If you look through the discography of Mr. James Brown, it would appear that he did nothing else during the ‘60s other than lead recording sessions. Everyone’s thankful for that fact and the resultant music has assuredly either enriched some personal moments you’ve had or just functioned as some funky, good time music. And while the catalog of Brown has been plundered hundreds of times over for samples and the like, some of his earliest work – most notably with his combo, the Flames – hasn’t been ignored, but also hasn’t been given the same sort of attention that his latter work has received.

Before becoming the busiest – and maybe most talented – man in show business, Brown worked out some soulful combos that included some folks that wouldn’t quite make it through to the J.B.’s. That doesn’t mean the music suffers at all. And on the pair of albums from 1959 – Please, Please, Please and Try Me – there were enough hits for the Who to include a few of those compositions on its first album. Yep. That’s how good the music is. Folks might be startled to hear some of (or all of) the RnB going on here, but this was clearly the antecedent to hard soul music and eventually the funk that Brown is so connected to.

This early combo that so adroitly cranks out some bluesy soul was comprised of a pretty shocking line up. J.C. Davis, who would go on to record a single album and slip into obscurity in Columbus, blew some sax here and led the horn section. Brown, the consummate perfectionist, made use of a great many players dependent upon the individual’s musical proclivities. And for a few offerings on this date from ’59, Kenny Burrell is featured on guitar. Listening in, it’s almost plainly evident to hear what tracks he’s on. There’s a jazz element to his playing that makes it’s way through the mid paced love songs. It might not be Shuggie Otis, but this was also not quite the ‘60s yet.

All of these players were able to crank out everything to pretty enormous proportions. And even today, the album’s title track is still a charming throw back - a heartfelt serenade imploring a woman to just give Brown a try. A chance is really all he wants. And while that same topic might be touched upon in more than just a few places on this disc, each attempt to cover that ground is successful.

Although, Brown hadn’t adapted his soul shout by this point, the singing he does here is really as strong as any of the proto-boy bands that were knocking around at the time. So all of this amounts to a preliminary JB’s disc. It won’t be to the liking of some hardcore funk fans, but this is kinda where it all started, so check it. And really, some of this stuff could make for as interesting a clutch of production from elsewhere in Brown’s catalog. It might be more difficult to figure, but get on it.