James Brown stripped down his touring band somewhat in the early '80s, streamlining it until the group served up the funk with a laser's precision and the propulsive force of an atomic steamroller. Hypnotic, powerful, and the absolute template for the role of sex machine, Brown was one of the most dynamic stage performers in the history of pop music, and his band was so rehearsed and sharp that it could change directions with the simple dip of one of Brown's shoulders or the stomp of one of his boot heels, and to see this unit in concert was to realize fully that Brown's singles, electrifying as they were, didn't tell the half of it. This two-disc set combines two of Brown's '80s concerts, with disc one consisting of a 1980 date at Studio 54 in New York from 1980 and disc two featuring a gig at Chastain Park in Atlanta from 1984. There is some duplication in material, but it hardly matters, because when you're being plowed over again and again by a steamroller it probably isn't too important whether it's the same steamroller or not. This is Brown and the J.B.'s in their natural habitat, and while the sound quality here is ragged in spots, it never lacks energy and it punches like a heavyweight, even when things gear down for a moving version of "Georgia on My Mind." [This 2007 edition has the same tracks and sequence as the 2002 version, only with different artwork and graphics.]
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
Gonna Have a Funky Good Time (Doing It to Death)(Live)
Two CD set that celebrates the Godfather Of Soul's life with classic live versions of his biggest hits including 'Sex Machine', 'Funky Good Time', 'Please, Please, Please' and 'Pap...
This British budget album, subtitled "the best of James Brown live," chronicles a concert given in Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA in the late 1970s. Aside from Brown's 1979 R&B hit "It's Too Funky in Here," performed as the set's second song, most of the material looks back to the singer's 1960s heyday. The sound quality is only okay, with the crowd noises high and Brown's vocals not as prominent as they should be. Of course, his career was in decline at this point, but he turns in a typically impassioned performance.
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
Give It Up or Turnit a Loose
N/A
Bobbit
2
It's Too Funky in Here
N/A
Shaw, Jackson, Miller, Shapiro
3
Doing It to Death
N/A
Brown
4
Try Me
N/A
Brown
5
Get on the Good Foot
N/A
Brown, Wesley, Mims
6
Get up Offa That Thing
N/A
Brown, Brown, Brown
7
Hot Pants
N/A
Brown, Wesley
8
I Got the Feelin'
N/A
Brown
9
It's a Man's Man's Man's World
N/A
Brown, Newsome
10
Cold Sweat
N/A
Brown, Ellis
11
I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)
N/A
Brown
12
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
N/A
Brown
13
I Got You
N/A
Wright
14
Please, Please, Please
N/A
Brown, Terry
15
Jam
N/A
Brown
Back to the top20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection: The Best of James Brown
During the mid- and late '80s, after James Brown and Polydor parted ways, the label began to reissue his work, some of which had been out of print for close to a decade. Motherlode is one of the finest compilations. Coming a few years after In the Jungle Groove, a compilation effort that culled some of Brown's harder-edged 1969-1971 tracks, this covers 1969-1973 and has the smoothness of a regular release effort. By this point, Motherlode producers Cliff White and Tim Rogers began to know more about Brown's "classic" work than he did, and could do compilations where the tracks were all potent. This set starts off with an explosive live take of "There It Is," recorded at the Apollo in 1972. "She's the One" from 1969, featuring his late-'60s orchestra, has great guitar work from both Jimmy "Chank" Nolan and Alphonso "Country" Kellum. Since most of the tracks here weren't hits, or weren't even previously released, they provided a fresh interpretation of Brown's production style and the skills of his players. "Untitled Instrumental" features Brown's rock and psychedelic-influenced unit, with included guitarist Phelps Collins and his brother, Bootsy Collins, with his singular bass skills. The heart of this CD, however, is "People Drive Your Funky Soul." Originally on Slaughter's Big Rip-Off in a too-brief version less than four minutes long, Motherlode brings the entire take to the public for the first time. The track, which manages to subtly cross reggae with bebop, again features Brown with his 1971-1975 band, and it exhibits their chemistry and the band's unbelievable versatility. Although Motherlode has been lost in the shuffle due to a plethora of other compilations, this is still illuminating and enjoyable. [In 2003 a remastered edition was released with two previously unreleased bonus tracks, 1969's "You've Changed" and a 1976 alternate mix of "Bodyheat" that clocks in at nearly 12 minutes.]
