Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

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Henrik
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Re: Best James Brown Songs

Post by Henrik »

Hymie wrote:As I expected, my older friends (65+) voted mainly for 50s and early 60s things with some early funk stuff from the 60s. The younger folks from this forum voted mainly for mid-60s and up with lots of 70s funk stuff. The results will be interesting as both groups meet.
Feels like a tie between 70s funk and the ”Try Me!” album in the lower half of the list.
Everyone you meet fights a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #51 is "I Won't Plead No More" from late 1956. It was on the flip side of "Chonnie-On-Chon" as a single and later was included on the "Try Me!" album.

Image

RANK-BALLOTS-POINTS-TITLE
051 - 06-208 - I Won't Plead No More
052 - 06-207 - It Was You
053 - 05-203 - That's When I Lost My Heart
054 - 07-200 - Just Won't Do Right
055 - 08-198 - I Know It's True
056 - 06-195 - Let Yourself Go
057 - 05-182 - Let's Make It
058 - 04-179 - Ain't It Funky Now
059 - 06-176 - Come Over Here
060 - 06-175 - You've Got The Power
061 - 05-174 - I Want You So Bad
062 - 05-162 - My Thang
063 - 05-161 - Don't Let It Happen To Me
064 - 03-157 - Blues And Pants
065 - 04-155 - Funky President
066 - 05-154 - I Got Ants In My Pants
067 - 04-151 - That Dood It
068 - 04-148 - Tell Me What I Did Wrong
069 - 04-148 - Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses)
070 - 04-147 - Why Does Everything Happen To Me
071 - 03-145 - Caldonia
072 - 03-138 - Begging, Begging
073 - 05-135 - I'll Never, Never Let You Go
074 - 05-133 - Why Do You Do Me
075 - 03-133 - The Bells
076 - 03-127 - Public Enemy #1
077 - 03-125 - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto
078 - 03-124 - It's Too Funky In Here
079 - 04-119 - There Must Be A Reason
080 - 03-119 - Shout And Shimmy
081 - 03-114 - Goodbye My Love
082 - 03-112 - Brother Rapp
083 - 02-112 - Messing With The Blues
084 - 05-107 - Hold My Baby's Hand
085 - 03-107 - The Boss
086 - 03-102 - Hell
087 - 03-100 - Unity
088 - 04-97 - Get It Together
089 - 03-95 - Escape-ism
090 - 02-95 - And I Do Just What I Want
091 - 02-95 - Shoot Your Shot
092 - 03-92 - I Don't Know
093 - 04-87 - Baby Cries Over The Ocean
094 - 03-87 - There It Is
095 - 04-85 - Stoned To The Bone
096 - 02-83 - Signed Sealed and Delivered
097 - 05-82 - It Hurts To Tell You
098 - 03-81 - Got To Cry
099 - 03-79 - Coldblooded
100 - 03-79 - I Don't Care
101 - 03-79 - Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn
=======================================================


As we break into the top 50, song #50 comes from 1959:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFLhokMrrxA
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #50 is "I've Got To Change" from 1959. It was on a single and also was on the "Try Me!" album that same year.

Image


Song #49 is up now, it's from 1971:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2D2oUNTbjU
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #49 is "Make It Funky" from 1971. This one reached #1 on the Billboard Soul Chart and got to #22 on their Pop Chart. I like near the end of the long version where he wants the guitarist to play like BB King. In 2005, the bassline to all four parts was ranked at number 2 in Stylus Magazine's list of the "Top 50 Basslines of All Time."

Here's a few songs that sampled "Make It Funky."
Ice-T - Make It Funky
Marley Marl - Droppin' Science
Slum Village - I Don't Know
Kingdom - Every Beat Of My Heart

Image


Next up we go back to 1960 for song #48.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYfZ5pdEl10
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #48 is "This Old Heart" from 1960. It was his last single that was issued on Federal before moved over to King. It was included on the "Think!" album, also in 1960.


Image


Song #47 is next, and it's quite different from what we just heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-CpiRXRQUc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #47 is "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" from 1970. It reached #4 on the Billboard Soul Chart and #34 on the Hot 100 Pop Chart. It features backing vocals by Bobby Byrd, who shared writing credit for the song with Brown and Ron Lenhoff. This was one of several songs by Brown with an upfront social message. The song first received an album release on "In the Jungle Groove" in 1986.

Here are a few Hip Hop records that sampled "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved."

Public Enemy – "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" and "Can't Truss It"
BDP – "South Bronx"
MC Shan – "Juice Crew Law"
Full Force – "Ain't My Type of Hype"

Image


Song #46 is next, some early funk from 1966:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJ6HyUmjqk
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #46 is "Money Won't Change You" from 1966. It was recorded at Talent Masters Studio in New York City. The single reached #11 on the Billboard Soul Chart. It was included on the "James Brown Sings Raw Soul" album in 1967.

Image


Song #45 is next. Another great early one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C09rXXzQHbY
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #45 is "No, No, No, No, No" from 1956. This was JB's third single, flip side of "Hold My Baby's Hand," which was #84 on this list. It was included on the "Please, Please, Please" album in 1958.

Image


Song #44 is next, it's from 1970.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrV3kxeqa5M
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #44 is "It's A New Day" from 1970. The single reached #3 on the Billboard Soul Chart and #32 on their Pop Chart. It was also the lead track on the " It's A New Day So Let A Man Come In" album in that same year.

Image

Song #43 is next, and we again jump way back to 1956 for this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6sQhtfQi0
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #43 is "I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On" from 1956. It was JB's second single, the follow up to "Please, Please, Please" in 1956. It was also included on the "Please, Please, Please" album, in 1958.

Image


Song #42 is next, from 1968:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWVd-UHov0Q
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #42 is "Licking Stick, Licking Stick" from 1968. It was written by James Brown, Bobby Byrd, and Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis and recorded by Brown as a two-part single in 1968. Byrd provides backing vocals on the song. It was the first stereo single release by King Records. The song was later included on the album Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud. The title of the song refers to a stick used to administer corporal punishment (a "licking"). The single reached #2 on the Billboard Soul Chart and got to #14 on their Pop Chart.

Image


Song #41 is next. It's a B side that was very popular in some markets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AWEr_GK9Fo
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #41 is "Maybe The Last Time" from 1964. It was the flip side of "Out of Sight" and was a hit in its own right, reaching #45 on the Cash Box R&B chart. Billboard did not have an R&B chart in 1964. but this song did bubble under Billboard's Hot 100, getting to #107 in October 1964.

Brown described it as "a heavy gospel-based number, all about appreciating friends and everything while you can because each time you see somebody may be the last time, you don't know." It was the last studio recording Brown made with the Famous Flames, although the singing group continued to perform live with him for several more years. It's another fine example of the influence of the "5" Royales on JB.

It became a frequent part of Brown and the Famous Flames' concert repertoire in the 1960s. Live performances appear on the albums Live at the Garden, Live at the Apollo, Volume II, and Say It Live and Loud: Live in Dallas 08.26.68, and in the concert film Live at the Boston Garden. The song has gospel antecedents, particularly an earlier recording by the Staple Singers, and similarity to a later track by the Rolling Stones called “The Last Time”, which borrowed its name and theme from the Brown/Famous Flames song.

Image


RANK-BALLOTS-POINTS-TITLE
041 - 09-337 - Maybe The Last Time
042 - 09-297 - Licking Stick, Licking Stick
043 - 06-294 - I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On
044 - 07-286 - It's A New Day
045 - 07-285 - No, No, No, No
046 - 07-239 - Money Won't Change You
047 - 07-235 - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
048 - 06-230 - This Old Heart
049 - 08-213 - Make It Funky
050 - 06-211 - I've Got To Change
051 - 06-208 - I Won't Plead No More
052 - 06-207 - It Was You
053 - 05-203 - That's When I Lost My Heart
054 - 07-200 - Just Won't Do Right
055 - 08-198 - I Know It's True
056 - 06-195 - Let Yourself Go
057 - 05-182 - Let's Make It
058 - 04-179 - Ain't It Funky Now
059 - 06-176 - Come Over Here
060 - 06-175 - You've Got The Power
061 - 05-174 - I Want You So Bad
062 - 05-162 - My Thang
063 - 05-161 - Don't Let It Happen To Me
064 - 03-157 - Blues And Pants
065 - 04-155 - Funky President
066 - 05-154 - I Got Ants In My Pants
067 - 04-151 - That Dood It
068 - 04-148 - Tell Me What I Did Wrong
069 - 04-148 - Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses)
070 - 04-147 - Why Does Everything Happen To Me
071 - 03-145 - Caldonia
072 - 03-138 - Begging, Begging
073 - 05-135 - I'll Never, Never Let You Go
074 - 05-133 - Why Do You Do Me
075 - 03-133 - The Bells
076 - 03-127 - Public Enemy #1
077 - 03-125 - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto
078 - 03-124 - It's Too Funky In Here
079 - 04-119 - There Must Be A Reason
080 - 03-119 - Shout And Shimmy
081 - 03-114 - Goodbye My Love
082 - 03-112 - Brother Rapp
083 - 02-112 - Messing With The Blues
084 - 05-107 - Hold My Baby's Hand
085 - 03-107 - The Boss
086 - 03-102 - Hell
087 - 03-100 - Unity
088 - 04-97 - Get It Together
089 - 03-95 - Escape-ism
090 - 02-95 - And I Do Just What I Want
091 - 02-95 - Shoot Your Shot
092 - 03-92 - I Don't Know
093 - 04-87 - Baby Cries Over The Ocean
094 - 03-87 - There It Is
095 - 04-85 - Stoned To The Bone
096 - 02-83 - Signed Sealed and Delivered
097 - 05-82 - It Hurts To Tell You
098 - 03-81 - Got To Cry
099 - 03-79 - Coldblooded
100 - 03-79 - I Don't Care
101 - 03-79 - Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn
======================================================


Okay, time to break into the Top 40 James Brown songs, as we voted them. THIS is #40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ziBH-67sew
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #40 is "Papa Don't Take No Mess" from 1974. It was Brown's final number one R&B chart hit and peaked at number thirty-one on the Hot 100. The full-length version, nearly 14 minutes long, appeared on the double album Hell. Like "The Payback," "Papa Don't Take No Mess" was originally recorded for a rejected soundtrack to the blaxploitation film "Hell Up in Harlem."

