A Giant of Afro-American music. James Brown turned rhythm & blues upside down and inside out when he blew the verve of Gospel right through it. This collection by Bruno Blum tells the story of the «Godfather of Soul» from the beginning with his splendid first recordings (including the legendary «Please, Please, Please»). One listen to these, and you can already feel the storm which this Soul Giant and unrivalled Funk King was going to kick all the way across the planet.
Monstre sacré de la musique afro-américaine, James Brown a bouleversé le rhythm and blues en y insufflant la verve du gospel. Bruno Blum raconte les débuts du « Godfather of Soul » dont il réunit ici les splendides premiers enregistrements, dont le légendaire « Please, Please, Please ». Ces titres laissent déjà deviner la tempête que le géant de la soul music et roi incontesté du funk ferait bientôt souffler sur le monde.
CD Piste Titre Artiste principal Auteur Durée Enregistré en
1 1 Please please please James brown James brown 00:02:45 1956
1 2 I feel that old feeling coming on James brown James brown 00:02:33 1956
1 3 Why do you do me James brown James brown 00:03:01 1956
1 4 I don't know James brown James brown 00:02:47 1956
1 5 I walked alone James brown James brown 00:02:42 1956
1 6 No, no, no, no James brown James brown 00:02:14 1956
1 7 You're mine, you're mine James brown James brown 00:02:32 1956
1 8 Hold my baby's hand James brown James brown 00:02:13 1956
1 9 Chonnie-on-chon James brown James brown 00:02:12 1956
1 10 I won't plead no more James brown James brown 00:02:27 1956
1 11 Just won't do right James brown James brown 00:02:35 1956
1 12 Let's make it James brown James brown 00:02:26 1956
1 13 Gonna try James brown James brown 00:02:46 1956
1 14 Can't be the same James brown James brown 00:02:16 1956
1 15 Messing with the blues James brown James brown 00:02:12 1957
1 16 Fine old foxy self James brown James brown 00:02:09 1957
1 17 Love is a game James brown James brown 00:02:16 1957
1 18 Why does everything happen to me James brown James brown 00:02:11 1957
1 19 Begging, begging James brown James brown 00:02:53 1957
1 20 Baby cries over to the ocean James brown James brown 00:02:35 1957
2 1 Try me James brown James brown 00:02:32 1958
2 2 Tell me what i did wrong James brown James brown 00:02:22 1958
2 3 That's when i lost my heart James brown James brown 00:02:49 1958
2 4 That dood it James brown James brown 00:02:27 1958
2 5 There must be a reason James brown James brown 00:02:22 1958
2 6 I've got to change James brown James brown 00:02:26 1958
2 7 Got to cry James brown James brown 00:02:33 1958
2 8 It was you James brown James brown 00:02:44 1958
2 9 I want you so bad James brown James brown 00:02:47 1958
2 10 It hurts to tell you James brown James brown 00:02:53 1958
2 11 Don't let it happen to me James brown James brown 00:02:51 1959
2 12 Bewildered James brown James brown 00:02:25 1959
2 13 Goos good lovin' James brown James brown 00:02:18 1959
2 14 Wonder when you're comin' home James brown James brown 00:02:36 1959
2 15 I'll go crazy James brown James brown 00:02:08 1959
2 16 This old heart James brown James brown 00:02:11 1959
2 17 I know it s true James brown James brown 00:02:42 1959
2 18 Think James brown James brown 00:02:45 1960
2 19 I'll never never let you go James brown James brown 00:02:20 1960
2 20 You've got the power James brown James brown 00:02:23 1960
3 1 I don't mind James brown James brown 00:03:15 1960
3 2 If you want me James brown James brown 00:02:25 1960
3 3 Baby you're right James brown James brown 00:02:59 1960
3 4 Love don't love nobody James brown James brown 00:02:06 1960
3 5 Come over here James brown James brown 00:02:44 1960
3 6 And i do just what i want James brown James brown 00:02:25 1960
3 7 Just you and me darling James brown James brown 00:02:48 1960
3 8 So long James brown James brown 00:02:49 1960
3 9 Tell me what cha gonna do James brown James brown 00:02:11 1960
3 10 The bells James brown James brown 00:02:56 1960
3 11 Hold it James brown James brown 00:02:10 1960
3 12 Dancing little thing James brown James brown 00:01:55 1961
3 13 You don't have to go James brown James brown 00:02:46 1961
3 14 Lost someone James brown James brown 00:03:27 1961
3 15 Shout and shimmy James brown James brown 00:03:17 1961
3 16 Night train James brown James brown 00:03:40 1961
3 17 Yes i do James brown James brown 00:02:47 1961
3 18 Have mercy baby James brown James brown 00:02:12 1961
3 19 Just won't do right James brown James brown 00:02:42 1961
8 Page booklet
Funky
Born in a miserable shack deep inside the South Carolina woods – no water, no electricity – James Joseph Brown (May 3rd 1933 – December 25th 2006) was abandoned by his parents when he was four. His mother went looking for the better things in life up north… and James was raised by his father, a half-African/half-Apache with a drop of Asian blood in his veins who tried to earn a living tapping resin from trees. But when that didn’t suffice he joined the Navy – he was the next to abandon his son – and James was taken in by his aunt Honey, who ran a brothel and raised him in a place which already housed twelve others. James and his cousin – he was a year older – went barefoot, and not just in the summer: they had to steal coal from the railroad tracks just to warm the house. They shined shoes in the street and used the ploy to lure soldiers into the family whorehouse. That was how James Brown learned to dance: by attracting GIs to earn a few cents. This sordid context was to produce one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, the man who would be the precursor and later the uncontested King of Soul and Funk, a composer, arranger, singer/dancer/bandleader who became an absolute stage-performer with a definitive influence on almost everyone who came after him, and then some, whatever the domain: not only R&B, soul and funk but also reggae, rap and hip hop.
