"America Is My Home - Pt. 1" | ||||
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Single by James Brown | ||||
B-side | "America Is My Home - Pt. 2" | |||
Released | 1968 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length |
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Label | King 6112 | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | James Brown | |||
James Brown chartingsingles chronology | ||||
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"America Is My Home" is a 1968 single by James Brown. It was intended as a patriotic song written by Brown and Hayward E. Moore, recorded in 1967 in response to increasing criticism of the Vietnam War by black leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael. Brown speaks rather than sings the words of the song over an instrumental backing. The lyrics affirm that "America is still the best country, without a doubt" and claim "black and white, they may fight, but if the enemy come we'll get together and run 'em out of sight." [1] Brown delayed the song's release until the summer of 1968 when he thought the timing was right. It charted #13 R&B and #52 Pop. [2] He followed it later that year with "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud".
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. A progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music dance. He is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted over 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first ten inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986.
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations.
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.
This is a discography chronicling the musical career of James Brown. Brown joined Bobby Byrd's vocal group The Flames in 1953, first as a drummer, and then as leading front man. Later becoming The Famous Flames, they signed with Federal Records in 1956 and recorded their first hit single, "Please, Please, Please", which sold over a million copies. Brown was discovered by Famous Flames founder Bobby Byrd, who recruited him for his vocal group.
"Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" is a funk song performed by James Brown and written with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis in 1968. The first part of the song was arranged by Belford "Sinky" Hendricks. It was released as a two-part single which held the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart for six weeks, and peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. 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.
"Please, Please, Please" is a rhythm and blues song performed by James Brown and The Famous Flames. Written by Brown and Johnny Terry, with music arrangement by Belford "Sinky" Hendricks, and released as a single on Federal Records in 1956, it reached No. 6 on the R&B charts. The group's debut recording and first chart hit, it has come to be recognized as their signature song.
Albert Joseph Brown III, known professionally as Al B. Sure!, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, radio host and former record executive. He was born in Boston and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brown was one of new jack swing's most popular romantic singers, songwriters and record producers.
"There Was a Time" is a song written and performed by James Brown.
"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written 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.
The Famous Flames were an American rhythm and blues vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first professional recording, "Please, Please, Please", in 1956.
"Mother Popcorn " is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 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".
"Super Bad", originally titled Call Me Super Bad, is a 1970 song by James Brown. Originally released as a three-part single, it went to #1 on the R&B chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. 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".
"Get Up Offa That Thing" is a song written and performed by James Brown. It was released in 1976 as a two-part single. 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 Deidre and their daughters, Deanna and Yamma Brown.
"I Got the Feelin'" is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1968, it reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and #6 on the pop chart. It also appeared on a 1968 album of the same name.
"Out of Sight" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by James Brown in 1964. 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.
"Licking Stick – Licking Stick" is a song 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 included on the album Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud.
"I Can't Stand Myself ", also known as "I Can't Stand It", is a song written and recorded by James Brown in 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. The single's B-side, "There Was a Time", also charted.
"I've Got Money" is a song written and recorded by James Brown. It was released as the B-side of Brown's 1962 R&B hit "Three Hearts in a Tangle". It charted on its own, reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs appeared on the album Tour the U.S.A..
"Money Won't Change You" is a song recorded by James Brown in 1966. It was released in edited form as a two-part single which charted #11 R&B and #53 Pop.
"I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" is a song written and performed by James Brown. Released as a single in 1968, it charted #15 R&B and #55 Pop. The Wailers recorded a reggae version of the song under the title "My Cup" on their 1970 album Soul Rebels. This song is noted as the last single by Brown to give label credit to his vocal group, The Famous Flames. Although they technically stopped singing on Brown's singles in 1964, The Flames, Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth, were still together, touring as a live performance group with Brown, and Byrd continued to sing on record with him. In 1968, however, The Flames all left Brown, citing monetary differences, and although Byrd returned 18 months later, the other members never returned, and all of Brown's King Records singles from this point on, starting with Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud, gave him sole label credit.
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