Stephen Cook, All Music Guide

In the Jungle Groove was one of the first (and still one of the best) collections of James Brown's transitional and hard-hitting soul/funk workouts from 1969-1971. While the first few numbers here feature Brown sidemen who were in on his mid-'60s hits, the majority feature the original J.B.'s outfit that helped the singer forge several extended and funk-defining sides during 1970. Faced with a walkout by his old band, Brown partially formed the J.B.'s out of the New Dapps from Cincinnati, taking aboard brothers Phelps "Catfish" Collins on guitar and William "Bootsy" Collins on bass; many of those ex-band members, namely drummer Clyde Stubblefield, guitarist Clair St. Pinckney, and trombonist Fred Wesley, would eventually return to flesh out the J.B.'s lineup. The one constant was vocalist and organist Bobby Byrd, who had been with Brown since the singer’s start in 1956. The incredible grooves Bootsy Collins and Stubblefield laid down here would become manna for hip-hop DJs over 15 years later, with the album’s "Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise)" becoming one of the supreme breakbeats of all time. Filling out the collection are the very soulful pre-J.B.'s tracks "It’s a Brand New Day" (tenor saxophonist Maceo Parker's only appearance on the disc) and the original "Funky Drummer," as well as the post-Bootsy cut "Hot Pants (She’s Got to Use What She’s Got to Get What She Wants)." All the numbers here are as in the pocket as you will ever hear in soul and funk. And while many of these tracks are found on various packages like Polydor's Funk Power and Foundations of Funk, In the Jungle Groove has the upper hand with its unequaled coverage of Brown's transformation from soul brother number one to funk originator.

Thom Jurek, All Music Guide (On The 2003 Reissue)

This reissue of In the Jungle Groove is a further obfuscation of the original masters, though a welcome one. The album is not so much an album but a 1986 collection of James Brown singles and apocrypha from recordings of the period 1969-1971; it sounds as defining and current today as it did when it was first issued on LP. While the tracks here featured some new sidemen, a good portion of what's here is played by the original J.B.'s. For starters, there's "It's a New Day," a two-part single issued as King 45-6292 and then placed on the album It's a New Day -- So Let a Man Come In. Next is the classic "Funky Drummer," appearing on album for the first time although it was a Top 20 single in 1969. Also included here are remixed versions of tracks that appeared on the original In the Jungle Groove, such as "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose," and from the Sex Machine LP, as well as "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing." In addition, this expanded version contains mono mixes of "Get Up, Get into It and Get Involved" and "Soul Power," which was re-edited for inclusion here. In addition, the single "Hot Pants" is here and an extended reading of "Blind Man Can See It" is included as a bonus cut. While this funky, greasy mess is enough, there's also the inclusion of the previously unreleased "I Got to Move" and a ghost of bonus beats and added sounds. This does nothing but make something awesome truly stratospheric. Here the focus is on rhythm and hypnosis, that state where the hips and backbone move imperceptibly at first before coming out of their collective shell and making nasty on the dancefloor. At the height of the great hip-hop madness, 1986 was a perfect time to reintroduce these tracks from a decade and a half earlier, and now, with the unimaginative aspect of hip-hop controlling the charts, the reintroduction of real beat-conscious songcraft couldn't be more welcome.

Rickey Wright, Amazon.com

In the Jungle Groove was the first James Brown reissue to provide full-length and unedited versions of his classic funk vamps of the late '60s and early '70s. While later sets have followed its pattern of restoring previously edited music and unearthing previously unissued takes, it remains invaluable for stripping the fake applause off the Sex Machine version of "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" alone. The bonus-beats mix of Clyde Stubblefield's break in "Funky Drummer" helped make this a must-own for '80s hip- hoppers, while the "Swing on the vine/Check out your mind/In the jungle, brother" chant of "I Got to Move" is one of Brown's proudest, most audacious assertions of blackness.

