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Thread started 02/25/17 10:00am

LittleBLUECorv
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Is JAMES BROWN the most prolific artist in the Rock & Roll era?

After Clyde Stubberfield passed away last week, I started to think how much stuff he played on. I said to myself, “that’s a lot.” Than I realized he wasn’t the only drummer in James’ bands. And not throughout JB’s career, just at that time Clyde was a drummer. He was sharing the set with Jabo Starks, Melvin Parker, Nat Jones and JB himself even drummed on a few cuts just from the years Clyde was in the band (1965-1970.)

So I went back into time, just to see how prolific James Brown was. I just took his prime years, basically a 20 year run from his first charting single “Please, Please” in spring of 1956 to his last major hit, “Bodyheat” in the winter of 1976.

Between 1956-1976, his prime years were I would say, 1962-1974 (a shorter span you can go 65-72). His absolute peak year was probably 1968.


Singles released James Brown, James Brown & The Famous Flames and Duets.

1956
James Brown with the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (1 Charting Single)
1957
James Brown with/& the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (0 Charting Single)
James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1958
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 2 Vocal Singles (1 Charting Single)
1959
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (1 Charting Single)
1960
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 3 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles including 1 B-Side)
James Brown - 1 Vocal Single - (1 Charting Single)
1961
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 5 Vocal Singles (5 Charting Singles)
1962
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (5 Charting Singles including 1 B-Side)
1963
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles)
1964
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 6 Vocal Singles (5 Charting Singles)
James Brown & His Orchestra - 3 Vocal Singles (3 Charting Singles)
1965
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles including 1 B-Side)
James Brown & His Orchestra - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1966
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 5 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles)
3 Christmas Singles (0 Charting Singles)
James Brown & the Famous Flames 5 charted and 3 Christmas singles.
1967
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 7 Vocal Singles (5 Charting Singles)
Vicki Anderson & James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (1 Charting Single)
1968
JB & the Famous Flames - 4 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles)
James Brown - 5 Vocal Singles (2 Charting Singles)
3 Christmas Singles (1 Charting Single)
Bobby Byrd & James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (1 Charting Single)
Vicki Anderson & James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1969
James Brown - 10 Vocal Singles (7 Charting Singles)
1 Christmas Single (Did Not Chart)
Marva Whitney & James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1970
James Brown - 9 Vocal Singles (6 Charting Singles)
2 Christmas Singles (0 Charting Singles)
Vicki Anderson & James Brown - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1971
James Brown - 7 Vocal Singles (7 Charting Singles)
1972
James Brown - 7 Vocal Singles (6 Charting Singles)
JB & Lyn Collins - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1973
James Brown - 8 Vocal Singles (8 Charting Singles)
Lyn Collins & JB - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
Lyn Collins - 1 Vocal Single (Did Not Chart)
1974
James Brown - 5 Vocal Singles (6 Charting Singles including 1 B-Side)
Lyn Collins - 1 Vocal Single (1 Charting Single)
1975
James Brown - 7 Vocal Singles (5 Charting Singles)
1976
James Brown - 4 Vocal Singles (4 Charting Singles)




Albums released James Brown or James Brown & The Famous Flames.

1958
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 1 Album
1959
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 1 Album
1960
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 1 Album
1961
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 1 Album
1962
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 2 Albums
1963
James Brown - 2 Albums (2 Charting Albums)
1964
James Brown - 2 Albums (2 Charting Albums)
1965
James Brown - 1 Album (1 Charting Album)
1966
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 1 Album (1 Charting Album)
James Brown - 2 Albums (1 Charting Album)
1967
James Brown & the Famous Flames - 2 Albums (2 Charting Albums)
James Brown - 1 Album (1 Charting Album)
1968
James Brown - 7 Albums (5 Charting Albums)
1969
James Brown - 3 Albums (3 Charting Albums)
1970
James Brown - 4 Albums (3 Charting Albums)
1971
James Brown - 4 Albums (4 Charting Albums)
1972
James Brown - 3 Albums (3 Charting Albums)
1973
James Brown - 3 Albums (3 Charting Albums)
1974
James Brown - 2 Albums (2 Charting Albums)
1975
James Brown - 3 Albums (2 Charting Albums)
1976
James Brown - 3 Albums (2 Charting Albums)


Singles from various variations of James’ backing bands including the JB’s, the James Brown Band, the James Brown Orchestra, Nat Kendrick & The Swans, ect

1959
3 Singles - (1 Charting Single)
1960
4 Singles - (0 Charting Singles)
1961
4 Singles (1 Charting Single)
1962
1 Single - (Did Not Chart)
1963
1 Single - (1 Charting Single, an instrumental B-Side of a vocal single)
1964
2 Singles - (1 Charting Single)
1965
2 Singles (2 Charting Singles
1966
3 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1967
3 Singles (0 Charting Singles)
1968
7 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1969
4 Singles (3 Charting Singles)
1970
2 Singles (0 Charting Singles)
1971
3 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1972
6 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1973
6 Singles (3 Charting Singles)
1974
7 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1975
5 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1976
4 Singles (0 Charting Singles)


