Description
James Brown – Live At Home With His Bad Self – Double Vinyl Record
James Brown’s Live at Home with His Bad Self is a revelatory live album, recorded on October 1, 1969, in Augusta, Georgia—Brown’s hometown—but not officially released in its full intended form until November 2019. Long shelved and partially chopped up for other projects, this album finally arrived 50 years later as a powerful, raw document of Brown at the height of his creative and cultural influence. It captures the “Godfather of Soul” and his band at a critical turning point—just before he would revolutionize funk with even tighter grooves, political urgency, and stripped-down arrangements.
Originally planned as a full-length live album, Live at Home with His Bad Self was meant to serve as a follow-up to Brown’s iconic Live at the Apollo series. However, after its recording, Brown decided to release parts of the performance as edited versions for his 1970 live album Sex Machine, and the full Augusta concert never saw release in its intended sequence—until this 2019 edition. This restored version reassembles the show as Brown had envisioned: a seamless, uncut performance full of swagger, spontaneity, and intensity.
Musically, the album is a snapshot of Brown transitioning from soul icon to architect of funk. The band is tight, sharp, and explosive, led by members of the James Brown Orchestra, including Jimmy Nolen (guitar), Maceo Parker (sax), Fred Wesley (trombone), and others who were central to the development of funk’s signature rhythm-first aesthetic. Every snare hit, guitar chop, and bass groove here is in service to rhythm—an approach Brown would codify into a genre-defining discipline.
The setlist features a fiery mix of hits and deep cuts. Tracks like “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” “Licking Stick,” “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing,” and “Give It Up or Turnit a Loose” are politically charged and rhythmically propulsive, radiating the urgency of the late 1960s—an era marked by civil rights struggles, Vietnam protests, and cultural upheaval. Brown is not just an entertainer here; he is a community leader, cultural symbol, and rhythmic revolutionary.
There are also stretches of extended improvisation and crowd interplay that highlight Brown’s incredible showmanship. His call-and-response segments, vocal ad-libs, and command over the band (sometimes with just a grunt or shout) demonstrate why he remains one of the most dynamic live performers in the history of American music. The crowd in Augusta is clearly electric, feeding off the energy of their hometown hero, and Brown responds in kind with a performance that feels deeply personal, almost sacred.
Sonically, the 2019 release is beautifully restored, with warm analog textures and a clean mix that captures the full depth of the performance without sterilizing its raw energy. The sound quality holds up surprisingly well considering the age of the tapes, making the album not just a historical artifact but a living, breathing live experience.
Live at Home with His Bad Self is also significant for its timing. Coming just before Brown would unleash The J.B.’s and landmark funk recordings like “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” and The Payback, this live album catches him in the act of transformation—still rooted in soul, but already building the rhythmic infrastructure of funk that would influence everything from hip-hop to modern R&B and rock.
In retrospect, this album is more than a great live show—it’s a cultural document. It captures James Brown’s political awakening, musical evolution, and peerless performance craft. For fans and newcomers alike, it’s a must-hear window into an artist at the crossroads of revolution and groove.
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud
James Brown Thanks And Introduction To “World”
World
Stage Dialogue
Lowdown Popcorn
Spinning Wheel
If I Ruled The World
Kansas City
Introduction To Startime
I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I’ll Get It Myself)
I Got The Feelin’ / Licking Stick-Licking Stick
Try Me
There Was A Time
Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World
Please, Please, Please
I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)
DMother Popcorn
