Search - James Brown :: The Singles Volume 2: 1960-1963

Great concept, great pressing

Phil S. | USA | 05/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Weinger and Leeds have wrought anutha mutha, and don't let a few of the familiar titles get you down. There's plenty of never-on-CD stuff here - check it out for yourself.

If you love Live At The Apollo, Volume One, here's a super chance to hear the original studio recordings of many tracks found therein. Also, if you further enjoy the Soul-Funk period yielding sample-able tracks like "I'm Shook", then guess, what, check out the pleading, heart ballad here called "Waiting In Vain" - obviously a lyric-prototype.

A complete stand-alone cut is "The Bells" - a strange, gothic pleader, with James Brown weeping throughout the song - histrionics comparable to Domingo's in "Vesti La Guibba". If this doesn't shock your senses...then JB will have to loan you some Soul.

I was thrilled to hear "If You Want Me" for the first time. Maybe there's other longtime fans only familiar with it from the intro. at the '62 live Apollo record. It's a melodious sound amongst many easily described as *raw* - such as "Just You And Me, Darling", a impassioned, close to out of conrol soul-jazz-blues ballad.

"Oh, Baby Don't You weep" is the classic, of course based on a Gospel melody, which still shocks listeners toady. Yes, it's "Secular Gospel", if you will, or Gospel-*styled* R & B, whatever, James Brown's roots are strongly Gospel, so....let the Brother rapp.

The instru. "Can You Feel It" sets the stage for the much later "Dirty Harri"; "Devil's Den", another *first* for this fan, makes a nice connection to the incredible live version from the Instrumentals CD boxed-set.

I sure hope '63 to '66 follows; then '67 to '70. I loved collecting those King to Polydor, etc., 45rpms in those days and although I didn't buy my first JB single until '67, these early sounds serve as great forerunners of that revolutionary period I came in on.

I hope somewhere in this highminded release schedule, the very first domestic CD of "Live at the Garden" [the complete, unedited show], comes our way."