James Brown

JB 40: 40th Anniversary Collection (Polydor Chronicles)
by Clarendon Lavorich

The Godfather is back, Mr. Show Business, Soul Brother Number One, and he’s proved once again that you can’t fuck with James Brown. Polydor made a wise choice when compiling JB 40, avoiding anything he did after 1979 (which means we’re spared the horror of “Living in America”). What we got here is some of the best soul and funk around. We get down to D in “Doing it to Death,” hit the bridge like a truck in “Super Bad,” and don’t forget the aside in “Hot Pants” (“That’s no girlie… No, that’s a boy”). We also got the gentle crooning of “Please, Please, Please,” “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,” and “Licking Stick – Licking Stick” (I guess he’s got a thing for repetition). We also get the infectious “Mother Popcorn” and you know we got to “Get on the Good Foot” while avoiding the evils of “King Heroin” (although I guess PCP is okay). In sum, JB 40 is the essential Brown, except for the absence of the often-sampled “Funky Drummer,” though I guess if you want to hear it, you can listen to any rap record made in the late ’80s. James Brown, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, is still in the building.