Showtime (James Brown album)

Last updated

Showtime
James Brown Showtime.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 1964 (1964-04) [1]
RecordedMarch 24, 1964 (1964-03-24) [1] [2] [3]
Studio Bell Sound Studios (New York City, New York) [1] [2] [3]
Genre Soul, jazz
Length32:02
Label Smash
James Brown chronology
Prisoner of Love
(1963)
Showtime
(1964)
Grits & Soul
(1964)
Singles from Showtime
  1. "Caldonia"
    Released: April 1964 (1964-04)
  2. "The Things That I Used to Do"
    Released: May 1964 (1964-05)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]

Showtime is the seventh studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in April 1964, by Smash Records. [6] It was the transition album from King Records to Smash Records, however, limited by contractual obligations with King Records, Brown released an album of remakes overdubbed with canned applause. [4] Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames are included in the album's introduction and are featured on the album's cover but do not appear on any of the tracks. [1] [2] [3] The album was arranged by Sammy Lowe.

Contents

Chart performance

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 9, 1964, peaking at No. 61 during a eighteen-week run on the chart. [7]

Other releases

In 1990, several songs from Showtime were released without the overdubbed crowd on the Messing With The Blues and Soul Pride: The Instrumentals 1960-1969 compilation albums. [1] [2]

In mid 2018, some 54 years after its original 1964 release on vinyl, Showtime was released on CD for the first time. [8] [9]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Introduction of James Brown & The Famous Flames by Danny Ray" 0:13
2."Caldonia"Fleecie Moore2:44
3."Don't Cry Baby"James Price Johnson, Saul Bernie, Stella Unger3:06
4."Sweet Lorraine" Cliff Burwell, Mitchell Parish 2:30
5."Out of the Blue"Johnny Terry, Ted Wright 2:19
6."Somebody Changed the Lock on My Door"Casey Bill Weldon3:52
7."Evil"Ted Wright2:50
8."Blues for My Baby"Billy Wright, Teddy Reig3:03
9."For You My Love" Paul Gayten 2:24
10."Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney Kramer 2:59
11."The Things That I Used to Do"J. Dolan2:56
12."You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Love You"James Cavanaugh, Larry Stock, Russ Morgan 3:00

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1964)Peak
position
US Billboard Top LP's [7] 61

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Leeds, Alan; Weinger, Harry (1990). Soul Pride: The Instrumentals 1960-1969. p. 15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 White, Cliff; Weinger, Harry (1990). Messing With The Blues. Polydor. pp. 1–6.
  3. 1 2 3 Leeds, Alan (February 2007). The Singles, Volume 3: 1964–1965 (published June 8, 2007). p. 22.
  4. 1 2 Hamilton, Andrew. "James Brown: Showtime at AllMusic. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  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. "iTunes - Music - Showtime by James Brown". iTunes. May 3, 1933. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top LPs, 1955–1972. Record Research. p. 23. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  8. Amazon.com
  9. Oldies.com