Gospel
James Brown was a loner and spent a lot of time in the streets. But he was resourceful and determined to succeed: he joined the Cremona Trio as a singer when he was twelve, and was giving his first concerts by the time war came to a close. It was a period when Georgia had the unenviable reputation of being the N°1 State for racial segregation, and its endemic misery – combined with an atrociously high rate of unpunished racist crimes – made life for Afro-Americans as desperate as it was dangerous. James was thrown out of school because his tattered clothes made him «unworthy» of an education… This was an America where someone who «dressed badly» and «didn’t smell nice» was (pejoratively) considered «funky», especially if he spent more time in the street than at home. But fortunately, the term «funk» was also a synonym for «authenticity» and «feeling» in post-war jazz… Even so, despite the warnings he’d received from his cousin before the latter left town, James resorted to theft so that he could dress «decently»; arrested for stealing an automobile, he was sentenced to sixteen years in jail without remission. He was incarcerated, and at the age of sixteen he was transferred to the Georgia Juvenile Institute – he was as old as his prison-term – where his strong character made him a natural leader. He devoted himself to singing gospel with a prison choir, and turned to boxing and baseball for recreation. It was while he was watching a baseball game that he met pianist Bobby Byrd, who was already a professional with one gospel group while playing in another band whose music was rhythm & blues. James’ activities – sporting, spiritual and musical – earned him the respect of his jailers, and his authority and popularity amongst other prisoners were rewarded with points for good conduct. Before he turned twenty, James was released (after three years and one day) into the care of Bobby Byrd’s family… on condition that he never set foot in Augusta, Georgia again.
James Brown played a lot of baseball as a free man; Bobby Byrd’s family welcomed him into their home, and Bobby understood his talents enough to recommend that he join his R&B group. James, however, only wanted to sing gospel: he could send whole congregations into a trance, and he married a fervent worshipper who’d witnessed his singing at first hand. He gave up boxing after losing a match and became an automobile-salesman before working in a plastics factory, all the time building himself a reputation in Baptist churches with the Ever Ready Gospel Singers. When he was ready, James finally joined his friend Bobby Byrd’s group The Gospel Starlighters, a vocal ensemble in the jubilee group tradition1. You can hear his strong gospel-identity – with that particular intensity in his vocals and the call-and-response exchanges of the chorus – in their first record (1956) which became a huge rhythm & blues hit, Please Please Please (derived from The Orioles’ «Baby Please Don’t Go»). Other hits from his early years also carry that marked gospel colour, like Let’s Make It, I Want You So Bad or I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On. Their repertoire quickly grew to include fashionable R&B songs from the early Fifties. As The Avons, they began singing pieces by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Roy Brown, The Clovers, The Five Royales and The Spaniels, and they found bookings to appear at dances. James had learned to play boogie-woogie piano, and as The Avons saw women go into hysterics when they saw Hank Ballard take the stage, they decided to drop everything in favour of R&B and began writing songs of their own. James was also highly influenced by Roy Brown, whose florid, pleading vocal style made him the first singer to bring a genuine gospel influence to the R&B of the post-war years (cf. «Good Rocking Tonight», 1947)2. Rechristened The Flames, the group went on tour in Georgia…
Little Richard, another shouter from the south (also coming from gospel), hadn’t yet released his first hit when The Flames spontaneously leaped on stage during the interval at one of his concerts. Little Richard liked the surprise and introduced them to his manager, who promptly gave them a gig at his own club in Macon; when the enormous success of «Tutti Frutti»3 in 1955 gave Little Richard many international opportunities, he was no longer able to honour his local gigs and The Flames – rechristened The Famous Flames by their new manager – replaced Little Richard in Macon. It was at around this time that James Brown began placing his raucous voice more «upfront», using the gospel vocal techniques – yells and the use of apostrophe would become his signature – that gave him a «Little Richard-sound». Here you can listen to him in those days singing Chonnie-on-Chon, in a rock ‘n’ roll style close to that of Little Richard. James also developed his stage dimension, tirelessly rehearsing with his musicians to perfect a popular dance-routine that would have a deep influence on many major artists from Jackie Wilson to Michael Jackson or Prince, all of whom owed much to James Brown. A demo of Please Please Please was circulated and it immediately convinced King Records, a label which was already issuing records by two other soul pioneers, Hank Ballard and Little Willie John.
