James Brown funded the recording of this album himself, as his label did not think it would be a success. It would go on to spend 66 weeks in the Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart selling over a million copies, and pushed Brown onto the next level of fame. Off the back of this success he launched his own record label "Try Me Records", although this venture petered out following a contract dispute with King Records. Brown would go on to make several more "Live at the Apollo" records over the course of his career, but none had the impact of this first one.
There are some cracking songs on the album, but they have a tendency to sort of merge into one slightly generic soulful sound. I'll Go Crazy has a cracking bassline, and decent horns, and Think actually does a decent job of capturing James Brown's energy. The horn section on this album is actually one of the disappointments - I've no doubt that it would have sounded incredible live, but it lacks the explosive punch I'd expect on this recording. There are also moments where the levels don't sound quite right, with the vocals just fading mid-word. Some of the more ballady numbers like Try Me are a bit too croony for my tastes, and the shrieking girls just act as an annoyance. I Don't Mind is better, with the Famous Flames (Brown's backing vocalists) adding some terrific harmonies. Lost Someone has some enjoyable interplay with the crowd, and the opening few lines show Brown's breathtaking vocal range and control. It is a 10 minute sprawling opus, taking up a third of the albums length, and demonstrates the ebb and flow that allows a band to get the most out of a crowd. The medley of his biggest hits at this early stage of his career lacks the power of his output just a couple of years later, and not knowing them as individual singles means they merge together somewhat to my ear. Night Train is a cover of a Jimmy Forrest song, and frankly seems to peter out a bit. Compare that to the Intro by MC Fats Gonder, which manages to build things up with a combination of effortless politeness and a tight backing band - the excitement from listening to that was unfortunately one of the peaks, rather than just the warm up I'd anticipated.
This album is utterly revered and adored, with every music magazine I could find awarding it a perfect score, and it is number 24 on Rolling Stones greatest albums of all time. However, it really didn't move me anywhere near as much as I'd hoped it would. I just don’t think the recording gets close to capturing what I imagine the energy in the room would have been like. Now this may be that hearing it in a modern context means I can't appreciate how groundbreaking this was, but if I take that approach, I may as well just copy and paste a Mojo article. As far as I'm concerned James Brown's best songs come out after this album was released, so that has to limit how good this album is, and whilst it has some great moments, the flaws are too significant to be completely forgiven.
Chloe's album rating: 6
Chloe's favourite track: 5. Think
Olly's album rating: 6
Olly's favourite track: 2. I'll Go Crazy
Next week it is 707. A Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera; I guess it's good that we're getting the heavy stuff out of the way before the baby comes.
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