-notes. I the overall sonority of the bass and guitar sections sounds different to you, your ears aren't deceiving you. With the departure of *Catfish” Collins, the longstanding (and unoffi cial) James Brown decree that all his bassists, guitarists, and drummers must play Vox was finally rescinded. Fred Thomas played a mid'60s P-Bass, “Cheese” played a Tele’ and Robert Coleman worked out on a Fender Jaguar. Thi instruments was a breath of fresh air to a sonic palette that had been in need of an overhaul for some time. influx of new VERSE (2 = 93) eb9 4 Hot Pants, Pt.1 12112 The Funkmasters