Brown, who died on December 25, 2006, recorded three Christmas-themed albums during his creative peak: 1966’s James Brown Sings Christmas Songs, 1968’s A Soulful Christmas and 1970’s Hey America It’s Christmas. The best tracks from each are collected on this fantastic set. The Godfather was re-inventing rock & roll in his own funk-revolutionary image throughout the late Sixties, so it’s no surprise that he injected some soul-power into the holly, jolly time of year. There’s bent-knee R&B balladry (“Merry Christmas Baby” and “Please Come Home for Christmas”), smokin’ groove workouts (“Go Power at Christmas Time,” “Soulful Christmas”) and shots of gritty social consciousness (“Santa Claus Goes to the Ghetto,” “Let’s Unite the Whole World at Christmas”). Like Santa himself, Mr. Dynamite has something in his bottomless gift bag for every girl and boy the world over: On the blazing title track from 1970’s Hey America It’s Christmas, he implores, “White or black, blue or green/ Even a man I’ve never seen/Let’s get together!”
Lineup
Jason Eskridge
Ruby Velle
Rick Lollar
Rob Lane
Marshall Ruffin
Jennifer Hartswick
Fred Wesley
Bernard Purdie
Tiffany White
Col. Bruce Hampton
Side A
1.Intro/Brother Rapp/Ain’t It Funky
Jason Eskridge
2.Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto
Jason Eskridge
3.Christmas Is Love
Ruby Velle
4.I Got the Feelin’
Ruby Velle
5.Lets Unite the World at Christmas
Rick Lollar
6.Sweet Little Baby Boy
Marshall Ruffin
7.Back Door Santa
Rob Lane
8.The Christmas Song
Jennifer Hartswick
9.Hot Pants Road
Fred Wesley
10.Doin It to Death
Fred Wesley
11.Up For the Downstroke
Fred Wesley
12.House Party
Fred Wesley
13.Kid Charlemagne
Featuring Bernard Purdie and Rick Lollar
14.Until You Come Back To Me
Featuring Bernard Purdie and Tiffany White
15.You’re All I Need To Get By
Featuring Bernard Purdie and Jennifer Hartswick
Side B
16.That’s What Christmas Means to Me
17.Let
18.Merry Christmas Baby
19.There Was A Time
Col. Bruce Hampton
20.Yield Not To Temptation
Col. Bruce Hampton
21.Give It Up, Turn It Loose
Tiffany White
22.Rock Me Again & Again
Tiffany White
23.Fopp
Rob Lane
24.Superbad
Rob Lane
25.Down and Out in NYC
Rick Lollar
26.Cold Sweat
Featuring Bernard Purdie and Marshall Ruffin
7.Let’s Dance
Marshall Ruffin
28.Walk On By
Marshall Ruffin
29.Man’s World
Jennifer Hartswick
30.Fool For You
Jennifer Hartswick
31.You’ve Got A Friend
Jennifer Hartswick and Jason Eskridge
32.Get Up Offa That Thing
Jason Eskridge
33.This Christmas
Jason Eskridge
