Volume 1
- Please Please Please 2:45
- Why Do You Do Me 3:00
- Try Me 2:31
- Tell Me What I Did Wrong 2:21
- Bewildered 2:23
- Good Good Lovin' 2:19
- I'll Go Crazy 2:07
- I Know It's True 2:41
- (Do The) Mashed Potato, Part 1 1:52
- Think 2:46
- Baby, You're Right 2:59
- Lost Someone 3:29
- Night Train 3:39
- I've Got Money 2:30
- I Don't Mind (Live) 2:30
- Prisoner Of Love 2:26
- Devil's Den 4:49
- Out Of The Blue 2:16
- Out Of Sight 2:21
- Grits 3:59
- Maybe The Last Time 3:01
- It's A Man's World 3:17
- I Got You 2:28
- Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, Parts 1, 2 & 3 6:58
Volume 2
- Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, Pt. 1 2:08
- I Got You (I Feel Good) 2:45
- Ain't That A Groove 3:32
- It's A Man's Man's Man's World 2:47
- Money Won't Change You 6:02
- Don't Be A Dropout 4:32
- Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue) 4:07
- Let Yourself Go 3:53
- Cold Sweat 7:32
- Get It Together 8:58
- I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me), Pt. 1 3:30
- I Got The Feelin' 2:38
- Licking Stick-Licking Stick 4:53
- Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud, Pt .1 3:01
- There Was A Time (Live) 4:58
- Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose 3:11
- I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself} 6:00
Volume 3
- Mother Popcorn 6:16
- Funky Drummer 7:01
- Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine 5:16
- Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 4:27
- Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing 9:28
- Get Up, Get Into It And Get Involved 7:04
- Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2 4:24
- Brother Rapp/Ain't It Funky Now (Live) 7:45
- Hot Pants, Pt. 1 3:07
- I'm A Greedy Man, Pt. 1 3:36
- Make It Funky, Pt. 1 3:36
- It's A New Day (Live) 3:49
- I Got Ants In My Pants, Pt. 1 3:02
- King Heroin 3:57
Volume 4
- There It Is, Pt 1 3:21
- Public Enemy #1, Pt 1 5:09
- Get On The Good Foot 4:08
- I Got A Bag Of My Own 3:48
- Doing It To Death 5:15
- The Payback 7:28
- Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt 1 4:24
- Stoned To The Bone, Pt 1 3:28
- My Thang 4:38
- Funky President (People It's Bad) 3:58
- Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved) 5:04
- Get Up Offa That Thing (Release The Pressure) 6:15
- Body Heat, Pt 1 4:31
- It's Too Funky In Here 5:41
- Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses) 4:38
- Unity, Pt 1 - ( With Afrika Bambaataa ) 3:41
Notes
When the four-disc Star Time box was released in 1991, James Brown's catalog sorely needed an overhaul; much of it was out of print, and what was available was hardly befitting of his magnitude. Star Time got everything right: it put Brown's hugely influential career into striking perspective, helping to complete his critical renaissance, and the richness of its music set a standard for box sets in general. It was no easy task to balance Brown's lengthy, multi-part funk workouts with the need to include all of his most significant tracks, and the compilers did an excellent job in deciding when and when not to truncate ("Cold Sweat," for example, must be heard in its entirety). There's nothing from Live at the Apollo (which should be experienced start to finish), and his last hurrah on the pop charts, "Living in America," is missing, but these 71 tracks cover all the other high points, and make an eloquent case for Brown as the greatest R&B artist of all time. Disc One covers Brown's early R&B years, when his pleading intensity helped lay the groundwork for soul music. Disc Two, however, is where his genius truly crystallizes -- it basically chronicles the birth of funk, as Brown gradually discards song structure in favor of working hard grooves; it also offers a picture of Brown's emergence as a bandleader and spokesman for black pride. Disc Three features Brown's hardest funk, including his much-revered material with the Bootsy Collins band. Disc Four traces Brown's later creative decline, yet he duplicated his former glories often enough to make this disc a surprisingly solid listen; plus, his massive impact on hip-hop is underlined on the last track, the Afrika Bambaataa duet "Unity." Star Time paved the way for several other excellent compilations which highlighted different parts of Brown's vast legacy, but as the definitive retrospective of one of the most important musicians of the 20th century (black or otherwise), it has yet to be equaled.