NBA at 50: A Musical Celebration

1. Star Spangled Banner [Live] - Marvin Gaye

2. Slam Dunk - Kool & the Gang

3. 1950, Minneapolis Lakers Vs. Fort Wayne Pistons [Live Call]

4. Let the Good Times Roll - Wayman Tisdale, Bobby Womack

5. Game 5, 1976 NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns Vs. Boston Celtics (Triple Overti

6. This Magic Moment - Take 6

7. Say...If You Feel Alright - Crystal Waters

8. I'll Take You There - SWV

9. Basketball - Kurtis Blow

10. Game 7, 1960 NBA Finals, St Louis Hawks Vs, Boston Celtics [Live Call]

11. Good Times - Zhané

12. Shotgun - Babi Floyd, David Sanborn

13. You Bring the Sunshine - Gina Thompson

14. Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature

15. Wilt Chamberlain Scoring 100th Point, 1960, Philadelphia Warriors Vs. N

16. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Brian McKnight

17. Giving You the Best That I Got - Eddie LeVert, Gerald LeVert

18. Oh How the Years Go By - Vanessa Williams

19. Game 6, 1996 NBA Finals, Chicago Bulls Vs. Seattle Supersonics, Bulls'

Tracks:

Star Spangled Banner [Live] - Marvin Gaye
Slam Dunk - Kool & the Gang
1950, Minneapolis Lakers Vs. Fort Wayne Pistons [Live Call]
Let the Good Times Roll - Wayman Tisdale, Bobby Womack
Game 5, 1976 NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns Vs. Boston Celtics (Triple ...)
This Magic Moment - Take 6
Say...If You Feel Alright - Crystal Waters
I'll Take You There - SWV
Basketball - Kurtis Blow
Game 7, 1960 NBA Finals, St Louis Hawks Vs, Boston Celtics [Live Call]
Good Times - Zhan
Shotgun - Babi Floyd, David Sanborn
You Bring the Sunshine - Gina Thompson
Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty by Nature
Wilt Chamberlain Scoring 100th Point, 1960, Philadelphia Warriors ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Brian McKnight
Giving You the Best That I Got - Eddie LeVert, Gerald LeVert
Oh How the Years Go By - Vanessa Williams
Game 6, 1996 NBA Finals, Chicago Bulls Vs. Seattle Supersonics, Bulls'

Customer Reviews:

Wow.......2007-03-04

This is worth it just for Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem. Amazing.

What a Very Pleasant Surprise! A Great Tribute To the NBA on its 50th Birthday!.......2006-01-07

To be very honest, I can't understand why this album isn't selling any better and I see people offering to unload theirs at less than a buck! Take it from someone who has listened to too many albums and bands to remember for more than 3 decades, the music on this album is worth a lot more than a buck!

Firstly, if you are a fan of the NBA, you are in for a real treat. The packaging is fantastic coming in a very well-designed thick cardboard, felt covered slipcase and comes with a great cd booklet in full-colour of 40 pages including the covers that contains great pictures of the history of the NBA over the years plus very interesting write-ups. This alone, without getting to the music itself is already worth a few bucks as a collectors' item.

Now to the music: just because there are covers on this disc, doesn't make this a bad disc. Many bands have made great careers out of doing covers in their own styles and arrangements. Even the Beatles did many covers on their early albums and so did Van Halen, Eric Clapton, too many boy bands to name and the list goes on.

This album is not totally comprised of covers though as there are tracks like the brilliant "Slam Dunk" by Kool and the Gang, the excellent R&B track by Crystal Waters, "Say...If You Feel Alright", the rap track by the legendary Curtis Blow, one of the forefathers of modern rap, "Basketball", "Hip Hip Hooray" by Naughty By Nature all interspersed with commentary snippets from live games.

All the covers are not straight outright rip-offs of the original but are all great re-arrangements in their own unique styles of the artistes singing them such as Bobby Womack, Take 6, SWV, Brian McNight, Vanessa Williams etc who are all legends of R&B. In fact, I'd say their renditions are all vast improvements over the originals which is what one really expects out of people doing covers.

Also, the sound quality is excellent and the production and mastering of this disc is first class. Overall, a very lovinging put together package to commemorate NBA basketball's 50th and a very good album with regards track selection and great sound quality which is destined to be a collector's item.

I guess you'll never be able to get such great value at less than a buck! Highly recommended for R&B, rap and NBA fans everywhere.

The One & Only.......2003-06-14

While most of the tunes on this CD are dull and lifeless covers, and the audio clips from a handfull of NBA games are oddly chosen and aurally challenged, it IS worth owning, because it is the one and only place where you can get a full-length copy of Marvin Gaye's fantastic version of the Star Spangled Banner, recorded live at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. It's a miraculous rendition, spoiled somewhat by a corny 'sounds of the game' intro and some sound engineer twisting too many knobs about two minutes in.

Nobody could expect this!.......2003-02-15

What a surprise this was! If you enter a CD store and come upon a CD that has some relation to the NBA or one of its clubs, what would you think? Probably that it's packed with songs that play during the NBA games. Incredibly, it has a great selection of Soul, R&B, and Funk, with versions of songs that you won't find anywhere else. "Let The Good Times Roll", featuring Wayman Tisdale on sax, makes even BB King listen. "Slam Dunk", "Shotgun", and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" all do the same for me. Among other great songs, you'll also get a beautiful breathtaking version of Star Spangled Banner by Marvin Gaye. (And hey, I'm Brazilian!)
It's a shame this CD is out of stock. I guess most people didn't give it a chance.