Star Time (album)
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Star Time | ||||
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Box set by | ||||
Released | May 7, 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1956–1984 | |||
Genre | Soul, funk | |||
Length | 294:08 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Producer | Various | |||
James Brown chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | A+[2] |
Entertainment Weekly | A[3] |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Star Time is a four-CD box set by American musician James Brown. Released in May 1991 by Polydor Records, its contents span most of the length of his career up to the time of its release, starting in 1956 with his first hit record, "Please, Please, Please", and ending with "Unity", his 1984 collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa. Writing in 2007, Robert Christgau described it as "the finest box set ever released... as essential a package as the biz has ever hawked, not just because it's James Brown, but because compilers Cliff White and Harry Weinger invested so much care and knowledge in it."[7] Its title comes from the question Brown's announcer would ask concert audiences, as heard on the album Live at the Apollo: "Are you ready for star time?"
Star Time's liner notes, written by Cliff White, Harry Weinger, Nelson George, Alan Leeds, and Brown himself, won a 1991 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. The notes also include a discography and a one-page comic by Mary Fleener, a visual interpretation of the song "I Got You (I Feel Good)."
In 2003, the album was ranked number 79 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8] It was the second-highest ranking box set on the list. In 2012, it moved up to 75,[9] while in its 2020 revision, it moved to number 54.[10]
Track listing[]
Disc 1 ("Mr. Dynamite")[]
- "Please Please Please" (James Brown, Johnny Terry) – 2:43
- "Why Do You Do Me" (Bobby Byrd, ) – 2:59
- "Try Me" (Brown) – 2:30
- "Tell Me What I Did Wrong" (Brown) – 2:20
- "Bewildered" (Leonard Whitcup, Teddy Powell) – 2:21
- "Good Good Lovin'" (Brown, ) – 2:18
- "I'll Go Crazy" (Brown) – 2:05
- "I Know It's True" (Brown) – 2:40
- "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes, Pt. 1" (Dessie Rozier) – 1:39
- "Think" (Lowman Pauling) – 2:46
- "Baby, You're Right" (Brown, Joe Tex) – 2:58
- "Lost Someone" (Brown, Byrd, Lloyd Eugene Stallworth) – 3:28
- "Night Train" (Oscar Washington, Lewis Simpkins, Jimmy Forrest) – 3:38
- "I've Got Money" (Brown) – 2:29
- "I Don't Mind" [live] (Brown) – 2:29
- "Prisoner of Love" (Leo Robin, Russ Columbo, Clarence Gaskin) – 2:24
- "Devil's Den" (Ted Wright) – 4:48
- "Out of the Blue" (Wright, Terry) – 2:15
- "Out of Sight" (Wright) – 2:19
- "Grits" (Nat Jones, Wright) – 3:58
- "Maybe the Last Time" (Wright) – 3:02
- "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (Brown, Betty Jean Newsome) – 3:22
- "I Got You" (Wright) – 2:27
- "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pts. 1, 2 & 3" (Brown) – 6:56
Track 9 published under the James Brown pseudonym of Dessie Rozier. Tracks 17–21 & 23 are published under the James Brown pseudonym of Ted Wright.
Tracks 1–7, 10, 12, 15, and 21 recorded with The Famous Flames
Disc 2 ("The Hardest Working Man In Show Business")[]
- "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1" (Brown) – 2:06
- "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (Brown) – 2:45
- "Ain't That a Groove" (Brown, Jones) – 3:31
- "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (Brown, Newsome) – 2:46
- "Money Won't Change You" (Brown, Jones) – 6:01
- "Don't Be a Dropout" (Brown, Jones) – 4:31
- "Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue)" (Brown, Jones) – 3:48
- "Let Yourself Go" (Brown, ) – 3:53
- "Cold Sweat" (Brown, Alfred Ellis) – 7:30
- "Get It Together" (Brown, Hobgood, Ellis) – 8:57
- "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me), Pt. 1" (Brown) – 3:29
- "I Got the Feelin'" (Brown) – 2:39
- "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (Brown, Byrd, Ellis) – 4:52
- "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud, Pt. 1" (Brown, Ellis) – 2:59
- "There Was a Time" [Live] (Brown, Hobgood) – 4:59
- "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" (Charles Bobbit) – 3:10
- "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open up the Door I'll Get It Myself)" (Brown) – 5:59
Disc 3 ("Soul Brother No. 1")[]
- "Mother Popcorn" (Brown, Ellis) – 6:18
- "Funky Drummer" (Brown) – 7:00
- "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" (Brown, Byrd, Ron Lenhoff) – 5:15
- "Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2" (Brown) – 4:26
- "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing" (Brown, Byrd) – 8:59
- "Get Up, Get into It and Get Involved" (Brown, Byrd, Lenhoff) – 7:03
- "Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2" (Brown) – 4:25
- "Brother Rapp/Ain't It Funky Now" [live] (Brown) – 7:44
- "Hot Pants, Pt. 1" (Brown, Fred Wesley) – 3:06
- "I'm a Greedy Man, Pt. 1" (Brown, Bobbit) – 3:36
- "Make It Funky, Pt. 1" (Brown, Bobbit) – 3:34
- "It's a New Day" [live] (Brown) – 3:48
- "I Got Ants in My Pants, Pt. 1" (Brown) – 3:01
- "King Heroin" (Brown, Bobbit, , ) – 3:57
Disc 4 ("The Godfather Of Soul")[]
- "There It Is, Pt. 1" (Brown) – 3:20
- "Public Enemy #1, Pt. 1" (Brown, Bobbit, ) – 5:09
- "Get on the Good Foot" (Brown, Wesley, Joseph Mims) – 4:07
- "I Got a Bag of My Own" (Brown) – 3:44
- "Doing It to Death" (Brown) – 5:14
- "The Payback" (Brown, Wesley, John Starks) – 7:28
- "Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt. 1" (Brown, Wesley, Starks, Bobbit) – 4:22
- "Stoned to the Bone, Pt. 1" (Brown) – 3:28
- "My Thang" (Brown) – 4:37
- "Funky President (People It's Bad)" (Brown) – 4:01
- "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (Brown) – 5:03
- "Get Up Offa That Thing (Release the Pressure)" (Diedre Jenkins, Deanna Brown, Yamma Brown) – 6:14
- "Body Heat, Pt. 1" (Jenkins, D. Brown, Y. Brown) – 4:29
- "It's Too Funky in Here" (George Jackson, , Brad Shapiro, ) – 5:39
- "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)" (J. Brown, Susaye Brown, Henry Stallings) – 4:36
- "Unity, Pt. 1" (J. Brown, Khayan Aasim Bambaataa, Douglas Wimbish, Bernard Alexander, Keith LeBlanc, Robin Haplin) – 3:40
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Star Time – James Brown". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: James Brown". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Aletti, Vince (March 31, 2007). "Star Time – Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Considine, J.D. (June 17, 1997). "Star Time – James Brown – Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ "James Brown – Star Time". Uncut. August 1, 2004. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rs/brown-07.php
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: James Brown, 'Star Time'". Rolling Stone. 2003. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: James Brown, 'Star Time'". Rolling Stone. 2012. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: James Brown, 'Star Time'". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
External links[]
- Star Time at Discogs (list of releases)
- Rolling Stone story
- Overview at MP3.com
- James Brown compilation albums
- 1991 compilation albums
- Polydor Records compilation albums
- The Famous Flames albums