So now Ladies and Gentlemen it is star time, are you ready for star time? Thank you and thank you very kindly. It is indeed a great pleasure to present to you at this particular time, national and internationally known as the hardest working man in show business, the man that sings I'll Go Crazy, Try Me, You've Got the Power, Think, If You Want Me, I Don't Mind, Bewildered, the million dollar seller, Lost Someone, the very latest release, Night Train. Let's everybody Shout and Shimmy. Mr. Dynamite, the amazing Mr. Please Please himself, the star of the show, James Brown and The Famous Flames!!
This announcement brought James Brown on stage for what is considered his greatest live performance: 1962 at the Apollo. After the customary introduction he launched into his forty minute set - singing, dancing an elaborate choreography, and directing his band through a series of fast, sometimes spontaneous changes with a complicated set of hand signals and other prompts. At the climax of the show, James Brown falls to the ground. His back up singers drape a cape on him and try to lead him off stage, but he throws the cape aside and returns to the microphone to finish the show.
This announcement brought James Brown on stage for what is considered his greatest live performance: 1962 at the Apollo. After the customary introduction he launched into his forty minute set - singing, dancing an elaborate choreography, and directing his band through a series of fast, sometimes spontaneous changes with a complicated set of hand signals and other prompts. At the climax of the show, James Brown falls to the ground. His back up singers drape a cape on him and try to lead him off stage, but he throws the cape aside and returns to the microphone to finish the show.Here is the entirety of the performance.
Live at the Apollo Part One |
Live at the Apollo Part Two |
And here is a video of James Brown doing his cape routine during a performance from around the same time.