James Brown! James Brown! I never used to see what all the fuss was about. Sure his music was good, but there were lots of others just as funky, and just as soulful. Any time I'd seen him on television, or any other taped performance, it was nothing to write home about.
Well, this is that letter home. Hudson Street's DVD release James Brown — Soul Session captures the magic of James Brown in concert and brings together an almost impeccable lineup of talent to help him bring it on home. Wilson Pickett, Jo Cocker, Robert Palmer, Aretha Franklin, and a very forgettable Dave Verra (looking almost as out of place as Brown would at a Klan rally) are on hand to sing, dance, and rip up the joint with the self-proclaimed Godfather of Soul.
Produced for the cameras and shot in front of a live audience, James Brown - Soul Session combines the close-up shooting of a directed event with the energy of a live audience and gives a true picture of this man's incredible talent, energy, and charisma. From the first moment he struts on to stage to sing "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" until the last fade out of the whole gang singing "Living In America," the heat never leaves this furnace. If they could harness this energy, no one would ever worry about gas prices again.
A pattern is quickly established with Wilson Picket. Each guest comes up and sings a song on their own and then is joined by James. Nobody is going to back down from Mr. Brown. They all have to rise to the challenge of him pushing them to their limits and beyond. It's not often that you see people leaving every last bit of themselves on stage, but when James called for one more time on "Midnight Hour," I didn't know whether Picket was going to make it off the stage alive or not.
Joe Cocker has never been one to hold back on stage, but even he was pushed to his limits. He came out and sang "When A Man Loves A Woman" with his usual power and grace, but it was when James joined him that he really took fire. Try to visualise Joe Cocker and James Brown having a boxing match with their voices and you'll get a pretty good idea of what happened. Joe took a standing eight count and had to stagger to his corner. James kept on strutting, waiting for the next challenger.
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