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33⅓ Main Series #13
Live at the Apollo
In this remarkable book, Douglas Wolk brings to life an October evening in 1962, at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem: an evening at the height of Cold War tensions. In great detail, Wolk pieces together what took place (and what was recorded) that night, and illustrates beautifully the enduring power of one of James Brown s and popular music s defining moments: Live at the Apollo.
EXCERPT
Standing on the stage of the Apollo at a sold-out show on the night of October 24, 1962, screaming, James Brown would have looked out and seen 1500 people screaming back at him in the audience, split between the floor and the balconies. The walls behind them were a dark crimson; the balconies were decorated with the laurel wreaths that are the emblem of Apollo the god, recalling Daphne, who became a laurel tree to escape his lust. Most of the audience thought there was a good chance they d be dead within the week.
EXCERPT
Standing on the stage of the Apollo at a sold-out show on the night of October 24, 1962, screaming, James Brown would have looked out and seen 1500 people screaming back at him in the audience, split between the floor and the balconies. The walls behind them were a dark crimson; the balconies were decorated with the laurel wreaths that are the emblem of Apollo the god, recalling Daphne, who became a laurel tree to escape his lust. Most of the audience thought there was a good chance they d be dead within the week.
128 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 1, 2023
The best of the 33 1/3 reads so far. Loved how the author brought the stress of the world (Cuban middle crisis
) into the story. Fascinating details about his work. The album ain’t bad either, lol.
) into the story. Fascinating details about his work. The album ain’t bad either, lol.
October 5, 2015
A detail-packed, minute-by-minute look at the record which helped James Brown's career go stratospheric and changed the way R&B albums were seen. It's interesting how form follows content, here - just as the album is a white-hot smelting of snippets and fast cuts from tens of different R&B songs (and readings of those songs), Wolk's narrative is rapid, choppy, digressive. His 'band' are the tight array of chart facts and figures and recording details backing up his wilder flights of historical fancy. And as he admits at the end, he's done a little post-production splicing of events himself, just as Live At The Apollo had a cut and paste or two in place.
The LP drops straight into the frenzied MC's introduction to the hardest-working man in show-business, but there were plenty of unheard warm-up acts on the night. What is Wolk's warm-up routine? Only the end of the world: LATA was recorded on the worst night of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a coincidence he milks but never quite allows himself to overplay. Like James Brown himself, Wolk is holding back just a touch. That means the second half of the book (where the historical background drops out) is less breakneck and thrilling than the first. Still a fine read.
The LP drops straight into the frenzied MC's introduction to the hardest-working man in show-business, but there were plenty of unheard warm-up acts on the night. What is Wolk's warm-up routine? Only the end of the world: LATA was recorded on the worst night of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a coincidence he milks but never quite allows himself to overplay. Like James Brown himself, Wolk is holding back just a touch. That means the second half of the book (where the historical background drops out) is less breakneck and thrilling than the first. Still a fine read.
March 25, 2018
This is definitely one of the best of the series that I've read so far. It's an excellent overview of the show as a whole as well as a good look at the individual songs and their often complicated origins as well as plenty of interesting back story.
But I think my favorite aspect of this book is that it read almost like a political thriller. Wolk jumps back and forth between discussing the album/concert to walking us through the Cuban missile crisis which was happening at the same time. It really gives an entirely new context to the album that I'd never thought of before (being completely oblivious to the fact that these events transpired at the same time.) And for me, at least, really showing the power of the arts in the survival of humanity.
Lesson I took from this given the similarly perilous times that we live in: go see lots of live music, dance until you're in a frenzy and scream as loud as you can!
But I think my favorite aspect of this book is that it read almost like a political thriller. Wolk jumps back and forth between discussing the album/concert to walking us through the Cuban missile crisis which was happening at the same time. It really gives an entirely new context to the album that I'd never thought of before (being completely oblivious to the fact that these events transpired at the same time.) And for me, at least, really showing the power of the arts in the survival of humanity.
Lesson I took from this given the similarly perilous times that we live in: go see lots of live music, dance until you're in a frenzy and scream as loud as you can!
