There It Is

by James Brown

Overview

Brown's Polydor debut, Hot Pants, was nothing more than an inferior remake of the title track baited with a batch of half-baked vamps. There It Is, his second Polydor studio album, was a marked improvement. Not that he put much into it, either. This 1972 effort collected five of his best early-'70s tracks and mixed in minimal filler. "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" and "There It Is (Pts. 1 & 2)," with its bebop-style horns, were both innovative and hard driving to a fault. The hilarious "I'm a Greedy Man," with its hypnotic bass and help from Bobby Byrd, has Brown firing off such witticisms as "I'm a greedy man/yes I are" and "Taking care of my business/now run tell that." Brown wasn't all fun and games on this one. "King Heroin," an eerie, laid-back jazz offering, has him reciting chilling poetry about the ills of the drug. "Public Enemy #1 (Pt. 1)" attempts to re-create the same message. By "Public Enemy #2 (Pt. 2)" he is doing nothing but connecting the same dots and screaming himself hoarse to little effect. Although by this point Brown was best known for his dance tracks, he still had a way with a ballad. "Who Am I," a song that had been kicking around his oeuvre for aeons, gets a strong arrangement and has Brown giving an impassioned performance. It's well worth picking up. ~ Jason Elias

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/1993
Label:	Polydor
UPC:	0731451798627
Rank:	77768

Tracks

1. There It Is, Pts. 1 & 2
2. King Heroin
3. I'm a Greedy Man
4. Who Am I
5. Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
6. Public Enemy No. 1, Pt. 1
7. Public Enemy No. 1, Pt. 2
8. I Need Help (I Can't Do It Alone)
9. Never Can Say Goodbye

Album Credits

Performance Credits

James Brown   Primary Artist,Vocals
David Matthews   Conductor
Vicki Anderson   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

David Matthews   Composer,Arranger
Mark Bruce Rosen   Composer
Johnny Terry   Composer
Joseph M. Palmaccio   Remastering,Digital Remastering
Harry Weinger   Liner Notes
Manny Rosen   Composer
Henry Stallings   Composer
Teddy Brown   Composer
St. Clair Pinckney   Composer
John Terry   Composer
Bobby Byrd   Composer
James Brown   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Fred Wesley   Arranger
Charles Bobbit   Composer
Abdullah Rahman   Paintings,Illustrations