James Brown Live At The Apollo

This man will make your liver quiver! This man will make your bladder splatter! This man will make your knees freeze! If you will let’s all welcome the worlds Godfather of Soul, Soul Brother #1, JAMES BROWN!!! 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die Day 9. I FEEL GOOD!! The album for today is Live At The Apollo (1962). Let me start by saying that it would be an impossible task to find another more influential artist in the history of modern music and dance. The best you can convince me of, is that he’s had some equals along the way, though few and far between. Now that we have that settled, I thought to myself, what’s my first memory of James Brown and his funky, soulful music? My first conscience memory is Living In America, the super smash, Grammy winning song that also just happened to be in the blockbuster film Rocky IV in 1986. Seeing The Godfather Of Funk giving an explosive performance in that movie moments before Apollo Creed would die in the ring against Ivan Drago changed my childhood. Apollo the boxer died in the movie. Live at the Apollo from Mr. Brown lives on forever. Mr. Please Please Please was only 29 when he recorded this live album at the historic Apollo Theater, a theater named after a Greek God that hosted many, many musical Gods over the years. Brown paid for this project out of his own pocket as his label didn’t think he held the same appeal to deliver a live recording that someone like Sam Cooke had at the time. In early ‘63 this album came out and it was so popular that it was hard to find a copy. Record stores bought cases upon cases in order to meet the demand, and if you found a copy, you had to share it with the whole household, and it was played so much that when you finally wore it out you had to re-up. Most of Mr. Dynamite’s biggest hits weren’t even recorded yet in 1962. Deciding to showcase his best repertoire at the time in a live setting was a genius move. Sure, James Brown sounded just as good on his records as he did in his live performances, but there is an electricity in hearing it live, even if it’s just on an 8-track in the 60’s or Spotify in 2021. You can almost feel the vibrations of this man working up a sweat. Just listen to the crowd go berserk. On the song Lost Someone you can hear the girls in the crowd literally falling apart at the seams. James Brown had the crowd in the palm of his hands and he knew it. His band, The Famous Flames, are “Clean as a silk suit” as quoted by Robert Christgau in Rolling Stone magazine. They never miss a beat, literally. This live album has my most favorite song from The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Try Me. The passionate pleasing and soulfulness of that record, especially live, is worthy of being added to The Library Of Congress, which it has been. The first to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, James Brown sounds like a preacher at times. The way he uses the call and response technique has me in the shower damn near testifying! There’s no bad songs here. Make sure to check out Try Me, I’ll Go Crazy Night Train and Think. Also, make sure to listen to the girls losing their shit on Lost Someone. James Brown is The Godfather of not only Soul, but of Funk, Pop, and Hip Hop as well. He is the highest sampled artist in the world. His work has been borrowed a record smashing 7,413 times over the years. Listen to his song Funky Drummer and you’ll get the idea. James Brown is the Johnny Appleseed of music and I’m grateful for him.

1) All music since James Brown is a failed attempt to match his rhythm. Discuss. 2) Please explain why more albums should have seprate tracks for instrumental bridges. 3) Somewhere in these 31 minutes is the formula for Al Green's music. Please represent this as a mathematical equation, showing your workings. 4) James Brown never released a particularly good studio album, but is still responsible for much of the best music of the 20th century. Did he know something we don't?

I want to like it, but it's so hard to enjoy a live album.

He's a good singer and the instrumentals are decent but the live element of this is just much too irritating. Theres so much background sceaming and talking that I just cant enjoy it

Probably blasphemy to some but I found this totally underwhelming. There wasn't even a fake walk off.

What a performer. I remember hearing how JB would be furious if he heard any member of the band slip out of time or play a bum note. It’s tight as all hell and funky as a washerman’s dishcloth. If the mix was a little better we could appreciate it in all glory, but the scratchy, tinny sound, backed by the screaming fans really takes me back to those sweaty, heady early 60’s club nights. Much fun.

