Showing posts with label It's a Man's Man's Man's World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label It's a Man's Man's Man's World. Show all posts

Monday, December 25, 2006

R.I.P. James Brown: His Top 50 Songs

James Brown

Top 50 Songs

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, was born on May 3, 1933. With more than 130 charted hits, he became one of the most successful artists in history. According to Dave’s Music Database, he ranks at #13 on the list of the top acts of all time. He is also rated as the #5 R&B acts of all time.

Brown passed away on Christmas Day in 2006. In celebration of what would have been his 79th birthday, here is a list of Brown’s top 50 songs of all time as determined by an aggregate of multiple best-of lists, sales figures, chart data, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on the Billboard R&B charts (#1 RB) are noted, as are two songs which are ranked by Dave’s Music Database in the top 1000 songs of all time (DMDB 1000) and another three which are in the Grammy Hall of Fame (GHoF).

While this list focuses on songs, it should also be noted that Brown’s 1962 album, Live at the Apollo Volume 1, ranks as one of the top 100 albums of all time and at #1 on the DMDB’s list of the top live albums of all time.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.)

1. I Got You (I Feel Good) (1965) #1 RB
2. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (1965) #1 RB
3. Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine (1970)
4. It’s a Man Man’s Man’s World (1966) #1 RB
5. Please, Please, Please (1956)
6. Living in America (1985)
7. Cold Sweat (1967) #1 RB
8. Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud (1968) #1 RB
9. The Payback (1974) #1 RB
10. Prisoner of Love (1963)

11. Lost Someone (1961)
12. Get on the Good Foot (1972) #1 RB
13. Night Train (1962)
14. I Got the Feelin’ (1968) #1 RB
15. Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me) (1969) #1 RB
16. Bewildered (1961)
17. Super Bad (1970) #1 RB
18. Hot Pants (1971) #1 RB
19. Bring It Up (1967)
20. Give It Up or Turnit a Loose (1969) #1 RB

21. Licking Stick Licking Stick (1968)
22. Make It Funky (1971) #1 RB
23. My Thang (1974) #1 RB
24. Funky Drummer (1970)
25. Talking Loud and Saying Nothing (1972) #1 RB
26. let a Man Come in and Do the Popcorn (Part 1) (1969)
27. I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (1969)
28. Papa Don’t Take No Mess (1974) #1 RB
29. Out of Sight (1964)
30. It’s a New Day (1970)

31. I Got Ants in My Pants (1973)
32. I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1967)
33. Oh Baby, Don’t You Weep (1964)
34. Soul Power (1971)
35. Ain’t It Funky Now (1969)
36. Brother Rapp (1970)
37. Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
38. I’m a Greedy Man (1971)
39. There Was a Time (1968)
40. Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved (1970)

41. Goodbye My Love (1968)
42. World (1969)
43. The Popcorn (1969)
44. King Heroin (1972)
45. Escape-ism (1971)
46. Get It Together (1967)
47. I Got a Bag of My Own (1972)
48. There It Is (1972)
49. Honky Tonk (1972) 50. Think (1960)

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First posted 5/3/2012; last updated 6/5/2022.
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Tuesday, May 7, 1991

James Brown Star Time box set released

First posted 2/18/2010; updated 11/16/2020.

Star Time

James Brown

Recorded: 1956-1974

Released: May 7, 1991

Peak: -- US, 89 RB, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: R&B/funk

Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Disc 1 (Mr. Dynamite):
  1. Please Please Please (4/7/56, 5 RB, 95 US)
  2. Why Do You Do Me
  3. Try Me (11/10/58, 1 RB, 48 US)
  4. Tell Me What I Did Wrong
  5. Bewildered (2/27/61, 8 RB, 40 US)
  6. Good Good Lovin’
  7. I’ll Go Crazy (2/22/60, 15 RB, 73 US)
  8. I Know It’s True
  9. Do the Mashed Potatoes, Part 1 (9/29/62, 21 RB, 82 US)
  10. Think (5/2/60, 7 RB, 33 US)
  11. Baby, You’re Right (8/7/61, 2 RB, 49 US)
  12. Lost Someone (12/18/61, 2 RB, 48 US)
  13. Night Train (4/14/62, 5 RB, 35 US)
  14. I’ve Got Money
  15. I Don’t Mind (5/15/61, 4 RB, 47 US)
  16. Prisoner of Love (4/20/63, 6 RB, 18 US)
  17. Devil’s Den
  18. Out of the Blue
  19. Out of Sight (8/15/64, 24 RB, 24 US)
  20. Grits
  21. Maybe the Last Time
  22. It’s a Man’s World
  23. I Got You
  24. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Parts 1, 2, & 3
Disc 2 (The Hardest Working Man in Show Business):
  1. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1 (7/17/65, 1 RB, 8 US, 25 UK)
  2. I Got You (I Feel Good) (11/13/65, 1 RB, 3 US, 29 UK)
  3. Ain’t That a Groove (3/5/66, 6 RB, 42 US)
  4. It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World (4/30/66, 1 RB, 8 US, 13 UK)
  5. Money Won’t Change You (7/30/66, 11 RB, 53 US)
  6. Don’t Be a Dropout (10/8/66, 4 RB, 50 US)
  7. Bring It Up (Hipster’s Avenue) (1/7/67, 7 RB, 29 US)
  8. Let Yourself Go (5/6/67, 5 RB, 46 US)
  9. Cold Sweat (7/15/67, 1 RB, 7 US)
  10. Get It Together (10/28/67, 11 RB, 40 US)
  11. I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me, Part 1 (12/9/67, 4 RB, 28 US)
  12. I Got the Feelin’ (3/16/68, 1 RB, 6 US)
  13. Licking Stick (5/25/68, 2 RB, 14 US)
  14. Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud, Part 1 (9/7/68, 1 RB, 10 US)
  15. There Was a Time (live) (1/20/68, 36 US)
  16. Give It Up or Turnit-a-Loose (1/25/69, 1 RB, 15 US)
  17. I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get It Myself) (4/5/69, 3 RB, 20 US)
Disc 3 (Soul Brother No. 1):
  1. Mother Popcorn (6/14/69, 1 RB, 11 US)
  2. Funky Drummer (3/21/70, 20 RB, 51 US)
  3. Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine (7/18/70, 2 RB, 15 US, 32 UK)
  4. Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2 (10/3/70, 1 RB, 13 US)
  5. Talkin’ Loud & Sayin’ Nothing (2/12/72, 1 RB, 27 US)
  6. Get Up, Get into It, and Get Involved (1/2/71, 4 RB, 34 US)
  7. Soul Power, Pts. 1 & 2 (2/27/71, 3 RB, 29 US)
  8. Medley: Brother Rapp (live) (5/2/70, 2 RB, 32 US) / Ain’t It Funky Now (live) (11/22/69, 3 RB, 24 US)
  9. Hot Pants, Part 1 (7/3/71, 1 RB, 15 US)
  10. I’m a Greedy Man, Part 1 (11/13/71, 7 RB, 35 US)
  11. Make It Funky, Part 1 (8/28/71, 1 RB, 22 US)
  12. It’s a New Day (live) (2/14/70, 3 RB, 32 US)
  13. I Got Ants in My Pants, Part 1 (1/20/73, 4 RB, 27 US)
  14. King Heroin (3/4/72, 6 RB, 40 US)
Disc 4 (The Godfather of Soul):
  1. There It Is, Part 1 (5/6/72, 4 RB, 43 US)
  2. Public Enemy #1, Pt. 1
  3. Get on the Good Foot (8/5/72, 1 RB, 18 US, sales: 0.5 m)
  4. I Got a Bag of My Own (11/18/72, 3 RB, 44 US)
  5. Doing It to Death
  6. The Payback (3/9/74, 1 RB, 26 US, 12 UK, sales: 0.5 m)
  7. Papa Don’t Take No Mess, Part 1 (8/24/74, 1 RB, 31 US)
  8. Stoned to the Bone, Pt. 1
  9. My Thang (6/8/74, 1 RB, 29 US)
  10. Funky President (People, It’s Bad) (11/2/74, 4 RB, 44 US)
  11. Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved) (11/29/75, 31 RB)
  12. Get Up Offa That Thing (Release the Pressure) (6/5/76, 4 RB, 45 US, 22 UK)
  13. Body Heat, Part 1 (12/11/76, 13 RB, 88 US, 36 UK)
  14. It’s Too Funky in Here (5/29/79, 15 RB)
  15. Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses) (11/15/80, 46 RB, 39 UK)
  16. Unity, Part 1 (with Afrika Bambaataa, 9/1/84, 87 RB, 49 UK)

Rating:

4.834 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings)

Quotable: “Star Time is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy” – CD Universe

Awards:

About the Album:

“There are few box sets that can match the greatness of James Brown’s Star Time.” CD “It would seem impossible to summarize James Brown’s contribution to R&B – to American music – in a mere four compact discs, but somehow Star Time does it,” DH “collecting seventy two tracks that let you hear why Brown is hailed as ‘the hardest working man in show business.’” CD

“Brown created some of the most intense, soulful music ever recorded” CD and “has one of the richest and most influential bodies of work in musical history, but before this 1991 box set, his catalogue was a mess to sort through. Albums were in and out of print, singles were impossible to track down.” TL

“The four discs of Star Time, though, are the very model of a great compilation – comprehensive without being overwhelming, they tell the complete James Brown story, using unreleased material and newly-discovered, unedited or unaltered versions of songs judiciously, to flesh out the incomparable greatness of Soul Brother Number One.” TL

“This boxed set charts Brown’s early rise as a hard-hitting R&B-styled vocalist (Please Please Please, Try Me) and shows how his bandleading skills (one can't forget inventive players like saxophonist Maceo Parker, bassist Bootsy Collins, drummer Jabo Starks, and many others) changed the face of soul and invented funk in the '60s and early '70s.” DH

There are “late-'60s funk essentials like…Sex Machine to the massively influential '70s funk grooves Funky Drummer and The Payback.” CD Throughout the set are “impeccably timed (Papa's Got a Brand New Bag), highly rhythmic (I Can't Stand It), primal (Licking Stick Licking Stick) hits.” DH Incidentally, in regards to the former, it is presented here “at its original tempo — it was sped up for release – is a revelation.” TL “A live medley of Brother Rapp/Ain’t It Funky Now showcases the jaw-dropping, drill-team precision funkiness of one of Brown's finest bands.” TL “The box also does a definitive programming job on Brown's more spotty later years – another plus.” DH

“This is where beginners should start, but several extended versions and rarities (like ‘Papa’…) make it a must for completists too.” DH Star Time gives you all the James Brown basics.” CD This is “funk nirvana,” TL “a monument to the life and music of one of the most colorful and inspired performers in popular music.” CD “Star Time is packed with the best R&B and funk that money can buy.” CD “After five hours, you still want more.” TL

“Star Time also comes with a 64-page booklet that features rare and wonderful photos and essays by Nelson George and several other noted critics.” CD

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