LINK to PART ONE
King’s Pop Dalliances in Billboard‘s Hot 100
1965 – 1973 = The James Brown Era
Q – How many prominent musical artists of James Brown‘s stature have recorded for two different labels simultaneously? Just for fun, go ahead and pose that question to the internet, and notice how confused it gets.
“Caldonia” b/w “Evil” — James Brown’s first single for Smash Records — was issued April 11, 1964, the same date King Records decided to roll out its own competing James Brown 45 release, “Again.” Billboard, in fact, ended up picking both of these competing 45s as “Late Single Spotlight” selections in their April 11, 1964 issue:
Extreme Cognitive Dissonance:
One Artist, Two Labels
King vs. Smash
Billboard‘s “Late Single Highlights“
Smash, a subsidiary label of Mercury Records, upped the ante by making its first James Brown single release, a picture sleeve (an honor not bestowed by King upon Brown until six years later). King, as you would expect, promptly filed suit against Mercury, who was “ordered to show cause why it should not be restrained and enjoined from releasing this record. “
Alan Leeds‘ liner notes from the James Brown compilation Singles, Volume 3: 1964-1965 helpfully elucidate Brown’s legal rationale:
EXCERPT
James Brown’s brain first reasoned that while James Brown And The Famous Flames were signed to King Records as a group, James Brown was free to record as a solo artist wherever he chose. JB formed the Fair Deal Record Corporation with his father Joe Brown and manager Ben Bart. James would record for Fair Deal and lease the masters to Smash Records, the Mercury subsidiary for whom he had successfully been producing Bobby Byrd and Anna King for the past year. James believed that Smash could cross him over to the pop field — the mainstream audience that loved Live At The Apollo but had failed to consistently support his King singles.
Jon Hartley Fox provides additional historical context in King Of The Queen City: The Story of King Records:
EXCERPT
Brown was frustrated not only with Nathan personally, but also with King’s distribution system, once an innovative and effective operation but showing its age by the early 1960s. Brown felt that for as much as he worked (roughly 300 days a year) and as much as his audiences loved his music, his record sales were simply not keeping pace with his growing stardom. It’s hard to disagree with him.
Though he was contractually bound to King, Brown and Ben Bart [booking agent/manager with Universal Attractions] formed an independent production company in 1963, pointedly named Fair Deal Productions. At first, Fair Deal was a vehicle through which Brown’s production efforts with other artists were placed with Smash, a subsidiary of Mercury. By April 1964, Brown himself was recording for Smash. As expected, Nathan sued.
This court case, indeed, was being followed closely by the music industry, observed Music Business, who reported in its October 24, 1964 issue that King had been granted a temporary injunction against Mercury from using “the voice of James Brown” in any of its record manufacturing, distribution or sales activity. This did not necessarily signal the end of Brown’s labor dispute with King Records – nor the cessation of Brown’s relationship with Smash, which continued through 1967. Even as late as December of 1968, Cash Box was reporting that the legal fight “is still in the courts.”
James Brown with Lou Dennis of Mercury Records
Holding 1967 Smash LP,
James Brown Plays The Real Thing
Billboard
James Brown Plays The Real Thing
rear cover liner notes by Ron Oberman
Syd Nathan’s health issues and the music label’s uncertain status were also compounding the situation. A rumor had erupted back in August that Columbia had made a bid for King Records that was said to involve the purchase of the music catalog and publishing firms yet allow Nathan to retain all the vinyl presses, while the following March, Billboard‘s front-page headline announced (erroneously) that Mercury had acquired King, with the company’s founder in possession of the physical plant.
By the time, Billboard reported Syd Nathan to be in good health again and firmly back at the top of the company’s leadership in late May of 1965, King had fundamentally reorganized its operations by switching from a self-owned distribution system of 33 or so branches to an outsourced network of independent distributors, as reported in a July 3, 1965 Billboard news item, “Syd Nathan Takes Hold Again of King.”
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“
Billboard
James Brown, ultimately, proved able to wrest an impressive amount of creative and financial control from King, as detailed in King of the Queen City:
EXCERPT
When Brown returned to King, he had a new deal worthy of one of America’s major musical forces, a creatively structured ten-year personal services contract that guaranteed him a weekly payment of $1500 and one of the highest royalty rates in the industry. The publishing contracts were also restructured, a key point in that Brown wrote or co-wrote most of his material.
More important, Brown, and not King Records, now owned his recordings, which gave Brown complete control over his recording career, something very few artists had at the time. Offices were created at the King complex for Brown’s various business ventures, which included Try Me, a record label, and a publishing firm, Jim Jam Music.
Brown’s next vocal release, “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” — recorded at Arthur Smith‘s sound facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, not at King Studios — was taped on May 31st, according to Michel Ruppli‘s recording session notes. Many of us were a little taken aback to learn years later that the 45 mix of “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” plays at a faster speed than the actual recording (increased from 65 BPM to 90 BPM, according to this source). 1991’s 4-CD box set, Star Time, was the first opportunity for the rest of the world to hear the nearly seven-minute recording played at the correct recording speed:
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“
James Brown And The Famous Flames
(1965)
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” — notable for being James Brown And The Famous Flames’ first Pop Top Ten hit, reaching #8 on both Billboard and Cash Box‘s national pop charts — was deemed the Best Rhythm & Blues Recording of 1965 by NARAS, the National Academy of Recording Arts And Sciences. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” would also be ranked [#57] on Cash Box‘s Top Chart Hits of 1965 listing.
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“
Hot 100 Pop Chart
Billboard
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“
Record World
Producer, conductor, arranger (and Mercury recording artist) Quincy Jones, notably, would record his own arrangement of the song for 1965’s full-length LP, Quincy’s Got A Brand New Bag, an album that also includes “I Got You (I Feel Good),” as well as “Fever.”
Quincy’s Got A Brand New Bag
Mercury Records
“I Got You (I Feel Good),” James Brown’s highest charting pop hit for King, had first been recorded for Smash Records under the simpler title, “I Got You” (note: the song had originally begun life as “I Found You,” a 1962 King single by Yvonne Fair). You can see/hear James Brown And The Famous Flames perform the Smash version of “I Got You” in the 1965 Frankie Avalon film, Ski Party (name-checked on the front cover of King’s 1966 I Got You LP, as well as the King 45).
special appearance:
James Brown And The Famous Flames
Smash intended to release their version of “I Got You” as a single until litigation by King scotched that plan. Smash also released Brown’s 1965 Smash LP James Brown Sings Out Of Sight – with “I Got You” serving as side two’s opening track – but were then quickly forced to withdraw the album from the market (as verified by auction prices in the present day). James Brown and his band then recorded a new version for King at Miami’s Criteria Studios in May of 1965.
“I Got You“
Out Of Sight
1965 LP on Smash
According to one 45Cat contributor —
“I Got You” was one of Brown’s more successful singles in Canada, charting #1 in Vancouver and Top 10 in Toronto, Kitchener, Winnipeg.
#1 — CKLG Vancouver, November 1965
#4 — CFUN Vancouver, December 1965
#4 — CKRC Winnipeg, December 1965
#6 — CHUM Toronto, December 1965
#7 — CHYM Kitchener, January 1966
#13 — CKOC Hamilton, December 1965
#21 — CHNS Halifax, December 1965
“I Got You (I Feel Good)” entered the Hot 100 chart on November 13, 1965 and worked its magic all the way up to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (vs. #2 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #1 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops). “I Got You” ended the year ranked as one of the year’s top ten hits in Japan, as well as in the United States. Two decades later, A&M Records, interestingly, would issue “I Got You (I Feel Good)” b/w “Nowhere To Run” by Martha And The Vandellas as a single release from the Good Morning, Vietnam soundtrack album.
James Brown – Smash Ad
Cash Box
“James at the organ with his 18 piece band”
Also, during this Autumn/Winter 1965 period, “Honky Tonk ’65” — Lonnie Mack‘s revival of Bill Doggett‘s “Honky Tonk” for Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records — was identified by Billboard as a “Regional Breakout” single in San Francisco and Atlanta, and also Detroit, while The McCoys of Fort Recovery, Ohio led by the Zehringer siblings (i.e., Rick Derringer and his brother, Randy Z) incorporated their distinctive sound into a Top Ten arrangement of Little Willie John‘s “Fever.”
“Fever“
Billboard
“it’s contagious”
Cincinnati-centric:
“I Got You” + “Fever” +
“Honky Tonk ’65” + “Try Me“
Billboard Hot 100 Chart
Record World reported in early November that “Try Me” — James Brown‘s organ instrumental version of the King classic for Smash Records — was a “major breakout” hit in the midwest and south, according to Smash Records’ product manager, Charles Fach. The single’s success helped to lay the groundwork for an upcoming tour estimated to to “gross over a million dollars this year,” according to Record World, who pointed out that the James Brown Show “contains the largest known travelling back-up band — 20 pieces — the Flames, Bobby Byrd, Baby Lloyd, TV [Mama], Vicki Anderson, James Crawford, The Astors, The Jewels and a group of dancers known as the Parkett[e]s.” The single peaked at #63 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #53 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #56 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart.
“Try Me“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
“Try Me“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
“Try Me“
Hot 100 Pop Chart
Billboard
The first week of December, Cash Box‘s “Great Britain” column reported that agent Arthur Howes, who represents The Beatles and The Beach Boys, “also represents James Brown in this country and is negotiating to bring him over for major TV and concert dates in Feb. 1966.” Cash Box added that “Brown has won himself a big following in Britain via his London recording of ‘[Papa’s] Got A Brand New Bag.’”
“I Got You“
Syd Nathan with Mack Emerman of Criteria Studios
Record World
million-seller, reportedly
“I Got You” – #1 Hit!
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
Thanks for the #1!
Record World
Cash Box‘s “France” column made the following announcement at the end of January:
Polydor will now distribute in France the King label. First record to be released is a James Brown EP.
“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“
France
Two weeks later, Cash Box‘s “Great Britain” column made a similar declaration:
Pye Records have taken over the United Kingdom distribution of the American Joda, King and Hanna Barbera labels for release on the Pye International label. First issue will be a James Brown single “I Got You,” which earlier this year reached the No. 2 position in the Cash Box Top 100. At the end of 1965, Brown had a big success in Britain with his “[Papa’s] Got A Brand New Bag” single released by London.
