James Brown – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

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!

…

James Brown – Living In America

4th of July memories… I have a few but one of the many stupid things I remember is my sister (who is 8 years older) and I would chase each other around with Roman Candles on the 4th of July.

These fabulous weapons of destruction shot out fireballs and sometimes I landed a great shot. I was 8-10 years old and harder to hit. By some miracle, we were never hurt…bad anyway. Scorch marks yea…but we kept all of our limbs. Sorry…now to the song.

I first heard this song in Rocky IV. It was good to see Brown have a hit song. Living In America was released in December of 1985 and was his first Billboard charting song since 1976. The horns on this song sound incredible. They were called The Uptown Horns who also backed The J. Geils band on the Freeze Frame album and The B-52’s on Love Shack.

This was written by Dan Hartman (“I Can Dream About You”) and Charles Midnight. The song won the 1986 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance. The song was a huge hit. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, #5 in New Zealand, and #5 in the UK in 1986. The song blends elements of soul, funk, and R&B.

When I saw the lead guitar player on this song I was stunned because I’d never heard of him playing on this. The guitar player was Stevie Ray Vaughan and this was around the time when his career was really taking off. He finished up playing on David Bowie’s album Lets Dance just a couple of years before.

The song’s co-writer Dan Hartman later included his recording of the song on his 1994 album Keep the Fire Burnin’.

Living In America

Yeah, uh
Get up, ow
Ow
Knock it out this
Woo

Super highways, coast to coast
Easy to get anywhere
On the transcontinental overload
Just slide behind the wheel
How does it feel

When there’s no destination that’s too far?
And somewhere on the way you might find out who you are, woo

Living in America (ow)
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand in hand, across the nation
Living in America
Got to have a celebration

Rock my soul, huh, ow, huh

Smokestack, fatback
Many miles of railroad track
All night radio, keep on runnin’
Through your rock ‘n’ roll soul
All night diners keep you awake
On black coffee and a hard roll, woo

You might have to walk a fine line (say it)
You might take the hard line
But everybody’s workin’ overtime

Living in America (huh)
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand in hand, across the nation
Living in America
Yeah, got to have a celebration, woo

I (I) live in America
Say it loud
I live in America
Wait a minute

You may not be lookin’ for the promised land
But you might find it anyway
Under one of those old familiar names
Like New Orleans (New Orleans), Detroit City (Detroit City)
Dallas, uh (Dallas), Pittsburgh, PA, (Pittsburgh, PA)
New York City (New York City), Kansas City (Kansas City)
Atlanta, woo (Atlanta), Chicago and L.A.

Living in America
Hit me
Living in America, yeah
I walked in and out
Living in America

I live in America
Say it loud, It’ll make you proud, uh
Said, I live in America
Hey, I know what it means, ah

Living in America
Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out

To the bridge, ay

Living in America
Hit me
I said now, eye to eye
Station to station
Living in America
Oh, so nice with your bad self (uh)
Living in America
Whoa, I feel good

Welcome To Graceland

My son had never visited Graceland and his girlfriend is visiting so I thought it would be time to go. I’ve been 2 times before…once in the 80s and again in the mid-nineties. We stayed in the Exchange Building in Memphis…a building that is 112 years old. If you are looking for a place in Memphis, it’s listed under Air B&Bs…I would recommend this place…love the architecture.

We got to Graceland on Saturday and it was crowded of course…and the price has more than doubled in the past 10 years from what I read. It’s now $77 (80 with tax) dollars per person for a house visit plus the planes and different exhibits. Compared to the 90s…it’s enough items to keep you busy at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours easy…still that is steep when you have a few people.

You get through the house in 30 minutes or so…at least we did. It’s the huge new complex they built to house most of his items that takes a lot of time.

I’m going to show as many pictures as possible but two exhibits surprised this Beatles fan. They had a section called “Icons” and the artists that were influenced by Elvis. They had many things on loan from The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I got to see the piano that John Lennon wrote a lot of Double Fantasy on and a vest and Marshall amp from no other than Jimi Hendrix. Also a James Brown outfit, KISS items, Joe Perry, Buddy Holly, and a leather jacket from Bruce Springsteen.

You can google Graceland and get most of the pics inside the house but here are a few…I like the yellow man cave. After this, we took a walk on Beale Street which was really cool. Next time I’m allowing more time. Sun Studios and Buford Pusser’s place in McNairy country are places I wanted to see also.

You should be able to click on the pictures and see all of them one at a time if you want.

Here are some of the exhibits

Last but not least…Elvis’s outfits…it looked like a giant doll’s house.

…

James Brown – It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World

James Brown was the man. Not many go on a stage and leave everything on it like he did. He drove his band hard, really hard to follow him. I so wish I could have seen this man live in concert. Every song he did sound as if it were a sermon coming from a pulpit.

