James Brown Live At The Apollo 1962 CD

Recorded live at the Apollo Theater, New York, New York on October 24, 1962.

Many albums are hyped as legendary; few deserve the accolade. LIVE AT THE APOLLO 1962 is one of those rare albums that lives up to the hype. Released despite label misgivings, LIVE AT THE APOLLO cemented James Brown's reputation as the unchallenged master of soul music. Deejays played the entire album at one stretch--this in an era when radio programmers rejected four-minute singles because they were too long--and the record reached number two on the Billboard pop chart, a previously unheard-of achievement for a gritty R&B album.

LIVE AT THE APOLLO is more than a pop phenomenon, however; it is a document of one of America's greatest performers at the peak of his artistic powers. Brown's singing is orgasmic--just listen to the opening squeal on "I Go Crazy"--and the intensity never lets up. Brown drives his crack band through breakneck versions of early hits before dragging them through the 11-minute bump-and-grind of "Lost Someone," the high point of a show that is nothing but high points. Decades later, this is still one of the greatest live albums of all-time.

Additional Tracks; Live Recording

The James Brown Band: James Brown (vocals); Lucas "Fats" Gonder (spoken vocals, organ); Les Buie (guitar); Al "Brisco" Clark (tenor & baritone saxophones); St. Clair Pinckney, Clifford "Ace King" MacMillan (tenor saxophone); Louis Hamblin, Teddy Washington, Mack Johnson (trumpet); Dickie Wells (trombone); Hubert Perry (bass); Clayton Fillyau, Sam Lathan (drums).

The Famous Flames: Bobby Byrd (organ, background vocals); Bobby Bennett, "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth (background vocals).Entertainment Weekly (4/2/04, p.66) - "[B]rown's iconic 1962 concert sounds brighter [on the 2004 remaster] than on the 1990 disc." - Rating: A-
Entertainment Weekly - "...a scorching live performance..." - Rating: A+
Q (5/00, p.134) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Soul Albums Of All Time"
Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...remains Brown's finest recorded document..."
Q (p.132) - 5 stars out of 5 - "A serious candidate for greatest live album ever, this was the first and best document of Mr. Dynamite's numerous appearances at the Harlem hotspot."
Down Beat (9/90) - 5 Stars - Excellent - "...without James Brown's brilliant insight into how to foreground rhythms, music from funk to reggae to rap to Afro-pop would be totally different, if it existed at all..."
Goldmine - Highly Recommended - "...Yowww! The greatest live album ever recorded..."
NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #30 in NME's list of the `Greatest Albums Of All Time.'