Image


Song #39 is next. It's what we need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxQ0wsvAYTc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #39 is "Soul Power" from 1971. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s (plus Fred Wesley) and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features backing vocals by Bobby Byrd. It charted #3 R&B and #29 Pop.

Part 1 of "Soul Power" appeared on the 1972 album Soul Classics. Live versions of the song were included on Revolution of the Mind (1971) and Love Power Peace (1992; recorded 1971), but no longer version of the original studio recording received an album release until an eight-minute re-edit was issued on the 1986 compilation album In the Jungle Groove. The complete studio recording, over 12 minutes long, appeared for the first time on the 1996 CD compilation Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

with The J.B.'s:

Bobby Byrd - organ, vocals
Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison - trumpet
Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet
Fred Wesley - trombone
St. Clair Pinckney - tenor saxophone
Phelps "Catfish" Collins - guitar
Bobby Roach - guitar
William "Bootsy" Collins - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums
Johnny Griggs - congas

Image


Song #38 is next. From very early in 1964.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JriD0N76ZGU
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #38 is "Oh Baby Don't You Weep" from 1964. Billboard had discontinued its R&B chart at that time, but the record reached #4 on the Cash Box R&B chart. It got to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart. Hard to believe that pop stations of the day were playing that record in between Bobby Vinton and the Singing Nun.

Based upon the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep", it was recorded as an extended-length track and released as the first two-part single of Brown's recording career. "Oh Baby, Don't You Weep" was originally issued with dubbed-in audience noise to simulate a live recording and added to the otherwise authentic live album Pure Dynamite: Live At The Royal. The song's last-minute addition to the album helped make it a hit, propelling it to #10 on the Billboard album chart.

Brown plays the role of the song's narrator, a man comforting a woman devastated by lost love:

You scream and you holler,
your back is soaking wet,
You know that you still love him
and still you can't forget

The Famous Flames support Brown's lead vocal with gospel-inspired chants of "Oh baby, don't you weep". During the course of the song, the theme suddenly changes, as Brown sings of famous entertainers he has met in his travels ("I've got a lot of friends in my business"), and then begins to quote titles of songs recorded by them, such as Jackie Wilson ("You Better Stop Dogging Me Around"), Solomon Burke and Wilson Pickett ("If You Need Me....Call Me" and "It's Too Late"), Sam Cooke ("You Send Me") Ray Charles ("Born To Lose") and Famous Flames member Bobby Byrd's solo release ("I Found Out Now").

"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" was the last new recording Brown made for King Records for over a year. An incident during the recording session in which producer Gene Redd criticized Brown's piano playing as "musically incorrect" brought to a head his disagreements with label owner Syd Nathan and his staff. In response, Brown and Famous Flame Bobby Byrd formed a production company, Fair Deal Record Corporation, and accepted an offer from Mercury Records to release new recordings on their Smash subsidiary. With Brown gone, Nathan resorted to releasing rejected songs and outtakes from earlier recording sessions in the ensuing months. Eventually King's lawyers took the dispute to court and obtained a ruling preventing Brown from issuing his vocal recordings on other labels. In mid-1965 Brown returned to King to release the hit "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag". He continued to record instrumentals and produce records for other performers on Smash through 1967.

Image


Song #37 is next. Other than "Try Me," this one was JB's biggest R&B Chart hit through the end of 1961. One of my favorites, it was #4 on my ballot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNyc1TimtHA
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #37 is "Baby, You're Right," from 1960. It was first issued on the "Think!" album in 1960, and then on a single in 1961, where it reached #2 on the Billboard R&B chart. For some reason they bused an alternate version of the song on the "Star Time" box set. The song was written by James Brown and Joe Tex, who did a version himself in 1961.


Song #36 is next. It's from 1959:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ2WxwWaAbE
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #36 is "Good, Good Lovin'" from 1959. It was listed on 11 ballots in the voting, accumulating a total of 423 points. Besides the single it was also on the "Think!" album that same year.

Image


Song #35 is next. It was released at the very end of 1966.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYqBIvbMde8
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #35 is "Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue)" from 1966. Early in 1967 it reached #7 on the Billboard Soul chart and got to #29 on their Pop Chart. It was included on the album "James Brown Sings Raw Soul" in 1967. This was a very progressive record for 1966, foreshadowing what was to come with JB's sound in the coming years, as he invented Funk Music.

Image


Next up is song #34, and it illustrates where JB had taken the funk sound a few years after "Bring It Up." This is #34.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAoHS_HH9WI
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #34 is "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" from 1969. The song was a #1 Billboard Soul chart hit and also made their top 20 pop singles chart. "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" appeared as an instrumental on the Ain't It Funky (1970) album, removing Brown's vocals and adding guitar overdubs, while the vocal version was released onto Soul Classics (1972).

Personnel
James Brown - lead vocals
Waymon Reed – trumpet
Richard "Kush" Griffith – trumpet
Fred Wesley – trombone
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis – alto saxophone
Maceo Parker – tenor saxophone
St. Clair Pinckney – baritone saxophone
Jimmy Nolen – guitar
Alphonso "Country" Kellum – guitar
Charles Sherrell – bass
Nate Jones – drums[5]
Chuck Kirkpatrick – recording engineer

Image


Song #33 is next, and it takes us to 1972:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsjh5nhinIM
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #33 is "King Heroin" from 1972. "King Heroin" is an anti-drug song by James Brown, David Matthews, Manny Rosen and Charles Bobbit. Brown recorded this poem set to music at a studio in New York with session musicians in January 1972 and released it as a single in March. It was his fifth single for Polydor Records and reached number six on the U.S. Hot Soul Singles chart and number forty on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring. The song was included on Brown's 1972 album "There It Is."

The poem was originally written by Rosen, who worked at the Stage Delicatessen on Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan. It was written from the point of view of the drug, and explained in graphic detail by first-person narrative the effects heroin addiction has on people who use it, from fashion models neglecting their looks, to "the most virile of men losing their sex," to committing murder, to cold turkey withdrawal. Rosen's poem was then set to music by Brown, his arranger David Matthews, and Brown's manager Charles Bobbit. Brown added an intro to start off the piece, referring to heroin as "one of our most deadly killers in the country today"; and towards the end, he noted, "This is a revolution of the mind" – referring to the title of his 1971 live concert album recorded at the Apollo Theater in New York.

"King Heroin" was another of Brown's stabs at socially conscious music, along the lines of such previous efforts as "Don't Be a Drop-Out" and "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud." His narrative style on this song is also considered to be a forerunner of rap music.

Image


Next up is #32, and it's James Brown in 1956 doing his best Little Richard imitation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onQ-R8a1xAk
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #32 is "Chonnie-On-Chon" from 1956. The flip side was song #51, "I Won't Plead No More." This was JB's 5th single, and his last release of 1956. "Chonnie-On-Chon" was included on the "Please, Please, Please" album. There's a great scene from the movie "Liberty Heights" where JB is appearing in Baltimore and doing this song live and the entire Theater is going crazy. Unfortunately the scene is not on Youtube, but the entire movie is fun if you ever get a chance to see it. There's just two more songs from the 1950s still to come on the countdown.

Image


Song #31 is next. It's the single most sampled record ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoQ4AtsFWVM
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #31 is "Funky Drummer" from 1970. "Funky Drummer" is a jam session recorded by James Brown and his band in 1969. The recording's drum break, a propulsive beat improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled rhythmic breaks in hip hop and popular music.

The song was recorded on November 20, 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and originally released by King Records as a two-part 45 rpm single in March 1970.The difference between the album version and the single version is that the single version contains Brown's vocal percussion ('kooncha'). Despite rising to #20 on the R&B chart and #51 on the pop chart, it was not on any album until the 1986 compilation "In the Jungle Groove."

