During June of 1967 The James Brown Show appeared at the Apollo Theater in Harlem for 10 days, playing 6 shows a day to sell-out audiences who had lined up on 125th Street and around the block for hours to see the hottest band in America.
The resulting record,“Live at the Apollo II“, broke all preconceptions about live albums when it was released in 1968, as a follow-up to the seminal 1963 recording „Live At The Apollo“. The Deluxe Edition “Live at the Apollo II“ released in 2001 by Universal Records contains extended material and great liner notes by Alan Leeds.
In 1967 Pee Wee, at the tender age of 26, was already Music Director, also playing alto sax and organ and co-writing and arranging for the James Brown Band. At that time the band would play a jazz set before Mr. Brown came on stage: here is a clip of Pee Wee strutting his stuff with an alto solo on Lee Morgan’s jazz standard “The Sidewinder“ at the Olympia in Paris the same year.