James Brown - Hey America

Elemental Music, together with Universal Music proudly presents the first vinyl reissue ever of HEY AMERICA, a rare and long unavailable 1972 album by The Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother N�. 1, Mr. JAMES BROWN. Released in Italy only, this album has become one of the most sought after by JBs collectors and is now available due to the joint efforts of Elemental and Universal Music. Hey America includes a dozen of single sides recorded between 1970 and 1972, plus a live track cut at New York Citys Apollo Theatre in 1967. This fantastic album showcases the gospel-impassioned fury of Browns vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats, for which James Brown became the single most important figure in the transformation of rhythm & blues into SOUL music. Hey America also serves as a perfect example of the transition of the James Brown backing band, from the Bobby Byrds Famous Flames to the new JBs led by Fred Wesley, which would back him throughout the 70s. Bootsy Collins, Fred Thomas, Ellis, St. Clair Pinckney, Maceo Parker, Jabo Starks, Johnny Griggs, Ron Selico, Martha Harvin, and Vicki Anderson are among the wonderful sidemen heard here.