James Brown - There It Is (1972/2019)

Even into the '70s, James Brown was making tossed-together albums whose glue was whatever hit singles he'd scored in the recent past. There It Is contains three ur-funky smashes in its title track, "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" and the monorail groove of "I'm a Greedy Man." Unfortunately, something like 15 minutes of this CD edition is given over to JB's turgid anti-drug monologues "King Heroin" and "Public Enemy Number 1"--good reason to reach for your player's "skip" button. --Rickey Wright