Pop : Shades of Brown From England’s Simply Red

“It’s James . . . James Brown!” screeched an ecstatic young man as he jockeyed for space to dance in the crowded aisles of the Universal Amphitheatre on Friday night.

But it wasn’t the Godfather of Soul playing the relentless, steamy funk that had energized the dancer and motivated many others to gyrate to a Brown-style groove. The fan was paying the ultimate compliment to singer Mick Hucknall and the English pop-soul band Simply Red, placing them in a league with the soul master.

But citing the band for its Brown-style grooves revives a persistent complaint against Simply Red--that the band is derivative.

There’s certainly some truth to it, but while Hucknall’s style does echo Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and a host of other veteran R&B; stars, he gives you a sense that he’s paying homage to them rather than ripping them off.

What Simply Red does even better than earlier white-soul groups like the Average White Band and Culture Club is take ‘60s and ‘70s soul--a slower, brawnier and funkier style than today’s high-speed hip-hop--and infuse it with modern pop and rock elements. After being sifted through the Simply Red filter, some of the hard-core earthiness of that style doesn’t survive. What’s left is vintage soul stripped to its core, with some rough edges honed down.

But Simply Red’s modernized pop-soul hybrid works for its audience because it sizzles like the best slow-burning funk.

Hucknall’s high voice was somewhat on the whiny side in the mid-’80s, but it grows richer with each tour. This time, particularly on his hit ballad “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” his vocals were smoother and more convincing than ever.