This is 1960 James Brown, moving from King's Federal subsidiary to the parent label with the hits 'Bewildered,' 'If You Want Me,' 'You've Got the Power,' 'I'll Go Crazy,' 'Baby You're Right' (co-written with Joe Tex), and 'I'll Never, Never Let You Go.' Although Brown's albums would soon be interchangeable, the same cuts reappearing again and again, this is one of his better efforts as well as a pivotal point in his career. James' third album (his first for King), gets a straight-up reissue on compact disc, right down to the booklet featuring both original covers on either side - a nice touch. (Try Me! was reissued in 1964 under the title The Unbeatable James Brown: 16 Hits.) None of it measured up to 'Try Me,' but you could see what Brown had been aiming at, and if the set list comprised what were in effect James Brown's greatest flops, circa 1959, it demonstrated that he possessed as much promise as fervor. The earliest work especially sounded more like that of a doo wop group rather than that of a gritty R&B solo singer. When James Brown and His Famous Flames finally scored a second hit with their 11th single, 'Try Me,' King Records constructed this 16-track LP, including the hit along with both sides of three of its follow-ups, 'I Want You So Bad'/'There Must Be a Reason,' 'I've Got to Change'/'It Hurts to Tell You,' and 'Got to Cry'/'It Was You' the B-side of a fourth follow-up, 'Don't Let It Happen to Me' the 1957 single 'Can't Be the Same'/'Gonna Try' the 1957 B-sides 'I Won't Plead No More' and 'Messing With the Blues' the B-side of Brown's first hit ('Please Please Please'), 'Why Do You Do Me' and three other stray tracks. You can hear the sound of a group and its enthusiastic singer looking for a hit, sometimes in the rock & roll of 'Chonnie-On-Chon' (1957) or the 1956 B-side 'I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On,' sometimes by remaking 'Please, Please, Please' under another name, such as 'I Don't Know' (1956), sometimes by tackling Coasters-like novelty material such as 'That Dood It' (1958), sometimes by aping the smooth Sam Cooke, as on the 1958 B-side 'That's When I Lost My Heart,' and once by rewriting 'My Bonnie (Lies over the Ocean)' as the 1958 B-side 'Baby Cries over the Ocean.' Only the two hits were really memorable, but the album presented the sound of a major star-to-be in search of his sound. That was when King Records (Federal's parent label) assembled this, Brown's debut album, out of some of those singles sessions. Though James Brown and His Famous Flames had scored an R&B Top Ten hit in 1956 with 'Please, Please, Please,' and Brown's next nine singles for Federal Records flopped but the next, 'Try Me,' his third single of 1958, scored. As noted, it does look like the singles, then a bunch of filler and often a bunch of previously released singles thrown on there. I compiled the release list from this mini lp auction on ebay. Here are the reviews for the first 15 albums. Of course, the unedited track was not originally released on LP, either. Note that SEX MACHINE does not contain the hit version of the song but a nice live-in-the-studio remake - see what I mean about comps being necessary to James Brown? I also like HOT PANTS from this era, for the bonus track of the unedited 'Escape-ism,' a winding vamp of Brown goofing around with his band while warming up for another song. Of the '70s studio albums, SEX MACHINE, THERE IT IS and THE PAYBACK catch JB at his funk peak. LOVE POWER PEACE, a Paris concert recorded with the original JB's, is even better than REVOLUTION but was not released until the CD era. REVOLUTION OF THE MIND is the third Apollo concert recording, and all three will give you a sense of the breadth of the man's career.

Keep in mind the expanded second volume is not the original issue. Of the original issue albums, the first two LIVE AT THE APOLLO albums are must-have purchases, with or without STAR TIME.

And as you hinted in your original post, lotsa JB albums are more or less studio versions of his live revue, including instrumentals, ballads, and other styles not normally associated with JB. If you must have the albums as originally issued, be forewarned that most are now only available new as expensive Japanese imports. STAR TIME and some of the representative live albums should suffice for any but the most fanatic. STAR TIME may be the best box set ever issued and the most necessary, considering the state of the James Brown catalog when it was released. Both were singles artists who didn't give albums much thought except as market fodder. Like Elvis Presley, JB is best appreciated with comps.

James brown best of live at the apollo