It's easy to forget some of JB's charting singles, as he had 138 on the Billboard Pop or R&B charts from 1956 through 1993.

We all the no big hits, like "I Feel Got", "I Got The Feelin", "Papa's Bag", even "Livin in America." There was a bunch of Top 40 Pop Hits, top 20 R&B Hits which have been largely forgotten.

-----

Think

Was a top 35 pop / top 10 black hit in the summer of 1960.

-----

Baby, You're Right

Just missed the top spot on the black charts in mid 1961 thanks to Jackiw Wilson, and a top 50 pop hit also. Written by Joe Tex.

-----

Money Won't Change You

Just missed the Black top ten at #11, and topped the Pop at #53.

-----

Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue)

This was a top 30 Pop hit and also inside the top 10 on the Black side in winter of 66. Probably his biggest hit not to get any play these days.

-----

Get It Together

Top 40 git right after he hit the world with "Cold Sweat" in 1967.

-----

America Is My Home

One of his first message songs, along with "Don't Be a Drop-Out" which I would have added but not on Youtube. #13 Black, Top 55 Pop single.

-----

I Guess I'll Have To Cry, Cry, Cry

A ballad released when he was gettin' that funk out. Top 15 Black hit in th summer of 68.

-----

Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn Part One

Song just missed the pop top 20 and held out by te Temps "I Can't Get Next To You" for the top spot on the Black charts in 1969.

-----

Brother Rapp

Top 35 pop, #2 on the black charts in summer of 1970

-----

I Cried

JB wrote this for Tammi Terrell and his version was recorded shirtly after her death. Top 15 Black, top 50 Pop in sprince of 1971.

-----

I Got A Bag of My Own

Top 5 Black hit in the Fall of 72.

-----

What My Baby Needs Now (Is a Little More Lovin')

Duet with Lynn Collins. Top 10 Black / Top 60 Pop in the winter of 1972.

-----

Stone to the Bone

Top 5 Black hit, Top 60 Pop hit in the winter of 73.

-----

Hustle!!! (Dead On It)

JB jumped in on the Hustle craze, and it got him a #11 Black hit in the summer of 75.

-----

I'm Real [with Full Force]

Got with the young crowd with a collaboration with Full Force. #2 R&B in spring 88.

[Edited 1/1/13 10:50am]

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I'm Real [with Full Force]

Got with the young crowd with a collaboration with Full Force. #2 R&B in spring 88.

[Edited 1/1/13 10:50am]

I guess we'll never know who he was talking about . . .

LittleBLUECorvette said:

It's easy to forget some of JB's charting singles, as he had 138 on the Billboard Pop or R&B charts from 1956 through 1993.

We all the no big hits, like "I Feel Got", "I Got The Feelin", "Papa's Bag", even "Livin in America." There was a bunch of Top 40 Pop Hits, top 20 R&B Hits which have been largely forgotten.

-----

Think

Was a top 35 pop / top 10 black hit in the summer of 1960.

-----

Baby, You're Right

Just missed the top spot on the black charts in mid 1961 thanks to Jackiw Wilson, and a top 50 pop hit also. Written by Joe Tex.

-----

Money Won't Change You

Just missed the Black top ten at #11, and topped the Pop at #53.

-----

Bring It Up (Hipster's Avenue)

This was a top 30 Pop hit and also inside the top 10 on the Black side in winter of 66. Probably his biggest hit not to get any play these days.

-----

Get It Together

Top 40 git right after he hit the world with "Cold Sweat" in 1967.

-----

America Is My Home

One of his first message songs, along with "Don't Be a Drop-Out" which I would have added but not on Youtube. #13 Black, Top 55 Pop single.

-----

I Guess I'll Have To Cry, Cry, Cry

A ballad released when he was gettin' that funk out. Top 15 Black hit in th summer of 68.

-----

Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn Part One

Song just missed the pop top 20 and held out by te Temps "I Can't Get Next To You" for the top spot on the Black charts in 1969.

-----

Brother Rapp

Top 35 pop, #2 on the black charts in summer of 1970

-----

I Cried

JB wrote this for Tammi Terrell and his version was recorded shirtly after her death. Top 15 Black, top 50 Pop in sprince of 1971.

-----

I Got A Bag of My Own

Top 5 Black hit in the Fall of 72.

-----

What My Baby Needs Now (Is a Little More Lovin')

Duet with Lynn Collins. Top 10 Black / Top 60 Pop in the winter of 1972.

