Star Time [Box]

Performer: James Brown
Artist: Maceo Parker; Bobby Byrd
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: STAR TIME includes a 64-page booklet with three essays - brief appreciations by writer Nelson George and Brown's longtime tour manager Alan Leeds and a longer history by 2 of the box's producers - a complete discography and an introduction penned by the Godfather of Soul himself. Personnel includes: James Brown (vocals, piano, organ); Bobby Byrd (vocals. organ); Phelps "Catfish" Collins (guitar); Maceo Parker (tenor & baritone saxophones); St. Clair Pickney, Pee Wee Ellis, Clifford "Ace King" MacMillian (tenor saxophone); Al "Brisco" Clark (baritone saxophone); Lewis Hamlin (trumpet); William "Bootsy" Collins, Bernard Odum (bass); John "Jabo" Starks, Nat Kendrick (drums). Producers include: Ralph Bass, Syd Nathan, James Brown, Hal Neely, Afrika Bambaataa. Compilation producer: Harry Weinger. There are few box sets that can match the greatness of James Brown's STARTIME. Backed by such brilliant musicians as Melvin and Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins and Bobby Byrd, Brown created some of the most intense, soulful music ever recorded. Collecting seventy two tracks that let you hear why Brown is hailed as "the hardest working man in show business," STARTIME is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy. From early-'60s R&B hits like "Please, Please, Please" and late-'60s funk essentials like "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "Sex Machine" to the massively influential '70s funk grooves "Funky Drummer" and "The Payback," STARTIME gives you all the James Brown basics. This set is a monument to the life and music of one of the most colorful and inspired performers in popular music. STARTIME also comes with a 64-page booklet that features rare and wonderful photos and essays by Nelson George and several other noted critics. Essential.

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.52) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Rolling Stone (5/30/91) - 5 Stars - Classic - "...a staggering collection....goes well beyond the usual hits 'n' rarities approach of boxed retrospectives to get at the essence of Brown's development from gospel-style shouter...to Soul Brother No. 1...and from God-father of Soul...to grandfather of rap..." Rolling Stone (4/18/91) - "...The success of STAR TIME should pave the way for further examination of the James Brown catalog....the box is an ideal way to reintroduce Brown's massive body of work to a public more familiar with his legend than with the records themselves..." Entertainment Weekly (6/12) - "...soul history as a headlong rush of killer hooks, brain-melting horn blasts, and a scream that fuses passion and violence in one initiable call of the wild..." - Rating: A Q (6/91) - 5 Stars - Indespensable - "...Brown is one of the half- dozen most important, most influential individual oeuvres of the entire rock-and-roll era: the equal of Dylan, The Beatles and Motown....This isn't just the history of one artist; it is literally the history of the groove, the beat that can't be beat..." Uncut (p.119) - 5 stars out of 5 - "No home's complete without it." Mojo (Publisher) (p.115) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]he music is undimmed from blues, jazz and R&B to soul and funk."

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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