James Brown – The James Brown Show (Live At The Apollo)

For the price these are going for this is such a steal. It sounds WAY better than an early King mono pressing. The early pressings make the recording sound much worse than it actually is since it dials the high-end back so much that it constantly sounds muddy. This pressing has much more air and has great mid-range. And, yes, it is actually mono.

I have this release with the exact same runout etching but with a different back cover: 12 different JB LPs from the King catalog.

Can anybody say something about how this records sounds ?

My copy has the other cover on the reverse side. Did I get a Frankenstein?

Is this a Mono or stereo pressing? How’s the sound quality?

I would like to point out that in many editions, especially on cd, the last song of the medley of track 10, is not please please me, but please don't go, just see in the first editions in lp.

Being that this is a live recording done in a night club in the 1963, you can't expect studio quality clarity. That's just not going to happen. At this point in time my choices for getting a copy of this iconic live album was to get this pressing, or get a Russian bootleg from DOL. When I got home with this one I really considered returning it after reading the reviews here, but I held out because I don't think I am likely to get anything better any time soon, and at least this pressing doesn't put money in the Russian war chest!
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. It was flat, quiet, and no dirtier than anything coming out of pressing plants these days. There is a very slight veil over the sound, but I suspect that this is from the original recording equipment used or from the condition of the master tapes. But the feel and mood of the performance and the crowd come through to create an upbeat, infectious, and fun album.
If you expect this to be what it is, a great album that captures a great moment in time, then you will not be disappointed. If you expect this to be something it will never be, a super audiophile ultra high fidelity recording that makes you feel like you are standing on stage, then don't be surprised if it doesn't live up to expectations. You could search for years and spend a small fortune trying to find a mint condition original, or you could just buy this reissue and enjoy it for what it is. Just please don't give the Russians your money!

A rather early recording and sounds as much. Audio quality is not impressive, but for historic value, it's able.
I do not have access to an original pressing, so I cannot tell how much of this critique is the reissue itself.

One of the finest R&B albums made. James Brown is Mr. Soul himself.

A perfectly fine press of an already-lo-fidelity album. Has a lot of surface noise baked into the recording. Took a gamble, especially seeing Rainbo did this press, and there's definitely a fair bit of crackle not in the original recording. I've never given this a proper clean, so it probably comes out. If you're just looking for a copy of this stellar album, this is a perfectly fine copy. No frills packaging, cover and back look crisp (I see there are two different versions in the pictures, mine's the one with the crown logo in the top right).