Sho Is Funky Down Here

Sho Is Funky Down Here
Studio album by James Brown
Released	April 1971
Recorded	King Studios, Cincinnati
Genre	Instrumental rock psychedelic funk
Length	30:00
Label	King
Producer	James Brown
James Brown chronology
Super Bad (1971) Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971) Hot Pants (1971)

Sho Is Funky Down Here is the 31st studio album by American musician James Brown, released in 1971 on King Records, his last album on the label after having been on the label since 1956. ^[1]

Overview

An entirely instrumental album, it's full of heavy fuzzed-out guitars in a jazzy psychedelic rock style, resembling the first records by Funkadelic. All songs are by James Brown and David Matthews and the record is somewhat a second album by Matthews' Grodeck Whipperjenny group. ^[2] David Matthews worked as the band leader for James Brown at the time.

Chart performance

Sho Is Funky Down Here peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Best Selling Soul LP's chart and No. 137 on the Top LP's chart in May 1971. ^{[3] [4]}

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Kurt Edwards reviewed the album for AllMusic, writing, "Even within that narrow subsection, Sho Is Funky Down Here stands out: an almost completely unsoulful album — at least as close as James Brown will ever come, even in his later years — full of fuzzed-out guitars, poorly recorded drums, and not much else." ^[1]

Track listing

All tracks composed by James Brown and David Matthews

Side A

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sho Is Funky Down Here"	8:36
2.	"Don’t Mind"	3:31
3.	"Bob Scoward"	3:21
Total length:		15:36

Side B

No.	Title	Length
4.	"Just Enough Room For Storage"	5:58
5.	"You Mother You"	3:32
6.	"Can Mind"	4:52
Total length:		14:24

Personnel

• James Brown – organ, harpsichord, vocals
• Michael Moore – bass
• Jimmy Madison – drums
• Kenny Poole – guitar
• David Matthews – organ

Charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
US Billboard Top LP's [4] [6]	137
US Billboard Best Selling Soul LP's [3]	26

References

1. Kurt Edwards. "Sho Is Funky Down Here - James Brown | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
2. "JAMES BROWN sho is funky down here, LP released on 1971 on label king". Groovecollector.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
3. "Billboard Best Selling Soul LP's" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 83, no. 19. May 8, 1971. p. 41. Retrieved October 7, 2025– via worldradiohistory.com.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top LPs, 1955–1972. Record Research. p. 22. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
5. 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.
6. "Billboard Top LP's" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 83, no. 20. May 15, 1971. p. 62. Retrieved October 7, 2025– via worldradiohistory.com.