20 All-Time Greatest Hits! (CD - 1991)

While Brown's 30-track, 40-track, and even 50-track collections are excellent choices as well, this fine hits package is the best one for Brown neophytes looking for a way in. Covering his prime stretch from the late '50s through the early '70s, 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! includes early R&B milestones ("Please, Please, Please"), epochal '60s sides ("Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1"), and latter-day funk classics ("Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt. 1"). And that's not to mention such perennials as "Mother Popcorn," "Hot Pants," "Cold Sweat," and "Think." Start your Brown obsession here. ~ Stephen Cook

This is, essentially, a pared-down budget version of STAR TIME, the definitive 4-CD James Brown box also released in 1991, and no finer one-disc Brown greatest-hits album exists. Obviously, 20 ALL TIME GREATEST HITS! doesn't include everything of note that the Godfather of Soul recorded, but it certainly gets all the high points, from gritty '50s R&B ("Please Please Please") to '60s soul hits ("Think," "Night Train," "It's a Man's World") to his underrated soundtrack work ("The Payback") to the funk explosions ("Super Bad," "Hot Pants," "Mother Popcorn") that are probably Brown's most lasting contribution to 20th century pop. If you can't afford the box set, pounce. minimize