In Austin, there is a famous, local, independent record store called Waterloo records;
its one of those stores that, in way, both defines and reflects Austin’s native
culture. Anyhow, when I bought James Brown’s In
the Jungle Groove, the owner and manager of Austin’s most famous
record store happened to be the guy who rang it up. He took one look at the
album, and looked me dead in the eye “This album,†he said with a grave tone “is
my favorite recording of James. And now that I think about, it might be my
favorite album in the entire genre.â€
Indeed, after the two years that I’ve been listening to James Brown's In
the Jungle Groove; I can say, without question, that it is the greatest
musical achievement in all of human history. Or, actually, that might be a bit
of an exaggeration. However, at the very least, I can promise that after you
buy this album, you'll up saying to yourself, "God damn, that album kicks
ass!". And while perhaps In the Jungle Groove is not history's greatest
musical achievement; I have no hesitation in proclaiming it to be “James
Brown's best album.â€
Track one, “It's a New
Day†[listen in WMA], starts the album right off with the funk, the whole funk, and
nothing but the funk. Out of the hundreds of
James Brown recordings that I've listened to, I've only heard one track that has
more energy than this one – and it happens to be track three on this album.
During the second track “Funky Drummer†[listen
in WMA], James Brown lets his legendary band take center stage. Though most
people are unaware of it, you’ve heard parts of this song countless time on the
radio. In particular, the
drum beat that gave this song its name [listen in WMA] is one of the most
widely used samples in hip hop.
The highlight of this album is track three,
“Give It up or Turnit a Looseâ€.[listen in wma] As I mentioned earlier, to my knowledge,
there is not a single recording of James that tops this one in terms of energy,
groove, funk, and soul (and what else really matters?) The listener will even
pick up on how aware James is of the quality of the track. About half way
through the song, James begins to freak out. The funk becomes so intense that
James starts to scream uncontrollably (and I mean uncontrollably for James
brown); he makes sounds that I’ve never heard come from a human being. Toward
the end of the track, the band drops out leaving only a funky tribal beat and
the god father himself chanting: “clap your hands/stomp your feet. In the
jungle brother…†Hints, the title of the album.
Five Stars for this one... no question about it. Now, groove to this, and ask yourself why you haven't added this album to your collection yet. *****