Albums from various variations of James’ backing bands including the JB’s, the James Brown Band, the James Brown Orchestra, James Brown at the Organ, ect

1961
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)
1962
N/A
1963
N/A
1964
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1965
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1966
3 Albums - (2 Charting Albums)
1967
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1968
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1969
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1970
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1971
N/A
72
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
73
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
74
2 Album - (2 Charting Albums)
75
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)


Singles of artist James wrote for, produced for, records he played on. Featuring Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Hank Ballard and many, many more.

1960
1 Single (Did Not Chart)
1961
N/A
1962
5 Singles (0 Charting Singles)
1963
8 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1964
17 Singles (3 Charting Singles)
1965
16 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1966
13 Singles (1 Charting Single)
1967
18 Singles (1 Charting Single)
1968
20 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1969
23 Singles (3 Charting Singles)
1970
17 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1971
14 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1972
15 Singles (5 Charting Singles)
1973
9 Singles (2 Charting Singles)
1974
10 Singles (4 Charting Singles)
1975
10 Singles (1 Charting Single)
1976
1 Single (Charting Single)


Albums of artist James wrote for, produced for, records he played on. Featuring Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Hank Ballard and many, many more.

1964
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1965
N/A
1966
1 Album - (1 Charting Album)
1967
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)
1968
N/A
1969
3 Albums - (No Charting Albums)
1970
7 Albums - (1 Charting Album)
1972
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)
1973
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)
1974
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)
1975
1 Album - (Did Not Chart)

PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
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Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #1 posted 02/25/17 3:06pm

MickyDolenz

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It might be Sun Ra. It's been said he released over a hundred albums, but some of them only had a few copies made, and sometimes he hand printed his own artwork. So the same album might have different covers and he also released some under different group names. Technically, you could say session musicians like the Wrecking Crew, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Booker T & The MGs, The Meters, Jay Graydon, Jerry Hey, Funk Brothers, Tower Of Power Horns, Toto, MFSB, etc. or jazz guys like Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Bob James, & The Crusaders who played on lots of other acts records, in some cases for the entire album. Wilton Felder from The Crusaders played bass on some Jackson 5 songs.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #2 posted 02/25/17 4:09pm

mjscarousal

He was very prolific and he is very underrated as a songwriter. You make a great argument that is not stated often in music discussion.

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Reply #3 posted 02/25/17 4:36pm

LittleBLUECorv
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MickyDolenz said:

It might be Sun Ra. It's been said he released over a hundred albums, but some of them only had a few copies made, and sometimes he hand printed his own artwork. So the same album might have different covers and he also released some under different group names. Technically, you could say session musicians like the Wrecking Crew, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Booker T & The MGs, The Meters, Jay Graydon, Jerry Hey, Funk Brothers, Tower Of Power Horns, Toto, MFSB, etc. or jazz guys like Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Bob James, & The Crusaders who played on lots of other acts records, in some cases for the entire album. Wilton Felder from The Crusaders played bass on some Jackson 5 songs.


Sessions musicans are just that, session musicians. Usually they're just playing whats given to them. The didn't write, produce or sing in the tune.
PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #4 posted 02/25/17 4:59pm

MickyDolenz

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LittleBLUECorvette said:

Sessions musicans are just that, session musicians. Usually they're just playing whats given to them. They didn't write, produce or sing in the tune.

Not necessarily, with jazz records, the sidemen sometimes contribute to the writing of the song, but only the bandleader gets songwriting credit. A lot of jazz is instrumental, so the singing part doesn't really apply. Some of James Brown's musicians have complained about not getting songwriting credit, same for George Clinton's groups. Booker T & The MGs, Toto, and Jay Graydon are credited with writing and/or producing. Songwriting credit doesn't necessarily tells who wrote what. Many Lennon/McCartney songs were writen separately. Some bands credit all the members of the group so they'll get royalties, whether they actually wrote anything or not.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #5 posted 02/26/17 6:49am

NorthC

I don't have the statistics, but I think Frank Zappa might beat JB in terms of being prolific. He also released 70+ albums in his (relatively short) lifetime.
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Reply #6 posted 02/26/17 8:15am

luvsexy4all

so how can Prince ultimately be the MOST prolific with his estate taking forever to release all his vault albums.....???? they need to release 4 a year at least

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Reply #7 posted 02/26/17 11:22am

2freaky4church
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Frank Zappa. Dylan.

