Various Artists
James Brown's Original Funky Divas
[Chronicles/Polydor]
Rating: 8.5
As most of us have known for years, James Brown's a sex machine.
He's a ladies' man, and he's not afraid to grunt when it come to
proving his love. But what about the women that have had the
Godfather of Soul in the sack and lived to tell about it? Where
are they? And more importantly, who are they? Well, James
Brown's Original Funky Divas, a brilliant two- disc compilation
of these women's music, is prepared to answer both of those questions
with a resounding "uh!"
Spanning two decades (the 1960s and 1970s), Funky Divas
chronicles the recordings of 13 women James Brown discovered
(and slept with). But it's much more than that-- it's an
archive of long out- of- print soul records that deserve more
attention than they ever received.
From Yvonne Fair's earnest, alto wail on tracks like the
inspirational "You Can Make It If You Try," the bluesy
"Straighten Up" and "I Found You" (an early version of
Brown's hit "I Feel Good") to Marva Whitney's struggles
to succeed in the real world, and Vicki Anderson's
responses to later James Brown hits (such as "Answer To
Mother Popcorn," "Super Good" and "I'm Too Tough For Mr.
Big Stuff"), it's clear that these are strong- ass mothers
you don't wanna mess with.
Never during the course of its 46 tracks does Funky
Divas become tiresome. While most of the divas' songs
have similar grooves, they all have very distinguished
vocal and lyric styles. But it's your money-- for $25 you
can own a sealed, vinyl copy of one of these soul sister's
long- lost record albums, or you can pick up an entire
catalog of classic soul sister anthems.
-Ryan Schreiber
Sound Clip:
Vicki Anderson: "I'm Too Tough
For Mr. Big Stuff (Hot Pants)"
MPEG-LayerII
64kpbs.44kHz.
244k.31sec.