April 20, 2016
I can't stress enough how amazing this book is. I read it every time I travel back to the US (a 24 hour flight). And each time I find some new bit of research that Douglas Wolk has included that I overlooked in my previous reads. Disclaimer: I'm a huge James Brown fan, which should be factored into my review above.
If you don't like James Brown, you shouldn't be reading this. Or really even existing. What's it like to hate life, fun, and goodness?
There's so much going on in this (small) book. A pretty deep history of James Brown and his group the Famous Flames. (Missed fact #1: the Famous Flames are actually James' background singers, and NOT the band.) It gives you background knowledge of where the US and the USSR were in terms of the Cold War which was raging as the show started. (Missed fact #2: We were really close to nuclear destruction that night.) And after all that background knowledge, Mr. Wolk still finds time to explain why the album is one of the greatest in the history of soul/rnb (and by extension - rock and roll).
If you don't like James Brown, you shouldn't be reading this. Or really even existing. What's it like to hate life, fun, and goodness?
There's so much going on in this (small) book. A pretty deep history of James Brown and his group the Famous Flames. (Missed fact #1: the Famous Flames are actually James' background singers, and NOT the band.) It gives you background knowledge of where the US and the USSR were in terms of the Cold War which was raging as the show started. (Missed fact #2: We were really close to nuclear destruction that night.) And after all that background knowledge, Mr. Wolk still finds time to explain why the album is one of the greatest in the history of soul/rnb (and by extension - rock and roll).
May 15, 2008
The author tells you straight up: This book has a lot of numbers in it. That's because so much of music in this time was about what was hitting the charts -- and which charts.
It's OK if you like numbers. If not, you'll be bored. There are a few great stories about the madman that was James Brown, but with such an interesting protagonist/antogonist, you could have a much more interesting read.
It's OK if you like numbers. If not, you'll be bored. There are a few great stories about the madman that was James Brown, but with such an interesting protagonist/antogonist, you could have a much more interesting read.
May 9, 2025
The best thing about this entry into the 33 1/3 series is how the author sets the time and place for this album. It makes sense—an album that presents the performer live is indeed a bit of captured time, so what better way to understand that but to understand the context around it. And that history is indeed momentous, as Brown’s revue hit the Apollo during the week of the Cuban Missile Crisis, thirteen days of uncertainty between the US and Russia over nuclear weapons. Is it any wonder that a large contingent of Americans might want to escape that world by being entertained by the hardest working man in show business?
Brown, by 1962, wasn’t the funk soul brother we know today. That would come in a few years: the “I Feel Good”s, the “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”s, the “Make it Funky”s. In 1962, Brown was a crooner, an R&B singer who’s schtick was to over emote, both in his voice and his stage act. But he had already made a name for himself as a fierce bandleader who presided over a tight backing band (so tight that he monetarily fined a musician for playing a wrong chord or missing a note, in common with the big jazz bands of the time). The point, as Wolk points out, wasn’t that each song had to be perfect, but by having a perfect backing, Brown could be the point of chaos. And he was, gyrating and dancing, his voice swooping and screeching, a force of nature.
I enjoy listening to Live at the Apollo, but I much prefer the later Brown. Still, this book was good to understand how we got to those later funkadelic sounds.
Brown, by 1962, wasn’t the funk soul brother we know today. That would come in a few years: the “I Feel Good”s, the “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”s, the “Make it Funky”s. In 1962, Brown was a crooner, an R&B singer who’s schtick was to over emote, both in his voice and his stage act. But he had already made a name for himself as a fierce bandleader who presided over a tight backing band (so tight that he monetarily fined a musician for playing a wrong chord or missing a note, in common with the big jazz bands of the time). The point, as Wolk points out, wasn’t that each song had to be perfect, but by having a perfect backing, Brown could be the point of chaos. And he was, gyrating and dancing, his voice swooping and screeching, a force of nature.
I enjoy listening to Live at the Apollo, but I much prefer the later Brown. Still, this book was good to understand how we got to those later funkadelic sounds.
April 3, 2022
Often i read these books to give me context on an album I’ve never heard, but would like to listen to as the reading progresses. This book assumes you’ve already obsessively listened to this record, and is a retelling of the sounds, not of the making of the record, not of the history of the Apollo, not of the context of James Brown in Harlem, but of the notes and words themselves. To me, as a less than casual JB fan, it never drew me in.
