James Brown

The title track is a monster. The JB's find the groove and Brown punctuates their riffs with straining sexuality: grunts and short, declarative sentences. It's effortless, with Brown alternating from a soul alchemist to a suave savior. Everything that follows, from a weepy "Nothing Beats a Try" to an exuberant "Ain't it a Grove," is stunning window dressing.

There was a time when James Brown really was Soul Brother Number One. Though it was
only six, seven, eight years ago, it seems like a lot longer. Back in the early and mid-Sixties,
Brown's shows had the same mythical stature for soul audiences that the Stones now have
for the rock audiences. His influence on the developing soul artists of the time -- Wilson
Pickett, Otis, later Aretha -- was immeasurable. It was not only the emphasis on h... More >

Only two hits on this studio double, though it takes Hank Ballard five minutes to describe its riches on side two--"he comes from all sides on this one." Lines repeat from song to song--"The long-haired hippies and the Afro blacks/All get together off behind the tracks/And they party"--and so do riffs. The hook on the twelve-minute "Please, Please" (not to be confused, of course, with "Please, Please, Please") repeats one hundred forty-eight (and a half) times. I love the hook, I even like the line, and if this were the world's only James Brown album it would be priceless. But there's a lot of waste here, and Brown's voice can't carry ballads the way it used to. (Grade - B-)