Soul on Top by James Brown

Soul on Top, James Brown's 28th studio album, came out on King in April 1970, and it's the Godfather of Soul in a tuxedo. In November 1969 he went into United Western Recorders in Hollywood with saxophonist Maceo Parker, arranger and conductor Oliver Nelson and Louie Bellson's 18-piece jazz orchestra, and cut a big band record full of standards from the jazz songbook, show tunes and easy-listening favorites.

It shouldn't work, and it absolutely does. The brass swings hard, Brown sings like a man proving he can croon with the best of them, and the funk never quite leaves the room: there's a brand-new arrangement of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" that swaggers in a sharp suit, plus "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" given the full orchestral treatment. A 2004 reissue added a previously unreleased big band take on his 1967 hit "There Was a Time", with fresh liner notes by jazz critic Will Friedwald.

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