Soul Music
Under the influence of soul music’s precursors – Esther Phillips, Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard – rhythm and blues was changing: the originality and emotion communicated by performers was occupying more and more space. While singer Solomon Burke («Everybody Needs Somebody to Love») had given himself a Soul label as early as 1961, Soul Music only became known as such from 1964 onwards. Whether its roots lay in blues, jazz, jump blues or gospel, up until then people spoke only in terms of rhythm and blues. The term Soul had been tied to gospel (cf. Sam Cooke’s Soul Stirrers), and to a kind of hard-bop jazz which appeared in the mid-Fifties: the bebop craze, brought on by the virtuoso, complex style of Charlie Parker and his kind, had freed jazz from the codes of swing and dance-halls, and it dazzled the post-war generation with its extraordinary improvising. But, as brilliant and revolutionary as it was, the art of bop seemed rather abstract to mass audiences and they remained disconnected from it. Towards 1955, some musicians – Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons and Cannonball Adderley – sought to return to those roots of jazz which rivalled each other within the same community, i.e. gospel and blues. Blues, that individualistic form with an air of heresy about it, was the antithesis of unifying, spiritual, God-fearing Gospel. Both were vehicles for emotion, but gospel and spirituals had long been the dominant forces at the root of all Afro-American music. Gospel was sung with fervour by almost all Afro-Americans who, ever since the abolition of slavery, had structured their martyred community and culture around the Church. So the «soul» adjective was associated with a kind of heartfelt jazz that was bluesy: its gospel feeling touched the heart rather than the mind. Up until then, the kind of jazz which didn’t lack any of those qualities had been described as «funk» or «funky», terms associated with dirt, sex and body-odour: there was «Blue Funk» by Ray Charles and Milt Jackson in 1957, for example, and before that (1952) there was «Funky Blues» with Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster etc.
Beginning in the mid-Fifties, the word soul, a direct allusion to gospel, appeared as a replacement for the adjective «funky». In 1955 Ray Charles recorded «A Bit of Soul», and then «Houseful of Soul» in 1956; and in 1958 there was his «Soul Meeting»3 jazz record with Milt Jackson.
But, apart from such labelling-considerations, it was the influence of gospel music itself which really began to break into American popular (i.e. «commercial») music: after «I Got a Woman», 1956 was the year when Ray Charles released «Drown in My Own Tears», and both were enormous hits nurtured in the gospel matrix. Another gospel singer/soul precursor was Sam Cooke, who recorded «Wonderful» and «I’ll Come Running Back to You»: he, too, was emerging from the gospel universe to devote himself to R&B. On February 4th 1956, James Brown and His Famous Flames did the same, only the sound wasn’t as suave… They recorded their first classic Please Please Please at the King studios in Cincinnati, Ohio. Just take a listen: the theme – asking your woman not to leave you – might be ordinary, but James begs and implores her not to go with all the dazzlingly intense technique of the great gospels. King released the record on March 3rd 1956 on its subsidiary label Federal, and it sold more than a million copies.