“I Got You“
UK
typo: “Good Good Livin’“
In February of 1966, two tracks by James Brown And The Famous Flames made the lower reaches of the Hot 100 — “Lost Someone” and “I’ll Go Crazy,” both recordings taken from the groundbreaking Live At The Apollo album and released as a 7-inch single. “I’ll Go Crazy” would peak at #73 on Billboard‘s Hot 100, vs. #98 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #103 on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart, while “Lost Someone” would only reach #94 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and #144 on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” charts. This King 45 is noteworthy for its inclusion of a full-color rendering of James Brown that also functions as a picture sleeve. Live At The Apollo is the first R&B album to sell one million copies, according to Jon Hartley Fox, who also highlights the fact that Apollo spent an impressive 66 weeks on Billboard‘s Pop album chart (peak position – #2).
“I’ll Go Crazy“
Hot 100 Pop Chart
Billboard
“I’ll Go Crazy“
UK
Jerry Williams & The Violents
Argentina
Jerry Williams = singer from Sweden
The following month, Cash Box‘s “Great Britain” column provided an update on the UK distribution deal with Pye:
When Pye Records took over the distribution of the American King label in January, they acquired the talents of r & b singer James Brown. The firm is getting ready to welcome him to Britain for TV and concert appearances. His latest single is “I Got You (I Feel Good).” Brown has built up a large following in this country via his “[Papa’s] Got A Brand New Bag” single then issued on the London label. He will also give a midnight concert at the Olympia Paris on March 14th.
In mid-March, Brown’s “low key, funky mostly instrumental” two-part single for Smash Records “New Breed (Pts. 1 & 2)” entered Cash Box‘s equivalent of Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart at the #119 position and remained on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart for four weeks, reaching the #102 position before scraping onto the bottom of the Top 100, tied with two other singles. By the time the single finally dropped off Cash Box‘s pop charts altogether, “New Breed (Pt. 1)” managed to “bubble under” the Billboard Hot 100 for exactly one week at the #102 position.
Smash Records Ad
Billboard front page
“The New Breed (Pt. 1)”
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
During the first two weeks of April, Brown’s follow-up single for King “Ain’t That A Groove” came close to making the Pop Top 40, peaking at the #42 position vs. #48 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #36 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops charts. Cash Box had designated the new single to be a “Sure Shot” — along with “Nowhere Man” by The Beatles, “Satisfaction” by Otis Redding, and “Walking My Cat Named Dog” by Norma Tanega — and deemed it suitable for “both Top 40 and r&b platter spinners.”
“Ain’t That A Groove“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
That same year, Billy Larkin And The Delegates recorded their own version of “Ain’t That A Groove” as the title track of their full-length LP for World Pacific Records.
Thanks to Billboard‘s “International News” report from its March 12, 1966 edition, we now know that the kids were dancing “The Monkey” when DJs were spinning “Ain’t That A Groove” in the London discotheques.
“Ain’t That A Groove“
London disco dance disc
Billboard
In April, as “Ain’t That A Groove” was winding down its Hot 100 chart run, “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” — recorded in New York City with Sammy Lowe as arranger/conductor and timekeeping by renowned session drummer, Bernard ‘Pretty‘ Purdie — was gearing up to become Brown’s next Pop Top Ten hit for King. “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” chalked up eight consecutive weeks on the Pop Top 40, peaking at #8 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #4 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #3 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops. “Man’s World” would go on to receive a Citation of Achievement for 1966 by BMI.
“It’s A Man’s World” ended up crossing the Atlantic and inspiring Italian-born French singer-songwriter Nino Ferrer to record a fairly faithful French-language version, “Si Tu M’aimes Encore” before year’s end.
“Si Tu M’aimes Encore“
(“It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World“)
France
Billboard‘s March 18, 1967 edition reported that “Man’s World” had been awarded the Gospel/Blues Prize for 1966 by the Paris-based Academie du Jazz. A top ten best-seller in Belgium (among both the Flemish and Walloons), “Man’s World” also helped kick start a soul music scene in Spain, as well as France, as reported in Billboard‘s “World Of Soul” special issue published August 17, 1968. ” Looking back four years after the single’s release, Billboard would identify “Man’s World” as one of the best-selling songs of 1966 in its May 30, 1970 edition.
Cover Photo
Cash Box
Full-page Ad
Cash Box
Record World‘s Kal Rudman writing in his May 21, 1966 “Money Music” column —
James Brown is going all the way pop, and he was tremendous on the Ed Sullivan show. Sullivan commented on how exciting he is. This guy can compete with the “King,” Sammy Davis Jr., on any stage. Many people in the business have never seen James work. He’s the Best!
Cash Box‘s June 18, 1966 “Platter Spinner Patter” column included this amusing item that illustrates the devotional fervor of Mr. Dynamite’s fan base in Washington, DC:
Many listeners of WOOK Washington, D.C., brandishing toothbrushes, converged on Maxie Waxie’s Quality Music Store where James Brown was making a surprise visit. Free records were offered to those appearing at the store with a toothbrush. Willie Bacote was broadcasting his “Moon [Man]” show from the record shop window when James Brown dropped in. Both of them agreed on the toothbrush gimmick. Drug stores in the area reported doing a land office business in toothbrushes.
An article about Norm Rubin‘s promotion to Mercury’s national R&B promotion director in that same June 18, 1966 issue of Cash Box noted “the continuing importance of James Brown, instrumentally, on Smash, as well as several artists released by the label via James Brown Productions.” That same week, “It’s A Man’s – Woman’s World” by Irma Thomas — a James Brown Production co-written by Nat Jones that was a ‘Regional Breakout’ in Miami — “bubbled under” Billboard‘s Hot 100 and reached #119, its peak position.
“It’s A Man’s – Woman’s World“
Released Jun. 1966
Cash Box‘s “Mexico” column, meanwhile, announced in early July that RCA was introducing several young artists, including Tommy Lopez, “a young rock and roll singer who is in the style of James Brown” and who recently cut a Spanish-language rendition of “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.”
“La Bruja Hermelinda“
(“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag“)
Mexico
“Por Favor Por Favor Por Favor“
Mexico
Back in the States, that same month saw (a) the purchase of a jet by James Brown, and (b) the release of a new dance record on the Philadelphia-based Swan label entitled “The James Brown” by The Henchmen.
“The James Brown“
Written by Johnny Daye
“don’t drop out”
“James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo” — recorded for King’s competitor, Smash Records — would also spend three weeks on Record World‘s equivalent of Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart, reaching its peak position of #128 on July 9, 1966.
“James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo“
“Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
“Money Won’t Change You” was deemed a Pop “Pick of the Week” — along with Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Dangling Conversation” and “Livin’ Above Your Head” by Jay And The Americans — by Cash Box, who also reported in its July 30, 1966 edition that 37% of radio stations to date have added the new single to their programming schedule. That same week, “Money Won’t Change You” entered the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for nine straight weeks, reaching its #53 peak position in mid-August (vs. Cash Box‘s Top 100, where it peaked higher at #41, vs. Record World‘s 100 Top Pops, where it peaked higher still at #35).
Money Won’t Change You“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
James Brown vs. The Beatles
“Money Won’t Change You“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
James Brown vs. The Kinks
Additionally, “Money Won’t Change You (Pts. 1 & 2)” served as the lead-off track on a 1966 LP, Mr. Dynamite, that was distributed solely in Germany — where James Brown And The Famous Flames “and the 48 man troup” would perform for the first time the following year, noted Cash Box‘s “Germany” column.
Mr. Dynamite
Germany
In August, the James Brown Revue (i.e., Bobby Byrd, James Crawford, The Famous Flames, and The Jewels, among others) were the only “name act” to perform as live entertainment at the annual convention of the National Association of Radio Announcers (NARA) held at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The pop sales success of “Don’t Be A Drop-Out” — a Billboard Top 50 pop hit in November of 1966 that also reached #39 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 — no doubt delighted U.S. Vice-President Humbert Humphrey, who had invited James Brown to serve as Chair of the Recording Artists Committee of the federal government’s “Stay-In-School” campaign. As Cash Box reported in its January 21, 1967 edition, the Vice-President had also asked the National Association of Radio Announcers, under the leadership of acting president Del Shields, to function as the “central committee” that would organize and coordinate the nation’s disk jockeys. According to the November 26, 1966 edition of The New York Amsterdam News, Brown’s King 45 — recorded in August of 1966 at Arthur Smith‘s sound studio in Charlotte, North Carolina — “has gotten to more kids than any other such campaign to date.” In fact, “Drop-Out” would become a major factor in the establishment of the James Brown fan club, as reported by Record World the following year. The Cincinnati Post, furthermore, claimed “Don’t Be A Drop-Out” to be a million-selling record in its April 9, 1968 editorial.
“Don’t Be A Drop-Out“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
Full-page ad
Cash Box
Nov. 19, 1966
“Don’t Be A Drop-Out“
Bud Hobgood‘s letter to radio stations
c. Sept. 1967
Cash Box‘s “Italy” column of November 19, 1966 reported on Brown’s rising popularity via Italian radio and television:
Durium also distributes in Italy the King label: we have to stress the good reaction which the King artist James Brown is obtaining, thanks to his single recently released containing “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” Brown has been promoted via the pop broadcasting program “Bandiera Gialla” (Yellow Flag).
“It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
Italy
In early December, James Brown‘s organ instrumental version of “Our Day Will Come” for Smash Records worked its way onto Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart at the #105 position, while Brown’s original Christmas ballad for King Records “Sweet Little Baby Boy” (co-written with Nat Jones) simultaneously held down the #125 spot. The next week, both singles would again appear on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart, while the following week, “Sweet Little Baby Boy” reached its peak position of #104. Neither of these two singles ever registered, however, on Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart during the entire month of December while both discs were active on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart. The two singles also ranked higher on Record World‘s Pop charts — “Our Day Will Come” reached its zenith at #106, while “Sweet Little Baby Boy” spent three weeks in the 100 Top Pops and peaked at #96.
