Hot Pants, James Brown

Hot Pants, James Brown, 1971, :30

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Maybe not one of JB's greatest albums — it feels rushed out and desultory — but somehow, it all works, despite offering a scant five tracks and a fair number of those consisting of the Godfather just grunting or talking to his bandmates over sweet funk beats ("Pull off your pants! I mean your long pants!").  (All of which made me wonder as I listened how much of this material can properly be said to be James Brown derived material; the groovy improvisation of his crack band really makes this stuff shine.)  Somehow, against all odds and logic, this ends up being a very good album.  The ten-minute "Blues & Pants" isn't the strongest start, but some solid tracks follow.  "Escapism" is mostly where Brown ad-libs and vamps over the funk.  The music's great, but James asking where the lads are from doesn't rise to even Bo Diddley levels of proto-rapping.  Favorite tracks: "Hot Pants," "Cant Stand It."

Live At the Apollo, James Brown

It's Black music month!

Live At the Apollo, James Brown, 1963, :31

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

I get that this is considered one of the greatest live albums of all time, but for me I hear more crowd noise than power on stage.  Don't get me wrong, this is a terrific concert with a very talented band, but being a fan of Brown's classic studio material and having read the unending hype about this album, I was expecting something almost... primordial.  Instead, it seems no more than a fine live album.  Maybe I just lack the hipness or funk to appreciate it, but off the top of my head I can list the Clash's From Here to Eternity or Dylan's 1966 Manchester concerts, or Midnight Oil's Scream in Blue or Lou Reed's Perfect Night as more powerful and electrifying live performances.  Favorite tracks: the hard-hitting "Think," the city-shout-out "Night Train."  The medleys are good as well.