James Brown – Live At Home With His Bad Self – CD Encore Records Ltd

1 CD

A  full memento of the Godfather of Soul’s concert at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta on 1 October 1969.

The concert audio has been newly mixed for the release, which includes seven performances that have never been released. ‘Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose’ is now available to stream and download.

The show was recorded with the intention of making a live album, which was then scheduled as a holiday release late that year, and would commemorate his move back to Mr. Brown’s southern roots. It featured a stellar band with his esteemed saxophone player Maceo Parker and no fewer than three drummers, Parker’s brother Melvin, Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield. But the line-up disbanded soon after the concert and the soul legend assembled a new group including the emerging young bassist William ‘Bootsy’ Collins.

That team soon recorded the anthemic ‘Sex Machine,’ and as that funk landmark climbed the charts without an album behind it, Brown shelved the Live At Home release and instead created the double album Sex Machine. Released in September 1970, it included a near-11-minute version of the title hit and excerpts of the Augusta show.

Fifty years on, Live at Home with His Bad Self emerges as the Godfather first planned it. It’s been newly mixed from the original analog multi-tracks. Among the newly-available material are the instrumentals ‘Lowdown Popcorn’ and ‘Spinning Wheel,’ which were re-cut with pre-recorded applause for the Sex Machine album.

Also on Live at Home… is Brown’s hit of the time, ‘World,’ which he performed at the concert as a live vocal over the studio recording’s instrumental arrangement. Far from keeping this a secret, he explains this unusual move to the audience. ‘There Was A Time’ and ‘Mother Popcorn,’ which were heavily edited on Sex Machine, appear at twice the length. There’s also a live rendition of his 1968 hit ‘Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose,’ which appeared on Sex Machine, but as a studio re-record.