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"…Please, Please, Please…"
A million miles removed from
his Sixties Soul and Seventies Funk - this gorgeously produced and presented
2CD set concentrates on the beginning - James Brown And His Famous Flames as a
Rhythm 'n' Blues belter (his first 19 singles). Here are the drop-to-your-knees
details...
US released 26 September
2006 - "The Singles Volume 1: The Federal Years 1956-1960" by JAMES
BROWN is the first of 11 Volumes of double-CDs covering his entire singles
output between 1956 and 1981. Hip-O Select/Polydor B0007029-02 (Barcode
602517000575) breaks down as follows (all entries are American singles unless
otherwise stated):
Disc 1, 21 tracks, 53:41
minutes:
1. Please, Please, Please
2. Why Do You Do Me (tracks
1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of his debut 7" single on Federal 12258
released March 1956 - a USA R&B No.5)
3.I Don't Know
4. I Feel That Old Feeling
Coming On (tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of Federal 11264 released June
1956)
5. No, No, No, No
6. Hold My Baby's Hand
(tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12277 released July 1956)
7. I Won't Plead No More
8. Chonnie-On-Chon (tracks 7
and 8 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12290 released October 1956)
9. Just Won't Do Right
10. Let's Make It (tracks 9
and 10 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12289 released January 1957)
11. Gonna Try
12. Can't Be The Same
(tracks 11 and 12 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12292 released March 1957)
13. Message With The Blues
14. Love Or A Game (tracks
13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12295 released May 1957)
15. You're Mine, You're Mine
16. I Walked Alone (tracks
15 and 16 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12300 released July 1957)
17. That Dood It
18. Baby Cries Over The
Ocean (tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12311 released
November 1957)
19. Begging, Begging
20. That's When I Lost My
Heart (tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12316 released
February 1958
21. Try Me (Demo Version)
[Notes: 1 to 12 credited to
JAMES BROWN With The Famous Flames
13 and 14 credited to JAMES
BROWN
Remainder credited to JAMES
BROWN And The Famous Flames]
Disc 2, 20 Tracks, 51:51
minutes:
1. Try Me (I Need You)
2. Tell Me What I Did Wrong
(tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12337 released October 1958 -
a USA R'&B No.1)
3. I Want You So Bad
4. There Must Be A Reason
(tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12348 released February 1959 -
A USA R&B No.20)
5. I've Got To Change [Mono
Version]
6. It Hurts To Tell You
[Mono Version] (tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12352 released
April 1959)
7. I've Got To Change
[Stereo Version]
8. It Hurts Me To Tell You
[Stereo Version] (tracks 7 and 8 are the A&B-sides of Federal S-12352 released
May 1959)
9. Double Bee
10. Bucket Head (tracks 9
and 10 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12360 released July 1959)
11. It Was You
12. Got To Cry (tracks 11
and 12 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12364 released August 1959)
13. Good Good Lovin'
14. Don't Let It Happen To
Me (tracks 13 and 14 are A&B-sides of Federal 12361 released October 1959)
15. I'll Go Crazy
16. I Know It's True (tracks
15 and 16 are the A&B-sides on Federal 12369 released January 1960 - A USA
R&B No. 15)
17. Think
18. You've Got The Power
(tracks 17 and 18 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12370 released April 1960 -
a USA R&B No. 7 - B-side No. 14 R&B)
19. This Old Heart
20. Wonder When You're
Coming Home (tracks 19 and 20 are the A&B-sides of Federal 12378 released
August 1960 - A USA R&B No. 20)
[Notes: all tracks are Mono
except where stated, all tracks James Brown And The Famous Flames except
"You've Got The Power" which is James Brown And The Famous Flames -
Duet Vocals with Bea Ford]
The 28-page sepia-feel
booklet is gorgeous - jam-packed with detail by fan/world authority and keeper
of the famous flame - ALAN LEEDS. You get song-by-song histories, cool trade
adverts and Federal singles pepper the text and there's a detailed
Sessionography on the last pages. HAREY WEINGER and PAT LAWRENCE produced while
SUHA GUR did the superlative remasters from original Mono Single mixes (except
"Bucket Head" restored from 45). The audio is fantastic and I've sung
this Engineer's skills before (Howard Tate, Eddie Kendricks, Grace Jones, Joe
Cocker, Kool & The Gang, John Mayall, Cat Stevens, Cream - the Suha Gur
list is long).
However - despite opening
strongly with "Please, Please, Please" and its equally tasty B-side -
you couldn't describe much of Disc 1 as 'classic' - it fact its plodding in
places and downright uninspired in others. And outside of "Please, Please,
Please", "Try Me (I Need You)" and "Think" - it's all
too easy to see why much of it didn't chart or elicit interest from DJs. That's
not to say there aren't gems in here like the groovy dancer "Tell Me What
I Did Wrong" where Brown finally finds something of that legendary mojo.
The STEREO VERSION of the "It Hurts To Tell You" single is an amazing
entry - quite extraordinary sound and a genuine rarity.
The "Try Me (Demo
Version)" is dubbed off a 78" Acetate and sounds awful - a historical
curio tagged onto the first 10 singles of his career on Disc 1. The largely
instrumental "Bucket Head" is fun as is the boppin' "Good Good
Lovin'" - one of his underground classics and a tune that should have
charted. The pleader "I'll Go Crazy" is typical of his "if you
leave me" type songs and I dig the Bluesy duet with Bea Ford on "You
Got The Power" (the B-side to "Think"). Another cool tune is
"You're Mine, You're Mine". The whole compilation is good rather than
being great - but there is that audio and presentation...
Born in 1933 - passed in
2006 - James Brown changed the world of music forever - and so much for the
better. The Godfather would hit his Soul stride with the arrival of the
Swinging Sixties - but this is where that unbelievable career started to
cook...
