20 All-Time Greatest Hits!

Performer: James Brown
Producer: James Razor Brown
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: James Brown (vocals). This is, essentially, a pared-down budget version of STAR TIME, the definitive 4-CD James Brown box also released in 1991, and no finer one-disc Brown greatest-hits album exists. Obviously, 20 ALL TIME GREATEST HITS! doesn't include everything of note that the Godfather of Soul recorded, but it certainly gets all the high points, from gritty '50s R&B ("Please Please Please") to '60s soul hits ("Think," "Night Train," "It's a Man's World") to his underrated soundtrack work ("The Payback") to the funk explosions ("Super Bad," "Hot Pants," "Mother Popcorn") that are probably Brown's most lasting contribution to 20th century pop. If you can't afford the box set, pounce.

The unrelenting intensity of James Brown's music has made him one of the most recognizable and influential performers since the 1950s. Starting out as a gospel singer, Brown soon switched to R&B and started scoring hits. As the '60s progressed, the self-proclaimed Godfather of Soul transformed the sounds of R&B into a tight, driving style that helped lay the foundations of funk. Personal troubles over the following decades threatened to sideline the ever-impassioned Brown, but he repeatedly bounced back. Countless JB samples--credited and uncredited--found on rap and hip-hop records testify to his enduring influence. The Godfather of Soul passed away on Christmas Day in 2006.

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