That's for the reply! There's a lot to take in...
James Brown has plenty of greatest hits albums. His best ever would definitely be Star Time for me.
Thanks for the recommendation. I just looked it up, and found it's a 4-disc set. For acts I'm not keen in, I prefer single-CD compilations, simply because it would only be the biggest hits, and because I can simply put it on in the car without having to swap anything over, etc. I waited and got the 1-disc Prince greatest hits from 2001, rather than buying the 2-disc greatest hits from 1993, for the same reason.
That's a shame, those are always my favourite things to listen to. Maybe the full version of Cold Sweat might change your mind?
To be honest, it just sounds like the same riff played over and over again. My objective would be to have shorter versions of the songs, then having 20 different songs instead of 10 songs.
Sometimes a question ask myself as a thought experiment is "if I was the DJ in a club and somebody asked me for something by James Brown, would I have enough to keep them happy?" An album with 20 songs would be more likely to have something.
What first got me into watching JB (which was only a little over a year ago) was watching these two performances.
The first one, it got me hooked right from the beginning with that standing-on-one-leg stuff. I can see the connections to MJ, but there were lulls in the performance. And it definitely didn't scream "best entertainer in the world" or anything.
I didn't even know any of the songs but everything about these is so perfect it's unbelievable. If you're not a fan after this then I don't think James Brown is for you.
The second one was pretty good too. I was tapping my foot to Sex Machine. But it wasn't quite setting the world on fire for me.
The first two Apollo live albums are listed as such because the first one was a cultural landmark. One cannot overstate the impact that record had. It's basically the reason why showmanship became a staple in live music.
As important as that? I don't know any of the history around this.
The second one is listed because it is just better lol, James had created funk by then and most of his best tunes are included. If you do end up listening to it I highly recommend the
2001 re-release because it has better quality, mixing and everything.
So it's just an evolution of his live show over a period 5 years? And I guess a slight improvement in equipment.
It's a shame he had to drop some earlier songs. Looking at some really early releases, against some really late releases, there's as good as no overlap.
Maybe that's what's catching me out - there doesn't seem to be a universally agreed list of the best songs. Or maybe there is, but it doesn't coincide with my (uneducated) list.
This is an interesting question, I would say he did fall off a little around 1977 but comparatively to MJ he had far better longevity.
This is JB at the age MJ was in 2001 and you can plainly see it's not holding him back nearly as much.
I see what you mean. So maybe the 1995 performance wouldn't be the best one. I'm wondering if I should research live DVDs instead.
Also I'd like to say if you like Living in America I'd highly recommend the song "Gravity".
When I say I like that song, I'm thinking I consider it essential, but the main reason for that is probably because I've heard it in movies. Hearing stuff on the radio is probably where I've got all of my JB exposure.
!