The piece takes the form of an extended vamp, with individual instruments (mostly the guitar, tenor saxophones and organ) improvising brief licks on top. Brown's ad-libbed vocals on "Funky Drummer" are sporadic and declamatory, and are mostly concerned with encouraging the other band members.The song is played in the key of D minor, though the first verse is in C major.

As in the full-length version of "Cold Sweat," Brown announces the upcoming drum break, which comes late in the recording, with a request to "give the drummer some." He tells Stubblefield "You don't have to do no soloing, brother, just keep what you got... Don't turn it loose, 'cause it's a mother." Stubblefield's eight-bar unaccompanied "solo", a version of the riff he plays through most of the piece, is the result of Brown's directions; this break beat is one of the most sampled recordings in music.

After the drum break, the band returns to the original vamp. Brown, apparently impressed with what Stubblefield has produced, seems to name the song on the spot as it continues, and repeats it: "The name of this tune is 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer'." The recording ends with a reprise of Stubblefield's solo and a fade-out.

"The Funky Drummer" is also sometimes used as a nickname for Stubblefield himself, who capitalized on the name with his 1997 album Revenge of the Funky Drummer. As a session drummer, Stubblefield received no further compensation for the many samples that were taken from the recording.

Here are some of the records that sampled "Funky Drummer."

2 Live Crew - "Coolin'"
808 State - "Pacific 202"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Seperate / Together"
Above the Law - "Murder Rap"
Above the Law - "Untouchables"
Above the Law - "What Cha Can Prove"
Allison Williams - "Sleep Talk"
Another Def Creation - "The Beat Keeper"
Awesome Dre - "Frankly Speaking"
Beastie Boys - "Shadrach"
Big Daddy Kane - "Mortal Combat"
Biz Markie - "Spring Again"
Black Rock & Ron - "Stop the World"
Breeze - "Great Big Freak"
BWP - "A Different Category"
Cash Money & Marvelous - "Drawers"
Choice MC - "Bad A-s Bitch"
Chubb Rock - "Bump the Floor"
Chubb Rock - "Talkin' Loud, Ain't Sayin' Jack"
Coldcut - "Say Kids, What Time is It?"
Compton's Most Wanted - "The Final Chapter"
Compton's Most Wanted - "Wanted"
Convicts - "I Like Boning"
CPO - "Flow to the Rhythm"
Criminal Nation - "I'm Rollin'"
Criminal Nation - "Insane"
Criminal Nation - "It's a Black Thing"
Criminal Nation - "The Right Crowd"
De la Soul - "Oodles of O's"
Deep Forest - "Deep Forest"
Depeche Mode - "My Joy"
Derek B - "Get Down"
Derek B - "Human Time Bomb"
Digable Planets - "Where I'm From"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "2 Damn Hype"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Hip Hop Dancer's Theme"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Jazzy's Groove"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Magnificent Jazzy Jeff"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Pump up the Bass"
DJ Mark the 45 King ft Lakim Shabazz - "When a Wise Man Speaks"
DJ Master T - "Wind Me Up"
DOC - "Let the Bass Go"
Domination - "Back at it Again"
Dr. Dre - "Let Me Ride"
Eazy-E - "We Want Eazy"
Enigma - "Carly's Song"
Eric B and Rakim - "Lyrics of Fury"
Eric B and Rakim - "Relax with Pep"
Father MC - "Ain't it Funky"
Fine Young Cannibals - "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be"
Freddie Foxx - "F. F. is Here"
Fresh 4 - "Wishing on a Star"
Gang Starr - "2 Deep"
George Michael - "Waiting for That Day/You Can't Always Get. . ."
Geto Boys - "Mind of a Lunatic"
Geto Boys - "Read These Nikes"
Goats - "TV Cops"
Gus Gus - "Purple"
Guy - "I Like"
Hard Knocks - "A Blow to the Head"
Heavy D - "Peaceful Journey"
Heavy D - "We Got Our Own Thang"
Hi-C - "Take a Ride"
HWA - "Trick is a Trick"
Ice Cube - "Endangered Species"
Ice Cube - "Jackin' for Beats"
Ice T - "I Ain't New Ta This"
Ice T - "Original Gangster"
Ice T - "Radio Suckers"
James Brown - "She Looks All Types A' Good"
Jaz - "The Originators"
Kid 'N Play - "Foreplay"
Kid 'N Play - "Slippin'"
Kid Sensation - "Emergency"
King Sun - "King Sun with the Sword"
Kool G Rap - "It's a Demo"
Kool G Rap - "The Butcher Shop"
Kool Moe Dee - "Bad, Bad, Bad"
Kool Moe Dee - "I'm Blowing Up"
Kool Moe Dee - "Knowledge is King"
Korn & the Dust Brothers - "Kick the P.A."
Kris Kross - "Jump"
Kris Kross - "Lil' Boys in Da Hood"
Kwame - "The Rhythm"
Lakim Shabazz - "Black is Back"
Leaders of the New School - "Sobb Story"
Leaders of the New School - "Teachers, Don't Teach Us Nonsense"
LL Cool J - "Boomin' System"
LL Cool J - "Fast Peg"
LL Cool J - "Mama Said Knock You Out"
LL Cool J - "Nitro"
LL Cool J - "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
Low Profile - "Make Room for. . ."
Maestro Fresh Wes - "Let Your Backbone Slide"
Mantronix - "Fresh is the Word"
Mantronix ft Wondress - "Got to Have Your Love"
Marky Mark - "Good Vibrations"
Master Cylinder - "It's Rhythm Part 1"
Masters at Work - "Jus' a Lil' Dope"
MC Lyte - "Brooklyn"
MC Shan - "So Def"
MC Shan - "So Fresh"
MC Smooth - "Blow the Whistle"
Mellow Man Ace - "Hypest from Cypress"
Mellow Man Ace - "River Cubano"
Michel'le - "No More Lies"
Michie Mee - "Jamaican Funk Canadian Style"
Ministere Amer - "Traitres"
Mistress & DJ Madame E - "Hypergroove"
Mistress & DJ Madame E - "Show 'em How We Play"
MMG - "Only the Strong Survive"
Mobb Deep - "Flavor for the Non-Believes"
Nas - "Get Down"
Naughty by Nature - "Hot Potato"
Naughty by Nature - "Ready for Dem"
New Order - "Ruined in a Day"
Nikki D - "Freak Accident"
Nikki D - "Gotta up the Ante for the Panties"
Nine Inch Nails - "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)"
No Face - "Half"
NWA - "Fuck tha Police"
NWA - "Quiet on tha Set"
P-Funk All Stars - "Dope Dogs"
Paperboy - "The Nine Yards"
Paris - "I Call Him Mad"
Paris - "On the Prowl"
Paris - "The Devil Made Me Do It"
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "Go with the Flow"
Pharcyde - "Officer"
Prince - "Gangster Glam"
Prince - "Gett Off"
Prince - "My Name is Prince"
Prince Johnny C - "Comin' to Get Ya"
Prince Johnny C - "Kevey Kev is a Dancer with Soul"
Public Enemy - "Bring the Noise"
Public Enemy - "Bring the Noise"
Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
Public Enemy - "Hazy Shade of Criminal"
Public Enemy - "Rebel Without a Pause"
Public Enemy - "She Watch Channel Zero"
Public Enemy - "Terminator X to the Edge of Panic"
Public Enemy - "The Enemy Assault Vehicle Mixx"
Queen - "We Are the Champions"
Redman - "Rated R"
Roxanne Shante - "Have a Nice Day"
Run-DMC - "Back from Hell"
Run-DMC - "Beats to the Rhyme"
Run-DMC - "Run's House"
Run-DMC - "Word is Born"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Let the Rhythm Run"
Scarface - "Born Killer"
Sinead O'Connor - "I Am Stretched on Your Grave"
Sir Mix-A-Lot - "No Holds Barred"
Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot - "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)"
Slick Rick - "The Moment I Feared"
Smooth Ice - "I'm Coming"
Smooth Ice - "Without a Pause"
Sons of Bazerk - "One Time for the Rebel"
South Central Cartel - "Neighborhood Jacka"
Stetsasonic - "DBC Let the Music Play"
Stetsasonic - "Sally"
Stetsasonic - "Speaking of a Girl Named Suzy"
Stetsasonic - "The Hip Hop Band"
Stop the Violence Movement - "Self-Destruction"
Style - "Victim to the Vinyl"
Sublime - "Scarlet Begonias"
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud - "Do the James"
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud - "Let the Drummer Get Ill"
Sweet T - "My Beat"
Tim Dog - "Goin Wild in the Penile"
Tim Dog - "Low Down Nigga"
TLC - "Shock Dat Monkey"
True Mathematics - "For the Lover in You"
Tung Twista - "No Peace Sign"
Tupac ft Richie Rich - "Lie to Kick It"
Ultramagnetic MCs - "Give the Drummer Some"
Ultramagnetic MCs - "Moe Love on the One & Two"
Vanilla Ice - "Stop That Train"
Wagon Christ - "Filthy Drummer"
WC & the Maad Circle - "Ghetto Serenade"
Yomo & Maulkie - "Mockingbird"
YZ - "Return of the Holy One"
Z-Trip - "Rockstar"
Z-Trip - "Rockstar 2"
==========================================================

