Gettin' Down to It

Gettin' Down to It
Studio album by James Brown
Released	May 1969
Recorded	December 1968–March 1969
Genre	Soul jazz
Length	48:35
Label	King
Producer	James Brown
James Brown chronology
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969) Gettin' Down to It (1969) The Popcorn (1969)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[2]

Gettin' Down to It is the 24th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in May 1969, by King Records. ^{[3] [1]}

Overview

A pet project of Brown's, the album consists of standards sung in the jazz ballad style of Frank Sinatra, whom Brown greatly admired. ^[1] In addition, two of Brown's own compositions, "Cold Sweat" and an instrumental version of "There Was a Time", are included, reinterpreted in the same style.

Chart performance

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 31, 1969, peaking at No. 99 during a fourteen-week run on the chart. ^[4]

Reception

Robert Christgau has called it "a ballad album that could scare the shades off Ray Charles". ^[5]

Al Campbell on AllMusic wrote "Although laid-back could be applied to the album's overall tone, these 12 tracks are by no means 'mellow'." ^[1]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sunny" (Marva Whitney, vocals)	Bobby Hebb	3:17
2.	"That's Life"	Kelly Gordon, Dean Kay	4:29
3.	"Strangers in the Night"	Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder	3:26
4.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	4:39
5.	"Cold Sweat"	James Brown, Alfred Ellis	5:02
6.	"There Was a Time" (Kenny Poole and Lee Garrett, guitar)	James Brown, Bud Hobgood	2:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Chicago"	Fred Fisher	2:51
2.	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons"	William Best, Deek Watson	7:40
3.	"Time After Time"	Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne	4:48
4.	"All the Way"	Sammy Cahn	3:40
5.	"It Had to Be You"	Isham Jones, Gus Kahn	2:42
6.	"Uncle" (Kenny Poole, guitar)	Frank Vincent	2:35

Personnel

• James Brown – vocals and producer
• Dee Felice Trio:
  • Frank Vincent – piano
  • Lee Tucker – bass
  • Dee Felice – drums

Charts

Chart (1969)	Peak position
US Billboard Top LPs [4]	99

References

1. Al Campbell. "Gettin' Down to It - James Brown". AllMusic. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
2. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "James Brown". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  109. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
3. "iTunes - Music - Gettin' Down to It by James Brown". iTunes . Retrieved July 16, 2015.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top LPs, 1955–1972. Record Research. p. 23. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
5. "Album: James Brown: Star Time". Robert Christgau. Retrieved November 11, 2018.