-----

Stone to the Bone

Top 5 Black hit, Top 60 Pop hit in the winter of 73.

-----

Hustle!!! (Dead On It)

JB jumped in on the Hustle craze, and it got him a #11 Black hit in the summer of 75.

-----

I'm Real [with Full Force]

Got with the young crowd with a collaboration with Full Force. #2 R&B in spring 88.

[Edited 1/1/13 10:50am]

It kind of sickens me that most (white) people only know him for "I Got You (I Feel Good)." As great as that song is I kind of feel that pop radio has largely destroyed it but thankfully they have left the rest of his catalogue alone.

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is often cited as his first "funk" recording but I think this one was where he really changed his sound and funk started developing:

I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing(Open The Door,I'll Get It Myself)

Try Me

Prisoner of Love

My Thang

King Heroin

Night Train

Oh Baby Don't You Weep

Never heard "I cried" before. Great track. Love the feel of it.

rialb said:

It kind of sickens me that most (white) people only know him for "I Got You (I Feel Good)." As great as that song is I kind of feel that pop radio has largely destroyed it but thankfully they have left the rest of his catalogue alone.

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is often cited as his first "funk" recording but I think this one was where he really changed his sound and funk started developing:

The general music audience, regardless of color, doesn't appreciate James' true musical genius though he was the primary architect of the hip-hop sound.

It took me years before I delved a little deeper and I am at a loss for words to describe his genius and the debt that so many others (including this site's namesake) owe to him.

namepeace said:

rialb said:

It kind of sickens me that most (white) people only know him for "I Got You (I Feel Good)." As great as that song is I kind of feel that pop radio has largely destroyed it but thankfully they have left the rest of his catalogue alone.

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is often cited as his first "funk" recording but I think this one was where he really changed his sound and funk started developing:

The general music audience, regardless of color, doesn't appreciate James' true musical genius though he was the primary architect of the hip-hop sound.

It took me years before I delved a little deeper and I am at a loss for words to describe his genius and the debt that so many others (including this site's namesake) owe to him.

I know what you mean, but Mr Brown was imo more of an inspirational bandleader/ taskmaster. He was not really a composer in the manner of a Duke Ellington/ Billy Strayhorn or even a Prince.

A great deal of the fabulous music he is famous for was actually cooked up by his band members (such as James Brown Band bandleader Pee Wee Ellis in the mid-60s, who IIRC was the one who 'borrowed' the bass riff from Miles Davis' So What and adapted it into Cold Sweat, similarly later on Fred Wesley was the main arranger for the band), admittedly sometimes based on Mr Brown's verbal directions and always with the addition of his unique personal stamp on the music. Together, JB and band often made magic, especially in the 1963 - 74-ish 'golden era' of Mr Brown's career.

But it's one of those paradoxes that, without Mr Brown, none of his band members could ever quite cook up the same, unique feel (witness the imo worthy but dull records Maceo Parker/ Fred Wesley/ JB Horns made without JB, a kind of JB funk meets hard bop sound), but also, without his greatest bandmembers, Mr Brown would often lurch into (yes, a highly capable) but rather too Las Vegasy self-pastiche of his live sound in the '80s and beyond.

The above points are what makes me consider Mr Brown to be the lead figure in an underappreciated BAND, and Mr Brown, like many bandleaders, liked to take all the credit from his employees and bill himself as a solo artist .

The bandmembers probably owed their high-profile careers to Mr Brown, but without them, he would not have had the pioneering funk soul sound and the stellar reputation he subsequently gained.

It is definitely true that, for various reasons, James Brown and his classic band's musical reputation is actually underrated in the general music world and, without the James Brown Band's rhythmic revolution of '50s-early '60s soul/ R & B mixed with gospel, jazz and latin feels, there would be no Sly and the Family Stone, no P Funk, no '70s funk golden age, no Michael Jackson or Prince (at least as we know them) and even the classic music of The Rolling Stones, The Who and other rock bands (who were often Brown fans) and jazz-rock-funk fusion would have been very different. I would say the James Brown Band, along with yer Beatles is the most influential band/ artist of the classic rock/ soul era.

Of course, there would probably not have a hip hop either, but Mr Brown definitely did not set out to invent hip hop and I suspect didn't really like it personally. Hip hop is more the bastard lovechild of James Brown and Kool Herc's use of James Brown 'breaks' in his sound system/ DJ sets in the early '70s. Mr Brown was all about the live 'feel' and to automate that using electronics (as hip hop often did) imo defeated the object and spirit of his brand of funk. James Brown didn't need machines to make his music, he and his band WERE a human machine of the utmost grace, efficiency and soulful musicality.

