NOW OUT OF PRINT...GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!!!!........CD Edition limited to 5000 non-numbered limited edition copies.............. In the annals of popular music, one artist reigns supreme as the No. 1 R&B Singles Artist of All Time: James Brown. By far. This Is the first in a series of 2-CD collections chronicling every single from The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. Kicking off the series is The Federal Years: 1956-1960, with 40 songs, from the first hit, the Top 5 Please, Please, Please, which remains his signature sign-off, to Think, which showcased the sound of things to come. Brown and the Famous Flames had signed with King Records in January, 1956, and as a young, unproven act were placed with King’s Federal subsidiary label. These 40 tracks alone make for a historic and compelling collection, as Brown went from a hit his first time out, to his future being in jeopardy – eight flops in a row! – to becoming one of the best R&B acts in the country. But Hip-OSelect adds an extraordinary bonus track: the long-lost demo for Try Me, which when re-recorded in New York, became Brown’s first of many R&B No. 1 hits. The demo is rough-sounding – it was transferred from an extremely rare, recently discovered acetate – but it’s a unique and exclusive glimpse into the inner workings of a young James Brown and The Famous Flames. James Brown – The Federal Years: 1956-1960 includes a 28-page booklet filled with track-by-track annotations, anecdotes and detailed session information. Every page of the beautifully designed package includes a rare photograph or artifact, from early publicity pictures to 1950s poster reproductions.