I can't believe that people went to his concerts just to listen to some mediocre R&B for 30 minutes and go home

3

I've never been big into James Brown's music. Maybe what ruins it for me is knowing what a wacko, and abusive SOB he was off-stage. Though I try to seperate the artist from the art, it's hard when a man's act centers around being a showman, but he's responsible for a lot of misery in people's livs. The music is forgetable, and James Brown sucks as a person.

One of the iconic live albums of all time, it is a bit amazing that this was recorded in 1962 (released in 1963). A year and half before the Beatles would appear on the Ed Sullivan show. At a time when the biggest hits on the Billboard charts were “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (Frankie Vali and 4 Seasons) and “He’s So Fine” (Chiffons). Into this safe and comfortable world burst James Brown, in a live setting, saturated with a primal energy that had to frighten the grown-ups. Listen in the context of its time and it is even more impressive. His energy, reflected back by the crown…. Well, it is impressive. I was too young to have caught this when it was fresh, but it’s an album I knew by reputation long before I ever heard it. And I’ve owned this for a long time. This is why Jame Brown is known as the Godfather Of Soul, and The-Hardest-Working-Man-In-Show-Business. The sound quality is better than one should expect for a live album in 1963, but you need to recognize that it isn’t known for its crystal sound quality. This is a testament to a moment. This absolutely belongs on this “must hear” list, a wonderful time capsule of music from an earlier era. It is notable that this album was recorded before the Civil Rights Act, before the Beatles, before JFK’s assassination. A dramatic recording from a dynamic time. 5/5

This album flew by, I actually wish it was longer. It was fun to hear the audience's participation, and even more fun to hear how tight the live band is. It sounds legendary.

My man

An album that just oozes out "60s vibes". Makes you regret the fact that you were born in the late 90s and you will never experience this era ever again in such a way as back then.

5.0 + It's incredible to hear the hardest working band arguably at their prime. They honed their stage performance to a non-stop onslaught of scream-inducing licks, shrieks and moans, MC'ed by arguably the greatest frontman in history. I'd say their schtick sounds too polished but then I hear James Browns' vocals on "Love Someone" - the way he digs to the bottom of his soul to convey that feeling of heartbreak, that's not a sound that can be manufactured.

driving the ladies WILD

I know who James Brown is, of course, but I don't think I had heard any of the songs from this album. I'm curious as to where this performance fits within context of Brown's career as a whole. I was surprised how short some of the tracks were, especially for a live performance. "Lost Someone" is the longest track, and has some of the back and forth between Brown and the audience that you might expect with a live performance. This album is fine, but I'm not sure if I'd listen to it again. 3 stars

Fantastic album, James Brown was an incredible musician and this really made me feel like I was seeing this live performance. If anything I found it too short.

Brown was a tremendous performer, had a great back up band and interacted really well with the audience. Obviously what's missing here is the visual aspect, as seeing James Brown go nuts on stage must have an awesome sight. I wonder how many parties have been graced by this fab LP?!

I never fully appreciated this when listening before, despite being a huge JB fan, as it doesn't have the same funk as his later work but wow, something clicked with me today listening. This is molten, the slower stuff particularly - Lost Someone >>>>

Amazing album! Fantastic sound and great energy.

-One of the greatest live albums of all time -Beautiful transitions and bridges between songs -A perfect jazz/R&B album if there is one -Best Songs: Try Me, Think, Lost Someone -Worst Songs: None of them -Overall Rating: 10/10

not me screaming "Ow!" back to JB in my office :')

Täydellin showlive! 5/5

The godfather of soul himself, James Brown. This is such a great example of an excellent live album. Every single musician is right on time. The whole album is tight, funky, and absolutely dripping with soul. The instrumental bridges being listed as their own tracks is super interesting too. It’s short, but it’s sweet. At 31 minutes it certainly comes nowhere close to overstaying its welcome, and I found myself wishing it was a little longer. While it’s certainly not my favourite album we’ve listened to on this list, it is undeniably great. James Brown is one of those influential figures in so many different genres of music, a true legend. 5*

