Funk Soul Classic

James Brown was arguably the most important and innovative R&B artist of the '60s and '70s, a singer, songwriter, and bandleader who rewrote the book on how the music would sound as he redefined soul, laid the groundwork for funk, anticipated the grooves that would drive hip-hop, and even influenced new movements in rock and jazz. This box set collects five albums from James Brown's extensive back catalog, dominated by recordings of Brown's fabled live shows. Live at the Apollo is a classic 1962 concert set from New York's Apollo Theater that documents Brown's dynamic stage show at a time when he was widely regarded as the most exciting performer on Earth. Sex Machine, released in 1970, is another live set that captures Brown's powerhouse stage band the J.B.'s (including Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, and Fred Wesley) tearing through a breathtaking set of extended funk workouts. And Revolution of the Mind is a 1971 release that preserved another show at the Apollo, playing a set that covered his '60s soul hits as well as his more recent funk groovers. Along with the three live discs, this set includes two compilations of Brown's classic funk performances, 70's Funk Classics and In the Jungle Groove.

It was much to soul singer Spanky Wilson's surprise – she didn't realize she had had such an impact – when British multi-instrumentalist/producer Will Holland contacted her in her Los Angeles home in 2004, professing his love of her music and wondering if she'd collaborate with him. Still, she agreed to go the studio, and together they did two songs, "Don't Joke with a Hungry Man" and "When You're Through," for Holland's solo project, Quantic, on the album Mishaps Happening. That collaboration worked out so well that they decided to make an entire record together, this time with Holland's full band, the Quantic Soul Orchestra. Wilson's lovely voice is the centerpiece of I'm Thankful, and it does show a bit of its age, but only in the best of ways, deepening it and giving it an added measure of credibility and authenticity while still preserving its expressiveness and strength.

Bootsy Collins has rightfully received accolades as funk's second officer (after George Clinton – and it should be third after James Brown and Clinton). For decades he has been sampled by every rapper from Snoop Dogg to OutKast, and virtually created the bass sound that made the Red Hot Chili Peppers a household name and that created a career for Les Claypool. Yet, his most influential sound emanated not from his tenure with James Brown or P-Funk, but his own Rubber Band, and until now that wooly, wild, and surreal unit has never been properly anthologized. Rhino, in their usual thorough, crazy fashion, have directed the folks at the Warner archives and have created a massive, drop-the-bomb two-disc set that sets the record straight.

Chances are, if you hit the dancefloor anywhere in the UK (or, indeed, the US) during the 1980s you would have come across many of the 12 killer cuts on this superb collection from the Mastercuts series of compilations.