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
There It Is (Live)(#)
3:07
Brown, Pinckney
2
She's the One (#)
2:54
Ballard, Brown
3
Since You Been Gone (#)
5:36
Brown
4
Untitled Instrumental (#)
3:25
Brown
5
Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)(Say It Live)(#)
4:55
Brown, Ellis
6
Can I Get Some Help (Unedited)(#)
8:56
Brown
7
You Got to Have a Mother for Me (#)
5:19
Brown, Ellis
8
Funk Bomb (#)(Instrumental)
4:15
Brown
9
Baby Here I Come (#)
4:30
Brown
10
People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul (Remix)(#)
9:07
Brown, Pinckney, Wesley, Bobbit
11
I Got Ants in My Pants (And I Want to Dance)(Remix)(#)
This reissue of In the Jungle Groove is a further obfuscation of the original masters, though a welcome one. The album is not so much an album but a 1986 collection of James Brown singles and apocrypha from recordings of the period 1969-1971; it sounds as defining and current today as it did when it was first issued on LP. While the tracks here featured some new sidemen, a good portion of what's here is played by the original J.B.'s. For starters, there's "It's a New Day," a two-part single issued as King 45-6292 and then placed on the album It's a New Day -- So Let a Man Come In. Next is the classic "Funky Drummer," appearing on album for the first time although it was a Top 20 single in 1969. Also included here are remixed versions of tracks that appeared on the original In the Jungle Groove, such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose," and from the Sex Machine LP, as well as "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing." In addition, this expanded version contains mono mixes of "Get Up, Get into It and Get Involved" and "Soul Power," which was re-edited for inclusion here. In addition, the single "Hot Pants" is here and an extended reading of "Blind Man Can See It" is included as a bonus cut. While this funky, greasy mess is enough, there's also the inclusion of the previously unreleased "I Got to Move" and a ghost of bonus beats and added sounds. This does nothing but make something awesome truly stratospheric. Here the focus is on rhythm and hypnosis, that state where the hips and backbone move imperceptibly at first before coming out of their collective shell and making nasty on the dancefloor. At the height of the great hip-hop madness, 1986 was a perfect time to reintroduce these tracks from a decade and a half earlier, and now, with the unimaginative aspect of hip-hop controlling the charts, the reintroduction of real beat-conscious songcraft couldn't be more welcome.
In the early '60s, James Brown tended to release two vocal albums a year, one in the summer and one in the winter. Each album was keyed to Brown's latest hit single, with the remainder of the record made up of previous Brown recordings; Brown did not record LPs as such. As late as mid-1966, this was still the case, and this album differed only in that it featured not only the title track, an R&B number one/pop Top Ten hit, and its B-side, "Is It Yes or Is It No?," but also an earlier 1966 single, "Ain't That a Groove (Part 1 and Part 2)," along with eight oldies, such as "Bewildered" and "I Don't Mind" (two 1961 singles). As such, there was slightly more contemporary material here than usual, but at the same time, Brown's evolution into his funk period was beginning to make the juxtapositions of new and old material more jarring.
In 1963, James Brown had earned a handful of hits on the R&B charts and had won a reputation as one of the most dynamic performers in the nation, but he hadn't yet made a record that reflected the full range of his musical personality or his magnetic stage presence. Live at the Apollo killed these two birds with one smoking hot platter; while this performance predates the brittle but powerful funk grooves which would later make Brown the most sampled man in show business and focuses on his earlier and (relatively) more conventional hits, the building blocks of his pioneering sound are all here in high-octane live versions of "I'll Go Crazy," "Think, and especially the frantic closing performance of "Night Train," while the ten-minute-plus rendition of "Lost Someone" captures the sound of Brown baring his soul with an almost unbearable intensity, which drives the audience into a manic chorus of shouts and screams. Brown's band (which at this time included Bobby Byrd and St. Clair Pinckney) is in stellar form, tight as a fist (especially the horn section) and supporting their leader with both strength and subtlety, but Brown is truly the star of this show, and by the end of these 32 minutes, no one will doubt that James really was the hardest working man in show business (and this without even seeing him dance!), and his communication with his audience is nothing short of astounding. While James Brown would later make more amazing music in the studio, Live at the Apollo left no doubt in anyone's mind that he was a live performer without peer, and that his talent could communicate just as strongly on tape as in person; a watershed album, both for James Brown and for the burgeoning soul music movement.