As a document and a piece of musical history, this album is really a gem. James Brown, 1963, the Apollo in Harlem… wow. The inclusion of the crowd noise really works here as well, and you can really imagine being there and practically see the sweat falling from Brown’s brow. The musical content is also delightful, with Brown more on the crooning side of soul rather than the funky side that would become such a huge part of his legacy. Still, his performance is electric and his talent seeps from every note he sings. I don’t think any single song really stands out to me above the experience of it all. What a wonderful record to exist. I only wish it were longer. 10/10

Wow. This is an absolutely stunning live album. James Brown brings it all. The power, intensity and emotion here just rock me to my core. The track listing is basically useless, because this whole thing is the event, not to be itemized. The screams of feedback from the frenzied crowd are an essential part of the mix here, basically acting as an instrument. I feel that this would be impossible to replicate now, truly a relic of a different era. My only complaint is that it's not longer, but perfection is fleeting, so we must accept the rare moments when it does arise. Fav Tracks: The whole damn thing

Talk about tearing the roof off the house. 'nuff said.

Wow! It must have been something to see James Brown Live at the Apollo in 1962! I had expected an energetic performance, and that’s what I got. Crazy to think this was happening in a year where the top song of the year was a slow clarinet instrumental. Totally enjoyed this. The interplay with the audience was great. What a recording!

Yes. All day long. Hit me!

The quality of this recording of a live performance puts a massive swath of studio albums to shame. Sure, we lose Mr. Brown a bit while he's working the crowd, but that's the price you pay to work the instrument that is the audience; and it's worth it in the long run, as the crowd swells and swoons along with the tracks. Literally every song is winner. I couldn't help but move my feet and wiggle in my seat as I listened along to tracks like "Think", "Night Train" and even the various instrumental brides. When things slowed down on "Try Me" and "I Don't Mind" I was still swaying along and hanging on every verse. This album provides a glimpse into the undeniable fact that James Brown (and his band) had mastered the art of the stage show, and that's even without being able to see his expressions and footwork. I wish I had had the chance to see them myself. That chance has passed. But I'm glad to have albums like this, so I can at least glimpse into the experience and carry the energy on in my heart.

Good live album. Crowd can get a bit in the way of listening sometimes though, lots of screaming etc.

Amazing!!!

Can't deny this record it's due. Live albums tend to be a showcase for an artist's greatest hits, but can get bogged down in rough performances or poor sound quality. But this 1962 recording of James Brown at the Apollo Theatre transports you there. From the M.C.'s introduction to the tight band to Brown's captivating performance, this recording is better than any greatest hits album, because it's fresh and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Fav Tracks: Lost Someone, Try Me and I Don't Mind Rating 4.5/5

An excellent example of what a live album can accomplish. Joyful and uplifting

5 all day

that was one intense performance - he just never stopped that whole way through. amazing, and an awesome album as well.

Love the interaction with the audience! And this must be where Michael Jackson got the influence for his "Aowh!"

Big influencer on all music that followed.

Shit that's good. The faster version of I got you is truly a masterpiece. James' browns voice is also one of the greats

Love his music.

Such a fucking good picture of the apollo. What a showman. I wish this shit was longer!

4 out of 5. This is how you do a love album.

This was a great album.Not as familiar with Browns material other than the obvious songs

The Apollo theatre has held "Amateur Night" since 1934. In amateur night, contestants would perform as part of a competition. Like a cliche in a movie, if they perform badly they get booed off stage, with a character known as "the executioner" would sweep them off stage with a broom. James brown was booed off stage in 1952, going to show that not everybody succeeds on their first try. James Brown Live at the Apollo is an album released at the height of his popularity and showcases his funky talents well, however I don't think it's something I'll be coming back to with great frequency.

James Brown can get it

THEE showman

guter alter blues und soul, energetisch einem frenetischen publikum dargeboten. nicht schlecht!

Great band.

The album kinda flew by and felt like it was over sooner than I expected - I wonder if the audience at the performance felt the same way. But hey, if I have a choice between some James Brown and no James Brown, I will take the some.

I don't usually like live albums but this one was pretty good. For once, I actually wish it was longer which is rare for this list. Best song was Try Me.