“Our Day Will Come” + “Sweet Little Baby Boy“
Smash vs. King
Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” Chart
Thanks to James Brown, the first two months of 1967 would bring King another Pop Top 40 hit single, “Bring It Up,” which spent eight weeks on the Hot 100 and peaked at #29 in mid-February vs. #34 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #28 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops charts. Cash Box‘s January 14, 1967 edition shows “Bring It Up” in the number two position on the trade journal’s “Radio Active” chart, with regard to total number of stations that have added the single to its programming schedule. “Bring It Up” also found itself ranked [#46] on the Top Hits of 1967 list published in Cash Box‘s February 25 and March 4, 1967 editions.
“Bring It Up“
Cash Box‘s “Radio Active” Chart
“Bring It Up“
France
Overseas, “Bring It Up” had been selected by UK music periodical, Beat Instrumental, in its review of the James Brown Plays Raw Soul album, as the LP’s “best number.” Additionally, Cash Box‘s “Spain” column reported in February —
King Recordings – mostly of James Brown – will be released here by Sonoplay, the brand-new company in Spain.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the first week of March had brought forth “new material by young writers-interpreters,” reported Cash Box‘s “France” column, including an homage to “Mister James Brown” by Patrick Abrial.
France
Just as “Bring It Up” was leaving the Hot 100, James Brown’`s version of “Kansas City” — another track recorded in New York City with arranger/conductor Sammy Lowe and session drummer extraordinaire, Bernard Purdie [profiled in 2019] — was taking its place the following week, entering at #86 and peaking at #55 (vs. #53 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #49 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops charts) at the end of March. Cash Box‘s “Canada” column reported the same month that “Kansas City” had been getting a “strong” response.
“Kansas City“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Kansas City“
Spain
In April, James Brown and Vicki Anderson‘s updated version of “Think” was reported in Billboard to be a “Regional Breakout” single in Atlanta. But despite Cash Box‘s declaration that the “spritely dance-slanted romancer” had the potential to be a “twin market smash,” the single would only manage to hop onto the very bottom of Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #98 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops charts.
“Think“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
In May, the “more than 40 singers, dancers, and musicians” that comprise The James Brown Show — including Brown’s 18-person orchestra, plus The Joe Cuba Sextet and Mighty Clouds Of Joy as support acts — played its first headlining concert at Madison Square Garden and “wowed” the crowd. Record World reported in its May 13, 1967 issue that Brown, who has been breaking attendance records in various venues around the country, “is the favorite singer of The Beatles, as well as No. 1 in campus popularity polls.”
Meanwhile, “”Let Yourself Go,” predicted by Billboard to reach the Top 60, in fact, reached #46 in early June. Record World‘s April 22, 1967 and May 6, 1967 issues reported “Let Yourself Go” to be a hit in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Atlanta — the single would rate higher [#41] on Cash Box‘s Top 100, and better still [#39] on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops charts. During the song’s recording, just prior to take 2, you can hear James Brown on the master tape instructing John “Jabo” Starks to hit snare drum accents for each “musical grunt” vocalized by Brown. Michel Ruppli‘s recording session notes, in addition to Ron Selico on bongos, list Clyde Stubblefield as the sole drummer on this song —
Q = Is it possible that ‘The Little Dynamo‘ employed a double-drummer lineup during this song’s taping, which took place after hours at the Latin Casino – the nation’s largest night club – in Cherry Hill, New Jersey?
“Let Yourself Go“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
“Let Yourself Go“
France
Record World‘s Kal Rudman noted that James Brown and his 22-person Revue “have broken all house records at the Latin Casino and every show has been sold out.” In fact, Brown’s coast-to-coast popularity as a live act (“tremendously effective with four drums”) makes him “the biggest R&B star ever to cross into the white night club circuit so successfully,” declared Rudman. In July, James Brown would be photographed in a special event at the famed Apollo Theatre commemorating 1,000,000 tickets sold (four months later, Brown would break his own house record at the Apollo).
Cash Box reported in its July 8, 1967 “Record Ramblings” column that the The Department of the Army had “recently presented silver trays to both Ray Charles and James Brown for their ‘voluntary contribution to the morale‘ of overseas-bound troops stationed at Ft. Eustis, Va.”
Summer of 1967 would see James Brown’s next Top Ten hit “Cold Sweat” climb the Pop chart, where it peaked at #7 for two consecutive weeks on Billboard‘s Hot 100, compared to #4 for two straight weeks on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart. Recorded at King Studios in May, “Cold Sweat” reached #1 on Billboard‘s R&B Singles chart in the second week of September and stayed in the top slot for three straight weeks. Additionally, Record World‘s article about King’s 25th Anniversary in the August 12, 1967 issue mentions that “King had shipped 100,000 copies” of “Cold Sweat” on the same day as the surprise party celebration for Syd Nathan (Record World had reported the previous week, coincidentally or not, that the single was “back-ordered 100,000 in Chicago“). “Cold Sweat” ended the year ranked [#77] on Billboard‘s Top Records of 1967 vs. [#65] on Cash Box‘s Top 100 Chart Hits of 1967.
Cold Sweat, the full-length King LP, would be selected as King’s first 8-track selection, while in France, where the 4-song EP reigned as the preferred vinyl format, “Cold Sweat” was among the first single releases issued by Polydor, as announced in Billboard‘s September 23, 1967 issue.
“Cold Sweat“
Cash Box‘s “Radio Active” Chart
“Cold Sweat“
France
Vicki Anderson‘s version of Lowman Pauling‘s “Tears Of Joy” — recorded at King Studios in May of 1967 — sold particularly well in Atlanta, as reported by Record World. The single “bubbled under”Billboard‘s Hot 100 for two weeks in late September, peaking at the #131 position vs. #140 on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart.
“Tears Of Joy“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
Recorded September 5, 1967 in Atlanta, James Brown’s next big single release, “Get It Together (Parts 1 & 2),” not only reached the Pop Top 60, as predicted by Billboard, but hit the Top 40 the week of Thanksgiving. “Get It Together” ranked higher at #29 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 Pop chart, and even higher still at #18 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops.
“Get It Together“
Cash Box‘s “Radio Active” Chart
“Get It Together“
cover of Record World + full-page ad
Meanwhile, Cash Box‘s “France” column — reporting on James Brown’s three-week October residency at the Olympia Theatre — described Brown as “one of the most popular foreign artists in France.”
As “Get It Together” was winding down its Hot 100 chart run in early December, “I Can’t Stand Myself” was preparing to stake its claim as Brown’s next Top 40 hit in the first month of the new year. Cash Box declared the new single to be a “terrific number aimed at pop, r&b and dance fans.”
Cold Sweat
8-Track “Cartridge Giants” Ad
Cash Box
Cold Sweat – King’s 1st 8 Track
Commemorative Plaque
King’s John Miller with Richard Kraus of Stereodyne
Record World‘s Del Shields, writing in his November 25, 1967 “Taking Care of Business” column —
Make no mistake about it. James Brown is not only one of the top entertainers in the business, a sure fire hit-maker, a businessman with unusual talents, he is also one of the shrewdest merchandisers, and promoters in the country. He
sells one product better than any one I know. He sells James Brown.
“The Soul Of J.B.” — an instrumental recorded by James Brown backed by The Dapps, with songwriting credits that also acknowledge Bud Hobgood and Gladys Knochelman — managed to climb abroad Record World‘s version of Billboard‘s “bubbling under” chart for a single week in early December and reach the #144 position.
“The Soul Of J.B.“
Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
“I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)” — a Top 40 pop hit for five straight weeks, as 1967 transitioned into 1968 — found James Brown in King Studios backed by The Dapps: William “Beau Dollar” Bowman (drums), Tim Drummond (bass), Eddie Setser (guitar), and Tim Hedding (organ). Brown, in fact, calls out to Drummond twice during the song’s recording at King Studios. Setser would tell WVXU’s Brian Powers in 2018 that “I Can’t Stand Myself” was originally inspired by a riff from a jazz artist, possibly Kenny Burrell, but altered substantially enough by James Brown as to be unrecognizable. The single would peak at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 vs. #32 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #19 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart. “I Can’t Stand Myself” also found itself ranked [#41] on Cash Box‘s Top Hits of 1968 chart published in the January 27, 1968 edition.
I Can’t Stand Myself
UK 12-inch
distinctive typeface
In January of 1968, the single’s flip side “There Was A Time” joined “I Can’t Stand Myself” on the Hot 100, where the two songs overlapped for three weeks on Billboard‘s national Pop chart. The single version of “There Was A Time” — recorded June 26, 1967 at New York’s Apollo Theatre (in a medley joined with “Let Yourself Go” and “I Feel All Right“) augmented by the double-drummer lineup of John Starks and Clyde Stubblefield — spent eight straight weeks on the Hot 100 chart, with the final four weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #36 for two weeks. “There Was A Time” reached a little higher on Cash Box‘s Top 100 at #32 and even higher still – #23 – on Record World‘s pop chart. Record World‘s “R&B Beat” column also reported in the February 17, 1968 edition that “There Was A Time” had been “#1 for a record seven weeks in Chicago.”
“I Can’t Stand Myself” + “There Was A Time“
Billboard Hot 100
“There Was A Time“
Gene Chandler
US 7-inch
“There Was A Time“
Jerry O
Belgium picture sleeve
When “There Was A Time” abruptly halted its Hot 100 chart run, thankfully, “I Got The Feelin’” — recorded February 15, 1968 in Los Angeles, less than three weeks before the passing of King’s founder, Syd Nathan — was ready to leap on the Billboard Hot 100 and race quickly to the Top Ten, where it spent three weeks, peaking at #6 (vs. #9 on Cash Box vs. #5 on Record World). “I Got The Feelin’” — which spent ten consecutive weeks in the Top 40 — ended the year ranked [#58] on Billboard‘s Hot 100 Singles of 1968 vs. [#80] on Cash Box‘s Top 100 Chart Hits of 1968. “I Got The Feelin‘” was also a Top Ten Best Seller in Mexico, per Cash Box.