RANK-BALLOTS-POINTS-TITLE
031 - 11-459 - Funky Drummer
032 - 09-458 - Chonnie-On-Chon
033 - 09-456 - King Heroin
034 - 11-447 - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
035 - 10-441 - Bring It Up
036 - 11-423 - Good Good Lovin'
037 - 10-422 - Baby, You're Right
038 - 10-403 - Oh Baby Don't You Weep
039 - 10-378 - Soul Power
040 - 09-343 - Papa Don't Take No Mess
041 - 09-337 - Maybe The Last Time
042 - 09-297 - Licking Stick, Licking Stick
043 - 06-294 - I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On
044 - 07-286 - It's A New Day
045 - 07-285 - No, No, No, No
046 - 07-239 - Money Won't Change You
047 - 07-235 - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
048 - 06-230 - This Old Heart
049 - 08-213 - Make It Funky
050 - 06-211 - I've Got To Change
051 - 06-208 - I Won't Plead No More
052 - 06-207 - It Was You
053 - 05-203 - That's When I Lost My Heart
054 - 07-200 - Just Won't Do Right
055 - 08-198 - I Know It's True
056 - 06-195 - Let Yourself Go
057 - 05-182 - Let's Make It
058 - 04-179 - Ain't It Funky Now
059 - 06-176 - Come Over Here
060 - 06-175 - You've Got The Power
061 - 05-174 - I Want You So Bad
062 - 05-162 - My Thang
063 - 05-161 - Don't Let It Happen To Me
064 - 03-157 - Blues And Pants
065 - 04-155 - Funky President
066 - 05-154 - I Got Ants In My Pants
067 - 04-151 - That Dood It
068 - 04-148 - Tell Me What I Did Wrong
069 - 04-148 - Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses)
070 - 04-147 - Why Does Everything Happen To Me
071 - 03-145 - Caldonia
072 - 03-138 - Begging, Begging
073 - 05-135 - I'll Never, Never Let You Go
074 - 05-133 - Why Do You Do Me
075 - 03-133 - The Bells
076 - 03-127 - Public Enemy #1
077 - 03-125 - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto
078 - 03-124 - It's Too Funky In Here
079 - 04-119 - There Must Be A Reason
080 - 03-119 - Shout And Shimmy
081 - 03-114 - Goodbye My Love
082 - 03-112 - Brother Rapp
083 - 02-112 - Messing With The Blues
084 - 05-107 - Hold My Baby's Hand
085 - 03-107 - The Boss
086 - 03-102 - Hell
087 - 03-100 - Unity
088 - 04-97 - Get It Together
089 - 03-95 - Escape-ism
090 - 02-95 - And I Do Just What I Want
091 - 02-95 - Shoot Your Shot
092 - 03-92 - I Don't Know
093 - 04-87 - Baby Cries Over The Ocean
094 - 03-87 - There It Is
095 - 04-85 - Stoned To The Bone
096 - 02-83 - Signed Sealed and Delivered
097 - 05-82 - It Hurts To Tell You
098 - 03-81 - Got To Cry
099 - 03-79 - Coldblooded
100 - 03-79 - I Don't Care
101 - 03-79 - Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn
====================================================


Up next is song #30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNvQQ6J6my0
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #30 is "Ain't That A Groove" from 1966. The single reached #6 on the Billboard Soul chart and got to #42 on their Pop chart. Brown recorded it in 1965 with the female vocal group The Jewels (Martha Harvin, Sandra Bears, Margie Clark) and a studio band arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe. "Pretty" Purdie" was the drummer. I met Sammy Lowe a few times, very nice gentleman who did a ton of arranging in the 50s and 60s and later. He died tragically in a house fire.

Image


Song #29 is up. Tony Soprano once sang some of this song on the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k5USzHw7g
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #29 is "There Was A Time." It was recorded in July 1967 during a live performance at the Apollo Theater in a medley with "Let Yourself Go" and "I Feel All Right", and was first released November 1967 in edited form as the B-side of the single "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)." The song charted #3 R&B — higher than the A-side — and #36 Pop. This edit of the song also appeared on the 1968 album "I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me." A 14-minute-long edit of the Apollo medley was issued on Brown's 1968 album Live at the Apollo, Volume II. Though it was nominally only one song in the medley, "There Was a Time" became the colloquial name for the entire sequence. The complete medley was finally issued on the Deluxe Edition of Live at the Apollo, Volume II, released in 2001.

Image


Now we go to 1972 for song #28.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdMpqvha_g
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #28 is "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing" from 1972. It reached #1 on the Billboard Soul Chart and peaked at #27 Pop. It was written by James Brown and Bobby Byrd. Recorded in 1970 by Brown and the original J.B.'s with Byrd on backing vocals and updated with a new melody, it was twice released as a two-part single in 1972. It also appeared on the album There It Is. Critic Robert Christgau called it "the loosest and most infectious of Brown's many socially conscious jams."It is in this song we learn that Brown originally envisioned rapping as call and response .The original version was more rock-oriented and featured on The Singles Vol Six.1969-1970.

According to Brown, "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" was "aimed at the politicians who were running their mouths but had no knowledge of what life was like for a lot of people in [the United States]" as well as "some of the cats on their soapboxes... who were telling the people one thing while manipulating their emotions for personal gain." Biographer RJ Smith described it as "an open criticism of self-styled arbiters of racial justice" who attacked Brown for his often-heterodox political stances.

In the middle of the song Brown orders all the band members to temporarily stop playing while he and Byrd maintain the rhythm using their voices alone - an early example of a dance music breakdown.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

with The J.B.'s:

Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet
Darryl "Hassan" Jamison - trumpet
Robert McCollough - tenor saxophone
St. Clair Pinckney - baritone saxophone
Bobby Byrd - organ, vocal
Phelps "Catfish" Collins - guitar
William "Bootsy" Collins - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums
Johnny Griggs - congas

Image


Next we go to 1969 for song #27.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_holg85-Sk
Hymie
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #27 is "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing" from 1969. It got to #3 on the Billboard Soul chart and reached #20 on the Pop chart. The single version of the song did not receive an album release until "Foundations of Funk: A Brand New Bag." The song was listed on 12 ballots in the voting, accumulating 510 points.

Image


Song #26 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yrT0DpvfVI
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #26 is "Living In America" which was JB's triumphant return to the top 10 Pop charts in 1986. It was released in 1985. The song was written by composed by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight, and was featured in the Film Rocky IV. It was his first Top 40 hit in ten years on the US pop charts, and it would also be his last. In 1987, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and won Brown a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. It was included on Brown's album "Gravity."

Personnel
James Brown – lead vocals
Stevie Ray Vaughan – lead guitar
Dan Hartman – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
T. M. Stevens – bass, backing vocals
Ray Marchica – drums
The Uptown Horns (Arno Hecht, Bob Funk, Crispin Cioe, "Hollywood" Paul Litteral) – horns

Image


We are ready to enter the top 25 James Brown songs, as we voted them. THIS is #25!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP1wtIfs8lg
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #25 is "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me" from 1967. It is the most successful of the handful of recordings he made with The Dapps, a band of white musicians led by Beau Dollar. The single release of the song, on which its transposure was pushed down a key, rose to #4 on the Billboard R&B chart and #28 on the Pop chart. "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" was included on the 1968 album I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me, where it was labeled "Pt. 1". A "Pt. 2", which appeared later in the album, never received a single release.

Musicians

James Brown - lead vocal

and the Dapps:

Tim Hedding - organ
"Fat Eddie" Setser - guitar
Tim Drummond - bass
William "Beau Dollar" Bowman - drums

Image


Song #24 is next. It's one of the ballads from the early 60s that was huge in JB's live shows in those days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkFm8oah0HU
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #24 is "I Don't Mind" from 1961. Its unusual chord progression – in Brown's words, it "opens with a 13, goes down to a C9, then goes to a G7 and to the A7" – prompted objections during the recording session from producer Gene Redd, who considered it musically "wrong." Released as a single in 1961, it reached number four in the R&B Billboard charts and number 47 in the Pop Billboard charts. It was included on the album "The Amazing James Brown."

Image


Song #23 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS8FxHsw0U0
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Okay, song #23 is "Get Up Offa That Thing" from 1976. It reached #4 on the R&B chart, briefly returning Brown to the Top Ten after a year's absence, and #45 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to its chart success, the song became Brown's biggest hit of the late 1970s. The song's lyrics urge listeners to "Get up offa that thing / and dance 'til you feel better." Due to his troubles with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, Brown credited authorship of the song to his wife Diedre and their daughters, Deanna and Yamma Brown.

According to Brown, the inspiration for "Get Up Offa That Thing" came to him during a club performance in Fort Lauderdale:

The audience was sitting down, trying to do a sophisticated thing, listening to funk. One of the tightest bands they'd ever heard in their lives, and they were sitting. I had worked hard and dehydrated myself and was feeling depressed. I looked out at all those people sitting there, and because I was depressed they looked depressed. I yelled, "Get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better!" I probably meant until I felt better.

