Price: $29.98

CD Edition limited to 5000 non-numbered limited edition copies

RELEASE DATE: December 5, 2008

James Brown: The Singles Volume 6: 1969-1970 is another amazing edition in the acclaimed series documenting every James Brown 45 RPM single release. It also is a look at the last hurrah of the famed sixties James Brown Orchestra, as the new, 39-track 2-CD set focuses on the final recordings of Soul Brother No. 1 to be led by Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis. Volume 6 includes some of the fiercest and most influential records Brown ever made—the timeless “Funky Drummer” for one—plus discarded singles and rare promo-only mixes.

Disc 1 kicks off with one of those influential grooves that was set aside: “You Got To Have A Mother For Me,” a planned single that was recast a few months later as the smash hit “Mother Popcorn”; both original versions are now on CD for the first time. In fact, all of JB’s “Popcorn” singles of the era are on this set, from his popular instrumental “The Popcorn,” recorded on stage after a gig in Dallas, to the epic “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn.”

Other hot tracks on the set include “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself),” a top 5, non-LP single; “The Chicken,” a B-side that was subsequently covered by Jaco Pastorius and has become a staple of college jazz ensembles and funk cover bands; the macho, super funky “It’s A New Day,” which became a live powerhouse; and “Brother Rapp,” another non-LP classic that can now also be heard in its original form—“The Brother Got To Rap,” which features Maceo Parker’s original call-and-response solo that was muted in the final mix when he and the band left in a dispute with the boss.

The centerpiece of the era is a single found on Disc 2 that, when first released in 1970, barely nudged into the R&B Top 20—“Funky Drummer,” a follow-up of sorts to the hit jam “Ain’t It Funky Now.” Its brief drum solo at the end of Part 2 drew in hip-hop and pop’s greatest artists and producers and, as a sample in their tracks, effectively launched the modern hip-hop era.
 Additional rarities found on Volume 6 include Brown’s Christmas holiday single; his “brotherhood” single “World,” including the “Part 2” that has never been available anywhere since the original 45 release; a cover of Chuck Jackson’s “Any Day Now,” which was mixed and readied for release but ultimately pulled; and, after the famed James Brown Band dissolved, an early version of “Talkin’ Loud And Saying Nothin’,” later a funk classic but in this incarnation an unusual rock-funk experiment led by arranger Dave Matthews.

 James Brown: The Singles Volume 6: 1969-1970 is the final chapter of James Brown and his amazing sixties band. All of the singles, A- and B- sides are here, released and otherwise, offering a window into an extraordinary sound and time. The collection is as usual supplemented by a collectible booklet featuring rare photos, memorabilia and fantastic liner notes by Alan Leeds, the Grammy®-winning writer and former Brown publicist and tour manager.

Price: $29.98