HinweiseSoul Brother Number One, the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr Dynamite--those are pretty arrogant titles, but not many people would try to put across the notion that James Brown doesn't deserve them. No other soul musician in his prime put on a more exhilarating stage show: as the 1970 set of Sex Machine attests, Brown was a marvel of athletic, almost inhuman stamina and split-second timing. Recorded at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, this is one of two essential live James Brown albums--the other is Live At The Apollo, originally released in 1963. The 15-track Sex Machine not only captures the fervour of a Godfather of Soul's concert in all its glory--the calculated spontaneity combined with the raw power of his 20-plus strong band--but it also shows everyone how a live album should be done. From the fantastic stop-start version of "Get Up, I Feel Like A Sex Machine" through the nascent strains of early rap on "Brother Rap 1 and 11" and beyond, this gives you a real taste of Brown at his best. Much of the credit for the impeccable sound on Sex Machine should be attributed to his guest musicians which now reads like the funk-soul Hall of Fame: the P-Funk Collins brothers, Catfish and Bootsy on guitar and bass respectively, Bobby Byrd on organ, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker on saxophones and Clyde Stubblefield on drums, among many others, are a credit to Brown's brilliant leadership, gospel-impassioned vocals and wonderful songs. --Na'solo So'Fahed

Choosing a mere 10 songs to represent the creme de la cremeof the work of the indisputable Soul Brother Number One is an obviously Solomonic task, so one doesn't envy the folks who put together this greatest hits collection. Nevertheless,it's more than a worthwhile set (every track here is a gem), and its compilers have split it down the middle stylistically, with an equal number of '60s soul classics ("Please, Please, Please", "Out of Sight") and later funk workouts ("Super Bad", "Hot Pants"). In its own minimalist way, a terrificpackage, if not literally true to its title.