SOUL BROTHER NO. 1

It’s 24 October 1962.

The number one single in the USA is "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett And The Crypt-Kickers.

The Cuban missile crisis is peaking as Soviet warships approach the US naval blockage of Cuba.

Political thriller The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra, is released in cinemas.

Bill Wyman, bass player in the recently formed Rolling Stones, has his twenty-sixth birthday.

James Brown and The Famous Flames’ stage show is recorded at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York.

This recording may have produced the soul singer’s first live album, but it was far from the beginning of Brown’s career. He already had the title of "the hardest working man in show business" and a string of hit singles to his credit. Master of Ceremonies Lucas "Fats" Gonder (Brown’s organ player) introduces the star with a rundown of what excited fans can expect to hear from "Mr Dynamite"…

"I’ll Go Crazy" (US R&B Chart #15, 1960)

"Try Me" (US R&B #1, 1958)

"You’ve Got the Power" (#14, 1960)

"I Don’t Mind" (#4, 1961)

"Night Train" (#5, 1962)

Of course no James Brown show would be complete without his first hit, the impassioned "Please, Please, Please" (US R&B #6, 1956). Here, his signature 60s song serves to bookend a medley of classic soul.

The catalogue of hits is certainly familiar to the audience; squeals of delight punctuate the intro and indeed, pepper the performances like a guerrilla piccolo horn section. But that’s totally fitting for this classic document of a live soul show in the heart of Harlem. The audience energy, the theatrical devices of the singer, the band uniforms, the set pieces, the fist-tight horn arrangements… it is all part of what makes James Brown 'Live' At The Apollo a memorable record of a legendary artist.

And to think that it only happened because Brown funded it himself. King Records, who he was signed to at the time, didn’t think an "in concert" album was worth doing. The singer had other ideas. He knew his band was tight; they’d been on the road for ages. He knew the venue was right; the man was a hero in New York. Brown stumped up the funding for the recording himself and watched with delight as it ascended the US Billboard Pop Chart on release in May 1963, peaking just one spot shy of the pinnacle. A degree of I-told-you-so pride would certainly have been justified, especially as the album has drawn accolades ever since.

James Brown went on to record more than fifteen other live albums—including three return engagements at the Apollo Theatre—but none top the exuberance and electricity of this first LP. It may be only thirty-one and a half minutes long, but what an intense half-hour! Like the hardest working man in show business, by the finale you’ll need a silk kerchief to mop your brow.

Note: Some releases of this album re-arrange the track order to avoid the original side one/side two break in "Lost Someone".

© Bruce Jenkins—January 2023