James Brown - In The Jungle Groove
US 1st pressing on 2 x Vinyl, with the Funky Drummer Bonus Beats
Year Released: 1986
Genre: Funk, Soul, Breakbeat
Description:
In The Jungle Groove is a compilation album by American funk musician James Brown, released in August 1986 by Polydor Records. While not a traditional studio album, it is one of the most significant and influential records in his extensive discography. The album was conceived as a way to capitalize on the growing popularity of Brown's music within the hip-hop community, which had begun to heavily sample his drum breaks and basslines. The tracks on the compilation were recorded between 1969 and 1971, a period widely considered to be the absolute peak of Brown's funk output.
The album's sound is a raw, deep, and unedited exploration of funk. Unlike the often tightly edited singles of the era, the tracks on In The Jungle Groove are long, sprawling grooves that showcase the incredible, telepathic chemistry between Brown and his band, the J.B.'s. The music is built on a foundation of syncopated, hypnotic rhythms, with a relentless focus on the "one"—the downbeat that is the core of funk music. The album features a number of previously unreleased tracks, alternate takes, and extended remixes, all of which were invaluable to hip-hop producers looking for new source material.
In The Jungle Groove's most famous and enduring legacy is the inclusion of the track "Funky Drummer." The song, a 1969 single that had never appeared on an album before, features a legendary drum break from Clyde Stubblefield that has become the most sampled piece of music in history. Its inclusion on this compilation together with the bonus beat addition made it easily accessible to a new generation of musicians and producers, cementing its role as a fundamental building block of Hip-Hop and other genres.
To list a few examples of artists who used this break we can name the likes of T La Rock, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, 2 Live Crew, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Flash, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Stetsasonic, Cash Money, De La Soul, Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, N.W.A and Mos Def, but the list is endless
Sadly Clyde didn’t get the financial props for his improv creation of this iconic beat. But he will be remembered as the Funkiest Drummer of all time by B-Boys and Create Diggers worldwide...
The album also features other key tracks that would become heavily sampled, including "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and "Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)." The album's commercial success, driven by its popularity in Hip-Hop circles, helped introduce James Brown's music to a new generation of fans and solidified his reputation as the "Godfather of Soul" and the "Godfather of Hip-Hop."