The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown

The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown
Compilation album by James Brown
Released	2002
Label	Universal
Producer	James Brown Ralph Bass Full Force Brad Shapiro Dan Hartman
James Brown chronology
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of James Brown, Vol. 2: The 70's (2002) The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown (2002) The Next Step (2002)

The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter James Brown, released in 2002 by Universal Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek opined that "for a single disc" compilation, The Godfather was "quite solid if bare in places" and that the album "contains all [of Brown's] major hits", though "there is plenty [of his other material] missing". Concluding the review, Jurek stated that "[t]here is no single compilation of James Brown's music that can really be considered complete, but this one [...] stands with the best of them despite lacking some cuts. ^[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by James Brown, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origin	Length
1.	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"		non-album single (1965)	2:07
2.	"I Got You (I Feel Good)"		I Got You (I Feel Good) (1966)	2:48
3.	"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"	Brown Betty Jean Newsome	It's a Man's Man's Man's World (1966)	2:47
4.	"Please, Please, Please,"	Brown Johnny Terry	Please Please Please (1958)	2:45
5.	"Think"	Lowman Pauling	Think! (1960)	2:47
6.	"Night Train"	Oscar Washington Lewis P. Simpkins Jimmy Forrest	James Brown Presents His Band (1961)	3:31
7.	"Cold Sweat"	Brown Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis	Cold Sweat (1967)	2:53
8.	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose"	Charles Bobbit	Ain't It Funky (1970)	3:13
9.	"Funky Drummer" (Parts 1 & 2)		non-album single (1970)	7:00
10.	"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"	Brown Bobby Byrd Ron Lenhoff	non-album single (1970)	5:18
11.	"Soul Power"		non-album single (1971)	4:21
12.	"Get on the Good Foot"	Brown Fred Wesley Joseph Mims	Get on the Good Foot (1972)	3:37
13.	"Doing It to Death"		Doing It to Death (1973)	5:23
14.	"Get Up Offa That Thing"	Deanna Brown Deidre Brown Yamma Brown	Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)	4:11
15.	"I'm Real"	Paul Anthony George Brian George Lucien George Jr. Gerry Charles Hugh Junior Clark Curt Bedeau	I'm Real (1988)	5:35
16.	"It's Too Funky in Here"	Brad Shapiro George Jackson Robert Miller Walter Shaw	The Original Disco Man (1979)	3:59
17.	"Living in America"	Charlie Midnight Dan Hartman	Rocky IV soundtrack (1985) & Gravity (1986)	4:43
18.	"Super Bad"		Super Bad (1971)	5:02
19.	"The Boss"		Black Caesar soundtrack (1973)	3:13
20.	"The Payback Mix"		non-album single (1988)	3:36

Personnel

• James Brown – producer (tracks 1–3, 4–14, 18–20)
• Ralph Bass – producer (track 4)
• Full Force – producer (track 15)
• Brad Shapiro – producer (track 16)
• Dan Hartman – producer (track 17)

Charts

Chart performance for The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [2]	61
UK Albums (OCC) [3]	30

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [4]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "The Godfather: The Very Best Of... - James Bro... | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
2. "Swisscharts.com – James Brown – The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
3. "James Brown | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
4. "British album certifications – James Brown – The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 17 November 2025.

External links

• The Godfather: The Very Best of James Brown at Discogs