Part 2: Janis Ian to Jimi Hendrix (1966-1970)

By PopMatters Staff

Music truly is the universal language. The best songs of protest are passed around, from movement-to-movement, era-to-era; its singers gaining multilingual fluency along the way. [17 July 2007]

Soul Power

By William Glasspiegel

Though James Brown's body was lying in state at the Apollo Theater, on the streets of Harlem, his spirit seemed to be everywhere. [3 January 2007]

The Last Soul Brother: James Brown (1933-2006)

By Mark Anthony Neal

The humanity of the man -- with its funky and messy flaws and frailties -- could never sustain the myth, so much so that the image of the man who gave Black Power its soundtrack became a harsh reminder of its fractured legacy. [2 January 2007]

James Brown: Double Dynamite

By Christel Loar

James Brown: Double Dynamite isn't in the extras, it's in the music. It's in the man. [30 October 2008]

I Got the Feelin’: James Brown in the ‘60s

By Zeth Lundy

At the time of Dr. King's murder, with America's racial and existential crises at a peak, Brown's music was itself a crisis, always on call. [5 September 2008]

James Brown: The Singles, Volume 3: 1964-1965

By Zeth Lundy

Hip-O Select's limited edition series rolls on by documenting an overwhelming awkward period in Brown's otherwise superhuman ascension into R&B's uncharted places. [30 August 2007]

In Memoriam: James Brown

By Matt Rogers

It’s a mistake to compare James Brown (or anyone else, for that matter) as a showman at 70 to what he was like at 40, 30, and 25. But, until the last, Soul Brother #1 still brought the funk. [23 March 2007]

James Brown: Live at the Apollo (1962) [Expanded Edition]

By Jason Korenkiewicz

Live at the Apollo finds James Brown growing into his future mantle as the Godfather of Soul and ably joined by his inimitable backing band the Flames to create a 40-minute sonic hallelujah.

James Brown: James Brown: Soul Survivor [DVD]

By Katie Zerwas

James Brown / Smokey Robinson & the Miracles / The Supremes: 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Co

By Brian James

James Brown

By Matt Rogers

James Brown: In the Jungle Groove

By Brian James

James Brown: Soul on Top

By Zeth Lundy

James Brown fans: you’re in for a real treat with Soul on Top. It’s been unavailable on compact disc since its original vinyl release, and the reissue sounds fantastic.

James Brown: The Best of James Brown: Volume 2—The ‘70s (20th Century Masters: Millennium Collec

By J. Victoria Sanders

Sound Affects: Old Skewl B.S. aka Morality Police Bite

Artists continually suffer for refusing to bow to the morality police. Yet, like this Kentuckian, we are all Unbridled Spirits, refusing to conceit to itty bitty morality pity. It’s a shame that one has to chant louder, write faster, read quicker, exercise harder, know more and listen with more compassion, isn’t it? Naw, that’s just old skewl. [1 April 2009]