The Famous Flames
Sid Nathan, who ran King Records, didn’t appreciate James Brown and his gospel-metamorphosis/R&B. He didn’t believe he had a future. To make matters even less simple, the vocal group didn’t like it when the record was released under the name «James Brown & His Famous Flames», and so they wrote him off as their singer. It didn’t make much difference once the record was a hit: James was in great demand and he hired other musicians to take with him on the famous chitlin’ circuit, that string of venues named after the Southern meal called chitterlings (or pork-intestines, sometimes called tripe when cooked). Slaves ate tripe and other leftovers, and the soul-food chitterlings that came to symbolise the Afro-American identity were served up in juke-joints across the country; it was an ideal name for a venue-circuit where R&B was on the menu… Other pieces recorded in 1956-57 became singles, but none of the eight 45rpm records released later enjoyed as much success: the originality and magic of Please Please Please was lacking. James Brown was producing a splendid brand of rhythm and blues, but it no doubt needed a pinch of salt in that highly competitive period; they were particularly creative times, and thousands of Afro-American recordings were queuing up to be hits. The 1956-58 period was rock ‘n’ roll’s Golden Age, with a tidal wave of artists whose names were Bo Diddley4, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, not to mention white artists like Elvis Presley5 and Gene Vincent; vocal groups like The Drifters, The Coasters and The Platters were also gaining a strong foothold, and it was a particularly rich period for electric blues thanks to Howlin’ Wolf, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and many others. And if you thought the soul precursors had been forgotten, Clyde McPhatter, Ray Charles, Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and Little Willie John were still successful… The situation was difficult but James Brown persevered thanks to his iron will and… a little help from The Upsetters, the group behind Little Richard, who gave up rock in 1957 to devote himself to The Lord: James Brown replaced him on many occasions when he hired members of The Upsetters. He’d tasted success, and there was no going back.
He was already an extraordinary stage-performer, but James had to wait until September 1958 to record his second hit, the (very) gospel song Try Me. This piece – it has the same spirit as Please Please Please – opened the way for no fewer than eleven hits between January 1959 and February 1961. With excellent musicians, a reputed vocal group and a style that constantly matured, James Brown and His Famous Flames succeeded in capturing the electric atmosphere of their shows, and they reproduced that on record. A new James Brown sound rose up, and it was steeped in gospel and soul. The outfit gradually drew away from its initial influences to transcend all styles: Rock, doo wop, gospel, blues… The band’s R&B formula was none of them and yet all of them: it was unique. Served by a remarkable performer, I’ll Go Crazy is a Famous Flames masterpiece, the group’s third major hit; it was followed by Think, which was technically not very well recorded, and This Old Heart with its dissonant saxophone-rhythms (the sound of the take left something to be desired also). On The Bells, a reprise of the Clyde McPhatter & The Dominoes song which had a sad demise as its theme, James Brown breaks down in tearful sobs. There was also Baby You’re Right, based on a succession of gospel chords over which his voice skids like a tyre in a fast bend, announcing the style to come; the impressive I Don’t Mind produced a ballad-style – created by the interaction of the chorus with James’ formidable voice – which quickly became a Sixties code. And then we have the impeccable Just You and Me Darling, the tortured voice of Lost Someone and the enormous hit Night Train, an instrumental embellished with shouts of American place-names… And just as much care was taken over the recording of Shout and Shimmy, a less subtle piece that was perfect for warming up an audience…
