JAMES BROWN-THE UNBEATABLE 16 HITS-RARE UK MONO LONDON LP-1B/2B-1964

	£		25
	$		32

JAMES BROWN AND THE FAMOUS FLAMES - THE UNBEATABLE 16 HITS - RARE UK MONO LONDON LP - 1B/2B - 1964

Rare James Brown and The Famous Flames’ Album

“The Unbeatable 16 Hits”

MONO

Released on the LONDON Record Label

American Series

Recorded by King Records, Cincinnati

MADE IN ENGLAND

Recording First Published 1964

HA.8203

Matrix:

ACKL-2660-1B

ACKL-2661-2B

“The JAMES BROWN STORY has its beginnings in Augusta and Macon, Georgia.  He learned early the lessons of “showmanship” and “hard work” as he hustled nickels and dimes on street corners as a shoe shine boy in Augusta and as a newsboy in Macon.  It was then that James first met former boxing great Beau Jack, who was so impressed with the youngster’s boxing skill and amazingly fast footwork, that he decided to help James become a boxer.  Beau Jack coached him during his early boxing career and encouraged him to become a professional.  (It is interesting to note that James gives credit to this early boxing training and the footwork drills as being responsible for his learning to dance and developing his stage style.)  But James had other sport interests and got sidetracked into professional baseball, a sport in which he was also excelling, as a pitcher until a leg injury forced him to give up his sports activity.  This is the point in his life when James really turned seriously to show business and for most of us this is where the JAMES BROWN STORY starts.  Having the god given talent of a good ear, a distinctive voice . . . and inheriting his father’s musical ability (his father was a blues singer and guitar player of some note) he formed a group and called them THE FAMOUS FLAMES.  He worked around Macon picking up what jobs he could get and since the group at that time leaned toward gospel and spirituals, his early reputation was in this field.  As a spiritual group they excelled . . . this musical excellence is still evident in their work today.  In January, 1956, the group cut an audition record in a local radio station, not even using a musical background, just a quartet singing.  James took the dub to a disc jockey friend of his, who, as a favour, played the song on the air – PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE was born.  The switchboard of the radio station lit up like a Christmas tree and for days the station was besieged with calls and requests for the record.  The D.J. called Syd Nathan, president of KING RECORDS in Cincinnati and played the record for him on the telephone.  Nathan, one of the early pioneers in the record industry and discoverer of such super stars as Jackie Wilson, Billy Ward, The Platters, Hank Ballard, Little Willie John, The Dominoes, Bull Moose Jackson . . . to name just a few . . . made the famous quote, “JAMES BROWN, or whatever his name is, will be the find of my life.  This boy has the style and talent to be the biggest and best of them all”.  Nathan today tells the story of how he put the phone down, pulled one of his A & R men (artist and repertoire, the man who acts as producer and director on a record session), Ralph Bass, out of a recording session in the KING studios in Cincinnati and within ten minutes Bass was on his way to Georgia to find JAMES BROWN AND THE FAMOUS FLAMES.  Bass arrived in Macon in a pouring rain, the early morning of January 23, 1956.  He finally traced the group . . . got them together and held an audition.  This was the right group!  Bass signed James and the boys to a long-time, exclusive recording contract, made immediate arrangements to transport them to Cincinnati, Ohio . . . They were on their way!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE was recorded at the KING studios in Cincinnati on February 4, 1956, and rushed into production.  Within two days the record was in the shops and by February 8th was a smash hit.  The flip, or back side, of the first record was WHY DO YOU DO ME.  Appearing on this first record session with James were Bobby Byrd, Nafloyd Scott, Wilbert Smith and Luke Gonder, who were the original members of The Famous Flames.  Edison Gore, Ray Felder and Clarence Mock, staff musicians for KING in Cincinnati, were added to the band for the recording.  So impressed were Nathan and the King staff that a second recording date was set for several weeks later.  Offers for personal appearances came pouring in but James returned to Cincinnati on March 27 and 28 and recorded another group of songs which included WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAPPEN TO ME, HOLD MY BABY’S HAND, FINE OLD FOXY SELF.  This, too, then was the beginning and from there, and in rapid order, came TRY ME (September 18, 1958), which was recorded in New York by the now legendary Andy Gibson, King’s A & R man there.  At this session was also born I’VE GOT TO CHANGE.  A few of the famous musicians on this session were Carl Pruitt, Panama Francis, Clifford Scott, Kenny Burrell, George Dorsey and Ernie Hayes.  BEWILDERED came along in January, 1959. TJOML and YOU’VE GOT THE POWER both came out of a session February 20, 1960.  1961 proved to be a big, big year for James, as it was this year that he came up with LOST SOMEONE, SHOUT AND SHIMMY, I LOVE YOU YES I DO and one of the great instrumentals of that year, NIGHT TRAIN.  LIKE A BABY and MASHED POTATIOES U.S.A. were hit 1962 hits, along with THREE HEARTS IN A TANGLE.  The year 1963 is called by many in the trade “The James Brown Year” . . . everything he recorded was a smash hit and at no time during the year was he ever off the best selling record charts . . . PRISONER OF LOVE . . . THESE FOOLISH THINGS and SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED.

This album presents new songs, new versions of some of his best and oldest hits, and the JAMES BROWN of 1964.”

The Track List is as follows:

SIDE ONE

                                                                                                     1.    THERE MUST BE A REASON (Brown)

                                                                                                     2.    I WANT YOU SO BAD (Brown)

                                                                                                     3.    WHY DO YOU DO ME (Byrd; Keels)

                                                                                                     4.    GOT TO CRY (Brown)

                                                                                                     5.    STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN (Brown)

                                                                                                     6.    FINE OLD FOXY SELF (Brown)

                                                                                                     7.    MESSING WITH THE BLUES (Brown)

                                                                                                     8.    TRY ME (Brown)

SIDE TWO

                                                                                                     1.    IT WAS YOU (Brown)

                                                                                                     2.    I’VE GOT TO CHANGE (Brown)

                                                                                                     3.    CAN’T BE THE SAME (Brown)

                                                                                                     4.    IT HURTS TO TELL YOU (Brown; Schubert)

                                                                                                     5.    I WON’T PLEAD NO MORE (Byrd; Keels)

                                                                                                     6.    YOU’RE MINE, YOU’RE MINE (Brown; Scott)

                                                                                                     7.    GONNA TRY (Brown)

                                                                                                     8.    DON’T LET IT HAPPEN TO ME (Brown)

The LP is in Good Condition with some surface marks and surface scratches

It plays well

The Sleeve is in Very Good Condition with just a tiny bit of scuffing at the open edge, a tiny bit of laminate creasing and very slight record rim outline, and on the back there is “32/2” pencilled in the top left hand corner and there is a small sticker “The Disc Shop” stuck centre top

It has been kept in a plastic cover

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