“I Got The Feelin‘”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“I Got The Feelin‘”
Hot 100 Singles of 1968
Billboard
Billboard noted in its year-end highlights for 1968 that in March alone, Brown had released “five albums, four singles, and a triple LP of his entire live shows at the Apollo.” Furthermore, at the end of March, Brown invited fans to join members of the press for his departure from New York’s Kennedy Airport to play his first concert in Africa — Brown was reported to have been paid $70,000 for a single performance in Ivory Coast, with the cost of transporting the entire 35-person revue to be footed by the Ivorian government and its TV-radio system, according to Cash Box. The reported price is thought to be the highest figure for a one-nighter to date, stated Record World, who also reported that Ray Barretto co-starred with Brown on this two-week Ivory Coast tour that included performances in Abidjan, Buake, and Daloa.
Roughly around this period of time, “You’ve Got To Change Your Mind” by Bobby Byrd & James Brown also “bubbled under” the Hot 100 for five weeks, reaching #102 the week of April 13th vs. #90 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart.
“You’ve Got To Change Your Mind“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
On the heels of “I Got The Feeling” came two James Brown singles that entered the Hot 100 chart simultaneously: “Licking Stick – Licking Stick” (peak position – #14) and “America Is My Home” (peak position – #52). In the two weeks straddling May and June, all three singles were in the Hot 100 at the same time (see chart above). Notable for being the second appearance of bassist Tim Drummond on a Hot 100 hit, “Licking Stick” was identified in Billboard‘s June 22, 1968 edition as a #1 regional hit in the South. “America Is My Home” would make Record World‘s “Best Selling R&B Singles” of 1968 list, along with “I Can’t Stand Myself,” “There Was A Time,” “I Got The Feeling,” “Licking Stick,” and “I Guess I’ll Have To Cry, Cry, Cry.”
“Licking Stick – Licking Stick“
South Africa
“America Is My Home“
Record World
“Licking Stick” + “I Got The Feelin'” +
“America Is My Home“
Three singles in the Billboard Hot 100
“Shhhhhhhh (For A Little While)” — a James Brown organ instrumental recorded March 5, 1968 at King Studios with The Dapps — “bubbled under” the Hot 100 for only two weeks and reached a peak position of #104. The single would enjoy a much longer run on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart, however, that began the second week of May and lasted through the entire month of June (peak position – #108). “Shhhhhhhh” experienced a similar pattern on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart, though peaking higher at #103.
“Shhhhhhhh (For A Little While)”
“Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
Similarly, an instrumental version of “There Was A Time” recorded by a different configuration of The Dapps, led by Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, also similarly “bubbled under” for three weeks in July/August, peaking at the #103 position. “There Was A Time” ranked noticeably higher on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart, however, where it stayed for three weeks and climbed as high as #82.
“There Was A Time“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
“Daps“
Cash Box reported in its May 25, 1968 edition that James Brown had cancelled over $100,000 in bookings in order to take members of his revue to Vietnam from June 3rd to June 20th to play for US troops stationed there.
James Brown served as the closing act on July 9th’s special broadcast of The Merv Griffin Show, which took place in the heart of Harlem — 115th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues — in support of New York Mayor John Lindsay‘s “Give a Damn” campaign, reported Record World, who noted that “the crowds danced and sang along with him.”
“I Guess I’ll Have To Cry, Cry, Cry” served as James Brown’s Top 60 Pop hit for Summer of 1968, spending seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at the #55 position vs. #39 on Cash Box‘s Top 100, vs. Record World‘s 100 Top Pops, which ranked the single even higher at #31.
“I Guess I’ll Have To Cry, Cry Cry“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
“I Guess I’ll Have To Cry, Cry Cry“
Spain
distinctive typeface
“Cry Cry Cry” made its last Hot 100 appearance at the end of August, so as to make room for the arrival of the iconic and anthemic “Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud)” in early September. Recorded August 7, 1968 in Los Angeles in a call-and-response session with schoolchildren from the Watts neighborhood, “Say It Loud” spent ten of its eleven weeks on the Hot 100 chart in the Top 40, reaching the Top Ten in mid-October (while at the same time, Brown’s Out Of Sight LP on Smash Records, King’s competitor, was also “moving into double figures in sales,” according to Billboard‘s October 12, 1968 issue).
“Say It Loud” would peak at the #10 position on Billboard‘s Hot 100 (as well as #1 six straight weeks on Billboard‘s R&B chart) vs. #17 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #9 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart. One 45Cat contributor points out that one particular vinyl pressing accidentally – distressingly – misprinted the title as “Say It Loud (I’m Black But I’m Proud)” [see Zero to 180’s “Musical Misprints” from 2024]. “Say It Loud” would also be released clandestinely in Iran as the A-side of a 1969 bootleg picture sleeve EP.
“Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud)”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud)”
Netherlands
In November of 1968, saxophonist Lou Donaldson and a backing ensemble that included trumpeter Blue Mitchell recorded their own arrangement of “Say It Loud” for Blue Note Records that served as both title and lead-off track of Donaldson’s 1969 album.
Trivia: Ed Ochs revealed retrospectively in his January 3, 1970 “Soul Sauce” column for Billboard how “Say It Loud” was able to cause both the closing of one door and the opening of another:
Frank Halfacre, now a promotion man for James Brown Productions, writes that he was fired from his last job because he played “I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Brown hired him soon after. He’s also a deejay on WPIC-FM in Sharon, Pa.
From Down Beat‘s October 31, 1968 cover story on James Brown, we learn that Mr. Dynamite (who travels with a “wardrobe of at least forty $250-suits”) claims to have “had eight million sellers in a row.” Brown talks at length on a number of topics, including the somewhat touchy subject of jazz sales numbers in comparison to his own formidable “pop” crossover sales figures:
Cat sells 50,000 on a jazz record, he’s got a 10,000,000 seller in the jazz world. Man, I sold 76,000 records the day before yesterday — 76,000 in one day! Yesterday we did 40,000. I have from 35 to 40, 50, 60,000 records a day. These cats don’t sell ’em in eight months.
As “Say It Loud” was winding down its chart run, “Goodbye My Love” – Brown’s next Pop Top 40 single – was poised to enter the Hot 100 in early November, and the Top 40 by December. Cash Box‘s singles review remarked on the song’s “pop appeal” and predicted it would be a “giant on both teen and r&b fronts.” “Goodbye My Love” would peak at #31 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #36 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #34 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart. By January of the following year, “Goodbye My Love” would find itself ranked [#40] on Cash Box‘s Top Hits of 1969 — tied with “Les Bicyclettes de Belsize” by Englebert Humperdinck.
“Say It Loud” [#28] + Goodbye My Love” [#60]
Billboard Hot 100
“Goodbye My Love“
Top Hits of 1969
Cash Box
“Tit For Tat (Ain’t No Taking Back)” — a track from the Soulful Christmas album recorded at King Studios in early October — would take the baton from “Goodbye My Love” in late December, spending four weeks in the lower reaches of Billboard‘s Hot 100, peaking at the #86 position for two weeks. This Christmas-themed song (described by Cash Box as “bubble-gum-blues“) performed noticeably better on Cash Box‘s Top 100 chart, where it reached a peak position of #53 during the second week of January, though not as good as Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart, where it peaked at #47 at the end of January.
“Tit For Tat
(Ain’t No Taking Back)”
Canada
“Tit For Tat“
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
Cash Box‘s November 2, 1968 article about the newly-conjoined Starday-King (“King Sold To Starday; James Brown Part of New Setup“) highlighted the fact that Brown, the label’s “headliner” artist, “is unique in the industry in that he generally produces his own sessions, picks his own material, and operates his own independent promotional set up.” The article also concisely summarizes the numerous assets of King’s Cincinnati recording studio and physical plant:
Often considered the most complete record operation under one roof in the world, the King complex on Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio combines a pressing plant with fifty presses, hi-speed plating plant, mill room for making vinyl resins, printing plant for full color jackets, labels, and advertising materials, album fabrication line, full art and photo department and color separations, recording studios complete with 8-4-3-2-1 tape recording facilities, general and publishing offices. Currently employing over 128 people.
Just three weeks later came the big announcement that Lin Broadcasting had purchased Starday-King for $5 million in a deal that kept senior management and all the combined assets in place, including King’s entire recording tape archive (said to encompass more than 15,000 masters) and more than 8,000 publishing copyrights, in addition to Starday’s own copyrights (estimated to be 15,000), and both label’s extensive catalog of singles and LP releases, not to mention dual recording facilities in Nashville and Cincinnati, as reported by Cash Box.
Cash Box
Helping to usher in the new year for Starday-King was “Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose” — attributed to Charles Bobbitt and recorded by James Brown’s band in Miami the previous October. The single quickly vaulted into Billboard‘s Pop Top 40 and remained there for seven straight weeks in February and March – five of these weeks in the Top 20 – reaching a peak peak position of #15 (vs. #24 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #19 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart).
“Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose“
Italy
In February, Look Magazine featured James Brown on its cover and posed the following question — “Is he the most important black man in America?” Look‘s cover story included a breakdown of Brown’s income and also indicated the percentage of earnings contributed by Brown to charity. A related piece in Record World‘s “R&B Beat” that recognized James Brown as “a new, important leader” also asserted “his constituency drawfs Stokely Carmichael’s and the late Dr. Martin Luther King’s.”
March of 1969 would be designated “James Brown Month” by Starday-King, who allocated its largest ever promotional and merchandising budget on behalf of its biggest recording star, reported Cash Box in its March 8, 1969 edition. According to Starday-King’s VP of Marketing, Col. Jim Wilson, this “Month of Soul” campaign has been designed to further “accentuate the all-market appeal and wide spread saleability of James Brown recorded product at the consumer level.” This sales and marketing campaign comprised “James Brown calendar posters, cut-out floor displays, complete album and singles catalogues, and other point-of-sale dealer aids.” Amusingly, the King promo 45 has the title misprinted as “Give It Up And Turnit A Loose.”
Month Of Soul
DJ promo EP
That same month, the James Brown Revue had served as the musical headliner for the final evening of the National Association of Record Merchants (NARM) Convention. The following month, Billboard leaked news that James Brown had just filmed a cameo appearance for the comedy film, The Phynx, produced by Warner Brothers-Seven Arts. The movie’s soundtrack, incidentally, would be composed by future Starday-King label owners, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
The Phynx
James Brown + Marva Whitney, Charles Bobbitt & Danny Ray (hidden)
In mid-April, Starday-King held a sales conference in Atlanta whose meeting agenda included “the continued promotion of James Brown Month,” according to Record World‘s March 29, 1969 edition, who also noted that James Brown performed to “packed houses” at Atlanta’s City Auditorium on the evenings of the sales meetings, which drew key staff members of both James Brown Productions, including Bud “Hopgood” (i.e., Hobgood), and Starday-King Records, including Henry “Glubber” (i.e., Glover).