James Brown never took a breather: he was always onstage. He mercilessly inflicted rehearsals on his musicians – permanent repeated exercise – and the result was a level of professionalism without parallel among rock/R&B groups of the period. That precision was present in the studio and onstage, where James developed new dance-routines – executed with breath-taking speed by a careful, elegant dresser who would appear wearing an ornate pompadour on his head… The show reached its paroxysm when he pretended to faint, steaming in sweat and exhausted to the point where an MC had to wrap him in a spangled cape before escorting him into the wings. By the early Sixties, the James Brown Revue was inviting artists to come and sing their only hit – sometimes two songs – as openers for James’ show; there were dancers, comedians…. This uncommon troupe – it remains one of the most memorable in pop-music history – would then launch into hit after hit in a dynamic frenzy that was irresistible. This triple album contains all the indispensable studio-recordings dating from that first, shattering James Brown era, the period featuring pure rhythm and blues from the gospel school. The second great phase in James Brown’s career would begin in 1962, with an album he recorded at the legendary Apollo in Harlem; it launched his Soul years.<
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FILE LIST
Filename
Size
CD 1/1.James Brown - Please Please Please.mp3
4.8 MB
CD 1/10.James Brown - I Won't Plead No More.mp3
3.7 MB
CD 1/11.James Brown - Just Won't Do Right.mp3
4.3 MB
CD 1/12.James Brown - Let's Make It.mp3
3.4 MB
CD 1/13.James Brown - Gonna Try.mp3
4 MB
CD 1/14.James Brown - Can't Be The Same.mp3
3.9 MB
CD 1/15.James Brown - Messing With The Blues.mp3
3.7 MB
CD 1/16.James Brown - Fine Old Foxy Self.mp3
3.8 MB
CD 1/17.James Brown - Love Is A Game.mp3
3.5 MB
CD 1/18.James Brown - Why Does Everything Happen To Me (Strange things Happen).mp3
3.8 MB
CD 1/19.James Brown - Begging, Begging.mp3
5 MB
CD 1/2.James Brown - I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On.mp3
4.8 MB
CD 1/20.James Brown - BaBy Cries Over The Ocean.mp3
5 MB
CD 1/3.James Brown - Why Do you Do Me (Like You Do).mp3
5.5 MB
CD 1/4.James Brown - I Don't Know.mp3
4 MB
CD 1/5.James Brown - I Walked Alone.mp3
4.3 MB
CD 1/6.James Brown - No, No, No, No.mp3
3.6 MB
CD 1/7.James Brown - You're Mine, You're Mine.mp3
3.8 MB
CD 1/8.James Brown - Hold My Baby's Hand.mp3
3.6 MB
CD 1/9.James Brown - Chonnie-On-Chon.mp3
4 MB
CD 2/1.James Brown - Try Me.mp3
4.7 MB
CD 2/10.James Brown - It Hurts To Tell You.mp3
5 MB
CD 2/11.James Brown - Don't Let It Happen To Me.mp3
5 MB
CD 2/12.James Brown - Bewildered.mp3
2.5 MB
CD 2/13.James Brown - Good Good Lovin'.mp3
2.4 MB
CD 2/14.James Brown - Wonder When You're Coming Home.mp3
2.1 MB
CD 2/15.James Brown - I'll Go Crazy.mp3
1.8 MB
CD 2/16.James Brown - This Old Heart.mp3
1.8 MB
CD 2/17.James Brown - I Know It's True.mp3
2.7 MB
CD 2/18.James Brown - Think.mp3
2.4 MB
CD 2/19.James Brown - I'll Never, Never Let You Go.mp3
2.5 MB
CD 2/2.James Brown - Tell Me What I Did Wrong.mp3
4.1 MB
CD 2/20.James Brown - You've Got The Power.mp3
2.4 MB
CD 2/3.James Brown - That's When I Lost My Heart.mp3
5.4 MB
CD 2/4.James Brown - That Dood It.mp3
4.3 MB
CD 2/5.James Brown - There Must Be A Reason.mp3
4.4 MB
CD 2/6.James Brown - I've Got To Change.mp3
4.5 MB
CD 2/7.James Brown - Got To Cry.mp3
4.4 MB
CD 2/8.James Brown - It Was You.mp3
5 MB
CD 2/9.James Brown - I Want You so Bad.mp3
5 MB
CD 3/1.James Brown - I Don't Mind.mp3
3 MB
CD 3/10.James Brown - The Bells.mp3
2.2 MB
CD 3/11.James Brown - Hold It.mp3
2.1 MB
CD 3/12.James Brown - Dancing Little Thing.mp3
2.1 MB
CD 3/13.James Brown - You Don't Have To Go.mp3
2.9 MB
CD 3/14.James Brown - Lost Someone.mp3
3.4 MB
CD 3/15.James Brown - Shout and Shimmy.mp3
3.5 MB
CD 3/16.James Brown - Night Train.mp3
4 MB
CD 3/17.James Brown - (I love you) Yes I Do.mp3
2.3 MB
CD 3/18.James Brown - Have Mercy Baby.mp3
2.3 MB
CD 3/19.James Brown - Just You And Me, Darling.mp3
2.7 MB
CD 3/2.James Brown - If You Want Me.mp3
2.3 MB
CD 3/3.James Brown - Baby You're Wright.mp3
2.9 MB
CD 3/4.James Brown - Love Don't Love Nobody.mp3
1.8 MB
CD 3/5.James Brown - Come Over Here.mp3
2.7 MB
CD 3/6.James Brown - And I Do Just What I Want.mp3
2.4 MB
CD 3/7.James Brown - Just Won't Do Right.mp3
2.9 MB
CD 3/8.James Brown - So Long.mp3
2.6 MB
CD 3/9.James Brown - Tell Me What'Cha Gonna Do.mp3