Personnel: James Brown, Bobby Byrd (vocals, organ); Jimmy "Chank" Nolen, Alphonso "Country" Kellum, Phelps "Catfish" Collins, Hearlon "Cheese" Martin, Robert Coleman, Bobby Roach (guitar); Jimmy Parker (alto saxophone); Maceo Parker, L.D. "Eldee" Williams, Robert McCulloch (tenor saxophone); St. Clair Pinckney, Louis Tifford (baritone saxophone); Richard "Kush" Griffeth, Joe Davis, Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison, Clayton "Chicken" Gunnels, Jerone "Jasaan" Melson (trumpet); Fred Wesley (trombone); "Sweet Charles" Sherrell, William "Bootsy" Collins, Fred Thomas (bass); Melvin Parker, Charles Stubblefield, John "Jabo" Starks (drums); John Morgan, Art Lopez, Johnny Griggs (congas). Principally recorded at King Studios, Cincinnati, Ohio; Criteria, Miami, Florida; Bobby Smith Studios, Macon, Georgia; A & R Studios, New York, New York between 1969 & 1972. Includes liner notes by Cliff White.

IN THE JUNGLE GROOVE documents one of the most important periods in the development of James Brown's music. In 1970, Brown's bandleader/sax player Maceo Parker departed to form his own band, taking much of Brown's group with him. This event heralded the arrival of the JB's, which included monster bassist Bootsy Collins, whose hyperkinetic style made Brown's funk harder, leaner, and meaner. This album gives listeners a bird's-eye view of the change, featuring the final sessions of the Maceo-led band as well as the first recordings of Bootsy and the JB's. Maceo and company were at their hardest and funkiest at this point, as seen on "The Funky Drummer," where Clyde Stubblefield lays down the drum break that would launch a thousand hip-hop samples. Stubblefield stuck around long enough to be part of the first JB's, whose tracks here are full of frenetic, barely controlled energy. The sense of joy and revelation in the groove is audible in these orgasmically polyrhythmic sessions. Collins and Stubblefield lay down some of the heaviest grooves in the history of recorded music. As Brown himself observes on the aforementioned Maceo-era "Funky Drummer," "it's a mutha!

Dominique Leone, Pitchfork Media, August 8, 2003

James Brown turned 70 this year, and while most great-grandparents are settling down on their lake house patio, or complaining about the nursing home food, last I heard, James was busy scaring the shit out of solicitors at his South Carolina home. With that in mind, it's good to know his legacy and legend are in safe keeping via his music, and the myriad compilations detailing the facets of his genius. In the Jungle Groove was originally issued in 1986, just as interest in Brown's backbeats reawakened via the power of sampling in hip-hop, and cut for cut, it's in the highest category of Brown compilations, standing tall alongside any of his greatest hits sets (and even the Star Time box). It's not that it necessarily covers a lot of ground, or even gives a good overall view of Brown's career-- because it really only spans a short period from late 1969 until mid 1971, with a bonus track from 1972 added for this reissue-- but those years were particularly fertile, and this set nails them.

The early 70s is generally viewed as Brown's last really great period, but it's not without problems. For starters, his band underwent two complete overhauls: after working with the same basic core since about 1964 (with minor fluctuations as during Maceo and Melvin Parker's military stints), mutiny reared its ugly head in the spring of 1970. With trombonist Fred Wesley checking out to L.A., Maceo took his ball and the rest of the band and went on the road his own damn self. Without anyone to back him, Brown was in dire straights-- that is until right hand man Bobby Byrd called long-distance to the Cincinnati residence of William ("Bootsy") and Phelps Collins. Along with longtime associate Sir Clyde Stubblefield, the new groove was formed, and dubbed the JB's. That is, until Bootsy started having horrific acid experiences onstage, and fell out with Brown in the process. When Wesley returned, and regulars like St. Clair Pinckney and John "Jabo" Starks climbed back onboard, the JB's were officially retooled and managed to stick it out until the mid-70s. Hardest working men in show business, indeed.

