Live at the Apollo (Remastered 1962)

iTunes Review

Not much remains to be said about Live at the Apollo, the 1962 recording that documented the already Hardest Working Man in Show Business’ stage appearance and provided his most effective introduction yet to the pop mainstream. (It eventually reached No. 2 in Billboard, just behind an Andy Williams LP.) At the heart of the album lie two extended slow workouts, a 10-plus-minute “Lost Someone” and a medley built around “Please, Please, Please” that shows how Brown could still the most emotionally overwrought crowd; you can hear a pin drop when he sings an almost churchy “I Love You, Yes I Do.” Apollo, more than any other record, codified the give-and-take of the soul revolution and its audience. This edition includes four single sides later edited from the album.