One of the lesser-known stories of the Hammond is that of James Brown. Between 1964 and 1966 (though the releases went into 1967) Brown recorded a series of LP’s for Smash records that featured his talents as an organist. He also recorded sporadic small-group organ 45’s for King (see this month’s Organ Groove), but the bulk of his work was for Smash.

In 1964, Brown had a brief break with King Records, during which he moved to the Mercury subsidiary Smash. After releasing the ‘Out of Sight’ LP in 1964, he returned to King for all of his ‘vocal’ records, but maintained a relationship with Smash that yielded 8 LP’s (2 of which were compilations or reissues), 5 of which were primarily organ/instrumental.

While certainly not a brilliant technician or innovator, and occasionally guilty of sloppy and uninspired playing, Brown was also capable of exciting and deeply soulful work.

The string of albums began with 1964’s ‘Grits and Soul’, which – like all of the other Smash LP’s – also contained ‘band’ features. One of the crucial elements in these recordings, as in all of his work, is the Famous Flames, but especially the arranging talents of Nat Jones. In fact, it’s the overall precision of the band that occasionally cast his organ playing in a dim light. Featuring slow bluesy numbers like ‘Grits’, and more upbeat fare like ‘Tempted’ (which features some jazzy soloing by Pee Wee Ellis, quoting ‘On Broadway’), ‘Grits and Soul’ is an interesting departure for the man that was giving birth to funk almost simultaneously with his King sides. The fact that his Smash LP’s feature a loose, occasionally jazz-inflected sound may be their most attractive feature. Instead of creating a series of retreads of his King 45’s, Brown took advantage of the Smash recordings to feature Jones’ arranging skills and to let the band work their chops. You also get to hear something which is evident in Jamaican ska recordings of the same period, i.e. R&B played by musicians with jazz training. It adds a very interesting flavor.

The highlight of ‘Grits and Soul’ (besides the ultra-cool pic of JB, Maceo and St. Clair Pinckney on the cover) is JB’s version of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’, which was popularized that year by Jimmy Smith and later recorded by Graham Bond and the Pieces of Eight among others. Here Nat Jones stays close to Oliver Nelson’s arrangement from Smith’s version, with great punchy horn charts and a bravura performance from Brown. The energy level is up there with Smith’s ‘The Cat’ and Brown is at his best.

Next up is ‘James Brown Plays Yesterday and Today’ (sorry…no funky versions of ‘Dr. Robert’ here). For the first and only time in his Smash instrumental catalogue JB takes on some of his own funky hits. There is an extended (almost 9 minutes total) version of ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ that hits a nice hypnotic groove in Pt2. ‘Out of Sight’ cooks along at a brisk pace, and ‘Maybe The Last Time’ becomes a jazzy shuffle. The overall effect of the LP is that of a relaxed, soulful session. The band is tight, but doesn’t generate much heat.

1966’s ‘James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) sees JB and the Flames cranking things up a bit. The title track is not an organ feature, and while it’s a cool R&B tune, the b-side of the 45 (Pt2) has to contain one of the laziest edits in the history of soul. It sounds as if it were spliced together with Scotch tape.

Of the organ tunes on the LP, ‘Fat Bag’ is tight little groover with some great horn action, especially from Maceo. ‘All About My Girl’ is the same upbeat cooker made famous by Jimmy McGriff (also covered by Georgie Fame and Albert Collins among others). While not as powerful as the McGriff version (one of the great 60’s organ sides), JB acquits himself nicely, proving that while he often manages to sound like an inspired amateur on the B-3, he did indeed have some chops. Here he very generously gives himself writing credit (it’s a McGriff tune). ‘Sumpin’ Else’ is a great blues number with outstanding, jazzy solos from several members of the band. It is definitely one of the best tracks on the album and could stand proudly alongside many a Blue Note organ session of the day.

‘Handful of Soul’, also released in 1966, finds JB working out on some soul hits and some originals. The take on Wilson Pickett’s ‘634-5789’ is great, with a vocal group on the chorus that manages not to get in the way, a solid arrangement and some nice organ work by JB. The formula is repeated in a version of ‘Hold On I’m Coming’, with the band setting a nice groove. Ironically, while both of these covers sound as if they were meant for release as singles (in length and style) there do not appear to have been any 45’s released from this LP. There was however a non-LP single during this period (‘James Brown’s Boogaloo’ b/w ‘Lost In A Mood Of Changes’). Once again, the highlight of the album is a long bluesy track, this time ‘The King’. Here the band does an ominous, continuous vamp (including some nice guitar by Chank Nolen) with JB doing his thing up front.

The last of the organ LP’s for Smash was 1967’s ‘James Brown Plays the Real Thing’. Here Pee Wee Ellis takes over as arranger, and the feel is slightly looser and less jazzy. The single from this album (his last 45 for Smash), a cover of Martha and the Vandella’s ‘Jimmy Mack’ has a soulful, ‘party’ atmosphere with lots of studio noise by the band at the beginning.. The album also features covers of ‘Funky Broadway’, Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You’ and ‘Bernadette’.

After ‘James Brown Plays the Real Thing’, the only other Smash release was a reissue of ‘James Brown Sings Out of Sight’ in 1968.