All you others say Hell Yea!! woot!
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Reply #8 posted 02/26/17 1:07pm

LittleBLUECorv
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NorthC said:

I don't have the statistics, but I think Frank Zappa might beat JB in terms of being prolific. He also released 70+ albums in his (relatively short) lifetime.

He released 64 in just a 20 year span. I haven't even includeed his post 76 material.
PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #9 posted 02/26/17 1:25pm

NorthC

LittleBLUECorvette said:

NorthC said:

I don't have the statistics, but I think Frank Zappa might beat JB in terms of being prolific. He also released 70+ albums in his (relatively short) lifetime.

He released 64 in just a 20 year span. I haven't even includeed his post 76 material.

Who is "he"? James or Frank?
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Reply #10 posted 02/26/17 2:17pm

LittleBLUECorv
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NorthC said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:


He released 64 in just a 20 year span. I haven't even includeed his post 76 material.

Who is "he"? James or Frank?

James, I'm nkt sure of Frank or Bob's. I'll have to research that.
PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #11 posted 02/26/17 3:10pm

Dasein

mjscarousal said:

He was very prolific and he is very underrated as a songwriter. You make a great argument that is not stated often in music discussion.



He was very limited as a songwriter as he was mostly the composer of vamps. But what he did,
if we are to believe that he didn't pull a Miles Davis and take ownership for shit he really didn't
author, was certainly effective and he ended up as one of the most influential songwriters of all
time.

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Reply #12 posted 02/26/17 3:37pm

NorthC

Dasein said:



mjscarousal said:


He was very prolific and he is very underrated as a songwriter. You make a great argument that is not stated often in music discussion.





He was very limited as a songwriter as he was mostly the composer of vamps. But what he did,
if we are to believe that he didn't pull a Miles Davis and take ownership for shit he really didn't
author, was certainly effective and he ended up as one of the most influential songwriters of all
time.


I'm confused... Did you just make James a compliment or not? confuse
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Reply #13 posted 02/26/17 4:45pm

Dasein

NorthC said:

Dasein said:



He was very limited as a songwriter as he was mostly the composer of vamps. But what he did,
if we are to believe that he didn't pull a Miles Davis and take ownership for shit he really didn't
author, was certainly effective and he ended up as one of the most influential songwriters of all
time.

I'm confused... Did you just make James a compliment or not? confuse


I complimented him while being honest about his abilities.


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Reply #14 posted 02/26/17 5:28pm

MickyDolenz

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Apparently, Buckethead from Guns n Roses has released close to 300 albums, so he has Sun Ra beat. biggrin I wonder who can keep up with buying all of that, or has the time to listen to them. I don't know how many albums he has, but I know rapper K-Rino releases albums pretty often.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #15 posted 03/11/17 12:07pm

LittleBLUECorv
ette

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After some more research, I see James charted another 40 or so showings on Cash Box and Music Vendor (aka Record World) that didn't make Billboard.

Billboads was not the only game in town back then. Hell Billboard and Cashbox wa probably neck and neck until the 70s.

PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #16 posted 03/11/17 4:18pm

MD431Madcat

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You Dont know a Damn thing bout JB's abilities, or FUNK!

rolleyes

Dasein said:

NorthC said:

Dasein said: I'm confused... Did you just make James a compliment or not? confuse


I complimented him while being honest about his abilities.


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Reply #17 posted 03/12/17 12:05pm

LittleBLUECorv
ette

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Dasein said:



mjscarousal said:


He was very prolific and he is very underrated as a songwriter. You make a great argument that is not stated often in music discussion.





He was very limited as a songwriter as he was mostly the composer of vamps. But what he did,
if we are to believe that he didn't pull a Miles Davis and take ownership for shit he really didn't
author, was certainly effective and he ended up as one of the most influential songwriters of all
time.


Before "HE" created funk, he was doing rhythm and blues and soul. JB existed before funk. Try Me, I Lost Some, Oh Baby Don't You Weep, and he maed covers like Think, Bewildered and Prisoner of Love into his own.

A clue that JB is the author of his music. Fred Wesley a trained musician said that the bridge to Cold Sweat was musically incorrect. That was a tune crrated before he joined.
PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #18 posted 03/12/17 12:37pm

2freaky4church
1

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Weird how great artists just lose their song writing skills.

All you others say Hell Yea!! woot!
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Reply #19 posted 03/12/17 2:40pm

mrwiggles

As far as the black chart success is concerned he is soul brother number one hands down. Whether he is most prolific is always up for debate.
I will say I think he was the hardest working man in show business on stage. Mug was the energizer bunny.
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Reply #20 posted 03/13/17 7:13pm

luvsexy4all

2freaky4church1 said:

Weird how great artists just lose their song writing skills.

i dont think they lose it...just so much in the tank

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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > Is JAMES BROWN the most prolific artist in the Rock & Roll era?