August 23, 2025
In this book you get the history of the songs, the play-by-play of the album, and the political climate of the moment. If my musical interests was more than a passing understanding of James Brown's hits, I probably would've ranked the book higher. As is, a lot of the song history stuff went over my head. The play-by-play recitation of albums is a curious pattern in a lot of the 33 1/3 books; like, my guy, I listened to the album. And the political climate stuff lacked resolution/payoff.
April 10, 2019
This was a 4 star book until the end. While not a big fan of this album (or James Brown), I was really enjoying the book with the back and forth between music and the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, the author never ended the missile side of the story. I know what happened - hello, we're still here - but it would have been better if he'dve given us one last paragraph with the resolution.
January 29, 2025
Wolk obviously listened to this album at high volume to catch every yelp, note and tape splice, in the process documenting details we more casual listeners wouldn't notice. And it had never occurred to me that the concert's date means it took place during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Page after page, Wolk shows us why JB is fantastic while also sending him up as a monomaniac. Ow, huh, good gawd.
June 16, 2021
Impossible. I’m actually convinced after reading this that James Brown simply didn’t exist. He was a myth.
June 10, 2025
Hair and teeth
August 20, 2025
Not only vividly recreates the circumstances of that incendiary night in that legendary spot with that immortal performer but brilliantly historicizes that concert with the potential cold war apocalypse which was looming over everything at that frenzied moment.
April 7, 2008
When most people think of James Brown, they conjure up the hyperspeed grooves of “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” and “Cold Sweat.” Live at the Apollo was a coupla years before “Papa” and the frantic, syncopated funk that Brown made his trademark. This album is JB as a soulful, bluesy crooner — a stage of his career that folks often skip right over nowadays.
That isn’t to say he took it easy in ‘62; even then, a James Brown stage show was one part adrenalin and two parts crackling sexual charge. Can a scribe capture that in print? Obviously Douglas Wolk thought he could — and he does. The book doesn’t skimp on facts and figures (what was on the charts when, and who re-recorded it later and how it fared…) but Wolk captures the energy of the show as well. Or rather, of the shows; the recording is actually made up of takes from more than one show during a week-long stint at the Apollo in Harlem. Brown had rented out the hall himself to record a live album after his record company refused, saying it was a bad idea and a waste of money.
“James Brown screams and sweats and implores,” Wolk writes. “His path is a jagged slash… James Brown is a vector of chaos.” Come on — that’s some good sh*t right there. And if the book occasionally gets a bit florid, so what? James Brown was not about subtlety; why feel bound to use it when describing him?
The book is full of stuff you might know, and some you may not — for instance, the recording was made smack dab in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wolk uses the political play-by-play to help build tension, and it sure adds to the screaming crowd’s sense of abandon, at least in theory. This is probably the only book you’ll ever read that lays out an evening’s timeline that includes both James Brown and Nikita Khrushchev. Let’s get it on, people — for tomorrow we may die.
That isn’t to say he took it easy in ‘62; even then, a James Brown stage show was one part adrenalin and two parts crackling sexual charge. Can a scribe capture that in print? Obviously Douglas Wolk thought he could — and he does. The book doesn’t skimp on facts and figures (what was on the charts when, and who re-recorded it later and how it fared…) but Wolk captures the energy of the show as well. Or rather, of the shows; the recording is actually made up of takes from more than one show during a week-long stint at the Apollo in Harlem. Brown had rented out the hall himself to record a live album after his record company refused, saying it was a bad idea and a waste of money.
“James Brown screams and sweats and implores,” Wolk writes. “His path is a jagged slash… James Brown is a vector of chaos.” Come on — that’s some good sh*t right there. And if the book occasionally gets a bit florid, so what? James Brown was not about subtlety; why feel bound to use it when describing him?
The book is full of stuff you might know, and some you may not — for instance, the recording was made smack dab in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wolk uses the political play-by-play to help build tension, and it sure adds to the screaming crowd’s sense of abandon, at least in theory. This is probably the only book you’ll ever read that lays out an evening’s timeline that includes both James Brown and Nikita Khrushchev. Let’s get it on, people — for tomorrow we may die.