Cash Box‘s March 8, 1969 singles review of the “booming” instrumental “Soul Pride (Pt. 1)” played up the “terrific bass” lines that helped make the single “a solid programming choice with blues and pop deejays.” Despite the optimistic outlook, “Soul Pride (Pt. 1)”— co-written with Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis and recorded “after hours” at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas the previous August — only managed to “bubble under” the Hot 100 briefly for three weeks in April, peaking at #117, while Record World, meanwhile, ranked “Soul Pride” a bit higher at #103 on its “Singles Coming Up” chart but not as high as Cash Box, who ranked the single at #99 the first week of April.
“Soul Pride (Pt. 1)”
“Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
“I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself) (Pt. 1),” by comparison, was able to grab the brass ring, spending six straight weeks in the Pop Top 40 and peaking at the #20 position in early May vs. #34 on Cash Box vs. #16 on Record World. Cash Box‘s singles review of “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing” — recorded in Atlanta on February 2nd — praised the recording’s “better than usual (and more cleanly produced) combo backup which comes on for a part 2 break complementing the stay in school lyric” in its March 29, 1969 edition.
“I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing
(Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself) (Pt. 1)”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Mother Popcorn” b/w “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing“
Brazil
Special note: Beginning with “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing,” James Brown sustains an uninterrupted run on Billboard‘s pop chart that lasts until the following April — one continuous year on the Hot 100.
Billboard‘s April 26, 1969 edition announced that BMI – in a “first of a kind” event – had recently hosted a special dinner in order to present citations of achievement to 58 R&B songwriters, including James Brown, who received recognition for two compositions, “Cold Sweat” and “I Got The Feelin’.” Starday-King’s Hal Neely and Don Pierce (“of Lois Publishing”) accepted the awards on behalf of these two high-performing songs at BMI’s “Detroit Rhythm and Blues Dinner” event, as reported in Cash Box‘s May 10, 1969 edition.
Earlier that month, Brown had been given the honor of performing a solo concert on the last day of the Newport Jazz Festival held in New York City. May would also see B’nai B’rith present James Brown with its Humanitarian Award.
A Cash Box news item published in its May 17, 1969 edition — “Starday-King 1st 1/4 Net Hits $250,000” — asserted that “sales of James Brown singles and albums was responsible for a major part of the bright financial picture.”
Just as “I Don’t Want Nobody” was reaching the end of its pop chart run, the first of James Brown’s “Popcorn” singles would allow the year’s Top Male Vocalist Singles Artist (per Billboard) to sustain his Hot 100 presence without missing a beat.
“The Popcorn” — pronounced “a discotheque winner” by Billboard, who believed the single to have “much potential” both “r&b and pop” — spent five straight weeks in the Pop Top 40 from the end of June through the end of July, reaching a peak position of #30 on July 19th (vs. #43 on Cash Box vs. #33 on Record World).
“Popcorn“:
Promotion at Its Most Literal
Cash Box
Sales assistant Tina Drake and Col. Jim Wilson, vice president of marketing for Starday-King, pack the mail truck with popcorn, both the eating-type and recorded kind, to promote James Brown‘s chart instrumental single, “The Popcorn,” and “Mother Popcorn,” (vocal). Says Wilson: “The Popcorn is a swingin’ new dance craze that is sweeping the country, and all of us at Starday-King are excited that James Brown is a highly significant factor in the zooming popularity of the dance.”
“The Popcorn“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
James Brown Directs And Dances The Popcorn
Spain
Billboard‘s Claude Hall notified readers at the end of May that “James Brown of King Records” had recently recorded 23 ten-second-to-one-minute spots for the World Health Organization that were intended for distribution to 1,500 radio stations. Produced by Ira Ashley, this series of public service announcements was the first of its kind “in the 21-year history of the U.N. organization,” Hall reported. That same issue of Billboard would remark in its album review of Gettin’ Down To It that Brown “strikes again” with rhythm and “new pop polish.”
The invitation by Mike Douglas for James Brown to serve as co-host of Douglas’s CBS television show for an entire week in early July reflects Brown’s growing “crossover” pop appeal. Billboard‘s Sue Clark noted that CBS “broke precedent and bought advertising on Soul radio,” and added that the TV network “also bought advertising time for their presentation of the Harlem Cultural Festival.” Brown “reportedly gave up $100,000 in bookings to co-host the Mike Douglas syndicated TV-er for a week,” wrote Record World‘s Red O’Donnell in his July 5, 1969 “Nashville Report” column,
Just one week after “The Popcorn” entered the Hot 100 at #81, Brown’s latest single, “Mother Popcorn (You Got To Have A Mother For Me Part 1)” — predicted by Billboard to reach the Pop Top 60 — was on the verge of spending eleven consecutive weeks in the Top 40. “Mother Popcorn” peaked at #11 on Billboard‘s Hot 100, while peaking even higher – #7 – on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart.
“Mother Popcorn
(You Got To Have A Mother For Me Pt. 1)”
100 Top Pops Chart
Record World
“Mother Popcorn“
Japan
One of the early singles released under the Starday-King name since the passing of King’s founder, Syd Nathan, “Mother Popcorn” ended the year ranked [#68] on Billboard‘s Top Records of 1969 list vs. [#90] on Cash Box‘s Top 100 Chart Hits of 1969. Both “Popcorn” singles would make the Dutch Top 20 chart later that summer, reported Cash Box.
During the four weeks in June/July when Marva Whitney‘s “It’s My Thing (Pt. 1)” was riding Billboard‘s national pop chart, James Brown Productions boasted three singles in the Hot 100 at the same time.
“Mother Popcorn” + “The Popcorn + “It’s My Thing“
Three singles in the Billboard Hot 100
Furthermore, for the entire month of July, Brown had two Top 40 hits simultaneously — “The Popcorn” and “Mother Popcorn (Pt. 1).”
“Mother Popcorn” + “The Popcorn“
Billboard Hot 100
At the end of July, Cash Box‘s “Canada” column announced that Columbia Records — who “was going on an all-out campaign to introduce the King line which they have just received distributing rights to” — were pleased to see that “Mother Popcorn” was “already happening for them,” as well as Marva Whitney‘s “It’s My Thing,” which was starting to show “early indications of chart action.”
“It’s My Thing
(You Can’t Tell Me Who To Sock It To)”
France
For the last two weeks of August, you can see the handoff taking place on the Billboard Hot 100 between “Mother Popcorn” (a hit single in the Netherlands) and its successor, “Lowdown Popcorn,” a 45 “loaded with discotheque appeal” (per Billboard) that lodged itself in the Top 60 for five weeks of its six-week chart run, peaking at the #41 position (vs. #48 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #42 on Record World‘s pop singles chart).
“Lowdown Popcorn“
Jamaica
“manufactured by Federal Record Co. Mfg. Co. Ltd.”
Richard Robinson, in a piece for Billboard‘s “World of Soul” special issue published August 16, 1969, cited James Brown and Curtis Mayfield as two prominent artists who have been able to produce “huge r&b and pop hits without compromising their music.” Ira Trachter, writing in that same “World of Soul” special issue, offered this additional insight:
Few top 40 stations failed to program Marvin Gaye‘s million selling “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and James Brown‘s “Mother Popcorn,” an instant Soul smash, was later programmed by many important top 40 stations, giving it greater exposure than it would have gotten via r and b alone. It is also doubtful that an r and b station is any longer limited to an exclusively black audience. If whites listen to an r and b station and like some the records they hear, the hit potential of these records becomes greater.
August of 1969 was also enlivened by a tip from Billboard‘s Ed Ochs, who declared (prematurely) that “Dick Clark will produce The James Brown Story starring James Brown.”
During the four weeks straddling August and September, “Things Got To Get Better” by Marva Whitney (an “R&B heavyweight that could spread teenwise,” predicted Cash Box in early July) managed to “bubble under” the Hot 100, reaching the #110 position for two straight weeks vs. #107 on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart.\
“Things Got To Get Better“
“Singles Coming Up Chart”
Record World
In the first week of September, James Brown had three albums on Billboard‘s 50 Best-Selling Soul LPs chart.
By September’s end, “Lowdown Popcorn” was ready to hand over its place on the Hot 100 chart to “The World (Pt. 1),” — “one of his finest productions to date,” declared Billboard, who considered it “a contender for the very top of the charts” in its August 30, 1969 edition, while Cash Box similarly believed the single to be “destined to pulverize both Top 40 and R&B charts in no time at all.” James Brown performed “The World” on Music Scene‘s September 22nd ABC television premiere, and yet somehow “The World” was not able to reach the Top 20, as predicted by Billboard, though it did mange to reside in the Top 40, peaking at #37 for two weeks in September/October vs. #44 on both Cash Box and Record World‘s respective pop charts.
Lowdown Popcorn” + “World (Pt. 1)”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“The World (Pts. 1 & 2)”
Italy
In mid-October, Brown’s next single “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 1)” made its entrance on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart and, by the end of the following month, had chalked up five consecutive weeks in the Top 40, reaching a peak position of #21 for two weeks in November.
“World (Pt. 1)” +
“Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 1)”
Billboard Hot 100
Cash Box‘s “Great Britain” column informed readers that Polydor had declared November to be “James Brown promotion month” in the British Isles, while in his November 29, 1969 “Soul Sauce” column, Billboard‘s Ed Ochs announced (prematurely) that “James Brown’s first album of the new year will be called Broadway Funk.”
Cash Box‘s “Belgium” column, meanwhile, noted in early December that “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn” is a “record that is very popular in the discotheques.”
“Ain’t It Funky Now” — recorded at King Studios in late October — ended up being James Brown’s holiday gift to Starday-King, as it reached the Pop Top 40 in time for Christmas and remained there for eight straight weeks, with three weeks in the Top 25, peaking at the #24 position vs. #43 on Cash Box vs. #36 on Record World. Cash Box‘s praise for Brown’s latest single enthused that the “number one R&B vocalist” has been able to maintain “a product flow of unbelievable proportions.”