James Brown, the legend, the creator of Funk, here in the early 60's, still as a Soul, R&B and Rock n' Roll singer whose fame was at an all time high and decided to release the live show from the Apollo theatre as an album which became his best known and most influential album. David Bowie quoted it as one of his all time albums and many other artists said that it was highly influential to them and their music. The album is full of passionate vocal deliveries and wonderful energetic instrumental performances. The album is an absolute beast in what it does and stands as one of the best albums of that year and the whole early 60's. The 'Introduction and Theme' starts the albums tone with an introduction that hypes up James Brown and his band plays a fanfare to bridge the way into the first song. It is just an interlude but it does its job very well and really hypes the whole thing up with an energetic and groovy melody. Especially the end is just incredible. 'I'll Go Crazy' really starts the whole thing with James showing how great he can sing and it's then followed by an energetic and very dancable song in typical Soul and R&B style that really suits James Brown's incredible performance. The song is just simply incredible although I wish that it'd go on for a little longer. The Doo-Wop example that 'Try Me' really gets a more sentimental tone into the album and Brown still delivers with his vocals as does the brass band and the backing vocals. It's a joyful but slower song nearly feeling like a Waltz. It's beautiful and an incredible song followed up by a short instrumental bridge towards the end. The fast rhythm section that feels very Jazzy which is featured on 'Think' really carries the song which feels much more reliant on the instruments than on the vocals. The result isn't as great as a couple of previous songs but it's still really good, great even. And again, an instrumental bridge in the end. 'I Don't Mind' is pretty much a mix of the styles heard so far. It's a little slower but has incredible vocals in a very Soul sounding style but also a couple of melodic and dynamic changes throughout. It's another pretty awesome song but it again feels a little less like it can hold up to the standard that has been set so far. Really good song but sadly with not enough strength that would really make me love it. And another short bridge towards the end that flows into the next song. The song 'Lost Someone' was actually split into two parts on the original vinyl release because it is a staggering 10 minutes long which is even crazier when the longest song so far 2.5 minutes long. Although this seems like it'd go totally wrong with the length of it, the song actually keeps very steady throughout and doesn't really go down in quality or keeping the listener interested. The vocals are great, the melody is great and it builds tension. It does feel a little bit over the top and even a little dragged around halfway through but it picks up again after a while. The song transitions into another quite lengthy track. The 'Medley' which consists of 9 different song that were put together into one 7 minute masterpiece of Soul, R&B, Jazz and even a little early form Funk. Because it plays with so many different songs and melodies in one, the song is interesting and amazing the whole way through. I absolutely love it and all the little changes and songs throughout. Every hook, every chorus is just simply perfect. All that means that the whole song is perfect. The album closes with the thematically fitting 'Night Train' which is easily the most Rock n' Roll sounding song on the album. It's still very much R&B and Soul but the guitar playing and the drums are very reminiscent of early Rock n' Roll. The song keeps it steady, neither really crazy nor with a slower tone and just finishes the album perfectly even if the song itself might've needed a little improvements around the edges to make it more interesting throughout. favourites: Medley, I'll Go Crazy, Try Me, Think, Lost Someone least favourites: I Don't Mind Rating: decent to strong 8 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Great album. Super influential. Could even be longer

Hell of a live show recording. Setlist flowed from number to number with almost no downtime, bouncing from upbeat ditties (I'll Go Crazy, Think) to some bluesy ballads (I Don't Mind). Most expansive track, Lost Someone, gives a display of both in one with plenty of space for Brown to stretch his voice and interact with the crowd. Not the kind of music I typically go in for, but credit where it's due. This was solid. 3.5 rounding up

absolute bop. the part where he tells the men in his audience not to hit their wives was insane though

I don't normally like live albums but this is something special. The way the crowd screams is almost incorporated into the songs. It sounds like it's own instrument that James Brown uses. I like how this feels like I am a fly at the wall of a very special performance. I love the horn section. I love Brown's vocals that always feel as though they are reaching directly out the listener. The Instrumental Bridges are really cool with how they attempt to go from one song to another and each feels like they stick the landing