Unlike most popular music of the time, which made sophisticated use of multitrack recording and other techniques, "Get Up Offa That Thing" was recorded live in the studio in only two takes.

Image


Song #22 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgfIKiVrSRA
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #22 is "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants).". Brown recorded the song in 1971 and released it that year as a three-part single on his People Records label, which was then distributed by his primary label King. It was a number-one R&B hit and reached number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in the U.S. along with reaching number ten on the Cashbox magazine charts. "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he (and the People label) moved to Polydor Records. The song's lyrics are an ode to the captivating power of the title garment, which members of the band first saw on their 1970 European tour.

Like much of Brown's funk repertoire, "Hot Pants" has been extensively sampled in hip hop productions, notably by Eric B. & Rakim on the title track of "Paid in Full."

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

with the J.B.'s:

Fred Wesley - trombone
Jimmy Parker - alto saxophone
St. Clair Pinckney - tenor saxophone
Bobby Byrd - organ
Hearlon "Cheese" Martin - guitar
Robert Lee Coleman - guitar
Fred Thomas - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums
Johnny Griggs - congas


Image


Song #21 is up now. Hablas español?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzlxUHUKlrA
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #21 is "Get On The Good Foot" from 1972. It reached #1 R&B and #18 Pop on Billboard. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of Brown's record labels to certify sales of his previous hits, "Get on the Good Foot" was his first gold record. Billboard ranked it as the No. 99 song for 1972.

Image

Here are the results so far, with the extra records below #101 shown at the bottom.

RANK-BALLOTS-POINTS-TITLE
021 - 13-617 - Get On The Good Foot
022 - 14-604 - Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)
023 - 13-591 - Get Up Offa That Thing
024 - 14-551 - I Don't Mind
025 - 15-532 - I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)
026 - 12-520 - Living In America
027 - 12-510 - I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing
028 - 12-480 - Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing
029 - 11-464 - There Was A Time
030 - 11-463 - Ain't That A Groove
031 - 11-459 - Funky Drummer
032 - 09-458 - Chonnie-On-Chon
033 - 09-456 - King Heroin
034 - 11-447 - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
035 - 10-441 - Bring It Up
036 - 11-423 - Good Good Lovin'
037 - 10-422 - Baby, You're Right
038 - 10-403 - Oh Baby Don't You Weep
039 - 10-378 - Soul Power
040 - 09-343 - Papa Don't Take No Mess
041 - 09-337 - Maybe The Last Time
042 - 09-297 - Licking Stick, Licking Stick
043 - 06-294 - I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On
044 - 07-286 - It's A New Day
045 - 07-285 - No, No, No, No
046 - 07-239 - Money Won't Change You
047 - 07-235 - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
048 - 06-230 - This Old Heart
049 - 08-213 - Make It Funky
050 - 06-211 - I've Got To Change
051 - 06-208 - I Won't Plead No More
052 - 06-207 - It Was You
053 - 05-203 - That's When I Lost My Heart
054 - 07-200 - Just Won't Do Right
055 - 08-198 - I Know It's True
056 - 06-195 - Let Yourself Go
057 - 05-182 - Let's Make It
058 - 04-179 - Ain't It Funky Now
059 - 06-176 - Come Over Here
060 - 06-175 - You've Got The Power
061 - 05-174 - I Want You So Bad
062 - 05-162 - My Thang
063 - 05-161 - Don't Let It Happen To Me
064 - 03-157 - Blues And Pants
065 - 04-155 - Funky President
066 - 05-154 - I Got Ants In My Pants
067 - 04-151 - That Dood It
068 - 04-148 - Tell Me What I Did Wrong
069 - 04-148 - Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses)
070 - 04-147 - Why Does Everything Happen To Me
071 - 03-145 - Caldonia
072 - 03-138 - Begging, Begging
073 - 05-135 - I'll Never, Never Let You Go
074 - 05-133 - Why Do You Do Me
075 - 03-133 - The Bells
076 - 03-127 - Public Enemy #1
077 - 03-125 - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto
078 - 03-124 - It's Too Funky In Here
079 - 04-119 - There Must Be A Reason
080 - 03-119 - Shout And Shimmy
081 - 03-114 - Goodbye My Love
082 - 03-112 - Brother Rapp
083 - 02-112 - Messing With The Blues
084 - 05-107 - Hold My Baby's Hand
085 - 03-107 - The Boss
086 - 03-102 - Hell
087 - 03-100 - Unity
088 - 04-97 - Get It Together
089 - 03-95 - Escape-ism
090 - 02-95 - And I Do Just What I Want
091 - 02-95 - Shoot Your Shot
092 - 03-92 - I Don't Know
093 - 04-87 - Baby Cries Over The Ocean
094 - 03-87 - There It Is
095 - 04-85 - Stoned To The Bone
096 - 02-83 - Signed Sealed and Delivered
097 - 05-82 - It Hurts To Tell You
098 - 03-81 - Got To Cry
099 - 03-79 - Coldblooded
100 - 03-79 - I Don't Care
101 - 03-79 - Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn
=====================================================
102 - 04-78 - Just You And Me Darling
103 - 02-78 - If Somebody Told Me
104 - 02-71 - I Cried
105 - 02-68 - So Long
106 - 03-65 - (Do The) Mashed Potatoes
107 - 02-64 - Wonder When You're Coming Home
108 - 02-62 - Down And Out In New York City
109 - 02-59 - I'm A Greedy Man
110 - 02-57 - If You Want Me
111 - 03-54 - Mashed Potatoes U.S.A.
112 - 02-54 - Love Or A Game
113 - 02-53 - Three Hearts In A Tangle
114 - 02-52 - I Got A Bag of My Own
115 - 02-50 - I Walk Alone
116 - 02-48 - I Love You, Yes I Do
117 - 02-47 - You Don't Have To Go
118 - 02-43 - People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul
119 - 02-37 - Dancin' Little Thing
120 - 02-35 - These Foolish Things
121 - 02-32 - Don't Be A Dropout
122 - 02-30 - I've Got Money
123 - 02-29 - Grits
124 - 02-27 - What My Baby Needs Now Is A Little More Lovin'
================================================================

And now the Top 20 James Brown songs, as we voted them!

Song #20 is my favorite James Brown song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YrfLtfutMg
Hymie
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #20 is the incredible "Doing It To Death" from 1973. It's my favorite record of the past 50 years. The single was credited to Fred Wesley & the JB's and it reached #1 on the Billboard Soul chart and got to #22 Pop. It was listed on 13 ballots and accumulated 639 points in the voting.

It was the first J.B.'s recording to feature saxophonist Maceo Parker, who had returned to work with Brown again after attempting a career as a bandleader.

"Doing It to Death" contains an uncommon key change in which Brown tells the band to modulate downward from F to D ("In order for me to get down, I have to get down in D"). Composers who place key changes in tunes typically have them modulate upwards. Unusually for a James Brown song, the actual words "doing it to death" appear nowhere in the song's lyrics, which feature the hook "we're gonna have a funky good time." The title came from a figure of speech Brown heard Wesley use.

A 10-minute, two-part version of "Doing It to Death" was included on a J.B.'s album of the same name. The complete, unedited and nearly 13-minute-long original recording of the song was first issued on the 1995 J.B.'s compilation Funky Good Time: The Anthology.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal
Fred Wesley - trombone
Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison - trumpet
Jerone "Jasaan" Sanford - trumpet
Ike Oakley - trumpet
Maceo Parker - alto saxophone and flute
St. Clair Pinckney - tenor saxophone
Eldee Williams - tenor saxophone
Jimmy Nolen - guitar
Hearlon "Cheese" Martin - guitar
Fred Thomas - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums


Image


Next up is song #19. It's the earliest James Brown record that I remember from when it was current.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9CLOEOB5U
Hymie
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #19 on the countdown is "Call Me Super Bad" from 1970. It was a number one song on the Billboard Soul Chart and reached #13 on the Pop Chart. The song's lyrics include the refrain "I've got soul and I'm super bad." The positive use of the word "bad" is an example of linguistic reappropriation, which Brown had done before in "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud".

The song includes a tenor saxophone solo by Robert McCollough, during which Brown yells, "Blow me some Trane, brother!"

James Brown - lead vocal

with The J.B.'s:

Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet
Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison - trumpet
Robert McCollough - tenor saxophone
Bobby Byrd - Hammond organ
Phelps "Catfish" Collins - guitar
William "Bootsy" Collins - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums
Johnny Griggs - congas

Image


Song #18 is next. Many white people first became aware of James Brown when they heard this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdS2Ws0sVWg
Hymie
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #18 is "Prisoner of Love" from 1963. It reached #6 on the Billboard R&B chart and got to #18 on the Pop chart, JB's first top 20 pop hit. It was also the title track of an album. The song itself was a number one hit for Perry Como in 1946. I don't like the Brown record much. It's a straight pop record featuring strings and a lush arrangement that I don't care for at all. But it did get James Brown on to a lot of stations that had never played his music before so maybe it was a necessary move on his part.

Image


Song #17 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpAPXUMpO_Y
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #17 is "Mother Popcorn" from 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit, it was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance the Popcorn which Brown made that year, including "The Popcorn", "Lowdown Popcorn", and "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn". (The "mother" of the song's title was, in the words of biographer RJ Smith, "[Brown's] honorific for a big butt".)

"Mother Popcorn" has a beat and structure similar to Brown's 1967 hit "Cold Sweat", but a faster tempo and a greater amount of rhythmic activity (including a lot of agitated 16th note movement from the horn section) give it a more frenetic quality than the earlier song. Critic Robert Christgau singled out "Mother Popcorn" as the turning point in Brown's funk music in which he "began to concern himself more and more exclusively with rhythmic distinctions." The song features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker, which starts at the end of Part 1 in the single version of the song.

Vicki Anderson recorded the answer song "Answer to Mother Popcorn (I Got a Mother for You)", also in 1969.

Song #16 is next. Again James does a version of a song that was a big hit in the 1940s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjuIofViNFQ
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #16 is "Bewildered" from 1960. The song was written in 1936 by Teddy Powell and Leonard Whitcup. It was a 1938 hit for Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. It was also recorded by Mildred Bailey in the same year. The song was revived in the late 1940s when two different versions, by the Red Miller Trio and Amos Milburn, reached number one on the R&B chart in 1948 (neither of them made the pop chart). Both these versions departed significantly from the original published melody and influenced later recordings. "Bewildered" was subsequently recorded by several other R&B performers, including Billy Eckstine and the Ink Spots, with Eckstine's version reaching number 4 on the R&B chart and number 27 on the pop chart. A decade later it was recorded by Mickey & Sylvia, again with an altered melody similar to that of the Red Miller Trio recording.


James Brown and the Famous Flames recorded "Bewildered" in 1959. Their doo-wop–tinged rendition was somewhat similar to the Amos Milburn version, with a strong triplet feeling and a heavily melismatic vocal line. It was first released as a track on Brown's 1960 album Think!. The following year it was issued as a single, which reached the R&B Top Ten and became Brown's second single (after "Think") to enter the pop Top 40 (US charts: number 8 R&B; number 40 pop).

"Bewildered" became a staple of Brown's concerts for much of his career. It was featured in a medley on his breakthrough 1963 album Live at the Apollo and appeared on several of his later live albums, including Revolution of the Mind: Recorded Live at the Apollo, Vol. III (1971) and Love, Power, Peace (1992). He also recorded new studio versions for the albums Prisoner of Love (1963) and Sex Machine (1970).

Personnel

James Brown, lead vocal

And The Famous Flames:

Bobby Byrd, vocals, piano
Bobby Bennett, vocals
Baby Lloyd Stallworth, vocals, Hammond organ
Johnny Terry, vocals
Willie Johnson, vocals

with the James Brown Band:

George Dorsey, alto saxophone
J.C. Davis, tenor saxophone
Bobby Roach, guitar
Bernard Odum, bass guitar
Nat Kendrick, drums

Image


Song #15 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QbEd9cuRBI
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #15 is "Lost Someone" from 1961. It was a HUGE hit on the R&B chart, reaching #2. . It was written by Brown and Famous Flames members Bobby Byrd and Baby Lloyd Stallworth. Like "Please, Please, Please" before it, the song's lyrics combine a lament for lost love with a plea for forgiveness. According to Brown, "Lost Someone" is based on the chord changes of the Conway Twitty song "It's Only Make Believe."

A performance of "Lost Someone" is the centerpiece of Brown's 1963 album "Live at the Apollo." Nearly 11 minutes long and spanning two tracks on the original LP release (the end of Side 1 and the beginning of Side 2), it is widely regarded as the album's high point and as one of the greatest performances in its idiom on record.


Song #14 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cda0twzCMC4
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #14 is "I Got The Feelin'" from 1968. It reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #6 on the pop chart. It also appeared on a 1968 album of the same name. The song was included on 18 ballots and totaled 887 points in the voting.

Personnel

James Brown — lead vocal
Waymon Reed - trumpet
Joe Dupars — trumpet
Levi Rasbury — trombone
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis — alto saxophone
Maceo Parker — tenor saxophone
St. Clair Pinckney — baritone saxophone
Jimmy Nolen — guitar
Alphonso "Country" Kellum — guitar
Bernard Odum — bass
Clyde Stubblefield — drums

Image


Lucky #13 is next. Revenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=istJXUJJP0g
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #13 is "The Payback" from the album of the same name in 1973. The song's lyrics, originally written by trombonist and bandleader Fred Wesley but heavily revised by Brown himself soon before it was recorded, concern the revenge he plans to take against a man who betrayed him. The song is notable for its sparse, open arrangement and its use of wah-wah guitar – a relative rarity in Brown's previous funk recordings. Released as a two-part single (featuring a radio announcer at the beginning of part one) in February 1974, it was the first in an unbroken succession of three singles by Brown to reach #1 on the R&B charts that year – the last chart-toppers of his career. It also peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his second, and final, single to be certified gold by the RIAA.

"The Payback" has been sampled by many musical artists, including numerous hip hop and R&B producers. The group En Vogue recorded two different R&B hits, "Hold On" and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)", that were both based on loops from the song's rhythm track. LL Cool J sampled "The Payback" in his 1990 song "The Booming System". Guy used the enthusiastic whoops for Dog Me Outin 1991. Mary J. Blige sampled the song for her 1997 hit "Everything". The group Total (featuring Notorious BIG) sampled the song in their 1995 hit "Can't You See". Keith Sweat's group Silk, in the song "Happy Days" sampled "The Payback" from their 1992 debut album, Lose Control, which was produced by Sweat and featured on the track. Massive Attack also sampled the song on their track "Protection" from the 1995 album of the same name. Eboni Foster of Nuttin' Nyce sampled the song on the single, "Crazy for You" in 1998. Rapper Kendrick Lamar used elements of the song on his 2015 track "King Kunta". Also sampled in Compton's Most Wanted's "Final Chapter" off of the album Straight Check'n Em.

Image


Song # 12 is a another case where JB does a song that was done earlier by one of his King labelmates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqK7meoDCs
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

The #12 song on the countdown is "Think" from 1960. JB's version reached #7 on the Billboard R&B chart and got to #33 on the Pop chart, which makes it his first top 40 single. It was also the title track of an album.

Image


The song was originally done by the "5" Royales in 1957, and that version is FAR better than Brown's version IMO.


Song #11 is next on the countdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bJA6W9CqvE
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #11 is "Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm Proud" from 1968. This was one of JB's 3 biggest hits on the R&B chart, staying at number one for 6 weeks, and reaching the top 10 on the Pop chart. The song was written by JB with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis in 1968. The great arranger Belford "Sinky" Hendricks wrote the arrangement for Part 1. Hendricks also arranged the songs "Please, Please, Please", Browns' first hit single, "Try Me", "There Was a Time", "Lost Someone", "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"s, and other James Brown recordings. Both parts of the single were later included on James Brown's 1968 album A Soulful Christmas and on his 1969 album sharing the title of the song. The song became an unofficial anthem of the Black Power movement. "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" was Brown's first recording to feature trombonist Fred Wesley.

In the song, Brown addresses the prejudice towards blacks in America, and the need for black empowerment. He proclaims that "we demands a chance to do things for ourself/we're tired of beating our head against the wall/and workin' for someone else". The song's call-and-response chorus is performed by a group of young children, who respond to Brown's command of "Say it loud" with "I'm black and I'm proud!" The song was recorded in a Los Angeles area suburb with about 30 young people from the Watts and Compton areas.

The lyrics "We've been 'buked and we've been scorned/We've been treated bad, talked about as sure as you're born" in the first verse of the song paraphrase the spiritual "I've Been 'Buked".

Several other Brown singles from the same era as "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", notably "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)", explored similar themes of black empowerment and self-reliance.

The song's opening exhortation, "With your bad self", is an example of linguistic reappropriation, and added a new entry to Brown's long list of nicknames: "His Bad Self."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" in their 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004 it was ranked number 305 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. It inspired the title of a VH1 television special and box set, Say It Loud! A Celebration of Black Music in America.

"'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' was a record that really convinced me to say I was black instead of a negro," remarked Public Enemy's Chuck D. "Back then black folks were called negroes, but James said you can say it loud: that being black is a great thing instead of something you have to apologise for."

