Great tracks, cut short
I've been looking for a collection of James Brown songs and was excited to see this release. Tons of tracks, tons of funk. Unfortunately, as noted in another review, many of the tracks are cut short with fades. Essentially all the tracks titled "... Pt. 1" are ended with fades. Since I'm familiar with many of these songs that should have occured to me with over twenty songs on each cd.
If you want a good collection of James Brown, look no further. All the funk (!) is here and you get the gist of the songs. But if you want full versions (and some FUNKY stuff happens in there) you'll want to look elsewhere.
James Brown from the days of Top 40 radio
After the release of CDs like "In The Jungle Groove" and the 1970 - 71 era compilation "Funk Power," (9 songs in just under 80 minutes), this compilation takes us all the way to the other end of the spectrum: Brown as heard on his classic hit singles, with part 1 on the A-side, part 2 on the B. Until the CD era, this is how most people heard James Brown, in furious, intense two or three minute highly7 compressed mono mixes: blasts of raw vocals, horn riffs punching out of the AM radio atop irresistable, syncopated rhythms designed to get the sweat flowing and the butt shaking. This CD is close to the way I first heard Brown on his two volumes of "Soul Classics" (issued by Polydor in 1972 and 1973). Of course James the soul man (from his 1956 debut and through most of his fine first decade) and singles king, and James the leader of the lengthy funk workout he and his masterful bands began perfecting during the latter half of the 1960s are two sides of the same genius, and I only wish this collection of brief single edits (the length matters more on the second disc, during the period Brown excelled at building tension and dynamics over five to ten minute stretches), as with the sometimes monotonous "Funk Power: 1970", felt more integrated, as the "Star Time" box set was, or many of the superb (sometimes double)CD compilations issued during the past decade were. Sometimes thoughtful sequencing can make or break a set of superfine music. As it stands, this one gets the JB Hot 100 hits -- well, 50 of them! - squeezed onto two fast-paced discs.
WHOO! James Brown forever; he makes it funky!
Don't go for the 40th anniversary set. Go for the big 5-0 instead! 50 selections crammed onto two CD's. This set is perfect, for the storage capacity of both discs were taken full advantage of. Disc 1 is over 77 minutes long and disc 2 is nearly 80 minutes with just seconds left on the disc. The sound quality is superb. This sounds the best on a system with a lot of bass emphasis. The bass licks on all of these songs rock! From 1956's "Please Please Please" to 1988's "Static" covering three decades of an electrifying career. Ol' J.B. was and still is the hardest working man in show business. He had so many musical competitors during his time, but he made his mark. He had pretty good chart success, but a lot of these songs you hardly will ever hear on the radio. All you'll hear is the overplayed "I Got You" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." (FYI: James Brown got a Grammy for that song.) Hear what you've been missing if you like JB but never get to hear his greatest. The reason why this set was released in 2003 was because that's when JB started his career. JB40 (1996): 40 years after JB released "Please, Please, Please." Be prepared for two and a half hours of the most soulful music ever from the Godfather himself. Who else? So please, please, please get a brand new bag and give JB a whirl. Once you do, you'll be doing the popcorn, workin' up a cold sweat, makin' it funky, gettin' on the good foot, getting into and getting involved, doing it to death and feeling the static. You'll be saying it's too funky in here, but, brother you'll feel good!! Recommend this to total strangers, 'cause everybody's got soul!