James Brown is one of those artists that has been more of an outlandish pop culture caricature to me than an actual tangible performer. He's been quantified to me more through countless "I feel good na na na na na na na" references rather than his actual body of of work. This is the first time it ever even occurred to me to listen to one of his albums, and I don't think a live one is the right starting point. But either way, I can understand why he's been crowned the Godfather of Soul; he has undeniable emotive vocal talent and his music is rife with soul. I like the raspy, gritty quality in his voice, it scratches a specific sonic itch I didn't know was there when I'm listening. I can feel what he's feeling when he sings, I dig that. He sweats authenticity from the very core of his being and I can hear that he left it all out there on stage that night in '63. I may not become a regular, routine listener, but he has my utmost respect.

Nr. 49/1001 Introduction NR I'll Go Crazy 4/5 Try Me 5/5 Think 3/5 I Don't Mind 4/5 Lost Someone 3/5 (2x) Medley 4/5 Night Train 3/5 Average: 3,63 Great vocal performance. Didn't love some songs

4.5 Holy cow this has to be one of the most explosive live albums I've ever heard, and the energy James gives the crowd and the crowd gives back is the stuff that separates great frontmen from legends. This was an incredibly quick 30 minutes, and it honestly could have gone on so much longer for me. I really, really need to check out more James Brown. My only complaint with the album is the production on Lost Someone... there's a good chunk where James Brown sounds completely washed out? Other than that, the sound and energy on this record feels like a lightning in a bottle live album, and I'll definitely be listening to again. Favorite songs: I really liked them all, but I'll Go Crazy, Think, and the buildup on Lost Someone stood out to me

Short live album but demonstrates how much of an impact James Brown will have had on multiple musical genres. Brown’s voice and the band are great.

This is a treat. To hear Rev. Brown when he was young and not the caricature he became in his later life. A Lot of purity here. Enjoy

James Brown Live at the Apollo It’s great of course, but I’m not sure how much I’m into it. The band, the backing singers, his voice, they’re all great, and the energy and charisma is obvious, and I know it’s held in high esteem for all those reasons, but it feels slightly unsatisfying. Maybe because it's a live album or maybe because my expectations were too high, or perhaps it just can’t live up to the late 60s James Brown concert of my imagination. A solid 3 feels about right, I appreciate all the good things about it, particularly the backing vocals on something like I Don’t Mind, but overall I just don’t love it. 🟤🟤🟤 Playlist submission: I Don’t Mind

Eternal classic, I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD

I’m sure this is an important album that deserves better, but I didn’t latch onto anything here.

Live album loses a point

It's a cooking band and an energetic performance, probably the best live recording of early 60s RnB. That makes it a legendary and iconic performance, but why is this the only James Brown on the 1001 list? He was a pretty good RnB performer, and this album really made his reputation, but not the music that changed everything. It has some great, even iconic moments ("Ladies and gentlemen, it is star time, are you ready for star time?", "the hardest workin' man in show business", an uptempo version of Think, the audience screams during Please Please Please, a proto-funk Night Train), and shows off his impeccable skills as a band leader. I would have LOVED to see this show. However, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (and the invention of funk) was still a few years off. And, if we are talking about James Brown, how can you have him on the list with an album that pre-dates his greatest contribution to popular music, the invention of an entire genre? James Brown is one of the truly great singles performers. he released literally hundreds of singles, and many of them have been amazingly influential on music as a whole. But he is not so well known for albums that make the grade, and so they have picked this one. Good album, but not what is truly great about James Brown. The listmakers desperately want to have James Brown on the list (because of course!), but the constraint of albums but no compilations make it impossible to showcase his most amazing work. Missed opportunity.

