In 2014, the 1970 recording of "Get Up - I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine" by James Brown on the King Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5]
Analysis
"Sex Machine" was one of the first songs Brown recorded with his new band, The J.B.'s. In comparison with Brown's 1960s solo funk hits such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", the band's inexperienced horn section plays a relatively minor part. Instead, the song centers on the insistent riff played by brothers Bootsy and Catfish Collins on bass and guitar and Jabo Starks on drums, along with the call and response interplay between Brown and Byrd's vocals, which consist mostly of exhortations to "get up / stay on the scene / like a sex machine". During the song's final vocal passages Brown and Byrd started to sing the main hook of Elmore James' blues classic "Shake Your Moneymaker."
The original single version of "Sex Machine"—recorded, like many of Brown's hits, in just two takes[6]—begins with a spoken dialogue between Brown and his band which was recreated with minor variations in live performances:
Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing! (Yeah! That's right! Do it!) I want to get into it, man, you know? (Go ahead! Yeah!) Like a, like a sex machine, man, (Yeah!) movin', groovin', doin' it, y'know? (Yeah!) Can I count it off? (Okay! Alright!) One, two, three, four!
Brown would go on to re-record "Sex Machine" several times in addition to the original single version:
One was made in 1970 for his ostensibly all-live Sex Machine album. It is over 10 minutes long and includes added reverb and overdubbed audience noise intended to conceal its studio origins. (A version of this recording without overdubs appears on the 1996 compilation Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang.)
Another, which was released in 1975, features a new instrumental arrangement and lyrics aimed at disco audiences. Nearly 12 minutes long, it was released as a two-part single and appeared on the album Sex Machine Today. Though it was poorly reviewed — Robert Christgau wrote that "if you own another version of 'Sex Machine' you own a better one"[15] — it charted no. 16 on the R&B charts.
In 1993, Brown sang another version that was released in collaboration with his sponsorship of Nissin's Miso Soup.[16]
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer.
Phelps "Catfish" Collins was an American musician. A lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist, he is known mostly for his work in the P-Funk collective. Although frequently overshadowed by his younger brother, Bootsy Collins, Catfish played on many important and influential records by James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic, and Bootsy's Rubber Band.
The J.B.'s was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Maceo and the Macks, A.A.B.B., Fred Wesley and the New JBs, The First Family, and The Last Word. In addition to backing Brown, the J.B.'s played behind Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, and other singers associated with the James Brown Revue, and performed and recorded as a self-contained group. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but failed to be inducted and can be considered for Musical Excellence in the future. They have been eligible since 1995.
Sex Machine is a 1970 double album by James Brown. It showcases the playing of the original J.B.'s lineup featuring Bootsy and Catfish Collins, and includes an 11-minute rendition of the album's title song, different from the original recording of the title song which was released as a two-part single in 1970.
John Henry "Jabo" Starks, sometimes spelled Jab'o, was an American funk and blues drummer best known for playing with James Brown as well as other notable musicians including Bobby Bland and B.B. King. A self-taught musician, he was known for his effective and clean drum patterns. He was one of the originators of funk drumming, and is one of the most sampled drummers.
"Soul Power" is a song by James Brown. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s and it was released as a three-part single in 1971. Like "Get Up Sex Machine" and other hits from this period it features backing vocals by Bobby Byrd. It charted #3 R&B and #29 Pop.
Jimmy Nolen was an American guitarist, known for his distinctive "chicken scratch" lead guitar playing in James Brown's bands. In its survey of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," the English magazine Mojo ranks Nolen number twelve. Rolling Stone named Nolen the 12th greatest guitarist of all time in 2023.
"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".
"The Grunt" is a funk instrumental recorded in 1970 by James Brown's band The J.B.'s. It was released as a two-part single on King. It was one of only two instrumental singles recorded by the original J.B.'s lineup with Bootsy and Catfish Collins. Large parts of "The Grunt"'s melody and arrangement are borrowed, uncredited, from The Isley Brothers' song "Keep on Doin'", which was released earlier in the same year.
"Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)" is a funk song by James Brown. Brown recorded the song in 1971 and released it that year as a three-part single on his People Records label, which was then distributed by his primary label King. It was a number-one R&B hit and reached number fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in the U.S. along with reaching number ten on the Cashbox magazine charts. "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he (and the People label) moved to Polydor Records. The song's lyrics are an ode to the captivating power of the title garment, which members of the band first saw on their 1970 European tour.
"Get on the Good Foot" is a funk song performed by James Brown. It was released in 1972 as a two-part single that charted #1 R&B and #18 Pop. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of Brown's record labels to certify sales of his previous hits, "Get on the Good Foot" was his first gold record. Billboard ranked it as the No. 99 song for 1972.
"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" is a funk song recorded by James Brown. Released as a single in 1969, the song was a #1 R&B hit and also made the top 20 pop singles chart. "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" appeared as an instrumental on the Ain't It Funky (1970) album, removing Brown's vocals and adding guitar overdubs, while the vocal version was released on It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970).
"Make It Funky" is a jam session recorded by James Brown with The J.B.'s. It was released as a two-part single in 1971, which reached No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart and No. 22 on the U.S. Pop chart.
"Papa Don't Take No Mess" is a funk song performed by James Brown. An edited version of the song released as a two-part single in 1974 was Brown's 17th and final number one R&B hit and peaked at number thirty-one on the Hot 100. The full-length version, nearly 14 minutes long, appeared on the double album Hell.
"Doing It to Death", also known as "Gonna Have a Funky Good Time", is a funk song recorded by The J.B.'s featuring James Brown. A 10-minute, two-part version of "Doing It to Death" was included on a J.B.'s album of the same name. The complete, unedited and nearly 13-minute-long original recording of the song was first issued on the 1995 J.B.'s compilation Funky Good Time: The Anthology. Performances of the song also appear on the albums Live at Chastain Park and Live at the Apollo 1995.
"Lost Someone" is a song recorded by James Brown in 1961. It was written by Brown and Famous Flames members Bobby Byrd and Baby Lloyd Stallworth. Like "Please, Please, Please" before it, the song's lyrics combine a lament for lost love with a plea for forgiveness. The single was a #2 R&B hit and reached #48 on the pop chart. According to Brown, "Lost Someone" is based on the chord changes of the Conway Twitty song "It's Only Make Believe". Although Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames did not actually sing on this tune, two of them, Bobby Byrd, and "Baby Lloyd " Stallworth, co-wrote it with Brown, and Byrd plays organ on the record, making it, in effect, a James Brown/Famous Flames recording.
Love, Power, Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971 is a live album by James Brown. It is the only recording that documents one of his live performances with the original J.B.'s lineup featuring Bootsy and Catfish Collins. Love, Power, Peace was originally intended for a 1972 release as a vinyl triple album, but was cancelled after the key members of the original J.B.'s left Brown to join Parliament-Funkadelic. The album was finally released for the first time in 1992, edited down for a single compact disc; the full show, using Brown's original mixdown was later released in July 2014 on Sundazed Records.
"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" is a funk song written by James Brown and Bobby Byrd. Recorded in 1970 by Brown and the original J.B.'s with Byrd on backing vocals and updated with a new melody, it was twice released as a two-part single in 1972. It also appeared on the album There It Is.
"Gimme Some More" is a 1971 song written by James Brown and recorded by his band, The J.B.'s. Released as a single on People Records, "Gimme Some More" also appeared on the 1972 album Food for Thought.
Motherlode is a 1988 James Brown compilation album. Created as a follow-up to the successful 1986 compilation In the Jungle Groove, it similarly focuses on Brown's funk recordings of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It includes live performances and remixes as well as studio recordings, most of them previously unissued. Writing in 2007, critic Robert Christgau called it "the finest of the classic [James Brown] comps". Highlights include a live "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", the first album release of "I Got Ants in My Pants ", the latter-day UK chart hit "She's the One", and a nine-minute-long remix of "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul" from the Slaughter's Big Rip-Off soundtrack.
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