JAMES BROWN — In the Jungle Groove (review)

JAMES BROWN — In the Jungle Groove album cover Boxset / Compilation · 1986 · Funk Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
js
If you only own one James Brown record, “In the Jungle Groove” is the one to have. This is much more than just a compilation, this album is a near perfect labor of love by the folks at Polydor who put it together. Many of these tracks are well known, but were hard to get in the past because they did not appear on an album, or they did not appear as a single. Also, many of these tracks are complete versions, rather than edited versions released previously as singles. One cut, “I got to Move” had never been released before at all, which makes all of this a treasure trove for James Brown fans. Most of these cuts feature Brown and his band at their very peak in the late 60s to early 70s. Although the personal varies per track, many famous names show up over and over, including; Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, Clyde Stubblefield, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Jimmy Nolan, Bobby Byrd and many more. Even if you own previous versions of these songs, you still need to hear the power of the re-mixes presented here. There is no dead air on this one, every single track is smoking. Also, the long versions contain vocal and Hammond B3 improvs from James you have never heard before, he does get ‘out there’ sometimes.

When this album came out in 1986, it was right on time for the sampling revolution in hip-hop. If you listened to late 80s hip-hop, then you have heard these riffs a thousand times on sampled tracks that ranged from excellent re-workings of James’ music, to utter banality that dragged James’ music into mediocrity. Either way, this album is almost more of a soundtrack to the late 80s than the late 60s, aint it funky now.
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