Live at the Apollo by James Brown (1963) This recording from a concert at New York City’s Apollo Theater on October 24, 1962 is a quaint look back at a moment in the career of the great R&B pioneer, James Brown. One gets a clear sense of the effect he had on an audience of 1,500, even if his own talents were imperfectly preserved (see below). The venue was the center of the urban black middle class universe at the time. The Apollo, in Harlem, was owned by Sidney Cohen and managed by Morris Sussman, catering to the well dressed and well coiffed ladies and gents who made their way to 253 West 125th Street. It sounds like they had a good (and raucous) time. The Beatles did not invent mania. The music is passionate, showy, exhilarating, and lush. James Brown’s blues voice is surpassed only by Janis Joplin’s, with its energetic and lusty flourishes and starkly contrasting smoothness, all woven together. The backing instrumental and vocal ensemble is generous and disciplined (even if the brass and reeds are not entirely in tune with one another). Among the weaknesses of the original 1963 album, one should note the faulty mix (shunting both lead and backing vocals into the right channel, and bass in the left with the gain too high), and the inconsistent vocal mic direction. The result is that James Brown’s delicious voice is frequently subdued to the point of concealment. These problems were somewhat repaired in the 1990 and 2004 reissues, but with a commensurate loss in fidelity. Also, in the live setting, the female screams (even coached along in the second half of “Lost Someone”) obliterate some of Brown’s most delicate stylings. And in slow, subdued sections (e.g., “I Found Someone”), the murmur of conversation is distracting, if not disrespectful. Plus, Brown seems to lose the audience on “Night Train”, especially at the dud ending of this final track—worst ending to a concert set I’ve ever heard. The serious listener should stick to the studio recordings, but there’s entertainment enough here to sustain interest for 32 minutes. 3/5

Dynamic, high energy R&B/Soul performance

What a concert to attend.Apparently it was a tough ticket to get. The band is very tight. Not sure if you watched any of the videos but there were a lot of band members to keep tight. He had quite the high pitch screams but the low quality recording didn't  do them justice. I thought by the late sixties live recordings were better quality. Might have scored higher if recording quality was better.

James Brown rules, but there is not a ton here.

Pretty good, upbeat live album. Not too memorable though

Uninteresting, but with good vocal performances

Didn't realize James Brown was active so early, for some reason I thought he was mainly in the 70s. I'd like to say I enjoyed this more than I did; unfortunately, most of this didn't catch me. I hope James has other records that catch my ear more in the future.

There are very few live albums I enjoy. This ain’t one of them. So much crowd noise.

I stopped listening to it halfway through the first time, though it wasn't the best listening environment. Will try again, I guess.

Концертик коротенький, половина это попурри и женские крики. Ну не солидно как-то. Сорян, Джеймс Браун

Yesterday I listened to the Alice In Chains unplugged for fun, so this has the bar set very high right after listening to one of the best live albums of all time. Recording quality is good, but the crowd can be very annoying. The vocals are really good, and instrumentation is good. You can very much tell this was an early 60s album. Overall not my thing, but I cannot deny the talent displayed on this album. That said, I probably wont listen again. I almost feel bad rating it this low, but the crowds constantly screeching ruins the album for me. 4/10.

Nice to hear some James Brown that aren't the same old overplayed cliche tunes. Still not very interesting however

BAD.

Not for me. 1/5

++*: Think ++: Introduction to James Brown and the Famous Flames, I'll Go Crazy, Try Me, I Don't Mind, Lost Someone, Medley: Please Please Please/You've Got the Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please, Night Train 9,7/10

Classy! You like jazz?

There’s a lot to say about James Brown the performer, but James Brown the vocalist is just as important. Brown really exemplifies the type of musician that focuses on using their voice as an instrument rather than a means of communicating an idea (although those aren’t mutually exclusive). Whereas someone like Jeff Buckley tried to make his voice work like a guitar in his music, I would compare Brown’s to a trumpet, blasting in a similar fashion to what we might hear on a jazz record. The way he’ll repeat a shouted line a couple of times is like when a trumpeter finds a really important riff and swirls it a couple of times, then improvises into a new thing that becomes a whole new version of the idea. It’s disorganized, organic, and wonderfully entertaining to listen to. I’m also a sucker for call-and-response during a live show; when I go to see a group or a musician, I want to feel involved in the process of making the moment. Brown did that to a level that not many other musicians can say they do/did, and the crowd interactions are what really highlight this album for me. The album art is also just a 10/10. Beautiful, haunting, mesmerizing. The album is an all around, finely crafted, incredible work of art that doesn’t feel like a forced product, but rather a unique experience.