Miles said:

namepeace said:

I know what you mean, but Mr Brown was imo more of an inspirational bandleader/ taskmaster. He was not really a composer in the manner of a Duke Ellington/ Billy Strayhorn or even a Prince.

A great deal of the fabulous music he is famous for was actually cooked up by his band members (such as James Brown Band bandleader Pee Wee Ellis in the mid-60s, who IIRC was the one who 'borrowed' the bass riff from Miles Davis' So What and adapted it into Cold Sweat, similarly later on Fred Wesley was the main arranger for the band), admittedly sometimes based on Mr Brown's verbal directions and always with the addition of his unique personal stamp on the music. Together, JB and band often made magic, especially in the 1963 - 74-ish 'golden era' of Mr Brown's career.

But it's one of those paradoxes that, without Mr Brown, none of his band members could ever quite cook up the same, unique feel (witness the imo worthy but dull records Maceo Parker/ Fred Wesley/ JB Horns made without JB, a kind of JB funk meets hard bop sound), but also, without his greatest bandmembers, Mr Brown would often lurch into (yes, a highly capable) but rather too Las Vegasy self-pastiche of his live sound in the '80s and beyond.

The above points are what makes me consider Mr Brown to be the lead figure in an underappreciated BAND, and Mr Brown, like many bandleaders, liked to take all the credit from his employees and bill himself as a solo artist .

The bandmembers probably owed their high-profile careers to Mr Brown, but without them, he would not have had the pioneering funk soul sound and the stellar reputation he subsequently gained.

It is definitely true that, for various reasons, James Brown and his classic band's musical reputation is actually underrated in the general music world and, without the James Brown Band's rhythmic revolution of '50s-early '60s soul/ R & B mixed with gospel, jazz and latin feels, there would be no Sly and the Family Stone, no P Funk, no '70s funk golden age, no Michael Jackson or Prince (at least as we know them) and even the classic music of The Rolling Stones, The Who and other rock bands (who were often Brown fans) and jazz-rock-funk fusion would have been very different. I would say the James Brown Band, along with yer Beatles is the most influential band/ artist of the classic rock/ soul era.

Of course, there would probably not have a hip hop either, but Mr Brown definitely did not set out to invent hip hop and I suspect didn't really like it personally. Hip hop is more the bastard lovechild of James Brown and Kool Herc's use of James Brown 'breaks' in his sound system/ DJ sets in the early '70s. Mr Brown was all about the live 'feel' and to automate that using electronics (as hip hop often did) imo defeated the object and spirit of his brand of funk. James Brown didn't need machines to make his music, he and his band WERE a human machine of the utmost grace, efficiency and soulful musicality.

Simply put, you can't ignore the JBs.

True indeed.

Regarding songwriting and James' lack of crediting his band, I'm not sure what to think about that. There certainly is a very strong case to be made that key members of the band contributed much more than they were ever given credit for but the membership of the band was constantly changing, James was pretty much the only constant and the quality of the music didn't change when the bands did. It wasn't until the mid/late seventies that the quality of the songs really took a dip. Was that because his key collaborators had all left or, after twenty years of near constant recording/touring, was James just creatively burnt out?

We will never know but I suspect that both are true. The band almost certainly did deserve more credit but I think James was responsible for more than his detractors think, he didn't just steal ideas from the band. He may not have been an accomplished musician but he did have (very) basic abilities on the drums and organ. Certainly he was no Stevie Wonder or Prince as far as musical ability is concerned but he was more than "just" a singer.

Another thing that sickens me is that much of his catalogue remains out of print. The eleven volumes from Hip-O Select collecting his singles circa 1956-1981 have plugged quite a few of the gaps but surely he is worthy of multi-volume box sets that collect everything (or at least everything from the fifties to the early eighties)?

rialb said:

Regarding songwriting and James' lack of crediting his band, I'm not sure what to think about that. There certainly is a very strong case to be made that key members of the band contributed much more than they were ever given credit for but the membership of the band was constantly changing, James was pretty much the only constant and the quality of the music didn't change when the bands did. It wasn't until the mid/late seventies that the quality of the songs really took a dip. Was that because his key collaborators had all left or, after twenty years of near constant recording/touring, was James just creatively burnt out?

