James Brown You've Got The Power (2017)

This essential 3-CD collector’s edition contains 75 remastered studio tracks, consisting of the fabulous early singles – both A & B sides – James Brown made for the Federal and King labels, between 1956 and 1962. This is the material upon which Brown’s kingdom was built. His early repertoire marks one of the most important building blocks of the soul and funk idioms. Highlights include “Please, Please, Please,” “Think,” “Try Me,” “Shout and Shimmy,” “Night Train,” “I Want You So Bad,” “It Was You,” and the instrumental numbers “Cross Firing” and the funky “Hold It.” Brown’s back-up singer Yvonne Fair is also featured belting out the original version of the worldwide smash “I Got You (I Feel Good)” titled “I Found You.” These recordings provide an opportunity to peek in on the still-growing Brown and hear him paying homage to his early influences. R&B balladry, doo wop, gospel and blues are all evident throughout this triple-set.

This essential 3-CD collector’s edition contains 75 remastered studio tracks, consisting of the fabulous early singles – both A & B sides – James Brown made for the Federal and King labels, between 1956 and 1962. This is the material upon which Brown’s kingdom was built. His early repertoire marks one of the most important building blocks of the soul and funk idioms. Highlights include “Please, Please, Please,” “Think,” “Try Me,” “Shout and Shimmy,” “Night Train,” “I Want You So Bad,” “It Was You,” and the instrumental numbers “Cross Firing” and the funky “Hold It.” Brown’s back-up singer Yvonne Fair is also featured belting out the original version of the worldwide smash “I Got You (I Feel Good)” titled “I Found You.” These recordings provide an opportunity to peek in on the still-growing Brown and hear him paying homage to his early influences. R&B balladry, doo wop, gospel and blues are all evident throughout this triple-set.

"Soul Brother Number One," "The Godfather of Soul," "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" – those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other musicians were so influential over the course of popular music. And no other musician put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show

Live At The Apollo, 1962 is the 1963 live album by American singer James Brown. Originally released on King Records, this is taken from the Polydor CD released in 1990. You are able to hear what he influenced to the world.

The cars of the Nite Train put on the aliases as you put on the beads of an ebony necklace: Mister Dynamyte, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Soul Brother Number One, The Godfather of Soul. James Brown is all at once. A lot for a single man who surfed over several decades, over several audiences, over several Americas. Above all, James Brown is constantly close to the concerns of Mr. everyone as Ray Charles moves away from the soul and Sam Cooke begins to be booked in Las Vegas. The James Brown funk is the James Brown that is not content with the R&B language and especially soul of the 60's.

Needless to say it wasn't a stretch for the late James Brown to play at Studio 54, the storied palace of decadence and dance. The funk he laid down from the beginning dug the foundation for the good-time sounds and musical sophistication of the genre. It's also true that in 1980 when this was recorded, disco music itself was way on the wind down, giving way to a much more urbane form of dancefloor soul. But this performance is as hot, sweaty, and full of backbone slip groove as anything else, despite rather dodgy sound quality (sounds like a worn board tape). The Godfather lays down his hits as professionally as ever with some interesting textures in the arrangements and horn charts to accent the disc's reliance on circular rhythm, repetitive basslines, and hopped up dynamics. Brown could truly run the spectrum, but only does so on "Please, Please, Please," and the medley of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "Lost Someone" (and you can feel the restlessness of a crowd who wants to do more lines and dance). He gives them plenty more of that as the speeds of his up-tempo numbers are furious, revved but deeper in the pocket to encourage the free-form aspects of the disco for the serious dancers. The band is spot on and never played better, so utterly tight, focused and "on" that the groove never suffers and in fact transcends the Godfather himself at times.

Needless to say it wasn't a stretch for the late James Brown to play at Studio 54, the storied palace of decadence and dance. The funk he laid down from the beginning dug the foundation for the good-time sounds and musical sophistication of the genre. It's also true that in 1980 when this was recorded, disco music itself was way on the wind down, giving way to a much more urbane form of dancefloor soul. But this performance is as hot, sweaty, and full of backbone slip groove as anything else, despite rather dodgy sound quality (sounds like a worn board tape). The Godfather lays down his hits as professionally as ever with some interesting textures in the arrangements and horn charts to accent the disc's reliance on circular rhythm, repetitive basslines, and hopped up dynamics. Brown could truly run the spectrum, but only does so on "Please, Please, Please," and the medley of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and "Lost Someone" (and you can feel the restlessness of a crowd who wants to do more lines and dance). He gives them plenty more of that as the speeds of his up-tempo numbers are furious, revved but deeper in the pocket to encourage the free-form aspects of the disco for the serious dancers. The band is spot on and never played better, so utterly tight, focused and "on" that the groove never suffers and in fact transcends the Godfather himself at times.