""Thank you very much, ladies and gentleman,"" James Brown says, after a scorching yet sweet rendition of ""If I Ruled the World.""
""I want to say thanks to each and every one [of you here] to see and hear the James Brown show. James Brown, that's me.""
As if there could be any doubt. By 1968, Brown was one of the most popular acts in the world, and at the top of his game as a performer and songwriter. ""Papa's Got a Brand New Bag,"" ""Please Please Please,"" and ""I Got the Feeling"" had already reached the top of the charts, and white audiences were tuning in to his bass-heavy, horn-decorated funk. But the August 26, 1968 show, recorded in Dallas, TX and captured here, was special. Two weeks earlier, Brown had released the hastily recorded ""Say It Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud."" The record, a statement of pride and bravado, was already a smash. Black audiences were ready to scream their new anthem with Brown as their musical leader. There were four months left of an especially tumultuous year. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy had both been assassinated; the Vietnam War raged unabated; riots shook black urban neighborhoods to their roots and engulfed campuses across the country. The civil rights movement was in disarray after more than a decade of hard-won triumphs. James Brown bridged a widening schism (however briefly) with ""Say It Loud."" But he kept true to himself musically. Although politically active (and who could afford not to be in such supercharged times?), Brown was really interested in entertaining his fans. And no one's ever done it better. Sticking to his usual show structure, Brown loaded the first half of the concert with hit ballads and instrumental numbers, breaking form to sing ""Say It Loud"" to avoid disruptions and police confrontations later on in the show, when heightened emotions brought on by the heat and sweat could, conceivably, threaten the peaceful gathering. Even today, it's hard to imagine anyone not succumbing to Brown's and his band's funkified spell, despite the obvious crowd-control ploy. The James Brown Orchestra, which included saxophonists Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis, trombonist Fred Wesley and three violinists (hey, it was an orchestra), bounced its way through the instrumentals ""Suds"" and ""Soul Pride"" before really letting loose on ""Tighten Up,"" a huge hit when released as a single after the tour ended. When Brown returns to the stage for ""Licking Stick,"" the crowd is more than warm: it is screaming its love for the Hardest Working Man in Show Business and demanding to dance the night away. ""Cold Sweat,"" ""Try Me,"" ""Papa's Got Brand New Bag,"" and ""I Got the Feeling"" all get the Brown treatment: tight ensemble arrangements (with few exceptions, Brown arranged or co-arranged all the songs); spare, sharp bass; soaring, propulsive horn lines; and, of course, Brown's own emotive, barrel-chested moans and growls. While listening to the re-mastered Say It Live and Loud, it's easy to imagine a dancing, sweating Brown -- a stage hand ready with a towel and a cape to reinforce the King of the Funk Throne image -- and the band members swinging and bopping to the insistent beats. But Brown couldn't let it go at that. He gave the crowd what it wanted: a reprise of ""Say It Loud."" Did they ever.