That’s not to say that trouble didn’t find Brown or that Brown didn’t find trouble every so often. In 1963 in Macon, Georgia, James Brown attempted to shoot his musical rival Joe Tex. It seemed Tex had done a parody of Brown on stage, and James didn’t like it. The incident caused people to get shot and stabbed. Brown got his agent and a few thousand dollars to make the situation disappear. When the shootout was over, each one of the injured was given one hundred dollars apiece not to carry it no further and not to talk to the press. Brown was never charged for the incident.

James Brown first recorded this song in June of 1964 in Chicago under the title “It’s a Man’s World”. But it was Brown’s second version of the song, retitled in 1966 that became a hit, with the final title echoing the Oscar-winning It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The music was written by James Brown and most of the lyrics by Betty Jean Newsome.

The lyrics to the song emerged from a road trip tour James Brown was on with his backup singer, Betty Jean Newsome. She has said they were on a 20-hour drive from Harlem, through South Carolina, and further west into the Deep South.

In 1963 Brown co-wrote “I Cried” with Famous Flames bandmate Bobby Byrd The song was recorded by 18-year-old Tammy Montgomery, who had been a backup singer with the James Brown Revue in live concerts. Later on, she would become Tammi Terrell. He used the same chord progression for It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.

The song peaked at #1 on The Billboard R&B Charts, #8 on the Billboard 100, #25 in Canada, and #13 in the UK in 1966.

It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s, World

This is a man’s world, this is a man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the train to carry the heavy load
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

This is a man’s, man’s, man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

Man thinks about our little bitty baby girls and our baby boys
Man made them happy, ’cause man made them toys
And after man make everything, everything he can
You know that man makes money, to buy from other man

This is a man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl
He’s lost in the wilderness
He’s lost in bitterness, he’s lost lost

James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag

Happy Father’s Day! I hope everyone has a great day.

I do miss my dad…this is Christmas 1975…yea I’m the dork beside him.

James Brown = The MAN

James Brown recorded this song in one take…the released version was supposed to be a run-through, but sounded so good it was kept anyway.

Brown, who still hadn’t memorized the song’s lyrics, read from a sheet in front of him at the beginning of the original take, he can be heard saying “There’s a lot of words here, man.” He also can be heard exclaiming “This is a hit!” just before the band kicks in.

The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in the R&B Charts in 1965.

This song was followed by “I Got You (I Feel Good),” which quickly became Brown’s biggest hit (until “Living in America” was released in 1985) as it went to #3 on the Hot 100.

This won a Grammy for Best R&B Recording of 1965. It was also inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.

From Songfacts

A “bag” is slang for a way of doing something or a kind of lifestyle. It was a popular saying in the ’60s, especially among musicians, who wouldn’t describe songs as being “in an R&B bag” or “in a doo-wop bag.”

In this song, James Brown sings about coming up with a new “bag,” meaning a completely different way of approaching music. Inspired by what he heard in church, he punctuated the music on the downbeat, creating his “brand new bag.”

In March 1965, after a legal battle with King Records, Brown agreed to a new contract with a higher royalty rate than their previous agreement, plus Brown’s own publishing company and complete artistic control. Brown promptly went into a Charlotte, North Carolina, studio and cut “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”

King Records executive Syd Nathan gave a copy of this to New York DJ Frankie Cocker, who hated the new James Brown style but was impressed with the response when he put it on the air anyway. When King Records released the track as a single, Smash Records, the label Brown had leased some of his songs to that prompted the lawsuit, released an instrumental version of the song. As part of the ruling, Smash Records could release only instrumental versions of Brown’s songs.

Brown had recorded the very similar sounding “Out Of Sight” for Smash earlier that year, violating his King contract. James retooled the song, using a riff his band had been playing live, as a peace offering to King.

The original song was about seven minutes long, moved at a slower pace, and featured a more elaborate intro. After the song was cut, Brown sliced off most of the intro, sped the song up to get it played on pop radio, and broke it up into three parts (the second of which can be heard on the flipside of the original single).

The vocal version reached #8 in the US. It was the first Top 10 hit for the Godfather of Soul, and marked a departure from his early music toward the definition of his signature sound. Horns are used for percussive effect, and Brown’s vocals are tightly attached to the overall instrumental mix.

Dancing was a big part of James Brown’s stage show, and he often referred to dances in the lyrics to his songs. The dance crazes mentioned in this one are: The Jerk, The Fly, The Monkey, The Mashed Potatoes, The Alligator, The Twist, and the Boomerang.

Artists to record this song include Pat Boone, Freddy Cannon, Georgie Fame, Quincy Jones, L.A. Guns, Willie Mitchell, Pigbag, Otis Redding, Roger, Jimmy Smith, The Ventures, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Brown’s longtime sax player Maceo Parker played baritone sax on this track, and Maceo’s older brother Melvin was the drummer. The guitar, which is most prominent when it answers Brown’s chorus line, came courtesy of Jimmy Nolen.

