| "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by James Brown and his Famous Flames | ||||
| from the album James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. | ||||
| B-side | "You Don't Have to Go" | |||
| Released | August 4, 1962 [1] | |||
| Recorded | May 22, 1962 [1] | |||
| Studio | King Studios (Cincinnati, Ohio) [1] | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 2:49 | |||
| Label | King 5672 | |||
| Songwriter | James Brown | |||
| James Brown and his Famous Flames singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio video | ||||
| "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." on YouTube | ||||
"Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." is a rhythm and blues song by James Brown and his Famous Flames. Released on August 4, 1962 as a single by King Records and later on the album James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. , it reached #82 on the Pop chart and #21 on the R&B chart. [2] The title refers to the Mashed Potato dance popular at the time.
Inspired by Freddie King's "San-Ho-Zay" James Brown recorded "James Brown House Party" in January of 1962. This song was left shelved until May 22, 1962 when he re-recorded the song under the title "Limbo Jimbo". After the recording session ended Brown suddenly decided to record a spoken vocal track over it about doing the Mashed Potatoes which would finally realise the song as "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A.". [1]
The song is a travelogue set over a strummed guitar/organ riff with a muted trumpet providing a jazz counterpoint to the vocal delivery. The bridge consists of the entire band repeating a two-chord riff.
In the song, Brown asserts "Here I am and I'm back again," then states his plan to bring the mashed potatoes to the cities he will tour. He then name checks his itinerary, starting with New York City and ending with his home town, Augusta, Georgia, which he misspells as A-G-U-S-T-A.
The instrumental version entitled "Limbo Jimbo" was released in early 1963 as part of the King published album A Carnival Of Songs [3] while the original January 1962 recording of the song entitled "James Brown House Party" was released on the Mighty Instrumentals album in 1966. [1]
"Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." was reissued as a limited edition single by King Records in 1967 under the name "Mashed Potatoes '66". [4]
"Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." is another tune with a tangled heritage. In January, James and his band had recorded "James Brown House Party," a ragged instrumental loosely based on Freddie King's "San-Ho-Zay." They re-recorded the song five months later, this time as "Limbo Jimbo." The session over, the band packed their instruments onto the show bus. But James had a sudden brainstorm. He asked the engineer to cue up the track and give him a vocal mic. Moments later "Limbo Jimbo" became "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." – and another hit record.
Sometime in 1967, King Records pressed an un-numbered limited edition single called "Mashed Potatoes '66." The recording that appears on both sides is actually "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." which was issued in 1962 as King 5672