Customer Reviews

Please Please Please

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If you enjoy the "early" James Brown at a time when he was still seeking a definitive style, buy this cd. Goes without saying that "Please" is one of his best if not the best but many other examples here of the versatility that he possessed before the wheels fell off and he found "His Brand New Bag" ...

James Brown and the Famous Flames are PURE DYNAMITE and this is their VERY FIRST FANTASTIC ALBUM...But I wonder ...just how many people reviewing this CD really KNOW just WHO The FAMOUS FLAMES really were? If you ,like so many other music writers and Rock historians think that the FLAMES were the name of JAMES BROWN'S BAND ...you are INCORRECT !!! Please go back and read or re- read James' autobiography...then go on the internet and obtain the movies SKI PARTY and the TAMI SHOW.Then read the liner notes on the LIVE AT THE APOLLO CD...and ALL of the POLYDOR CD re-issues of James and the Flames early albums... such as this "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE" album,(if you can find it on cd },the "THINK" album and the TRY ME album...They all say the SAME THING..."THE FAMOUS FLAMES ARE NOT THE BACKUP BAND ...THEY ARE THE VOCAL GROUP" !!! ANYONE who says otherwise DOESNT KNOW THE HISTORY OF JAMES BROWN!! JAMES himself even explained this on the DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW...but many so- called rock music historians STILL DON'T GET THE MESSAGE !! THE FAMOUS FLAMES were: BOBBY BYRD-the group's founder, and the man who actually discovered James Brown,BOBBY BENNETT,and the late LLOYD STALLWORTH..who replaced departing original member JOHNNY TERRY...JAMES BROWNS BAND was called ...believe it or not... THE JAMES BROWN BAND !! This means that stellar players such as FRED WESLEY, MACEO PARKER,ALFRED "PEE WEE " ELLIS AND OTHERS were BAND MEMBERS...NOT FAMOUS FLAMES !!THE FAMOUS FLAMES AND THE BAND WERE TWO SEPARATE ENTITES !!the ROLLING STONE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL was one of the few printed publications that actually GOT IT RIGHT! In showing a picture of the JB troupe on stage back in the sixties..it clearly stated that JAMES was..."with the Famous Flames AND the James Brown Band!!Why the confusion? Part of the reason centered around a very strange practice of KING RECORDS (JAMES'record label back then) of showing ONLY THE LEAD SINGER on many of their vocal groups' classic fifties and sixties albums.They did this- not only with JAMES BROWN AND THE FLAMES'albums...but with HANK BALLARD AND THE MIDNIGHTERS'albums as well. People only know what they see...And what they saw was only JAMES BROWN'S AND HANK BALLARD'S faces on the album covers...AND NOT THEIR RESPECTIVE GROUPS.Another problem is the unfortunate practice on the part of music writers over the last 15 years or so of calling the great r&b vocal groups "bands" because their rock- oriented counterparts were. (example..artists such as THE MIRACLES,THE TEMPTATIONS,AND THE FOUR TOPS ARE NOT "BANDS",BUT RATHER VOCAL GROUPS OR SINGING GROUPS...While artists such as THE BEATLES , THE ROLLING STONES,AND THE BEACH BOYS are bands..They actually play instruments on stage).These two factors have combined to cause a confusion toward THE FAMOUS FLAMES in the eyes of the music buying public that has persisted to this day... and has cost them a possible spot in the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME along with JAMES,which they so richly deserve.(ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN THE MOTION PICTURE "THE TAMI SHOW" will have to admit-JAMES BROWN AND THE FAMOUS FLAMES STOLE THE SHOW - BLOWING AWAY THE STONES , THE SUPREMES , AND EVERYONE ELSE}.the FLAMES also appeared with James in the Frankie Avalon movie "SKI PARTY" in a non- singing, non-speaking role,and on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW twice,dressed differently than the band, and unfortunately uncredited .In 1964,James stopped recording with the FLAMES in the studio,But they still continued to perform with him on stage for another 4-5 years...and their name still appeared on the records,so most people thought the name applied to the band.After the FLAMES disbanded , BOBBY BYRD remained with James, and that's his voice you hear echoing James on hits such as "SEX MACHINE","SOUL POWER", "MAKE IT FUNKY",AND "GET ON UP, GET INTO IT,GET INVOLVED" . So,the next time you listen to "live at the apollo", or early hits such as PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE , TRY ME,THINK, BEWILDERED,OH BABY DONT YOU WEEP,or other great songs... remember..the guys you hear SINGING ...NOT PLAYING INSTRUMENTS in the background...are indeed the mighty FAMOUS FLAMES..BOBBY BYRD, BOBBY BENNETT,JOHNNY TERRY, AND LLOYD STALLWORTH. read JAMES'AUTOBIOGRAPHY...IT'S ALL THERE..THE FAMOUS FLAMES ARE A SINGING GROUP.. NOT A BAND!!