May 16, 2016
Excellent note-by-note review of the great James Brown live album from 1962, recorded at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Gets into the background and future of each song and all the mechanics of the performance. Towards the end of the book (spoiler alert?) the author reveals that his account of the show is somewhat misleading; the record as released was assembled from recordings made throughout a day of performances at the Apollo rather than a single, uninterrupted set. Still, the Platonic ideal 1962 James Brown show has been described so vividly you almost believe you were there.
There's also a funny bit about a bear in Duluth almost causing World War III, an event that may or may not have happened at the same time as the Apollo show.
There's also a funny bit about a bear in Duluth almost causing World War III, an event that may or may not have happened at the same time as the Apollo show.
June 14, 2008
I've been listening to this record a lot; I would even say it's my five-year old son's favorite record. As a piece of background on the album and Brown, it's quite successful. The added information about the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was happening at the time the album was recorded, is a bit thin. I wanted either the comparison to be meatier or else touched on less prominently. As it is, its inclusion seems forced and predetermined.
July 7, 2015
33 1/3 books live or die on the metric of "does reading this make hearing the album more enjoyable?" This definitely passes the bar, as the context on songs, performers and goings on at a James Brown concert greatly improves a live album. The author's words replace our eyes, as we are not in the audience. Fortunately, Wolk doesn't overplay the coincidence that Brown's recording went on during the very night when the world came closest to nuclear armageddon.
August 25, 2008
Really clever approach, using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a framing device for the stint at the Apollo when this was recorded. Lots of good info about Brown,the album, live show, and recording. However, the tie-in with the Cuban Missile Crisis, while very interesting, also seems a bit underdeveloped. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book quite a bit.
January 11, 2009
I don't own the album- and if you can't have it playing in the background while you read- don't bother with this one. It's a blow by blow of factoids from each note of the original album. The stuff about the Cuban missile crisis is a strange choice- don't quite see how James Brown's badass music at all related to global politics.
January 23, 2009
I adore this book. This is fast becoming my favorite series and I've only read this one. The concept is brilliant. Reading about music is awesome, but usually writers are limited to a few columns in a magazine. With this they get to write as much as they want about records they love. Rock on!
March 8, 2009
I really like the way that this book was set up, and while the tangents seemed unimportant, they added a different level of interest to the entire affair. Stylistically, the book had an interesting flow, which aided in the overall aesthetics of the book. One of the better ones of the early part of the series.
August 15, 2014
No need, really, to read this one if you've already read Smith's "The One" (which I did). This quickie details all-things "Live at the Apollo," including rather silly cutaways of play-by-play Cold War/Cuban Missile Crisis dramatics that don't really contribute much. For James Brown completists only.
March 13, 2008
This is one of the more fluid and concise books of the 33 1/3 series. Filled with lots of great tid-bits of info on the various releases of this legendary LP. It also had an engaging side story on the state of the country the week of the Apollo shows which coincided with the Cuban Missle crisis.
August 12, 2016
Officially the worst book in the series. Wolk tries to recreate James Brown's concert at the Apollo and it comes off as pretentious rubbish. This is from a guy who said that Jeffrey Lewis' Crass covers album was pointless - well this book is worse!
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February 5, 2014Hey there, accretion of details! Before there was John D'Agata, there was James Brown. Also, kinda thought that build-up to nuclear war B plot was going somewhere. I love me some JB and have an unholy appetite for music arcana.
January 16, 2008
This was informative as Wolk seems to know his stuff but his odd organization makes the narrative choppy and generally detracts from the project.
May 3, 2012
One of the better 33 1/3 books, although the "historical context" kind of gets left behind at the end.
August 30, 2012
This book failed to deliver. Too much arcana, and it doesn't deliver on the Cuban Missile Crisis zeitgeist thing.
May 19, 2013
James Brown is a sex machine. Also the crowd sounds are faketaped! Oh well.
September 19, 2014
As someone below says, for James Brown completists only.
Dreadful reading. Sorry, Douglas Wolk.
Dreadful reading. Sorry, Douglas Wolk.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews