James Brown – I Got You (I Feel Good)

This is another song I picked up from Good Morning Vietnam. James Brown releases enough energy in this song to light up a huge town. He kicks open the door like he always does. 

Browns band, the Famous Flames, were tight. When I say tight…I mean TIGHT. A band so tight they could lock into a groove like it was second nature. There was a reason for that, though. Brown wasn’t the type to just hit “record” and let it roll. He was a drill sergeant in pointy leather shoes, waving the band into the song.

He had a reputation for being a demanding taskmaster who expected perfection and discipline from his musicians. This extended to their appearance, punctuality, and performance, with fines imposed for any shortcomings. It paid off, though, in some of the best shows ever heard or seen. Brown’s process was obsessive. He’d run the song down once, stop halfway through, and demand another take.

What you hear is a LIVE take, not overdubbing, and you can tell from the excitement in the recording. When he recorded his songs, he was thinking of radio, but he would also think just as much of the stage presentation of it. He had all the bases covered. 

He had hits before, like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and this was the follow-up, but this one was a game-changer. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100, his highest charting song ever on the Billboard 100. It also spent 6 weeks at number 1 on the R&B Charts. 

This live version has Brown doing a medley of Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag and I Got You (I Feel Good)

I Got You (I Feel Good)

I feel goodLike I knew that I would, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, ohI feel good, baby, whoo!Like I knew that I would, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, ohSo good

I, I feel niceLike sugar and spice, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, ohI, I-I-I loveLike sugar and spice, yeahSo nice

I, I feel goodLike I said that I would, yeah-yeahWhoo!Lord, have mercy, good God, get downSo good, I

Get downBring it back

When I hold you in my armsI know I can’t do no wrongWhen I hold you in my armsI know I can’t do no wrongWhen I hold you, baby, in my armsYou know I can’t do no wrongAnd that my love won’t do you no harm

Hit meI feel goodHit me, baby, hit me, loveLike I know that I would, yeahSo good

Yeah, I feel niceLike sugar and spice, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeahI feel nice, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeahLike sugar and spiceSo nice

Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-daDa-da-da, goo-ga

Hit me, I feel goodLike I knew that I would, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeahI, I-I, whoo!Hit meSo good, hey-heyWhoo-ah!

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “James Brown – I Got You (I Feel Good)”

  1. As you say, this band is TIGHT. It is hard to call out any part, because it is the sum of the parts, every note serving a purpose, that makes this song…but I still have to call out that bass line that sets the tone from the beginning.

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    1. I love the bass as well. Just a perfect R&B song. Nothing at all is wasted like you said.
      I’m not the type that likes to see lead singers dance around…but…with James Brown I do make an exception. He was just from a different world. When I’m watching his feet, of all people, he is doing something special.

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  4. The title “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” ostensibly refers to the lyrics’ tongue-in-cheek story of an older man getting hip to the new dance trends.  The phrase, however, also signals Brown’s departure from the soul and the creation of funk music, which became his signature sound.  A “bag” is slang for a way of doing something or a kind of lifestyle.

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  6. Pingback: James Brown – I Got You (I Feel Good) – MobsterTiger

  10. definitely one of the most famous and instantly recognizable voices and songs of that era. You surprised me with how Brown was – I kind of would have guessed he was a real easy-going, turn on the recorder and away we go, kind of guy, not someone who paid a lot of attention to detail.

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    1. No no…he was all over them but for a purpose…he got about as near perfection as you could get. I’ve read some stories about him…if you played for him you were on your toes.

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  12. Superb live performance. You can see the music is flowing through every cell of his body. He makes it look easy, but we know it is anything but. James Brown is the ultimate performer and he sounds so good!

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  13. To me he was kind of like Frank Zappa- not so much music-wise but by being an outlier, off the centre. You heard Brown and it was tight tight tight, his look was sorta dated but weirdly still cool and, man, if you want to be entertained- he delivered. He was too big a talent to be contained or pigeonholed.

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    1. Oh a huge talent. I told most people that I don’t get into watching people dance…the moon walk just didn’t do it for me…but this guy…different story.

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    1. He was the alpha male for sure. I know it must have been a pain to be in a band with him but you would be very good and part of the best band around.

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  20. Great record. My two favorite James Brown tracks are this one and Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag. I can’t think the phrase without adding the guitar part that follows it.

    Great stuff.

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  21. I tried to post this comment to the It’s A Mans, Mans World entry but WordPress said it couldn’t. Not that which JB entry it is posted on matters…

    I found this info in another blog, er, they call themselves a magazine.

    https://www.psaudio.com/blogs/copper/tower-of-power

    JB had started his singing career in the early 1950’s with a gospel group and an R&B group called the Flames, then the Famous Flames, and as Brown started to find his pipes and leadership jones James Brown and the Famous Flames.  The Flames with Bobbie Byrd didn’t consider themselves a backup group and there were problems that resulted in them breaking from JB in 1970, but they couldn’t argue with success.  In 1956 the band released “Please Please Please”, a soul staple that stayed in JB’s show set for the remainder of his career.  By the mid 60’s James Brown had a string of R&B/Soul hits and in 1962 released “Live at the Apollo”, a live album of his hits.  His record company wouldn’t release the album, believing people wouldn’t buy it because they’d already bought the records.  Brown had to finance it himself.  The album was released in June ’63, reached #2 on the LP list and stayed on the charts for 14 months.

    This event really underlined JB’s confidence in himself and his music.  There are some great videos and documentaries from this period where band members spoke to his studio style.  Brown knew what he wanted, but without formal music education had to resort to mouthing parts and hand signals to coax the groove out of his players.  The musicians, especially the horn players, were more studio trained and accustomed to charts.  But everything was in JB’s head, and the only way to release it was to “boop, UH, bopa-de-bop, cha OWW, bopa-de-bop” until they got what he was after.   What Brown was doing with these guys was laying a groove, and turning the entire band, drums, bass, horns and vocals, into one big driving drum.  What he was doing was inventing Funk.

    Now I’m going to get some argument here.  Critical voices will point to “Cold Sweat” in 1967 as the first true funk song.  But the essential element of funk is the emphasis on the 1, and the SPACE between beats in the bars.  Most R&B, Motown, Pop and the like lived on the 2 and 4. Funk hit you in the face with entire band on the 1.  And that started with this.  Turn it UP, and Get On Up, because we be going dancing.  1965.

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