In the Jungle Groove runs through all of that via ten pretty amazing tracks that manage to sound like one huge break despite the clamor behind the scenes. "It's A New Day" leads things off on a particularly upbeat note, even for these guys. Brown makes his case for letting "the girls know what they can do for us" before Jimmy Nolen drops a very funky Stax-esque guitar lick and the horns hit their thing. When the drums come in and the handclaps slap, I do believe the portion of cosmos located right above my house is aligned. We're one song in, and the fucking cosmos is aligned. "Can I get a witness?" By all means, and then serve up "Funky Drummer". Of all the songs here, "Funky Drummer" is easily the most heard, even if only for Stubblefield's still-unholy-after-all-these-years break. What's not so known is the understated, but cutting solo by Maceo and Brown's own wildly unhinged organ touches.

The Bootsy years are represented by a very hot remix of "Give It Up or Turn It Loose", "I Got to Move", "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing", "Get Up, Get Into It and Get Involved" and "Soul Power". "Give It Up" in particular stands out, thanks to the whiplash sound of Stubblefield's drums and Bootsy's restless, but tight bass lines. There's a break in the middle where the band drops out and only Brown's orders to "clap your hands, stomp your feet" and Johnny Griggs' congas are keeping the beat alive. When Brown gives the signal ("Clyde!"), and the drums re-enter, dollars to donuts you're out the window with funky joy (or calling for the Neptunes' heads for their complete rip of this trick-- "drums!"-- for Justin Timberlake, of all people). "Talkin' Loud" also gets a new shine via the remix treatment, as the golden tag team of Stubblefield, Collins and Nolen get their rocks off and then some. James Brown isn't really the kind of artist who needs his stuff beefed up, but here it only serves to make a very good thing harder and hotter.

The final track is the previously unreleased, extended version of "Blind Man Can See It", originally a part of Brown's soundtrack to the blaxploitation flick Black Caesar. Jabo Starks keeps everything very much in the pocket here, as Brown is content to run amok off-mic around the studio. The mostly-instrumental jam keeps fairly calm (and the Rhodes asides are key), and if not for Nolen's rampantly sampled guitar line and Brown's ending soliloquy lamenting the lack of gigs around, this could probably pass for straight ahead acid-jazz funkateering. It's perhaps not in the same stratospheric pantheon as other cuts on the set, but like pretty much everything Brown did during this time, it gets the job done easily.

There are a few very good compilations available covering Brown's pure funk period: besides this one, be sure to check out the James Brown's Funky People series, Funk Power 1970, Make It Funky: The Big Payback and the two-disc JB's anthology. All of them are incredible, and emphasize slightly different aspects of his (and his band's) music from the late 60s and early 70s. However, times are tight, and if you only have room for one on your shelf, you couldn't do much better than this CD. Cliff White had it right 17 years ago, and he has it right now: this ain't for the faint hearted. This is the jungle groove.

Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone, issue 926, July 10, 2003

This brilliant single-disc compilation focuses on the pinnacle of James Brown's achievements: the dance music he made between 1969 and 1971, when he defined the state of the art of rhythm, again and again and again. You may think you already know "Funky Drummer" just because you've heard the rhythm sampled on a thousand hip-hop tracks, but if you've never heard the full nine-minute jam, you need to. Brown leads the band through a sinuous groove, punctuated by horn blasts and his own grunts, pulling on the rhythm like it was Silly Putty, seeing how far he can stretch the groove and still retain its feel. When he finally lets Clyde Stubblefield take the drum break, it's as pure a moment of release as you'll find in recorded music.
Nothing could stop Brown in these three years, not even having most of his band quit. Almost every track here clocks in between six and nine minutes, and all have an awesome, unstoppable propulsion. Whenever Brown stops the groove for a breakdown, whether it's on "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" or "Get Up, Get Into It and Get Involved," it feels like he has ordered the ocean to stop crashing onto the beach. And, of course, the ocean obeys.

© Frank Steven Groen