James Brown's Funky Christmas

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Total Tracks: 17   Total Length: 65:49

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Douglas Wolk

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Douglas Wolk writes about pop music and comic books for Time, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired and elsewhere. He's the author of Reading Comics: How Gra...more »

11.16.10
The kind of grand R&B schmaltz Brown always loved but rarely got to indulge in on record
1995 | Label: Universal Motown Records Group

Between 1966 and 1970, at the peak of his vocal powers, James Brown recorded three Christmas albums and a few holiday singles, whose high points are collected here. The prime mover on those original records records was saxophonist/songwriter Nat Jones, Brown's bandleader in the mid-'60s, who arranged and co-wrote most of 1966's Christmas Songs, contributed extensively to 1968's A Soulful Christmas, and was credited as sole writer on most of 1970's Hey America. Brown, though, put his stamp on all of them, turning on the deep-soul torch on covers of Nat "King" Cole's "The Christmas Song" and a couple of Charles Brown holiday tunes, bringing a hip-shaking swing to "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" and "Tit for Tat," and cranking up the funk on "Go Power at Christmas Time." A couple of these songs are bizarre throwaways, especially "Hey America," a Yuletide shout-out to the peace movement that finds Soul Brother #1 quoting "Hava Nagila" and "Volaré" as it fades out. For the most part, though, Funky Christmas is the kind of grand R&B schmaltz Brown always loved but rarely got to indulge in on record: sentimental, string-sweetened, sung with all his heart. "Santa Claus! Santa Claus! Please… read more »

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They Say All Media Guide

At his superstar peak in the 1960s and early ’70s, Brown tried to appeal to several constituencies on his many LPs, and the Christmas market was not neglected. Indeed, for a while he was on a regular schedule — this 17-track compilation includes selections from seasonal albums cut by Brown in 1966, 1968, and 1970. Good Christmas rock and soul is somewhat of an oxymoron, but if you want some, you’re better off with this than most anything else. The songs usually boast the funk-driven arrangements that were typical of his prime work, and Brown’s performances are satisfyingly committed. That’s not to say the material itself is on par with his best classics; it isn’t. In fact, it’s rather variable — “Go Power at Christmas Time” is a hot slice of 1970 James Brown funk, but some of the poppy cuts with strings are a bit weak and forgettable. All power to Brown, though, for investing the holiday season with a smidgen of social consciousness on “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto.” – Richie Unterberger

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