Tuesday, May 7, 1991

James Brown Star Time box set released

First posted 2/18/2010; updated 11/16/2020.

Star Time

James Brown

Recorded: 1956-1974

Released: May 7, 1991

Peak: -- US, 89 RB, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: R&B/funk

Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Disc 1 (Mr. Dynamite):
  1. Please Please Please (4/7/56, 5 RB, 95 US)
  2. Why Do You Do Me
  3. Try Me (11/10/58, 1 RB, 48 US)
  4. Tell Me What I Did Wrong
  5. Bewildered (2/27/61, 8 RB, 40 US)
  6. Good Good Lovin’
  7. I’ll Go Crazy (2/22/60, 15 RB, 73 US)
  8. I Know It’s True
  9. Do the Mashed Potatoes, Part 1 (9/29/62, 21 RB, 82 US)
  10. Think (5/2/60, 7 RB, 33 US)
  11. Baby, You’re Right (8/7/61, 2 RB, 49 US)
  12. Lost Someone (12/18/61, 2 RB, 48 US)
  13. Night Train (4/14/62, 5 RB, 35 US)
  14. I’ve Got Money
  15. I Don’t Mind (5/15/61, 4 RB, 47 US)
  16. Prisoner of Love (4/20/63, 6 RB, 18 US)
  17. Devil’s Den
  18. Out of the Blue
  19. Out of Sight (8/15/64, 24 RB, 24 US)
  20. Grits
  21. Maybe the Last Time
  22. It’s a Man’s World
  23. I Got You
  24. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Parts 1, 2, & 3
Disc 2 (The Hardest Working Man in Show Business):
  1. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1 (7/17/65, 1 RB, 8 US, 25 UK)
  2. I Got You (I Feel Good) (11/13/65, 1 RB, 3 US, 29 UK)
  3. Ain’t That a Groove (3/5/66, 6 RB, 42 US)
  4. It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World (4/30/66, 1 RB, 8 US, 13 UK)
  5. Money Won’t Change You (7/30/66, 11 RB, 53 US)
  6. Don’t Be a Dropout (10/8/66, 4 RB, 50 US)
  7. Bring It Up (Hipster’s Avenue) (1/7/67, 7 RB, 29 US)
  8. Let Yourself Go (5/6/67, 5 RB, 46 US)
  9. Cold Sweat (7/15/67, 1 RB, 7 US)
  10. Get It Together (10/28/67, 11 RB, 40 US)
  11. I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me, Part 1 (12/9/67, 4 RB, 28 US)
  12. I Got the Feelin’ (3/16/68, 1 RB, 6 US)
  13. Licking Stick (5/25/68, 2 RB, 14 US)
  14. Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud, Part 1 (9/7/68, 1 RB, 10 US)
  15. There Was a Time (live) (1/20/68, 36 US)
  16. Give It Up or Turnit-a-Loose (1/25/69, 1 RB, 15 US)
  17. I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get It Myself) (4/5/69, 3 RB, 20 US)
Disc 3 (Soul Brother No. 1):
  1. Mother Popcorn (6/14/69, 1 RB, 11 US)
  2. Funky Drummer (3/21/70, 20 RB, 51 US)
  3. Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine (7/18/70, 2 RB, 15 US, 32 UK)
  4. Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 (10/3/70, 1 RB, 13 US)
  5. Talkin’ Loud & Sayin’ Nothing (2/12/72, 1 RB, 27 US)
  6. Get Up, Get into It, and Get Involved (1/2/71, 4 RB, 34 US)
  7. Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2 (2/27/71, 3 RB, 29 US)
  8. Medley: Brother Rapp (live) (5/2/70, 2 RB, 32 US) / Ain’t It Funky Now (live) (11/22/69, 3 RB, 24 US)
  9. Hot Pants, Part 1 (7/3/71, 1 RB, 15 US)
  10. I’m a Greedy Man, Part 1 (11/13/71, 7 RB, 35 US)
  11. Make It Funky, Part 1 (8/28/71, 1 RB, 22 US)
  12. It’s a New Day (live) (2/14/70, 3 RB, 32 US)
  13. I Got Ants in My Pants, Part 1 (1/20/73, 4 RB, 27 US)
  14. King Heroin (3/4/72, 6 RB, 40 US)
Disc 4 (The Godfather of Soul):
  1. There It Is, Part 1 (5/6/72, 4 RB, 43 US)
  2. Public Enemy #1, Pt. 1
  3. Get on the Good Foot (8/5/72, 1 RB, 18 US, sales: 0.5 m)
  4. I Got a Bag of My Own (11/18/72, 3 RB, 44 US)
  5. Doing It to Death
  6. The Payback (3/9/74, 1 RB, 26 US, 12 UK, sales: 0.5 m)
  7. Papa Don’t Take No Mess, Part 1 (8/24/74, 1 RB, 31 US)
  8. Stoned to the Bone, Pt. 1
  9. My Thang (6/8/74, 1 RB, 29 US)
  10. Funky President (People, It’s Bad) (11/2/74, 4 RB, 44 US)
  11. Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved) (11/29/75, 31 RB)
  12. Get Up Offa That Thing (Release the Pressure) (6/5/76, 4 RB, 45 US, 22 UK)
  13. Body Heat, Part 1 (12/11/76, 13 RB, 88 US, 36 UK)
  14. It’s Too Funky in Here (5/29/79, 15 RB)
  15. Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses) (11/15/80, 46 RB, 39 UK)
  16. Unity, Part 1 (with Afrika Bambaataa, 9/1/84, 87 RB, 49 UK)