We will never know but I suspect that both are true. The band almost certainly did deserve more credit but I think James was responsible for more than his detractors think, he didn't just steal ideas from the band. He may not have been an accomplished musician but he did have (very) basic abilities on the drums and organ. Certainly he was no Stevie Wonder or Prince as far as musical ability is concerned but he was more than "just" a singer.

Another thing that sickens me is that much of his catalogue remains out of print. The eleven volumes from Hip-O Select collecting his singles circa 1956-1981 have plugged quite a few of the gaps but surely he is worthy of multi-volume box sets that collect everything (or at least everything from the fifties to the early eighties)?

He deserves all his album to be re-released some how, but it will be a major feet. In 1968 alone, he released 8 albums. He released more than 4 albums aa year on many occasions.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

He deserves all his album to be re-released some how, but it will be a major feet. In 1968 alone, he released 8 albums. He released more than 4 albums aa year on many occasions.

Sure but there was a lot of repetition in some of those albums and until the late sixties it was common for his albums to include material recorded over a span of several years. Arguably James was never an "album" artist but he definitely wasn't one in the sixties. His albums were messy hodge podges that were very much thrown together.

I suspect that the easiest and best way to compile his material would be in box sets sequenced in chronolgical order. I don't think that it makes much sense to faithfully recreate the tracklists of each album as that would result in quite a bit of duplication. Hip-O Select did a good job with their Chuck Berry box sets (with the exception of skipping the Mercury years) and I would love to see something similar done with James. A four or five disc box set would probably be able to hold everything circa 1956-1964 with room to spare for previously unreleased material and from there several more multi-disc sets could be assembled to complete the reissues. Admittedly things would get a bit more difficult when it came to collecting his seventies albums which were for the most part much more cohesive than his sixties albums but I'm sure it could be done.

Come on, Universal, I am begging you to take my money!

rialb said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

He deserves all his album to be re-released some how, but it will be a major feet. In 1968 alone, he released 8 albums. He released more than 4 albums aa year on many occasions.

Sure but there was a lot of repetition in some of those albums and until the late sixties it was common for his albums to include material recorded over a span of several years. Arguably James was never an "album" artist but he definitely wasn't one in the sixties. His albums were messy hodge podges that were very much thrown together.

I suspect that the easiest and best way to compile his material would be in box sets sequenced in chronolgical order. I don't think that it makes much sense to faithfully recreate the tracklists of each album as that would result in quite a bit of duplication. Hip-O Select did a good job with their Chuck Berry box sets (with the exception of skipping the Mercury years) and I would love to see something similar done with James. A four or five disc box set would probably be able to hold everything circa 1956-1964 with room to spare for previously unreleased material and from there several more multi-disc sets could be assembled to complete the reissues. Admittedly things would get a bit more difficult when it came to collecting his seventies albums which were for the most part much more cohesive than his sixties albums but I'm sure it could be done.

Come on, Universal, I am begging you to take my money!

Five disc covering 56-64? All of Please, Please, Try Me were basically from the firxt volume releasded at Hip-O. Since they released the singles, the best thing they should do is just releas the non-album tracks in box sets.

There were some good album tracks starting around 1966. They cna release his instrumentla records he recorded from Smash/Mercury.

omg I always loved Get It Together! I remember first hearing that 9 min version

on the Startime box set in the early 90's and I was blown away by that fierce groove,

the hard hitting horns and of course JB's delivery. Awesome song!

I don't know if this was ever a hit, but it's another great forgotten JB song:

SO

FUCKING

GOOD

.

ONe of the most underated james brown album by james brown fans is love over due. here are 3 great songs that should be classics. None of them are on youtube lol. Standing on Higher Ground, Dance Dance To the Funk, So tired of standing still.

chewymusic said:

I don't know if this was ever a hit, but it's another great forgotten JB song:

SO

FUCKING

GOOD

.

It is kind of too bad that after "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" his ballads stopped being big hits. He recorded some very soulful ballads in the late sixties/early seventies. One of my favourite forgotten ballads is the version of "Sometime" from 1969.

chewymusic said:

I don't know if this was ever a hit, but it's another great forgotten JB song:

SO

FUCKING

GOOD

.

It was top 10 R&B, almost top 30 pop hit.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

chewymusic said:

I don't know if this was ever a hit, but it's another great forgotten JB song:

It was top 10 R&B, almost top 30 pop hit.

Thanks!

I don't know if this was ever a single but I remember this getting a lot of radio play in my area and became my favorite J.B. song.

Yes!! I got that 12" back in the day! "Don't start none, won't be none!"

I used to joke about how I couldn't figure out a damn thing he was singing in the verses