Live at the Apollo (1963 album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Live At The Apollo (1963)
Type = live
Artist = James Brown


Released = May 1963
Recorded = October 24, 1962
Genre = R&B, soul
Length = 31:31 (Original LP)
40:47 (CD reissue)
Label = King
826
Solid Smoke
8006
Polydor
843479
000171502 (Expanded Edition)
Producer = James Brown (original)
Harry Weinger (Polydor reissues)
Reviews = Original Album:
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dzd0yl61xp9b link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jamesbrown/albums/album/115838/review/7394533/live_at_the_apollo link] Expanded Edition:
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:xq7ibk09sakv link]
*"Blender" Rating|5|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1958 link]
*Pitchfork Media (10.0/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15704/James_Brown_Live_at_the_Apollo_Expanded_Edition link]
*PopMatters Rating|10|10 [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/13561/brownjames-liveapollo2004 link]
Last album = "Tour the U.S.A."
(1962)
This album = "Live at the Apollo"
(1963)
Next album = "Prisoner of Love"
(1963)

"Live At The Apollo" is a live album by James Brown and The Famous Flames, recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and released in 1963. RS500|24 In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Overview

Release and reception

"Live at the Apollo" was recorded on the night of October 24, 1962 at Brown's own expense. Although not credited on the album cover or label, Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth), played an important co- starring role in "Live at the Apollo", and are included with Brown by M.C. Fats Gonder in the album's intro. Brown's record label, King Records, originally opposed releasing the album, believing that a live album featuring no new songs would not be profitable. The label finally relented under pressure from Brown and his manager Bud Hobgood. (It was disagreements such as this that moved Brown to begin recording for Smash Records the following year in violation of his contract with King.)cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:42j97i4jg71r~T1|title=James Brown Biography|publisher=allmusic|accessdate=2006-11-22]

To King's surprise, "Live at the Apollo" was an amazingly rapid seller. It spent 66 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, peaking at #2. Many record stores, especially in the southeast U. S., found themselves unable to keep up with the demand for the product, eventually ordering several cases at a time. R&B disc jockeys often would play side 1 in its entirety, pausing (usually to insert commercials) only to return to play side 2 in full as well. The side break occurred in the middle of the long track "Lost Someone".

Brown went on to record several more albums at the Apollo over the course of his career, including 1968's "Live at the Apollo, Vol. II" (King), 1971's "Revolution of the Mind: Recorded Live at the Apollo, Vol. III" (Polydor) and "Live at the Apollo 1995" (Scotti Bros.).

CD reissues

Despite its renown and historical significance, "Live at the Apollo" was not reissued on CD until 1990 because the original master recordings had been misplaced and the available copies were not of a high enough quality for a satisfactory CD release. The master tapes were recovered in late 1989. A Deluxe Edition of the album featuring remastered sound and several alternate mixes was released in 2004.

Track listing

# Introduction To James Brown and The Famous Flames (by Fats Gonder)
# "I'll Go Crazy"
# "Try Me"
# "Think"
# "I Don’t Mind"
# "Lost Someone"
# Medley: "Please, Please, Please"/"You’ve Got The Power"/"I Found Someone"/"Why Do You Do Me"/"I Want You So Bad"/"I Love You, Yes I Do"/"Strange Things Happen"/"Bewildered"/"Please, Please, Please"
# "Night Train"
#*The following are bonus tracks on the 2004 Deluxe Edition:
# "Think" (Single Mix, Radio Promo Version)
# Medley: "I Found Someone"/"Why Do You Do Me"/"I Want You So Bad" (Single Mix)
# "Lost Someone" (Single Mix)
# "I’ll Go Crazy" (Single Mix)

=The Residents ho

The Residents recorded a note-for-note recreation of Side 1 of the original vinyl release of "Live at the Apollo" for their 1984 album "George & James".

Notes

Further reading

* Wolk, Douglas. (2004). "Live at the Apollo". New York: Continuum Books.

External links

* [http://www.godfatherofsoul.com Official Godfather Of Soul website]
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6598117 Rolling Stone's description]
* [http://www.mp3.com/albums/295714/summary.html Album overview at MP3.com]