The Payback

The Payback is a 1973 double album by James Brown. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, but was rejected by director Larry Cohen for "not being funky enough." It went to #1 on the Soul Albums chart for two weeks and cracked the Pop Albums chart in the Top 40.

The Payback is considered a high point in Brown's recording career, and is now regarded by critics as a landmark funk album. Its revenge-themed title track, a #1 R&B hit, is one of his most famous songs and an especially prolific source of samples for record producers. Musically the album is largely based around cyclic grooves and jamming, but it also features departures into a softer soul-based sound on tracks like "Doing the Best I Can".

The album was reissued on CD in 1992 with liner notes by Alan Leeds.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by James Brown, Fred Wesley and Charles Bobbit; except where indicated. 

• Note: The track time for "Mind Power" is from the 1992 re-release of the album. The original 1973 version is 90 seconds shorter.

Charts

Album — Billboard (North America)

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1974 (U.S.)

References

External links

• Detailed Review of the album