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James Brown - 50th Anniversary Collection (2003)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. Please, Please, Please 2:43
  2. Try Me 2:30
  3. God Good Lovin' 2:12
  4. I'll Go Crazy 2:06
  5. Think 2:49
  6. Bewildered 2:23
  7. Lost Someone 3:04
  8. Night Train 3:27
  9. Prisoner Of Love 2:20
  10. Out Of Sight 2:20
  11. Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, Pt 2:03
  12. I Got You (I Feel Good) 2:46
  13. It's A Man's, Man's, Man's Wor 2:44
  14. Bring It Up 2:42
  15. Let Yourself Go 2:55
  16. Cold Sweat, Pt.1 2:51
  17. Get It Together, Pt.1 3:49
  18. There Was A Time 3:33
  19. I Can't Stand Myself (When You 3:29
  20. I Got The Feelin' 2:33
  21. Licking Stick-Licking Stick, P 2:45
  22. Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm 2:44
  23. Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose 2:48
  24. I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me 3:03
  25. The Popcorn 3:00
  26. Mother Popcorn, Pt.1 3:16
  27. Ain't It Funky Now, Pt.1 3:09
CD2
  1. It's A New Day, Pt.1 6:23
  2. (Get Up I Feel Like Being A) S 2:48
  3. Super Bad, Pt.1 2:49
  4. Get Up, Get Into It, Get Invol 3:30
  5. Soul Power, Pt.1 3:19
  6. Hot Pants (She Got To Use What 3:04
  7. Make It Funky, Pt.1 3:13
  8. I'm A Greedy Man, Pt.1 2:46
  9. Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothin 3:13
  10. There It Is, Pt.1 3:05
  11. Get On The Good Foot, Pt.1 3:27
  12. I Got Ants In My Pants, Pt.1 2:51
  13. Down And Out In New York City 3:12
  14. Sexy, Sexy, Sexy 3:03
  15. Doing It To Death, Pt.1 3:01
  16. The Payback, Pt.1 3:28
  17. My Thang 4:07
  18. Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt.1 4:26
  19. Funky President (People It's B 3:52
  20. Get Up Offa That Thing 3:58
  21. Bodyheat, Pt.1 3:54
  22. It's Too Funky In Here 3:43
  23. Static, Pts.1&2 4:44

Notes


James Brown's two-CD 40th Anniversary Collection gathered 40 of the soul-funk giant's biggest hits, and in keeping with its title, The 50th Anniversary Collection is just that little bit bigger and better, with (could you guess?) 50 of his most famous tracks. From 1956's "Please, Please, Please" to 1988's "Static, Pts. 1 & 2," it has almost all of his biggies, though the absence of the 1986 Top Five hit "Living in America" is puzzling indeed. But that's a minor quibble given the dozens of classics onboard, which taken as a whole not only represent the best Brown compilation on the market, but also make a plain case for the singer as one of the major talents of 20th century American music. It's not wholly redundant on the off-chance that you're willing to replace 40th Anniversary Collection, mopping up a few hits of note ("Bewildered," "Bring It Up," "Let Yourself Go," "I Can't Stand Myself [When You Touch Me], Pt. 1," "It's a New Day, Pt. 1," "The Popcorn") that didn't make the cut the previous time around. If you're keeping score, it does lose a couple minor goodies from 40th Anniversary Collection ("Money Won't Change You," "King Heroin"). Also, the '70s funk years might be given too much emphasis and his R&B-soul beginnings shortchanged, though there are plenty of other reissues of his '50s/'60s material out there if you want to investigate further. Want another minor quibble on what is nonetheless a superb anthology? 40th Anniversary Collection came out in 1996; The 50th Anniversary Collection came out in 2003. Now that's the sort of creative accounting only a marketing department could love. Didn't this anniversary come three years early, especially considering that Brown's recording debut was in 1956?