Image


RANK-BALLOTS-POINTS-TITLE
011 - 18-976 - Say It Loud--I'm Black And I'm Proud
012 - 21-915 - Think
013 - 16-915 - The Payback
014 - 18-887 - I Got The Feelin'
015 - 18-852 - Lost Someone
016 - 18-840 - Bewildered
017 - 15-695 - Mother Popcorn
018 - 14-656 - Prisoner of Love
019 - 15-651 - Call Me Super Bad
020 - 13-639 - Doing It To Death
021 - 13-617 - Get On The Good Foot
022 - 14-604 - Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)
023 - 13-591 - Get Up Offa That Thing
024 - 14-551 - I Don't Mind
025 - 15-532 - I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)
026 - 12-520 - Living In America
027 - 12-510 - I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing
028 - 12-480 - Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing
029 - 11-464 - There Was A Time
030 - 11-463 - Ain't That A Groove
031 - 11-459 - Funky Drummer
032 - 09-458 - Chonnie-On-Chon
033 - 09-456 - King Heroin
034 - 11-447 - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose
035 - 10-441 - Bring It Up
036 - 11-423 - Good Good Lovin'
037 - 10-422 - Baby, You're Right
038 - 10-403 - Oh Baby Don't You Weep
039 - 10-378 - Soul Power
040 - 09-343 - Papa Don't Take No Mess
041 - 09-337 - Maybe The Last Time
042 - 09-297 - Licking Stick, Licking Stick
043 - 06-294 - I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On
044 - 07-286 - It's A New Day
045 - 07-285 - No, No, No, No
046 - 07-239 - Money Won't Change You
047 - 07-235 - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
048 - 06-230 - This Old Heart
049 - 08-213 - Make It Funky
050 - 06-211 - I've Got To Change
051 - 06-208 - I Won't Plead No More
052 - 06-207 - It Was You
053 - 05-203 - That's When I Lost My Heart
054 - 07-200 - Just Won't Do Right
055 - 08-198 - I Know It's True
056 - 06-195 - Let Yourself Go
057 - 05-182 - Let's Make It
058 - 04-179 - Ain't It Funky Now
059 - 06-176 - Come Over Here
060 - 06-175 - You've Got The Power
061 - 05-174 - I Want You So Bad
062 - 05-162 - My Thang
063 - 05-161 - Don't Let It Happen To Me
064 - 03-157 - Blues And Pants
065 - 04-155 - Funky President
066 - 05-154 - I Got Ants In My Pants
067 - 04-151 - That Dood It
068 - 04-148 - Tell Me What I Did Wrong
069 - 04-148 - Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses)
070 - 04-147 - Why Does Everything Happen To Me
071 - 03-145 - Caldonia
072 - 03-138 - Begging, Begging
073 - 05-135 - I'll Never, Never Let You Go
074 - 05-133 - Why Do You Do Me
075 - 03-133 - The Bells
076 - 03-127 - Public Enemy #1
077 - 03-125 - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto
078 - 03-124 - It's Too Funky In Here
079 - 04-119 - There Must Be A Reason
080 - 03-119 - Shout And Shimmy
081 - 03-114 - Goodbye My Love
082 - 03-112 - Brother Rapp
083 - 02-112 - Messing With The Blues
084 - 05-107 - Hold My Baby's Hand
085 - 03-107 - The Boss
086 - 03-102 - Hell
087 - 03-100 - Unity
088 - 04-97 - Get It Together
089 - 03-95 - Escape-ism
090 - 02-95 - And I Do Just What I Want
091 - 02-95 - Shoot Your Shot
092 - 03-92 - I Don't Know
093 - 04-87 - Baby Cries Over The Ocean
094 - 03-87 - There It Is
095 - 04-85 - Stoned To The Bone
096 - 02-83 - Signed Sealed and Delivered
097 - 05-82 - It Hurts To Tell You
098 - 03-81 - Got To Cry
099 - 03-79 - Coldblooded
100 - 03-79 - I Don't Care
101 - 03-79 - Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn
102 - 04-78 - Just You And Me Darling
103 - 02-78 - If Somebody Told Me
104 - 02-71 - I Cried
105 - 02-68 - So Long
106 - 03-65 - (Do The) Mashed Potatoes
107 - 02-64 - Wonder When You're Coming Home
108 - 02-62 - Down And Out In New York City
109 - 02-59 - I'm A Greedy Man
110 - 02-57 - If You Want Me
111 - 03-54 - Mashed Potatoes U.S.A.
112 - 02-54 - Love Or A Game
113 - 02-53 - Three Hearts In A Tangle
114 - 02-52 - I Got A Bag of My Own
115 - 02-50 - I Walk Alone
116 - 02-48 - I Love You, Yes I Do
117 - 02-47 - You Don't Have To Go
118 - 02-43 - People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul
119 - 02-37 - Dancin' Little Thing
120 - 02-35 - These Foolish Things
121 - 02-32 - Don't Be A Dropout
122 - 02-30 - I've Got Money
123 - 02-29 - Grits
124 - 02-27 - What My Baby Needs Now Is A Little More Lovin'
=========================================================


Okay folks, it's time to enter the top 10 James Brown songs, as we voted them. THIS is #10!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twa3WQk2fgk
Hymie
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #10 is "I'll Go Crazy" from 1960. The single hed #15 on the Billboard R&B chart and the song was included on the "Think!" album. James purloined parts of the song from a record called "You've Got To Live For Yourself" by the Blue Dots in 1954.


The classic "Live At The Apollo" album opens with "I'll Go Crazy."

Image

James Brown - lead vocal
Bobby Byrd - vocals
Bobby Bennett - vocals
Baby Lloyd Stallworth - vocals
Johnny Terry - vocals
Willie Johnson - vocals

with the James Brown Band:

J.C. Davis - tenor saxophone
Bobby Roach - guitar
Bernard Odum - bass
Nat Kendrick - drums

plus:

Sonny Thompson - piano
James McGary - alto saxophone


Song #9 is next, and it's the start of Funk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-0fVdPEkwc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #9 is "Out of Sight" from 1964. It's the first record on the countdown that accumulated over 1,000 points in the voting. It was named on 22 ballots. This was the start of Funk, as James created a new genre. The record reached #5 on the Cash Box R&B chart and got to #24 on the Billboard Pop chart. This marked James Brown's temporary move away from King Records and on to Smash Records. It was also the last song he would record for over a year, as the court's ruling in his dispute with King barred him from making vocal recordings for Smash.

A twelve-bar blues written by Brown under the pseudonym "Ted Wright", the stuttering, staccato dance rhythms and blasting horn section riffs of its instrumental arrangement were an important evolutionary step in the development of funk music. In his 1986 autobiography Brown wrote that

"Out of Sight" was another beginning, musically and professionally. My music - and most music - changed with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", but it really started on "Out of Sight" ... You can hear the band and me start to move in a whole other direction rhythmically. The horns, the guitars, the vocals, everything was starting to be used to establish all kinds of rhythms at once... I was trying to get every aspect of the production to contribute to the rhythmic patterns.

"Out of Sight" was one of Brown's first recordings to feature the playing of saxophonist Maceo Parker. Its B-side, "Maybe the Last Time", was his last studio recording with the Famous Flames. Besides its single release, "Out of Sight" appeared on an album of the same name, which was quickly withdrawn from sale. It was re-released on King in 1968 with one track missing under the title James Brown Sings Out of Sight.

Image

Song #8 is next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAeh40tamYc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #8 is "Night Train" from 1961. It came out first on an album called "James Brown Presents His band Featuring Night Train." It was issued on a single in 1962 and reached #5 on the Billboard R&B chart and got to #35 Pop. It was listed on 23 ballots and totaled 1035 points in the voting. The song was originally done by Jimmy Forrest in 1952, when it was a huge R&B hit.

Image


Song #7 is up now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XY6oRD2xc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #7 is "Try Me" from 1958. This was JB's first number one record on the Billboard R&B chart. It also reached #48 on the Pop chart. By 1958 James Brown's career was faltering. After disputes over royalties, songwriting credit, and the indignity of having been relegated to backup singers on the billing of "Please, Please, Please", most of the original Famous Flames (including founder Bobby Byrd) had walked out on him; only Johnny Terry remained. Brown continued to perform with a backing band and a new Flames lineup consisting of members of Little Richard's former vocal group, the Dominions. ("Big Bill" Hollings, Louis Madison, and J.W. Archer). They recorded more songs for Federal Records, but nine of their singles in a row failed to chart.

On the way back to Macon, Georgia after a disappointing West Coast tour, Brown approached his guitar player Bobby Roach with a tune he said he had been given by a patron at the Million Dollar Palms, a Florida nightclub. After Roach crafted a guitar part for "Try Me", Brown and the Flames worked out the vocal harmonies together and cut a demo to send to label head Syd Nathan. Nathan was impressed with it and arranged for a recording session in New York with producer Andy Gibson and a group of seasoned session musicians. Despite the contributions of other people, Brown took the sole writing credit for the song.

In his 1986 autobiography, Brown described "Try Me" as "really a pop tune. I had heard "Raindrops" by Dee Clark and "For Your Precious Love" by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, so I wrote my song to fit between them." However JB was very confused, as "Raindrops" was actually released more than two years after "Try Me."

