Whew - despite the somewhat fluctuating sonics for the '68 show (the label indicates they had to piece it together from various source tapes and that as a result it's only about 90% complete, with several cuts audible) it's a real mutha for ya. As the liner notes indicate, this was the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated and that Brown appeared at one of his most important concerts ever before "a crowd who had just lots their leader and was trying to find a way to vent their anger, disappointment and frustration… [he] was considered so important that he could calm an entire black community with just the power of his message and his music… trying to offer a confused and devastated public a release via his music and remind them that the message of MLK was one of hope and peace, not of violence and vengeance."
Indeed, at one point, seconds into "I Can't Stand Myself," there's an off-mic disturbance and Brown abruptly halts the song; apparently some people had invaded the stage (for what reasons we can only speculate), and Brown has a lengthy interchange with one of the new arrivals as well as the audience, pleading for them to let him do his job and finish the show. You can feel the emotion in his voice, and it's incredible that this has been captured on disc for posterity. (There's also a moving segment on Disc 2 featuring stage announcements referencing the then-current social turmoil, in particular noting a contribution Brown had just made to the Martin Luther King Trust Fund.)
To place it into a context with contemporary relevance: recall some of the concerts you attended shortly after 9/11, and the way grief, incomprehension and rage mingled (hopefully) with resolve, release and celebration as the audience-performer barrier dissolved and the bond strengthened.
At any rate, if the sound quality is only above average - the tapes appear to be a mixture of TV broadcast (clearly referenced at one point) and audience sources, and possibly line sources as well - the performance itself is riveting. Disc 2 also features a handful of very good-to-excellent-sounding Euro TV appearances, and to hear them, judging by some of the crowd reactions, you'd swear it was Beatlemania all over again. It wasn't though - it was JB mania. And damn - Oww! - it feels good to hear it.
Art-wise, Big 'Fro did a very nice job this time around (the label drops the ball occasionally), with an arty rendering on the front sleeve, brief liner notes and a color photo of Brown signing an autograph for a U.S. soldier on the reverse, then good black and white closeups for both sides of the tray panel. -- OSWALD