“Every instrument is a drum.” -James Brown My ratings are generally based on 2 things: 1). Did I like it?; 2). Is it influential on things I do like? James Brown is in that upper echelon of influence, like shit that you need to know on day 1 of being a pretentious pop music snob. He is an inspiration to artists ranging from Iggy Pop to Michael Jackson. He’s the most sampled artist in hip hop. He basically invented funk. He’s also kind of a monster if you read about him. If I'm judging a live album, I think the most important criteria is "Would I like to have been there?" and the answer here is a resounding yes. But at the same time, so much of James Brown's appeal is visual. Watch clips of this dude performing and he's an absolute madman on a scale that has only ever successfully been replicated by Michael Jackson. So, the question is whether the performance can really be conveyed to the listener through audio and audio alone. For that, I asked Wayne Kramer from MC5. I subsequently was informed that he's been dead for like 2 years, so I found a quote from him about it: "Our whole thing was based on James Brown. We listened to "Live At the Apollo" endlessly on acid. We would listen to that in the van in the early days of 8-tracks on the way to the gigs to get us up for the gig. If you played in a band in Detroit in the days before The MC5, everybody did "Please, Please, Please" and "I Go Crazy." These were standards. We modeled The MC5's performance on those records. Everything we did was on a gut level about sweat and energy. It was anti-refinement. That's what we were consciously going for." “Anti-refinement” and “gut level” are maybe a stretch here. This band is pretty damn precise. So precise that I assume James Brown pointed a gun at at least one member of the Famous Flames daily.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUWW!

I would give this 5 stars for I Go Crazy alone.

I only knew the later volume (1968). This is fantastic.

Haven't listened for a long time

The man was a force of nature.

What more could be said, because this live album epitomizes this sentiment: "It was anti-refinement. That's what we were consciously going for." James Brown was not a saint. But he was a performer and he gave a 110 percent on stage. Certainly, he was no role model unless you find yourself on stage. On stage you give what he gives until you can give no more. 5 stars.

Absolute classic.

Ripping audio, feels like I'm there. Love the ripping guitar.

Album 45/1001 Live albums rarely do justice to the energy of a live show . This is most definitely not the case here. The cultural significance of this record, coming when it did in 1963, can't be overestimated, nor fully grasped by a modern audience. But listening to it in 2025, it's more than understandable why this man was known as the godfather of both soul and funk, and one of the greatest ever live performers. Perhaps the most important and influential live album, by one of the most important and influential artists to ever do it. 🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Favourite song: Try Me 🕺🏿👈🏿 Honourable mention: I Don't Mind 🤷🏿‍♂️ I'll Go Crazy 🤪 Think 🤔💭 Lost Someone 🧐 Night Train 🌃🚂 Medley: Please, Please, Please/You've Got the Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You, Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen/Bewildered/Please, Please, Please 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿👉🏿✊🏿💪🏿👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿👩🏾‍❤️‍👨🏿❔️⁉️🧍🏿‍♂️❤️🧍🏿‍♀️👌🏿🧟‍♂️🧙🏿‍♂️🧙🏿🤔🥴😵‍💫 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

Incredible live album. The energy on this record is infectious. The band is tight, and James Brown sounds unbelievably good. I can’t fathom that this is from 1962. I wish this record was twice as long.

peak

I don't usually care for live albums, but this is crispy as hell. Sound quality is fantastic. I get it.

Awesome live album, saved

5/5 First full album of THE James Brown and honestly, I apologise for not listening to this absolute genius earlier. His voice goes from smooth to raw the entire album. The band is killing it which is insanely impressive cause they literally do not stop for over 30 minutes. I’m going to have to go through his discography the next couple of weeks.

lets gooo

9 Made me think of this video of David Byrne hearing his music play and say OUAH! It’s James Brown! And that’s exactly how I feel when I listen to it as well