This was performed in Beat the Devil, one of a series of BMW films (see it at YouTube). Faced with the problem of viewers skipping past commercials or simply ignoring them, BMW decided to make short films starring their products that people would choose to watch. James Brown stars in this one.

This was used in the 1993 Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire.

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag

Come here sister, Papa’s in the swing
He ain’t too hip, about that new breed babe
He ain’t no drag
Papa’s got a brand new bag

Come here mama, and dig this crazy scene
He’s not too fancy, but his line is pretty clean
He ain’t no drag
Papa’s got a brand new bag

He’s doing the Jerk
He’s doing the Fly
Don’t play him cheap ’cause you know he ain’t shy
He’s doing the Monkey, the Mashed Potatoes
Jump back Jack, See you later alligator

Come here sister
Papa’s in the swing
He ain’t too hip now
But I can dig that new breed babe
He ain’t no drag
He’s got a brand new bag

Oh papa! He’s doing the Jerk
Papa, he’s doing the Jerk
He’s doing the twist, just like this
He’s doing the Fly every day and every night
The thing’s, like the Boomerang
Hey, come on
Hey! Hey, come on
Hey! Hey, he’s put tight, out of sight
Come on. Hey! Hey!

Joe Tex – I Gotcha

My sister…lover of the Osmonds and everything unholy in music to me…somehow had this fun R&B groove single by Joe Tex. The song peaked at #2 in 1972 in the Billboard 100.

“I Gotcha” shows more than a little James Brown influence. Some say it wasn’t just influence but more than a little mocking. The two, who sometimes shared a stage, feuded quite a bit…dating back to the 50s. Tex said Brown copied his moves and later stole his girlfriend, Brown didn’t like the way Tex made fun of him. This supposedly led to an incident where Brown allegedly used a gun to fire a few rounds at Tex in a nightclub, then paid off the patrons with $100 bills so they wouldn’t call the police.

The battle began in earnest when James Brown stole Tex’s girlfriend, Bea Ford. Then, just to twist the knife, Brown sent Tex a letter telling him that he was through with the Bea and Joe could have her back. This led to the record “You Keep Her”, where Joe calls James out by name, saying he was better off without the Bea anyway.

Eventually, the two patched things up enough for Joe to write the line: “If I was a dancefloor, James Brown could mash potatoes on me all night long!”

From Songfacts

This was Joe Tex’s highest-charting career single as far as the Billboard Hot 100 was concerned. It is all original Joe Tex, in his own absolutely inimitable style – he’s known as one of the precursors of rap music.

While Joe Tex may have been charting on the Hot 100 since 1965, his previous highest score had been #5 for his breakout single “Hold What You’ve Got”. Since that time, he’d barely tasted the Top-10. This song was actually the B-side of “A Mother’s Prayer” – Radio station DJs would flip it and play this side instead, giving him his highest-charting hit.

We have yet another Tarantino hit! The film Reservoir Dogs features this song prominently. It’s used for the scene where three of the robbers transport the hostage cop to their warehouse hideaway, where they proceed to beat the nickels out of him, both because they suspect they were set up and just to work off some frustration after their robbery plan goes to pieces. The action is even choreographed to the music a little; watch Michael Madsen pulling off a length of duct tape in time to the lyrics for a beat or two.

Joe Tex re-recorded “I Gotcha” for his 1978 album Rub Down, this time as a ballad.

I Gotcha

I gotcha, uh huh, huh
You thought I didn’t see ya now, didn’t ya, uh huh, huh
You tried to sneak by me now, didn’t ya, uh huh, huh
Now gimme what you promised me, give it here
Come on

Hey

Good God

Hey

You promised me the day that you quit your boyfriend
I’d be the next one to ease on in
You promised me it would be just us two, yeah
I’d be the only man kissin’ on you, yeah
Now, kiss me
Hold it a long time, hold it
Don’t turn it a-loose, now hold it
A little bit longer, now hold it
Come on

Hold it
Hold it
Hold it
Hold it
Now ease up on me now, good god
Hey

Good God
Hey

The girl’s alright, y’all
Ha ha

Good God

You made me a promise and you’re gonna stick to it
You shouldn’t have promised if you weren’t gonna do it
You saw me and ran in another direction
I’ll teach you to play with my affection
Now, give it here

You never should’ve promised to me, give it here
Don’t hold back, now give it here
Don’t say nothin’, just give it here
Come on, give it here

Give it here
Give it here
Give it here
Give it to me, now

Good God

Hey

I gotcha
Shouldn’t made a promise to me
I gotcha

You never should’ve promised to me, gotcha
Give it on, here
I gotcha

You thought you got away from me, didn’t ya?
I gotcha
Ha ha ha
Oh, I gotcha

Give it on up, I gotcha
Give it on here, I gotcha

You tried to sneak by me, now didn’t ya?
Ha ha
I gotcha
Oh, I gotcha