James Brown - Star Time

It would seem impossible to summarise James Brown’s contribution to R&B—to American music—in a mere four compact discs, but somehow Star Time does it. This boxed set charts Brown’s early rise as a hard-hitting R&B-styled vocalist (“Please Please Please”, “Try Me”) and shows how his band-leading skills (one can’t forget inventive players like saxophonist Maceo Parker, bassist Bootsy Collins, drummer Jabo Starks, and many others) changed the face of soul and invented funk in the 1960s and early ’70s with impeccably timed (“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”), highly rhythmic (“I Can’t Stand It”), primal (“Licking Stick Licking Stick”) hits. The box also does a definitive programming job on Brown’s more spotty later years—another plus. This is where beginners should start, but several extended versions and rarities (such as “Papa”, raised an octave on original release, at normal speed) make it a must for completists too. —Don Harrison

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James Brown is arguably the most influential figure in Black Music history, given that he was a major innovator in, first, Soul music and then Funk, before he was sampled out of sight (pun intended) by later artists, who needed the groove and couldn’t get it on their own.

Early material on disc 1 includes a huge variety of Soul, uptempo dancers to aching Ballads, with the odd instrumental thrown in. Those instrumentals show how the groove would develop, and by disc 2 you get the track which is said to have started the Funk, “Cold Sweat”. From there it’s all a funk groove, relentless and amazingly inventive.

By the end of Disc 2 we’ve seen Brown get political on “Say It Loud..” and Bootsie and co have arrived to take the Funk to new heights. Disc 3 stands as a testament to JB and his ability to find and get the best out of his band(s), and you can hear him doing it (“give the drummer some”, “keep it right there” etc).

In the mid 70’s (Disc 4), JB was enduring something of a commercial low point, but this did not stop him producing great music, and “Payback” and “Stone to the Bone” are the equal of anything he ever did IMHO.

This is a superb chronicle of the man and his music and should be part of the collection of anyone interested in Soul or Funk, or indeed where the music we hear today came from.

Disc: 1
1. Please, Please, Please – James Brown & The Famous Flames, Ralph Bass
2. Why Do You Do Me – Andy Gibson, James Brown & The Famous Flames
3. Try Me – Andy Gibson, James Brown & The Famous Flames
4. Tell Me What I Did Wrong – James Brown & The Famous Flames
5. Bewildered – James Brown, James Brown & The Famous Flames
6. Good Good Lovin’ – Andy Gibson, James Brown & The Famous Flames
7. I’ll Go Crazy – James Brown, James Brown & The Famous Flames
8. I Know It’s True – James Brown & The Famous Flames
9. (Do The) Mashed Potatoes Part 1 – James Brown, Nat Kendricks And The Swans
10. Think – James Brown, James Brown & The Famous Flames
11. Baby You’re Right – James Brown & The Famous Flames
12. Lost Someone – James Brown
13. Night Train – James Brown
14. I’ve Got Money – James Brown
15. I Don’t Mind – James Brown, James Brown & The Famous Flames, The James Brown Band, Tom Nola
16. Prisoner Of Love – James Brown, Hal Neely, New York Studio Orchestra & Chorus, Sammy Lowe
17. Devil’s Den – James Brown
18. Out Of The Blue – James Brown, Sammy Lowe
19. Out Of Sight – James Brown, Danny Caccavo
20. Grits – James Brown
21. Maybe The Last Time – James Brown & The Famous Flames
22. It’s A Man’s World – James Brown
23. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown
24. Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – James Brown
Disc: 2
1. Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1) – James Brown
2. I Got You I Feel Good – James Brown
3. Ain’t That A Groove – James Brown
4. It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World – James Brown, Sammy Lowe, New York Studio Orchestra
5. Money Won’t Change You – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
6. Don’t Be A Dropout – James Brown
7. Bring It Up (Hipsters Avenue) – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
8. Let Yourself Go – James Brown
9. Cold Sweat – James Brown
10. Get It Together – James Brown
11. I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me), Pt. 1 – James Brown, The Dapps
12. I Got The Feelin’ – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
13. Licking Stick – Licking Stick – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
14. Say It Loud I’m Black And I’m Proud, Pt. 1 – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
15. There Was A Time – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
16. Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose – James Brown
17. I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself) – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
Disc: 3
1. Mother Popcorn – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
2. Funky Drummer – James Brown, The James Brown Orchestra
3. Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine – James Brown, Ronald Lenhoff, The Original J.B.s
4. Super Bad – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
5. Talking Loud And Saying Nothing – James Brown
6. Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved – Cliff White, James Brown, Tim Rogers, Ronald Lenhoff, The Original J.B.s
7. Soul Power (Parts 1 & 2) – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
8. Medley: Brother Rapp/Ain’t It Funky Now – James Brown, The J.B.‘s, Dave Mathews
9. Hot Pants Pt. 1 (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants) – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
10. I’m A Greedy Man – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
11. Make It Funky – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
12. Intro/ It’s A New Day (So Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn) – James Brown, Jerone “Jasaan” Sanford, Russell Crimes, Fred Wesley, Jimmy Parker, St. Clair Pinckney Jr., Bob Byrd, Hearlon “Cheese” Martin, Robert Coleman, Fred Thomas, John “Jabo” Starks, John Morgan
13. I Got Ants In My Pants, Part 1 – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
14. King Heroin – James Brown, Dave Matthews
Disc: 4
1. There It Is – James Brown, Dave Matthews
2. Public Enemy #1 – James Brown, Dave Matthews
3. Get On The Good Foot – James Brown
4. I Got A Bag Of My Own – Dave Matthews, James Brown
5. Doing It To Death – Fred Wesley & The J.B.‘s, James Brown
6. The Payback – James Brown, Lowell Dorn, Bob Both, Fred Wesley, Jimmy Nolen, Hearlon Martin, Fred Thomas, John Starks, Johnny Griggs, John Morgan
7. Papa Don’t Take No Mess (Part 1) – James Brown
8. Stoned To The Bone – Part 1 – James Brown
9. My Thang – James Brown
10. Funky President (People It’s Bad) – James Brown, Fred Wesley
11. Hot (I Need To Be Loved Loved Loved Loved) – James Brown
12. Get Up Offa That Thing / Release The Pressure – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
13. Body Heat, Part 1 – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
14. It’s Too Funky In Here – James Brown
15. Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses) – James Brown, The J.B.‘s
16. Unity, Part 1 – James Brown