Album: Live At The Apollo
Artist: James Brown
Born: Barnwell, South Carolina
Released: May 1963
Genre: Soul
Influenced: The Temptations, Sly & The Family Stone, Prince, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy
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I've owned a copy of this album on CD since my school days, and it still makes me want to get my groove on every time it plays. If you can get through Night Train without the slightest shoulder nudge or head sway, then you must be slightly dead inside. Brown adapted the song to give a sense of his relentless touring; he was apparently playing 300 dates a year by 1962. On this album, after the showbiz introduction, Brown performs four quick-fire singles, my favourite being I Don't Mind, then launches into a towering version of Lost Someone, including a call and response with shrieking women in the crowd. Brown then pulls off an amazing medley before finishing with Night Train, where you can sense him laying down the groundwork for funk. Two years later, in 1965, he would release Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, and with it a new genre of funk was born. Nobody had as many monikers (add Godfather of Funk, Soul Brother No.1 to those already mentioned), and nobody could dance or sing like him. James Brown revolutionised pop music, and this 30-minute album is all the proof you need. Play this one loud.
P.S. They put on the Stones after this performance. WTF?! Jagger knew he couldn't come close.
Artist: James Brown
Born: Barnwell, South Carolina
Released: May 1963
Genre: Soul
Influenced: The Temptations, Sly & The Family Stone, Prince, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy
He may not have had the good looks of Sam Cooke or the musical talent of Ray Charles, but James Brown more than made up for it with his energy ("hardest working man in showbusiness") and explosive performances ("Mr Dynamite"). Though born in South Carolina, Brown spent many of his early years in Georgia, the home state of Little Richard, Ray Charles and Otis Redding, and a hotbed of soul and R&B (see map). Brown and his backing group, The Famous Flames, had been touring for several years before finally scoring some hit singles, including Try Me (1958) and Think (1960). This gave him the courage to fund the recording and release of this live album out of his own pocket (Brown's label King refused on the basis it would not produce a hit single). Recorded in 1962, Live At The Apollo is the sound of Brown at the peak of his powers, the birth of the Godfather of Soul, and was a huge success on the Billboard charts on its release in 1963.
I've owned a copy of this album on CD since my school days, and it still makes me want to get my groove on every time it plays. If you can get through Night Train without the slightest shoulder nudge or head sway, then you must be slightly dead inside. Brown adapted the song to give a sense of his relentless touring; he was apparently playing 300 dates a year by 1962. On this album, after the showbiz introduction, Brown performs four quick-fire singles, my favourite being I Don't Mind, then launches into a towering version of Lost Someone, including a call and response with shrieking women in the crowd. Brown then pulls off an amazing medley before finishing with Night Train, where you can sense him laying down the groundwork for funk. Two years later, in 1965, he would release Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, and with it a new genre of funk was born. Nobody had as many monikers (add Godfather of Funk, Soul Brother No.1 to those already mentioned), and nobody could dance or sing like him. James Brown revolutionised pop music, and this 30-minute album is all the proof you need. Play this one loud.
P.S. They put on the Stones after this performance. WTF?! Jagger knew he couldn't come close.
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