Various Artists - The Godfather's R&B (BGP)

Mike Travis checks out the early production work of James Brown

Out now on BGP/Ace is a mighty fine compilation by occasional Uppers scribe Dean Rudland entitled The Godfather's R&B - James Brown's productions 1962 - 67. 22 tracks with artists like Bobby Byrd, Anna King, Yvonne Fair and James Crawford. If you like the sound of a Hammond organ as much as we here at Uppers do, you will enjoy tunes like Devils' Den pt 1 by The Poets. Worth mentioning is also I Found You by Yvonne Fair, later recorded as I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown himself. As the title says the tunes on this cd is more R&B than funk. But, regardless of if you like funk or r&b this cd is very informative and gives you more insight into the work of the man known as 'the hardest working man in showbiz'.

Track listing:

1. I Don't Care - Jones, Dizzy
2. I'm Lonely - Byrd, Bobby
3. Got No Excuse - Crawford, James
4. Do You Really Want To Rescue Me - Mae, Elsie
5. Lookie Lookie Lookie - Jewells
6. If You Don't Work You Can't Eat - Crawford, James
7. New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) - Brown, James
8. That's When I Cry - King, Anna
9. Wide Awake In A Dream - Anderson, Vicki
10. Unexplainable - Jones, Dizzy
11. Devil's Den pt 1 - Poets
12. It Hurts To Be In Love - Fair, Yvonne & The James Brown Band
13. That's The Spirit - Willingham, Rev
14. Help Poor Me - Crawford, James
15. Faith - Five Royales
16. Nobody Cares - Anderson, Vicki
17. I'll Keep Pressing On - Byrd, Bobby
18. I Found You - Fair, Yvonne
19. Soul Food - Clark, Al 'Brisco' & His Orchestra
20. If You Don't Think - King, Anna
21. I Found Out - Byrd, Bobby
22. I Cried - Montgomery, Tammy

About the author

Once a key figure on the underground pop scene of York. In the early 80’s he owned a record store but called it a day when Spandau Ballet reached number one. Nowadays he lives in a Victorian cottage outside York and is the only Uppers contributor who actually has a gazebo full of records!

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