Image


Song #6 is up now. This one had a huge impact on other soul artists at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B615TiDdjUc
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #6 is "Cold Sweat" from 1967. James wrote the song with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a No. 1 R&B hit, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles chart. The complete recording, over 7 minutes long, was included on an album of the same name. Brown's lyrics describe how his woman's affections make him "break out in a cold sweat." In 2016 James Brown's "Cold Sweat" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

"Cold Sweat" developed from an earlier James Brown R&B song, "I Don't Care", recorded in 1962 and first released on the album Tour the U.S.A.. According to Brown, "it was a slow, bluesy tune then. It was good that way, but I was really getting into my funk bag now, and it became an almost completely different tune, except for the lyrics." Arranger and co-composer Pee Wee Ellis recalled in an interview that...

[a]fter one of the shows, one night somewhere, James called me into the dressing room and grunted a bass line of a rhythmic thing (demonstrates), which turned out to be "Cold Sweat." I was very much influenced by Miles Davis and had been listening to "So What" six or seven years earlier and that crept into the making of "Cold Sweat." You could call it subliminal, but the horn line is based on Miles Davis' "So What." I wrote that on the bus between New York and Cincinnati. The next day we pulled up in front of King Records studio, got off the bus, got in the studio, set up, and I went over the rhythm with the band. By the time we got the groove going, James showed up, added a few touches—changed the guitar part, which made it real funky—had the drummer do something different. He was a genius at it. Between the two of us, we put it together one afternoon. He put the lyrics on it. The band set up in a semicircle in the studio with one microphone. It was recorded live in the studio. One take. It was like a performance. We didn't do overdubbing.

Building on the innovations of Brown's earlier songs "Out of Sight" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "Cold Sweat" was a watershed event in the evolution of funk music. While those songs were both based on a conventional twelve bar blues chord progression, "Cold Sweat" has only one definite chord change, a move to the subtonic at the bridge.[6] As in the earlier songs, all the band's instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively in "Cold Sweat", and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of each measure ("on the one"). The main drum part is a two-bar pattern with a snare hit on the two and four beats (a standard 4/4 rock pattern) with a simple variation: the four beat hit in the first measure is delayed by one eighth note. This snare pattern contributed greatly to the funky feel of the arrangement. It was copied, often with embellishments, in later James Brown songs and numerous songs by other musical artists.

"Cold Sweat" is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo (with the famous exclamation "give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music and form the foundation of sampling. It also features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker.

Sometimes cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat" was recognized as a radical departure from pop music conventions at the time of its release. Producer Jerry Wexler recalled that "[it] deeply affected the musicians I knew. It just freaked them out. No one could get a handle on what to do next." Cliff White described it as "divorced from other forms of popular music." Some musicians criticized it as simplistic. Fred Wesley recalled that before he joined Brown's band he "was very unimpressed with ['Cold Sweat']. . . It only had one change, the words made no sense at all, and the bridge was musically incorrect."

Brown would continue to develop the rhythmically intense, harmonically static template pioneered on "Cold Sweat" in later recordings such as "I Got the Feelin'," "Mother Popcorn," "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," and "Super Bad."

Like many of Brown's funk hits, "Cold Sweat" has been extensively sampled by hip hop DJs and producers. The guitar riff would later be used in "Mother Popcorn" and "I Know You Got Soul". Two instrumental incarnations of this song were "Bringing Up The Guitar" and "The Popcorn."

Image


We have arrived now at out top 5 James Brown songs. THIS is #5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd1-HM234DE
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #5 in the countdown is "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" from 1966. This is another violin laden record that I don't like much, but the voters here loved it. It was listed on 27 ballots. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its title is a word play on the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

The song's lyrics, which Rolling Stone characterized as "biblically chauvinistic", attribute all the works of modern civilization (the car, the train, the boat ("Like Noah built the ark"), and the electric light) to the efforts of men, but claim that it all would "mean nothing without a woman or a girl". The song also states that man made toys for the baby boys and girls, and comments about the fact that "Man makes money" to buy from other men. Before the song's fade, Brown states that man is lost in his bitterness and in the wilderness. Brown's co-writer and onetime girlfriend, Betty Jean Newsome, wrote the lyrics based on her own observations of the relations between the sexes. In later years, Newsome would claim that Brown didn't write any part of the song and argued in court that Brown sometimes forgot to pay her royalties. In May 1966, Record World magazine reported that Brown, King Records and Dynatone Publishing were being sued by Clamike Records for alleged copyright infringement of the Betty Newsome song "It's a Man's World (But What Would He Do Without a Woman)".

The composition of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" developed over a period of several years. Tammy Montgomery, better known as Tammi Terrell, recorded "I Cried", a Brown-penned song based on the same chord changes, in 1963. Brown himself recorded a demo version of the song, provisionally entitled "It's a Man's World", in 1964. This version later appeared on the CD compilations The CD of JB and Star Time.

The released version of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was recorded quickly, in only two takes, with a studio ensemble that included members of Brown's touring band and a string section arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe. A female chorus was involved in the recording sessions, but their parts were edited out of the song's final master.

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" became a staple of Brown's live shows for the rest of his career. Its slow, simmering groove and declamatory vocal line made it suitable for long, open-ended performances incorporating spoken ruminations on love and loss and sometimes interpolations from other songs. It appears on almost all of Brown's live albums starting with 1967's Live at the Garden. Brown also recorded a big band jazz arrangement of the song with the Louie Bellson Orchestra for his 1970 album Soul on Top.

In 2004, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was ranked number 123 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Personnel

James Brown – lead vocal
Dud Bascomb – trumpet
Waymon Reed – trumpet
Lamarr Wright – trumpet
Haywood Henry – baritone saxophone
Ian Bridle – piano
Billy Butler – guitar
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie – drums

Other players, including trombone, bass and strings, unknown

Arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe

Image


Next up is song #4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqAfg8pRRg
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Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #4 is "Please, Please, Please" from 1956. This of course was JB's first record. It reached #6 on the R&B best sellers on Billboard where it had a 19 week run on that chart. It was written by Brown and Johnny Terry. In 2011, "Please, Please, Please" was ranked number 143 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The record was years ahead of its time. Perhaps the most progressive rock and roll record of the 50s, which is one reason why it remained so popular for decades after its initial release.

In 1952, James Brown was released from a youth detention center in Toccoa, Georgia after Bobby Byrd and his family sponsored him. Brown's warden agreed to the release on the condition that Brown not return to Augusta. After his release, Brown briefly pursued a career in sports before starting his musical career as a gospel vocalist with the group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers. When a member of Bobby Byrd's vocal group, the Avons, died in 1954, Byrd asked Brown to join his group. A year later, after performing as the Five Royals, they became the Flames, playing all over Georgia and South Carolina.

According to Etta James, Brown and his group came up with the idea for their first song, because Brown "used to carry around an old tattered napkin with him, because Little Richard had written the words, 'please, please, please' on it and James was determined to make a song out of it."

Live performances

The initial performances of the song were subpar though the group itself was received well. It took a number of years until the Flames developed a routine for the performance. Starting in 1959, Brown would perform the song to the point of feigned exhaustion, when he would drop to his knees and collapse on the stage. Meanwhile, a fellow Flame (sometimes Bobby Byrd and at other times Bobby Bennett) would drop either a blanket or big towel around Brown's back and help him offstage. Before completely exiting, Brown would rip the towel off and return to his microphone, adding to the excitement of his audience. Influenced by Little Richard and professional wrestler Gorgeous George, who both wore capes, Brown began wearing capes in his act.

Personnel

James Brown – lead vocal
Bobby Byrd – background vocals
Johnny Terry – background vocals
Sylvester Keels – background vocals
Nash Knox – background vocals
Nafloyd Scott – guitar
Wilbert "Lee Diamond" Smith – tenor saxophone
Ray Felder – tenor saxophone
Lucas "Fats" Gonder – piano
Clarence Mack – bass
Edison Gore – drums

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Only 3 songs left now. THIS is number 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bxHNZ_sEBI
Hymie
Running Up That Hill
Posts: 3330
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:37 pm

Re: Best James Brown Songs - RESULTS

Post by Hymie »

Song #3 is "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" from 1970. It was named on 26 ballots and had 1623 total point in the voting. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, "Sex Machine" was ranked number 326 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

"Sex Machine" was one of the first songs Brown recorded with his new band, The J.B.'s. In comparison with Brown's 1960s solo funk hits such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", the band's inexperienced horn section plays a relatively minor part. Instead, the song centers on the insistent riff played by brothers Bootsy and Catfish Collins on bass and guitar and Jabo Starks on drums, along with the call and response interplay between Brown and Byrd's vocals, which consist mostly of exhortations to "get up / stay on the scene / like a sex machine". During the song's final vocal passages Brown and Byrd started to sing the main hook of Elmore James' blues classic "Shake Your Moneymaker."

The original single version of "Sex Machine" — recorded, like many of Brown's hits, in just two takes — begins with a spoken dialogue between Brown and his band which was recreated with minor variations in live performances:

Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing! (Yeah! That's right! Do it!) I want to get into it, man, you know? (Go ahead! Yeah!) Like a, like a sex machine, man, (Yeah!) movin', groovin', doin' it, y'know? (Yeah!) Can I count it off? (Okay! Alright!) One, two, three, four!

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Only 2 songs left now. THIS is #2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJqKkZ1VVMk
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