James Brown gained wider appeal with th eTry Me recording and when King/Federal decided to put some of his 45's on disk and market it this became another major hit. Please, Please, Please with it almost plaintive wailing sound. The pop created and James perfected roots of the sixties soul are found on this disc. James became the God-Father after this style of music had changed to the Poppa got a Brand New Bag, Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud.. Listen to the beggings and soulful roots of the Parliaments, and then Funkadelic, which shared many band members with James' Famous Flames. This is one of the essential albums in history and while I would be hard pressed to single ou on James Brown disk, this is a good starting place for everyone who thought they knew his music to restart their education.

What a suberb cd! And for a okej price, ( not japanes price). Suberb sound for a record from early `60s. I had longing for this item for a long time!

Before Soul and Funk arrived on the great New Music Freeway, there was the "Group Sound", churchy chorus supporting a gospel-styled lead singer, singing his/her proverbial heart out.

James Brown was a successful Gospel singer before he changed material, and some elements of his approach, for the new R & B sounds coming from the Dominoes, the Royals/Midnighters, The Royales, etc. Harmony maybe a bit rough; and a heavier backbeat. Rock and Roll was not established yet as modified R & B - lighter lyrics, faster beat - and performed mostly by white Country and City boys.

The title tune of this 16 track collection is that record which actually has never fit into *any* category. Not totally unlike "Turn The Lamp Down Low" or "I'm Just A Lonely Guy" by Brown idol Richard Penniman, it was still a new impulsive and imaginative....feelin'. Gospel testifying style over worldly words, if you will.

Although many of these tracks are found on other CDs, it's great to have the original lineup.

Talkin' 'bout the above-mentioned Macon neighbor, track two has Brown's admitted tribute, "Chonnie-On-Chon", a non-charter, but certainly presumprive jukebox ripper, almost as much R & R as in "Tutti Frutti", if you break it down - it's been said that the beat was not quite *there* on the revolutionary musical repast.

On that tune, and so many others here, the new fan/historian will be mesmerized by his vocal dynamics. He uses full range, with vibrato which the greatest Opera singers can envy. It seem that as his popularity grew, he demonstrated less and less of this otherworldy voicebox. By the Soul to Funk era, he incorporated more and more nonverbal expression.

A major influence on Brown was Louis Jordan, and on the Rudolph Toombs and Rosemary McCoy-penned "That Dood It", he gets a do a lively narration, a la Louis, on a social situation, and he delivers a first-class rendition, most likely drawing upon memories of those Jordan short subjects he watched as a kid. (In 1964, he recorded a few actual LJ opuses, with great success).

"I Walked Alone" is another excellent R & B ballad, done with a melodious and controlled lead vocal.

"Just Won't Do Right" is one of his best ballads, and one of the very few which made the trip from the '50s to the '70s. Later know as "I Stay In The Chapel Every Night" and "Since You've Been Gone", here's another hit which wasn't a hit. You know what I mean.

Speakin' of "charts", the listener shouldn't look at this collection, or similiar ones by JB, as a collection of affable flops. Remember folks, that the "R & B" charts did not hold 100 spots. Maybe 20-30 for most of the Country. I can't believe that a good number of these engaging offers did not make a cash register or two ring out.

"Baby Cries Over The Ocean" is what you might expect, a rewrite of "My Bonnie". It's very close to Rock and Roll, and James applies some unusual chromatics, adjusting his pitch just enough to make it different.

Can't say every cut is a total success. "I Feel That Feeling Coming On" is another partial rewrite, actually a take on "I Feel That Old Age Coming On", but it emerges as more of a "novelty" item with "Please, Please, Please" in mind. Also, a bit more risque than one might expect for that period. (Well, if you study the original album art, you can see that at least *some* of this material...was for the "whole family").

Good sound, good liner notes. Alot of session data, very readable.

I was very please. It sounds just like the LP I had many years ago but lost. Thank you

Please Please Please be aware that these are not the original studio recordings but a live performance recording and not a very good one. Lots of repetitious wasted time on crowd interactions, and not very good versions of these classic songs.