Product Overview
James Brown – Gold / Universal 2x Audio CD 2005 / 0602498325841
UPC 602498325841
Product Details:
Editorial Review:
The comps just keep on coming. James Brown's passing in 2006 has -- as it would for virtually any artist of stature, let alone legend, in popular music -- spawned what seems to be a greater number of compilations being issued and reissued than occurred during his long career. This one, for instance, released in June of 2007, seems to have been in the works before Brown's death, as proved by a line in Cliff White's booklet essay, "...and still a part of Brown's stage show." Ultimately, it's the music that matters, and Universal has the lion's share of Brown's. Listeners have had a box set and numerous double-disc comps already, but this set seems to focus on the hits that charted. There are 40 tracks covering the years 1958, when "Please, Please, Please" was originally issued, to 1979, when "It's Too Funky in Here" hit the number 14 spot in the Billboard R&B charts. In between, all of them are here. Name it. There's even the great "Doing It to Death, Pt. 1" (better known as "Gonna Have a Funky Good Time") by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s (with Brown) from 1973, which celebrated the return of Wesley and other bandmembers to Brown's group after leaving in 1970. This tune hit the number one spot on the R&B chart and stayed for a couple of weeks, and hit number 22 on the pop chart. Numerous two-part cuts have been issued in their entirety, such as "Cold Sweat," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine," "Super Bad," and "The Payback." Others have their A-sides (part ones) included, such as "Licking Stick," "Mother Popcorn," "Ain't It Funky Now," "Get on the Good Foot," "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing," "Hot Pants," "Papa Don't Take No Mess," and "Bodyheat." In 24-bit remastered sound, this baby is worth snagging off the shelves unless you have these cuts twice or three times over elsewhere. But cuts like "King Heroin," "Funky President," "Out of Sight," and "I Got the Feelin'" are here as well. It's a nonstop head rush of Godfather soul and funk from top to bottom. If you've been waiting, this is the one to snag. If you're already invested, can you live without the remastered sound? That's the question Universal wants you to ask yourself and answer as a solid "no," so you'll plop down your cash just one more time.
Tracklist:
| 1-1 | Please, Please, Please
Written-By – James Brown, Johnny Terry |
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| 1-2 | Try Me
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-3 | Good Good Lovin'
Written-By – Albert Schubert, James Brown |
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| 1-4 | I'll Go Crazy
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-5 | Think
Written-By – Lowman Pauling |
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| 1-6 | Lost Someone
Written-By – Lloyd Stallworth, Bobby Byrd, James Brown |
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| 1-7 | Night Train
Written-By – Jimmy Forrest, Lewis Simpkins, Oscar Washington |
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| 1-8 | Prisoner Of Love
Written-By – Clarence Gaskill, Leo Robin, Russ Columbo |
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| 1-9 | Out Of Sight
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-10 | Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-11 | I Got You (I Feel Good)
Written-By – Albert Schubert, James Brown |
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| 1-12 | It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World
Written-By – Betty Newsome, James Brown |
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| 1-13 | Money Won't Change You
Written-By – James Brown, Nat Jones |
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| 1-14 | Cold Sweat
Written-By – Alfred Ellis, James Brown |
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| 1-15 | There Was A Time
Written-By – Bud Hobgood, James Brown |
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| 1-16 | I Got The Feelin'
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-17 | Licking Stick - Licking Stick
Written-By – Alfred Ellis, Bobby Byrd, James Brown |
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| 1-18 | Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud
Written-By – Alfred Ellis, James Brown |
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| 1-19 | Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
Written-By – Charles Bobbit |
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| 1-20 | I Don't Want Anybody To Give Me Nothing
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 1-21 | Mother Popcorn
Written-By – Alfred Ellis, James Brown |
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| 1-22 | Hey America
Written-By – Addie Williams Jones, Nat Jones |
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| 2-1 | Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
Written-By – Bobby Byrd, James Brown, Ron Lenhoff |
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| 2-2 | Super Bad
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 2-3 | Soul Power
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 2-4 | Hot Pants
Written-By – Fred Wesley, James Brown |
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| 2-5 | Make It Funky
Written-By – Charles Bobbit, James Brown |
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| 2-6 | Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing
Written-By – Bobby Byrd, James Brown |
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| 2-7 | King Heroin
Written-By – Charles Bobbit, Dave Matthews (3), James Brown, Manny Rosen |
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| 2-8 | Get On The Good Foot
Written-By – Fred Wesley, James Brown, Joe Mims |
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| 2-9 | The Boss
Written-By – Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley, James Brown |
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| 2-10 | Doing It To Death
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 2-11 | The Payback
Written-By – Fred Wesley, James Brown, John Starks |
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| 2-12 | Papa Don't Take No Mess
Written-By – Charles Bobbit, Fred Wesley, James Brown, John Starks |
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| 2-13 | My Thang
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 2-14 |
Funky President (People It's Bad)
Written-By – James Brown |
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| 2-15 | Get Up Offa That Thing
Written-By – Deanna Brown, Deidra Brown, Yamma Brown |
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| 2-16 | Bodyheat
Written-By – Deanna Brown, Deidra Brown, Yamma Brown |
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| 2-17 | It's Too Funky In Here
Written-By – Brad Shapiro, George Jackson (3), Robert Miller, Walter Shaw |
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| 2-18 | Living in America
Written-By – Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman |
More Details:
- Co-producer – Hal Neely (tracks: 1-8)
- Producer – Andy Gibson (tracks: 1-2, 1-3), Dan Hartman (tracks: 2-18), James Brown (tracks: 1-4 to 1-7, 1-9 to 1-22, 2-1 to 2-16), Ralph Bass (tracks: 1-1)
- Producer, Arranged By – Brad Shapiro (tracks: 2-17)
- Sleeve Notes – Lois Wilson
About the Artist:
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. A progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music and dance, he is often referred to as the "Godfather of Soul" and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted over 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres.
Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He joined a rhythm and blues vocal group, the Gospel Starlighters (which later evolved into the Famous Flames) founded by Bobby Byrd, in which he was the lead singer. First coming to national public attention in the late 1950s as a member of the singing group The Famous Flames with the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a tireless live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".
During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.
Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart which did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into 1st class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from many other institutions, including inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked No. 7 on Rolling Stone's list of its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone has also cited Brown as the most sampled artist of all time.