“Ain’t It Funky Now“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Ain’t It Funky Now“
Spain
Soul-jazz organist Jimmy McGriff recorded his own instrumental arrangement of “Ain’t It Funky Now” for 1970’s Soul Sugar album released on Capitol Records, while guitarist Grant Green likewise recorded an arrangement for 1970 album, Green Is Beautiful, that was also issued by Blue Note as a single (although the 45 label incorrectly credits the publisher as “Lois” rather than “Golo” – the publishing firm James Brown established with Bud Hobgood).
“Ain’t It Funky Now“
Jimmy McGriff – Soul Sugar
“Ain’t It Funky Now“
Grant Green – Green Is Beautiful
Lois vs. Golo
In an article for Billboard‘s December 20, 1969 edition entitled “Starday-King Expands to N.Y., L.A.; Studios Grow,” Eliot Tiegel reported that, as part of the company’s strategic plan, Starday-King has “moved James Brown, its leading soul personality into the mass album market.” Tiegel also noted —
James Brown, who has 20 albums in the King catalog as its leading artist, has just finished his first jazz LP with Oliver Nelson marking an expansion of his creative efforts. Brown’s next LP, Ain’t It Funky, is due out shortly, with the company planning a two record set in January of a show he did on homecoming day in Macon, Ga. The LP is titled At Home With His Bad Self [a live album, presumably 2-LP set, Sex Machine — the full concert issued in 2019 as Live At Home With His Bad Self and featuring the triple-drummer lineup of Clyde Stubblefield, John ‘Jabo‘ Starks, and Melvin Parker].
In late December, Cash Box reported that the fourth Bill Gavin Radio Programming Conference had ended with a musical roundtable discussion about “the entire spectrum of music programming on radio” that, at one point, named James Brown as an example of an artist who is able the straddle the shifting – as well as inconsistently defined – boundaries that separate “R&B” and “Pop“:
[John] Hardy [of Fantasy Records] said that it was very unfortunate that we had to have “black” and “white” radio stations at this time. As an example, Hardy said, “What’s the difference between Janis Joplin singing ‘WOW!’ and Tina Turner singing ‘WOW!’ But you don’t hear Janis on an `R&B’ station.” Hardy asked the very pointed question of “How can James Brown be ‘R&B’ on December 10th and ‘pop’ on December 28th when his record is in the top ten.
Brown and his team rang in the new year with two concurrent Top 40 hits for the last two weeks of January — “Ain’t It Funky Now” and “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 2).” Cash Box‘s February 7, 1970 edition would also peg “Ain’t It Funky Now” at [#50] on a ranked list of The Year’s Biggest Hits To Date.
“Ain’t It Funky Now“ +
“Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn Pt. 2“
Hot 100 Chart — #38 + #40
Billboard
Billboard‘s Ed Ochs noted in his January 17, 1970 “Soul Sauce” column that James Brown was winding up his Las Vegas debut at the “new” International Hotel and added that “Marva Whitney, plus Brown’s renowned 18-man band, round out the 1970 version of the James Brown Show,” while Ron Tepper‘s review of Brown’s Vegas show in the following issue of Billboard points out that Brown’s live 12-piece band had been “augmented by an additional 12 instrumentalists.” That same edition of Billboard would also report that Brown had received the USO’s Outstanding Service Award during the opening of his Las Vegas residency. Cash Box‘s coverage noted that Brown “was the first major black entertainer to tour Vietnam” who, furthermore, “regularly invites wounded Vietnam veterans to all of his appearances.”
“Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 2)” – unusually – was released not as the flip side to “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 1),” but rather, as its own A-side altogether (paired with “Gettin’ A Little Hipper,” an instrumental track co-credited to Bud Hobgood). The single, which entered the Hot 100 in the final weeks of 1969, peaked at #40 for two weeks at the end of January (vs. #57 on Cash Box vs. #56 on Record World).
According to Billboard‘s David B. Perry in the February 7, 1970 edition, James Brown was among the “name” artists signed by McCann-Erickson to record a Coca-Cola jingle — an advertising spot that was taped at Cincinnati’s King Studios, according to the 1971 edition of Billboard‘s International Directory of Recording Studios.
James Brown
Coca-Cola ad
Recorded at King Studios
In mid-February, just when “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn (Pt. 2)” was reaching the end of its Top 40 run, “It’s A New Day (Pt. 1)” deftly timed its entrance on the Hot 100 so as to sustain the pop chart momentum. This “rollicking” follow-up to “Let A Man Come In” – distinguished by its humorous intro – prompted Cash Box to predict a Pop Top 40 future, and indeed, “It’s A New Day” would spend six straight weeks in Billboard‘s Pop Top 40 from the end of February to early April, peaking at the #32 position vs. Cash Box and Record World, who both ranked the single at #26. Record World‘s Kal Rudman exclaimed in his February 28, 1970 “Money Music” column that, thanks to “It’s A New Day,” James Brown “is finally getting his deserved top 40 action” – including Cincinnati’s WSAI, where the single was ranked at #17.
It’s A New Day“
pop radio playlist
Cincinnati‘s WSAI–AM
Cash Box
“It’s A New Day“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
“It’s A New Day (Pts. 1 & 2)”
Germany
James Brown + Creedence Clearwater Revival
Iran
In a humorous piece entitled “Bid ‘Em Up!” that was published in their February 21, 1970 edition, Cash Box commented on the flurry of player trades then taking place in major league sports and mused aloud about some of the possible scenarios should the “principle of trading personnel [be] applied to the music business”:
Then A&M takes the cue and decides that maybe the Tijuana Brass could use a different sound. Better yet, a whole new bag. Get King Records on the ‘phone. In an unprecedented move, James Brown sells himself and his famous Flames to A&M in a straight cash deal. Two months later, the Herb Alpert/James Brown Tijuana Flaming Brass LP is in release, followed, in intervals of 3 weeks, with the new group’s second, third and fourth albums. Beautiful.
The last three weeks of “It’s A New Day” on Billboard‘s national pop chart overlapped, notably, with the Hot 100 arrival of “Funky Drummer (Pt. 1)” — a recording “loaded with discotheque appeal” (so says Billboard) that would later loom large in hip hop history as one of the top sampled songs of all time. Recorded November 20, 1969 at King Studios, “Funky Drummer” reached #51 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (vs. #37 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #41 on Record World‘s 100 Top Pops chart). Cash Box‘s singles review of “Funky Drummer” amusingly highlights the “outstanding sax work.”
“Funky Drummer (Pts. 1 & 2)”
Belgium
“It’s A New Day” + “Funky Drummer“
Billboard Hot 100
“Titles can misleading,” Cash Box observed in its singles review of “Brother Rapp (Pt. 1),” as this “lyric-less performance” [sic] also happens to be one of Brown’s “best dance tracks in a long, long while.” By May’s end, “Brother Rapp (Pt. 1)” will have spent two weeks in the Pop Top 40, with a total tenure of eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. The single peaked at #32 on Billboard vs. #30 on Cash Box vs. #24 on Record World.
“Brother Rapp (Pt. 1)”
100 Top Pops Chart
Billboard
Technical note: James Brown and his production team pull off an impressive engineering feat immediately coming out of the bridge when, during a moment of peak musical tension, the entire instrumental backing track unexpectedly drops out of the mix for one very long second (in proto dub-like fashion), as Brown’s famous scream – alone – reverberates in a haze of echo [around the 2:45 mark in this audio clip of the two-part King 45].
Vinyl mystery: Michel Ruppli’s King session notes for “Brother Rapp (Pt. 1)” acknowledge the release of a King 45 under the catalog number 6285 (though under a variant title, “Brother Got To Rapp“) that is said to be an “original” early mix. This simpler mix (which sounds “slowed down” by comparison) appears to have been passed over, however, for the aforementioned alternate mix with the surprise “dub break” (released as King 6310). Oddly, neither Discogs nor 45Cat contain any entries for the earlier “Brother Got To Rapp” release. Similarly, virtually no images of the “original” King 6285 seven-inch exist on the web.
“Brother Got To Rapp (Pt. 1)”
King 45-6285
Actually released?
“Brother Rapp (Pt. 1)”
King 45-6310
Radio mix with the “dub” break
In a piece that was published April 25, 1970 in Billboard‘s special “Nashville” issue entitled “Starday, King – Still Changing,” Starday-King was identified as “one of the fastest growing independent companies in the music industry,” just one year since Starday and King joined forces as a single entity. For Billboard‘s International Directory of Recording Studios issued in early May, Starday-King published a full-page ad that touted its four different recording facilities “in every direction” of the US — South West (John Wagner’s studio in Albuquerque); North Central (King Studios in Cincinnati); South Central (Starday Sound Studio in Nashville); and the South (Bobby Smith’s studio in Macon, Georgia).
Starday-King:
In Every Direction
Starday-King:
In Every Direction
Billboard International Directory of Recording Studios
“a division of Lin Broadcasting”
Cash Box‘s May 23, 1970 edition announced that “Music City USA” had recently celebrated James Brown Day by presenting the Starday-King artist with a certificate from the National Association of Record Merchandising as best selling R&B male vocalist of 1969, as well as a certificate of merit from Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington’s office for his work with youth against drugs, the Humanitarian Award of the Kingsmen Social Club for his services to Nashville, and the Key to the City from Mayor Beverly Briley.
A few weeks later, Billboard‘s June 13, 1970 edition, however, revealed tense drama playing out behind the scenes pertaining to allegations by Starday-King’s eastern regional manager, Buddy Scott, of deliberate efforts to undermine the “pop” radio playlist potential of “Brother Rapp,” as detailed in a piece entitled “King-Starday’s Scott Rips ‘Invisible Wall’“:
The tight playlist has long been the major complaint of record promotion men, but a new charge of an “invisible wall” against certain records was leveled last week by Buddy Scott, a record promotion man for King-Starday Records.
Scott claimed that “Brother Rapp,” by James Brown, was being barred on several Top 40 radio stations across the nation. In New York, he said, a music director at a Top 40 station told him that the record was “just not the route the station is taking.”
