The band then drops a cutting version of Brown's "The Scratch" to urge the Man onstage. Are you ready for Star Time?!" The Flames give hits upon each Brown hit that Gonder lists, and the eager crowd responds with due enthusiasm (i.e., screams, lots and lots of screams).
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It was the true beginning of the 60s, and Brown's half-hour Wednesday night set figures no less prominently than Dylan bringing protest music to the masses or The Beatles arriving in America the following year as musical signposts for A New Day.Įmcee Fats Gonder's introduction to the show is as fine a setup as a performer could ask for: "So now, ladies and gentlemen, it is Star Time. This might not have been very important in another era, but just as Live at the Apollo can be seen as a symbolic transformation of R&B into Soul, for a myriad of events, 1963 marked the dawn of a decade when sharing experiences and points of view across an entire culture meant more than just crossover success. Not only did it satisfy Brown's small legion of diehard fans- to the tune of being played in its entirety during the evenings on some R&B radio stations- for the first time, it brought the undeniably intense celebration of his live show to young audiences throughout the country. Live at the Apollo was issued in 1963 and became an instant hit. Not bad for a guy who'd been one flop away from failure only a few years earlier.
JAMES BROWN BEST OF LIVE AT THE APOLLO FULL
It's more than a little strange to think King had originally issued Live at the Apollo with canned applause and screams because not only were the Apollo faithful in full "support" of Brown's revue, that night has gone down in rock and soul history as arguably the finest live performance ever captured on record. For his part, Nathan had reluctantly sent one of his people to supervise the recording, but could hardly have expected it to result in this album. He and the Flames had been there all week already, and Brown was counting on the raucous crowds who showed for amateur night to give him the kind of support he knew Nathan couldn't ignore. Dynamite had to take matters into his own hands.īrown personally funded the recording of his Wednesday night show at The Apollo on October 24th, 1962. He'd played Harlem's Apollo Theater several times, but when Nathan refused to pay for a live recording on the basis that he wouldn't have a single to promote it, Mr. Dynamite" and ultimately, "The Godfather of Soul." By 1962, Brown intended to showcase his act with a live album, especially after seeing Ray Charles hit with In Person in 1959. Nathan was rewarded, too, as over the next four years, the band earned its reputation as the best in the biz, performing as The James Brown Revue ("Star Time"), and saddling its frontman with several well-applied titles: "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Badly.īrown and the Flames finally scored a national hit with their eleventh single for Federal, "Try Me", which granted him further stay on the label. That is, until Brown's next nine singles in a row flopped.
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After Brown hit regionally with "Please, Please, Please" in 1956 for Federal, Nathan's original appraisal appeared to have been off the mark.
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It wouldn't happen until Brown and the Flames scored a hit called "Mashed Potatoes" under the pseudonym Nat Kendrick & The Swans for another label. Brown and his band, The Famous Flames, had already toured the South when he was signed for $200 to Federal, but he had yet to convince Nathan and Federal to allow him to record with the band. Nathan signed Macon, Georgia performer James Brown in 1956 to his King subsidiary, Federal, despite a less than favorable view of the "Please, Please, Please" demo (in short, "That's the worst piece of crap I've heard in my life"). He tried country, blues, doo-wop and R&B- he might not have capitalized on every opportunity (most notably letting The Platters go to Mercury in 1953, only to witness them become the most successful vocal group of the decade), but he was certainly willing to try. He was keenly aware of talent, using A&R reps (who would later be his scapegoats when pressed by the FCC during the payola hearings of the 50s) to snatch up big band singers and bandleaders, in the hopes of transforming them into viable sensations for what would one day be called "crossover" appeal. The King Records founder had a long history of working with black performers, ever since the late 40s when he decided to get into "the race business" after initially only concentrating on "hillbilly accounts." This is a man who had not only started his own independent label, but also bankrolled his own recording studios, pressing plant and distribution network. Syd Nathan never wanted this record made.