Rating:

4.834 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings)

Quotable: “Star Time is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy” – CD Universe

Awards:

About the Album:

“There are few box sets that can match the greatness of James Brown’s Star Time.” CD “It would seem impossible to summarize James Brown’s contribution to R&B – to American music – in a mere four compact discs, but somehow Star Time does it,” DH “collecting seventy two tracks that let you hear why Brown is hailed as ‘the hardest working man in show business.’” CD

“Brown created some of the most intense, soulful music ever recorded” CD and “has one of the richest and most influential bodies of work in musical history, but before this 1991 box set, his catalogue was a mess to sort through. Albums were in and out of print, singles were impossible to track down.” TL

“The four discs of Star Time, though, are the very model of a great compilation – comprehensive without being overwhelming, they tell the complete James Brown story, using unreleased material and newly-discovered, unedited or unaltered versions of songs judiciously, to flesh out the incomparable greatness of Soul Brother Number One.” TL

“This boxed set charts Brown’s early rise as a hard-hitting R&B-styled vocalist (Please Please Please, Try Me) and shows how his bandleading skills (one can't forget inventive players like saxophonist Maceo Parker, bassist Bootsy Collins, drummer Jabo Starks, and many others) changed the face of soul and invented funk in the '60s and early '70s.” DH

There are “late-'60s funk essentials like…Sex Machine to the massively influential '70s funk grooves Funky Drummer and The Payback.” CD Throughout the set are “impeccably timed (Papa's Got a Brand New Bag), highly rhythmic (I Can't Stand It), primal (Licking Stick Licking Stick) hits.” DH Incidentally, in regards to the former, it is presented here “at its original tempo — it was sped up for release – is a revelation.” TL “A live medley of Brother Rapp/Ain’t It Funky Now showcases the jaw-dropping, drill-team precision funkiness of one of Brown's finest bands.” TL “The box also does a definitive programming job on Brown's more spotty later years – another plus.” DH

“This is where beginners should start, but several extended versions and rarities (like ‘Papa’…) make it a must for completists too.” DH Star Time gives you all the James Brown basics.” CD This is “funk nirvana,” TL “a monument to the life and music of one of the most colorful and inspired performers in popular music.” CD “Star Time is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy.” CD “After five hours, you still want more.” TL

“Star Time also comes with a 64-page booklet that features rare and wonderful photos and essays by Nelson George and several other noted critics.” CD

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