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Live at the Apollo - James Brown (1963)
a selection of live albums I love
In 1962, James Brown was still ostensibly working as the lead singer of the vocal group The Famous Flames. But Brown was the mastermind behind his sound, his band, and his career already by this point. He couldn’t convince his label to fund a live record, but he saw how much he could gain by get a record out of the live show’s energy. So he funded the recording himself at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater
The record is a scorcher, although it only lasts a half hour. You get all of the energy Brown would bring to the stage for decades. This show is just a couple of years ahead of the formation of funk music, but you can hear the elements coming together here.
