"Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings.
"Please, Please, Please" is a rhythm and blues song performed by James Brown and the Famous Flames. Written by Brown and Johnny Terry 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.
"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.
"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).
"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.
"Out of Sight" is a funk 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.
"My Thang" is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. Unlike most of his songs, this song was released not as a two-part single, but instead issued with three different B-sides. It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart - Brown's second #1 in a row, following "The Payback" - and reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974. The song also appeared on Brown's 1974 double album Hell.
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.
Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III is a live double album by James Brown released in 1971. As its subtitle suggests, it is Brown's third album recorded at the Apollo Theater, following the original Live at the Apollo (1963) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968).
"Maybe the Last Time" is a song written by James Brown and recorded by Brown and the Famous Flames in 1964. It was released as the B-side of "Out of Sight" and was also included on the Out of Sight album. Brown described it as "a heavy gospel-based number, all about appreciating friends and everything while you can because each time you see somebody may be the last time, you don't know." It was the last studio recording Brown made with the Famous Flames, although the singing group continued to perform live with him for several more years.
"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.
"I Cried" is a song written by James Brown and Bobby Byrd. It was originally recorded in 1963 by Tammy Montgomery, better known as Tammi Terrell, for Brown's Try Me Records. It was her first charting single, reaching #99 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Don't Be a Dropout" is a song written by Burt Jones and recorded by James Brown. It was Brown's first attempt at a socially conscious song, encouraging teenagers to stay in school. Released as a single in 1966, it charted #4 R&B and #50 Pop. It also appeared on the album Sings Raw Soul. Bobby Byrd, Vicki Anderson, and The Jewels contribute backing vocals. The song led to Brown meeting with Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who had been working on a stay-in-school program of his own.
"Coldblooded" is a song written and recorded by James Brown. It was released in 1974 as the B-side of "Funky President " and charted #99 Pop. It also appeared on the album Hell. Writing in Rolling Stone, Robert Palmer praised the song as a "sure-fire disco [smash], the kind of no-nonsense party music one expects from Soul Brother Number One."