The 2004 Deluxe Edition of James Brown's Live at the Apollo (recorded in October of 1962 and issued in 1963) really is a deluxe issue. For starters, it was taken from the same undubbed stereo master as the 1990s version, keeping it separate from previously issued versions with overdubbed applause and "fixed" sequences. Because the technology of transferring analog tape to digital has improved greatly in the last decade and a half, the amount of information that can be moved from one source to another is far greater, translating into higher fidelity. The way this evidences itself here is in the feel of the room on this set. One can actually feel the Apollo as a room. It's as if the listener is on the stage rather than in the audience, soaking up the same atmosphere as the band. It's almost beyond live. Secondly, the crispness of the guitars and horns on this version has to be heard to be believed. It's not harsh, not shrill, just immediate and crystal clear. And on headphones, Brown's vocals and those of his backing band are literally in your face. As for the bonus material, the producers have included the single mixes of "Think" with the overdubbed crowd noise and an abridged version of the medley at the heart of the set. Here it omits "Please, Please, Please" and "You've Got the Power" (presented in their opening original stereo form on a version of the medley earlier on the disc). The rest of the tunes, "I Found Someone," "Why Do You Do Me," and "I Want You So Bad," come off as the rawest single ever issued. In addition, the 45s of "Lost Someone" and "I'll Go Crazy" are included. These were issued after the album took off like a rocket to the complete surprise of everyone but Brown. If you can only own one James Brown disc, forget the greatest hits; this one has the magic and makes the most compelling argument yet for rebuying something already purchased on CD.
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
Introduction by Fats Gonder/Opening Fanfare
1:48
Brown
2
I'll Go Crazy
2:05
Brown
3
Try Me
2:26
Brown
4
Think
1:57
Pauling
5
I Don't Mind
2:39
Brown
6
Lost Someone
10:43
Brown, Byrd, Stallworth
7
Medley: Please, Please, Please/You've Got the Power/I Found Someone
When James Brown and His Famous Flames finally scored a second hit with their 11th single, "Try Me," King Records constructed this 16-track LP, including the hit along with both sides of three of its follow-ups, "I Want You So Bad"/"There Must Be a Reason," "I've Got to Change"/"It Hurts to Tell You," and "Got to Cry"/"It Was You"; the B-side of a fourth follow-up, "Don't Let It Happen to Me"; the 1957 single "Can't Be the Same"/"Gonna Try"; the 1957 B-sides "I Won't Plead No More" and "Messing With the Blues"; the B-side of Brown's first hit ("Please Please Please"), "Why Do You Do Me"; and three other stray tracks. The earliest work especially sounded more like that of a doo wop group rather than that of a gritty R&B solo singer. None of it measured up to "Try Me," but you could see what Brown had been aiming at, and if the set list comprised what were in effect James Brown's greatest flops, circa 1959, it demonstrated that he possessed as much promise as fervor. (Try Me! was reissued in 1964 under the title The Unbeatable James Brown: 16 Hits.)
Though James Brown and His Famous Flames had scored an R&B Top Ten hit in 1956 with "Please, Please, Please," and Brown's next nine singles for Federal Records flopped but the next, "Try Me," his third single of 1958, scored. That was when King Records (Federal's parent label) assembled this, Brown's debut album, out of some of those singles sessions. You can hear the sound of a group and its enthusiastic singer looking for a hit, sometimes in the rock & roll of "Chonnie-On-Chon" (1957) or the 1956 B-side "I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On," sometimes by remaking "Please, Please, Please" under another name, such as "I Don't Know" (1956), sometimes by tackling Coasters-like novelty material such as "That Dood It" (1958), sometimes by aping the smooth Sam Cooke, as on the 1958 B-side "That's When I Lost My Heart," and once by rewriting "My Bonnie (Lies over the Ocean)" as the 1958 B-side "Baby Cries over the Ocean." Only the two hits were really memorable, but the album presented the sound of a major star-to-be in search of his sound. [Originally released in 1959. Please Please Please was reissued on a Japanese import CD in 2003.]
This binocular preview is a sneak peek of the Web page behind this search result. If the image says "Site Home Page" we are showing you a preview of the website's home page because we still have to update our binocular system with the particular page from your search result. The text at the bottom of the preview gives you more details, such as:
Whether the page requires plug-ins such as Flash
Whether the page will "pop up" additional windows upon loading
How much data you'll have to download to view the complete page
How long it should take for you to download the full page, based on a 56 kb/s dial-up Internet connection
