Customer Reviews

James Brown: 50th Anniversary Collection

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The problem with this 2-disc set is that many of the best songs are cut short in order to pack the album with as many different tracks as possible. Short edits of some of James Brown's best material does not do the man or his musical legacy proper justice. Maybe some people don't mind having 2-3 minutes cut out of these classic songs, but to me, and anyone else that has any serious appreciation for this music, it simply won't do. A much better buy is the 1996 2-disc compilation "JB40: 40th Anniversary Collection" which has all the really essential hits in their full uncut glory. Or if 2 discs is a bit more than you had in mind, try 1991's "20 All-Time Greatest Hits!" as a more basic alternative.

I'm tired of reading about how this compilation sucks because the songs have been "edited" or cut off in the middle. That is simply NOT TRUE. When you see a JB tune with "part one" after the title, that just means you've got the hit single version. Back in the day JB recorded the long versions solely so he could cull 2-3 minute singles from them. Sometimes the track was split into part one and part two--or the A side of the 45 and the B side (or in the case of "Make it Funky" spread over two singles in a part one, part two, part three, and part four). Most often, however, the entire track was NEVER MEANT TO BE RELEASED.

This cd comp is a collection of "hit singles," not a dip into the vaults as most JB cds of the past couple of decades have been. Now I'd never give up my cds with the long versions--I love 'em--but it is also cool to have a cd of the Hit 45 versions.

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.

I got the sad news this morning when I woke up that James Brown had passed away. One of the greatest and most influentual artists of all time. To pay my tribute to him and his legacy I wanted to write a review and try to sum up his career, hits and over 40 years as a fantastic musician. James Brown archived and lived the "American Dream", he grew up in poverty in South Carolina and was even locked up for armed robbery but thanks to his genius as a musician he would changed that in the mid 60's. His career was not always working so well though, in the beginning he was part of a gospel group called James Brown and His Famous Flames that mostly concentrated on slow gospel ballads and only reached moderate success. A couple of hits like "Please Please Please" and "Try Me" were memorable though but Brown already proved charisma back then with his unlimited energy and fantastic dance moves, unfortunately the music wasn't good enough and neither were they right for Brown. In the 60's Brown's music started to change for the better, he added his trademark Jazzy big bands that contributed with drums and horns and the sound got much harder and richer with better penned songs aswell. He would tour constantly and would continue doing that ofr the upcoming 20 years. At times he would even have more the 300 concerts in one year, This would sadly be a reason for his declining health but it would give his the nickname "The Hardest Working Man In Show Business". In the mid 60's, Brown would literally explode and his music would further help commercializing Soul music and reaching out to the white audiences that had overlooked him in the past. In 1965 "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" became a smash and other hard working soul musicians like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding would also become big stars in the 60's soul Explosion. Brown's take on soul was diffrent though, it was rougher, dirtier and more energic with shouts and screams. He used competent bands that backed him up with big beats, horns and drums. Brown and his band literally invented "Funk" and until this day James Brown is the most sampled artist of all time. Throughout the 60's Brown would be on the charts constantly and touring even more. Hits include "Sex Machine", "I Got a Feeling" "I Got You (I Feel Good), an the occasional ballad like "It's a Man's World". Although funky uptempo's would always be his trademark his lyrics also dealt with black pride and civil rights like "Say It Loud I'm Black And I'm Proud" which dealt with a subject that hardly had been mentioned at the time and would become very important. In the 70's with he continues doing the same thing as before, but with more beat oriented music, like "Hot Pants" "The Payback" and "Make it Funky" to make a few examples. Because of the disco music in the mid 70's Brown lost steam and his music were no longer in the spotlight, but it wouldn't be long before the rise of Hip Hop in the early 80's would bring back his music to the spotlight with countless of samples ans beats from his music. Brown scored one of his last hits with the "Rocky" soundtrack "Living In America" in 1985. He stil continued touring pretty much, but his latter life has been full of embarrasing scandals, problems with the law and health problems. Sadly, "Mr Dynamite" couldn't take it any longer and left us at age 73. But instead of thinking of his recent troublesome years let's think of what he archived and meant for music. The development of Soul, Funk and later Hip Hop. The commercializing of "Black Music" and his lyrics about Black pride and civil rights and his dance moves that was the bluprint for Michael Jackson and later Usher. James Brown's career was a fairytale, he archived it all and alot of artists today owes him something. A pioneer and one of the greatest musicians of all time. Farwell Soul Brother Number One.

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!

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.

This Is a great Collection of James Brown songs

Wooooooooooooo! I don't doubt that rhythmic music has saved more teenagers from neurosis than psychotherapy. Cause you can let go of all sorts of imaginary problems when you shake it (that thing you're sitting on you gotta shake it but you can't fake it), and when you free your behind your mind WILL follow. Mr. Jamie Brownie here (lookah here!) has oozed his way into the real deep funk, right into that punching essence of electric rhythm, penetrated into the interstices between the brain cells that bop, and has electrified the supersonic groove that's tight and loose at the same time. This is some sweeeeeeeeeet music and you should hear it before they shovel the dirt on top of you. This is REAL music.

A fine package, no doubt, but for those completists like me, Star-Time is the one, even with its' full-length pressings of cuts that work even better as "Part One", which this collection very adroitly presents. (Maybe someone read my Amazon reviews where I complain about all the space used up on greatest hits on various offers which should have used for rarities).
The sound here is exceptionally fine; the liner notes are worth reading with every audition; song selection is great, as I wrote in the above review title, for the initiates. My good-natured rant *here* is for something that the powers-that-be would have no time for: including on this double-CD post '88 things like "Break Away", "Funk On Ah Roll", "Mom and Dad" (from JB's fourth Christmas album), "Peace In The World", "Kare" - even things that *made the charts* like "Move On", "Can't Get Any Harder".

great collection, but many songs are cut short to add more songs. There is another compilation which is EXCELLENT -- 2-disc compilation "JB40: 40th Anniversary Collection".