Scott, who claims that “Brother Rapp” has generated “over 600,000 in sales” thus far, cites Cincinnati’s WSAI-AM as one of a handful of “honest” stations whose playlists “lean toward new records” in an otherwise overly restrictive radio environment. Elsewhere in that same June 13, 1970 issue, Billboard‘s Ed Ochs corroborates Buddy Scott‘s numbers when he kicks off his “Soul Sauce” column with the statement, “James Brown looks like a million with his ‘Brother Rapp.’ It’s already over 800,000 and just about to hit the top 40 fan.”
“Brother Rapp (Pts. 1 & 2)”
France
Even more explosive than the Buddy Scott allegations in that same June 13, 1970 Billboard issue is a separate “Soul Sauce” gossip item that asks if there is “trouble in the James Brown camp” and informs readers that “Norma” (i.e., Marva) Whitney and Maceo Parker along with unspecified band members of the Revue “have split” — foreshadowing: The JB’s (see “Sex Machine” below).
Record World‘s “Country Singles” review of Bob Luman‘s updated arrangement of the Johnny Horton classic “Honky Tonk Man” pointed out – accurately – that producer Glenn Sutton had “adapted some James Brown horn licks to his lead guitarist.” Also, during this period of time, Brown filled in as a guest host for Clay Cole‘s Scene 70 musical television program.
“Honky Tonk Man“
Meanwhile, the final appearance in late June of “Brother Rapp” on Billboard‘s national pop chart, meanwhile, happened to coincide with the one-time appearance of “If My Heart Could Speak” by The Manhattans on the Hot 100 at the #98 position (vs. #100 on Cash Box vs. #98 on Record World). Written by Kenneth Kelly and produced by Buddy Scott, “If My Heart Could Speak” was released on Starday-King’s DeLuxe subsidiary label.
“Brother Rapp” + “If My Heart Could Speak“
Billboard Hot 100
Things began to heat up in July with “Get Up I Feel Like Being Like A Sex Machine (Pt. 1)” — a collaboration with The JB’s, Brown’s new backing ensemble whose sound centered around two young Cincinnati musicians, bassist Bootsy Collins and brother Catfish Collins on guitar, as well as the double drummer lineup of “Jabo” Starks and Clyde Stubblefield. When Billboard‘s Ed Ochs selected “Sex Machine” as Best New Record of the Week for the July 11, 1970 issue, the “Soul Sauce” columnist amusingly sidestepped the “mature nature” of the song’s actual printed title by instead substituting the infinitely more chaste, “Get Up” (below).
“Get Up“
suitable title for AM radio
“Sex Machine“
Jet
Aug. 13, 1970
Recorded April 25, 1970 at Starday’s Nashville studio facility, “Sex Machine” (“a pop and soul shoo-in” – Billboard) surfed the Pop Top 40 for seven straight weeks and peaked at the #15 position, which it held for two weeks in August (vs. #17 on both Cash Box and Record World). Page eight of Billboard‘s May 16, 1970 edition reported that James Brown had “recorded his first session in Nashville at the Starday/King studios following a concert at the Municipal Auditorium.” Record World noted that the recording session had taken place “at 1 am” and that the song had been “penned by Brown on the back of an advertisement poster in his dressing room at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium” prior to going on stage before an estimated 5,000 persons.
“Get Up I Feel Like Being Like A Sex Machine“
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Soul Sauce” columnist Ed Ochs claimed “Sex Machine” was “already at the half-million mark” in Billboard‘s July 25, 1970 edition, not to mention “big Top 40 in Phila.,” according to Record World‘s “R&B Beat” in their August 8, 1970 issue. “Get Up,” remarkably, received official distribution in Turkey, and would also make the Top Ten Best Sellers chart in Belgium and Holland.
“Sex Machine (Pt. 1)”
Lebanon
Sound engineer, Ron Lenhoff, who was so integral to the outcome of “Sex Machine” that he was listed as one of the song’s composers, has shared songwriter credits on several other tracks during the James Brown era, including “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” and “You’ve Got To Change Your Mind.”
Record World‘s Tomas Fundora reported in that same July 4, 1970 issue about Polydor’s efforts to promote James Brown in Latin America for his “Desde Nuestro Rincon Internacional” column (translated from Spanish):
Polydor has just released the recording “Mr. James Brown” in Mexico, thus introducing one of the greatest figures of American soul music to the powerful Mexican market. “The King of Soul,” as the great performer has been called, maintains spectacular sales power in North America. Only very rarely does the world witness a spectacle like James Brown on stage. His recordings convey his message, which is sincere, profound, and highly impactful.
Lo Mejor De James Brown
1970
Meanwhile, “A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads” — recorded March 2, 1970 at King Studios with brass and strings under the direction of David Matthews — entered Record World‘s version of Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” chart on July 25, 1970 at the #121 position. The single, released on King subsidiary label, Bethlehem, appeared seven consecutive weeks on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart and reached a peak position of #110 for two weeks in August. And yet, not once did “A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads” ever show up on Billboard‘s “Bubbling Under” radar.
“A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads”
“Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
In July came news of the tragic and unexpected passing of Bud Hobgood, who had “collaborated with James Brown in writing such hits as “There Was A Time” and “A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads,” noted Jet Magazine in its obituary. Hobgood, identified by Billboard and Cash Box as “executive producer of James Brown Productions,” had initially focused on promotional work upon joining the organization in 1964, according to Billboard [see Zero to 180’s tribute from 2024].
“Of course, in today’s market James Brown is the password and leader, so no mention is needed of his current hits,” asserted Record World in an August 22, 1970 feature piece, “Starday-King, Trend Setter” that also made the following observation about the Starday-King leadership team:
It is unusual that part of the original staff that guided the company to these great successes are still with the label — Hal Neely, President; Jim Wilson, Vice President Sales; Henry Glover, Vice President Publishing; Louie Innis, Director of Creative Services; Johnny Miller, Vice President of Manufacturing; and Roy Emory, Chief of Sales Service.
Billboard‘s Ed Ochs informed readers of his September 12, 1970 “Soul Sauce” column that James Brown currently laid claim to “29 gold records counting his latest” hit, “Get Up” (deemed a “million seller” by Billboard in mid-October). Cash Box‘s September 19, 1970 review of Brown’s Sex Machine album went so far as to declare that the Hardest Working Man in Show Business “probably has more fans than any other single performer in the business.” By year’s end, the Sex Machine double LP would reach #63 on Billboard‘s Top 200 LPs chart.
Two weeks after the departure of “Sex Machine” from the Billboard Hot 100 in the latter part of September, “Super Bad (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)” — recorded June 30th with The JB’s in Nashville — promptly rushed in to fill the void. By mid-October, “Super Bad” was firmly lodged in the Pop Top 40, where it resided for the remaining eight weeks of its ten-week chart run, while the single would top Billboard‘s Soul Singles chart by the end of November. “Super Bad” ended up reaching a peak position of #13 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #15 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #9 on Record World‘s pop singles chart.
“Super Bad (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)” +
“Super Good (Pts. 1 & 2)”
“Super Bad” shared the Hot 100 for five weeks with a single release by Bobby Byrd that had been recorded in July at King Studios, “I Need Help (I Can’t Do It Alone) Pt. 1,” which peaked at #69 in mid-November vs. #64 as measured by Record World vs. #61 as ranked by Cash Box. Years later, J.R. Reynolds revealed in a page 10 article for Billboard‘s September 2, 1995 issue that Byrd had received uncredited vocal assistance on this two-part song from Roberta DuBois and Gigi Kinard of The Sisters of Righteous.
“I Need Help“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
“Super Bad” + “I Need Help“
Billboard Hot 100
“Super Bad (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)”
Italy
Starday-King president Hal Neely — in a piece written for Record World‘s October 17, 1970 edition entitled “1970: A Year Of Growth” — declared that James Brown “had his biggest year ever as he moved into pop and progressive rock acceptance.” Three weeks later, Record World reported in its November 7, 1970 edition that James Brown Productions was in the midst of “preparing for their biggest Christmas sales season in history on King Records.” The article further noted that Brown “is currently riding high with his biggest pop hit in many years, ‘Super Bad‘ and his Sex Machine double-pocket album.”
During the final two months of the year, three other Starday-King-related singles “bubbled under” the Billboard Hot 100 chart —
- “From Atlanta To Goodbye” by The Manhattans — this single, produced by Buddy Scott and arranged by Chico O’Farrill “bubbled under” Billboard‘s Hot 100 for a single week, reaching the #113 position in the first week of November. Contrastingly, “From Atlanta To Goodbye” registered a bit stronger on Record World‘s “Singles Coming Up” chart, where the single resided for nearly two months and crested higher at #110.
“From Atlanta To Goodbye“
“Singles Coming Up” Chart
Record World
- “See The Light” by The Flame, a South African rock band, who also recorded with The Beach Boys in the 1970s. The Flame would earn a quirky place in music history when the 1970 full-length album they recorded for Brother Records (distributed by Starday-King) was specially mixed in four-channel sound — one of the earliest quadraphonic “rock” LPs. “See The Light” managed to “bubble under” the Billboard Hot 100 at #125 (vs. #111 on Record World‘s “Singles 101 to 150” chart vs. #96 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 chart).
“See The Light“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
Billboard
“Distributed by Starday-King”
- “Hey America” by James Brown (“loaded with Hot 100 and Soul chart potency” – Billboard) is notable for having been issued as a picture sleeve (a rarity for King), whose vivid design features an expressive collage assembled from “torn” images. “Hey America” reached its peak position “bubbling under” the Billboard Hot 100 at #105 vs. Cash Box‘s Top 100 at #126.
“Hey America“
Billboard‘s December 26, 1970 issue also carried news of Brown’s new anti-drug public service disk:
King Records is shipping a public service disk on James Brown‘s war against drugs. One side of the single is titled PSA-1 and features a 35-second message from James Brown; the other side features a 28-second message from Bobby Byrd.
Sucking the oxygen out of the room in that same December 26, 1970 edition, however, was the grim headline of the item published on page three:
“Lin Posts For Sale Sign on Starday-King;
Asks $5 Mil“
Undeterred, James Brown rang in the new year with “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved (Pt. 1),” a single that “offers further statement for total teen market consideration,” opined Cash Box in its December 19, 1970 singles review. “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” leapt onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #53 and quickly worked its way to the Top 40, where it remained for five weeks in January and February, peaking at #35 (vs. #35 on Cash Box vs. #32 on Record World). “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” would also find itself ranked [#45] on Cash Box‘s Top Hits of the Year listed in the music trade journal’s March 6, 1971 edition.
“Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved (Pt. 1)”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
“Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved (Pts. 1 & 2)”
Norway
A January 2, 1971 Billboard piece about the significant uptick in Nashville recording activity noted that the recently-rebuilt Starday Sound Studio expressed pride in the fact that “two James Brown million sellers were produced here” [i.e., “Sex Machine” and “Super Bad“].
On January 30th, Billboard “Soul Sauce” columnist Ed Ochs reported that James Brown’s “new” tour director Alan Leeds was presently in negotiations for appearances in Central and South America that would follow Brown’s European tour in February and March. “Brown plans to carry his entire revue [which carries over 40 people] including arranger Dave Matthews and plans to present the same show that plays to roughly 1,500,000 persons a year in America,” reported Cash Box that same week, and added that Brown had closed the previous year with a 17-day tour of Africa.
Orlando Julius And His Modern Aces
Nigeria
Dr. Victor Olaiya & His International All Stars
Nigeria
Up-To-Date Mover
“Let Yourself Go” + “There Was A Time“
“I Feel Alright” + “Cold Sweat“
Following the European tour’s conclusion, Cash Box would observe, “although James Brown was already very popular in Belgium, his personal appearances in Antwerp and Brussels, had great influence on sales of his records — especially the single “Sex Machine” and the double album with the same title are huge sellers.”
In early February, Brown’s Super Bad LP – “purportedly” a live album – vaulted from #198 to #75 during its first two weeks on the Billboard Top 200 LPs chart (peak position – #61). That same month came news that Polydor was about to “introduce its first label [named Mojo] to be established by the company in the U.K. with a James Brown maxi-single,” per Billboard‘s February 20, 1971 edition. Polydor would also hold a month-long James Brown promotion in France following the artist’s three-night stint in early March at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, reported Billboard. 45Cat contributor Roger Foster points out that the UK release of “Hey America” on Mojo is “a vocal version that included strings” that are absent from the vocal version released in the US.
“Hey America“
full-page ad
Blues & Soul [UK]
“Hey America“
Sing Along With James
Cash Box‘s February 20, 1971 edition reported that Bob Patton — Dayton/Hamilton, Ohio radio veteran and former booking manager for James Brown — had recently joined Starday-King in a dual role as both “national promotion director for James Brown Productions product” and also “mid-western regional director for all Starday-King product.” Patton’s direct responsibility, according to Record World, “will be Top 40 radio stations in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and the West Coast” and noted that this was “the first major move by either James Brown Productions or Starday-King towards these stations with James Brown product.”
Following the conclusion of their European tour in March, James Brown and his show played a week of performances at New York’s swanky Copacabana, although opted not to play a second week, as originally planned, reported “Soul Sauce” columnist, Ed Ochs. March would also find that an instrumental version of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel” — recorded “live” at Macon, Georgia’s Bell Auditorium in October of 1969 and included on 1970’s Sex Machine double album set — had managed to penetrate Billboard‘s Hot 100 and hold the #90 position for two consecutive weeks (vs. #78 on Cash Box vs. #89 on Record World).
“Spinning Wheel (Pts. 1 & 2)”
45 picture sleeve
“Soul Power” + “Spinning Wheel“
Billboard Hot 100
By the end of February, “Soul Power (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)” — recorded January 26, 1971 in the first of two recording ventures for Brown at Washington, DC’s Rodel Studios — had entered Billboard‘s Hot 100, where it soon reached the Top 40 and held steady for six weeks in March and April. “Soul Power (Pt. 1)” reached a peak position of #29 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 vs. #32 on Cash Box‘s Top 100 vs. #21 on Record World‘s Pop Singles chart. From a sales standpoint, “Soul Power,” according to Record World‘s Kal Rudman “is over 650,000 and is finally getting the top 40 play he deserves on this release,” per Rudman’s April 3, 1971 “Money Music” column [including Cincinnati’s WSAI and New York’s WABC]. Record World‘s “R&B Beat” column in the same April 3, 1971 issue, however, countered that assertion with this rhetorical question: .“How come James Brown is near 700,000 and can’t get no pop play?”
Soul Power (Pt. 1)”
Hot 100 Chart
Billboard
Apr. 10, 1971
“Soul Power“
Nigeria
“Soul Sauce” columnist, Ed Ochs, filed the following gossip item in Billboard‘s March 20, 1971 issue under the title, “Believe It Or Not Dept.”:
King Records is rushing out a new album by, that’s right, James Brown, titled Sho’ Is Funky Down Here. The result of a jam session with a Cincinnati area rock-blues group, Grodeck Whipperjenny, the disk features Brown instrumentally on organ and harpsichord. It will be aimed additionally at the underground market, with the title track leading the way.
Mike Kelly, Starday-King’s eastern promotion director, informed Ed Ochs for his April 24, 1971 “Soul Sauce” column that Sho Is Funky Down Here “is almost two years old,” and remarked that when the album was originally cut, “Brown and King decided the market wasn’t right.”
At the end of April, “Soul Power” handed off responsibilities to “I Cried,” a “pop and soul” ballad (arranged by David Matthews) that “bubbled under” the Billboard Hot 100 the first week of May and managed to reach the #50 position by month’s end and remain there for two weeks (vs. Cash Box‘s Top 100, where it reached #43 vs. Record World‘s pop singles chart, where it peaked at #38). Record World‘s Kal Rudman declared in his May 1, 1971 “Money Music” column that this “R&B monster” will “definitely go pop” and added that “I Cried” is Brown’s “greatest ballad since ‘It’s A Man’s World‘.”
“I Cried“
Pop Singles Chart
Record World
“I Cried“
Italy
Billboard‘s ‘International News Reports’ from its May 8, 1971 edition declared Polydor’s intention to “release the double-LP of the James Brown show produced at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, which has already been released in Germany and France.” Zero to 180 asks — was this LP actually released?
Just as “I Cried” was winding down its Hot 100 run, “Escape-ism (Pt. 1)” — debut single release on James Brown’s new People subsidiary label — was ramping up to join Billboard‘s Top 40, where it mingled for three weeks in June and July, peaking at #35 (vs. #40 on Cash Box vs. #41 on Record World).
Note: After James Brown listened to the initial single mix and found the guitar track to be “a little too loud,” Brown then sent radio stations a new mix, accompanied by a letter (below) that instructed DJs and program managers of the situation “stop playing the old version” of “Escape-ism” in favor of the new mix.
“Escape-ism (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)”
Ditch the old mix – play the new one
“I Cried” + “Escape-ism“
Billboard Hot 100
“I Know You Got Soul” by Bobby Byrd — a recording made April 8, 1971 at King Studios — “bubbled under” the Hot 100 the last week of June, reaching a peak position of #119 (vs. #123 on Cash Box‘s “Looking Ahead” chart). Sixteen years later, UK label, Urban would issue “I Know You Got Soul” as the A side of a single — paired with “Hot Pants” by James Brown — in 1987.
“I Know You Got Soul“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
The Cincinnati Post‘s May 5, 1971 edition included a feature article with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra director, Erich Kunzel, who declared that the upcoming Labor Day musical extravaganza at the city’s “new” Riverfront Stadium will include such “spectacular superstars” as Johnny Cash and James Brown. But alas, neither Brown nor Cash ended up performing at the Labor Day concert, though Cash is said to have appeared at the CSO’s July 5, 1971 Riverfront Stadium show that also included pianist and All-Pro defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Reid.
In early July, while “Escape-ism (Pt. 1)” was still riding the Top 40 chart, James Brown’s final Starday-King era hit “Hot Pants Pt. 1 (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)” was also blazing a trail, as it quickly vaulted onto the Top 40 and remained there for nine straight weeks — peak position #15. Record World‘s “R&B Beat” column in its July 31, 1971 issue noted that Brown’s “Hot Pants” single “picked up a lot of big pop stations this time.”
“Escape-ism (Pt. 1)”
45 picture sleeve
Does this distinctive typeface have a name?
Outside the US, “Escape-ism (Pt. 1)” and “Hot Pants (Pt. 1)” were paired together as a single by Polydor for distribution in at least three markets — Italy, Greece, and Peru.
Billboard‘s “Soul Sauce” columnist Ed Ochs had playfully predicted back in the first week of January that – by August – “James Brown’s new one, ‘Eat Me, I’m A Jelly Bean‘ [will be] a regional breakout in Times Square.”
“Escape-ism” b/w “Hot Pants“
45 picture sleeve
End of an Era = “James Brown to Polydor in 5 Year Pact” announced Billboard with a heavy heart on page three of its July 24, 1971 edition (below). The Polydor deal was to include “all James Brown product” except for two current singles that would remain in the King catalog, “Escape-ism” and “Hot Pants.” This Polydor pact, said Billboard, also encompassed the entirety of James Brown’s publishing, “with the exceptions of some titles held by Lois Music.” Ed Ochs parsed the details in that same issue of Billboard and noted the migration of Brown’s People and Brownstone labels over to Polydor as part of the deal. Polydor president Jerry Schoenbaum told Cash Box that between the years 1968-1970, “Brown had sold an estimated $9 million worth of disks excluding tape sales.” This same July 24, 1971 Cash Box article also revealed —
- Polydor also has the rights to such unreleased sessions as his recent week-long Apollo residency and a 3-LP set recorded live in Paris [Ruby Mazur‘s original cover design for this triple-album set was to feature “six sides of sky going from daybreak to sunset” and “in small letters etched across just one segment, the name of James Brown,” as reported in Record World‘s July 17, 1971 edition.]
- Brown, who has performed as many as 343 US concerts in a single year, is also considered a “key attraction abroad.”
- For the past five years Brown has been ranked the number 1 R&B artist in polls conducted by Cash Box.
- Brown will follow a projected tour of Africa in October by a series of concerts in Europe — a tour of Japan is also on the boards.
related story below:
“Starday/King Undergoing Revamping; Personnel Pared“
One month later, Polydor published a “mini” advertisement that appeared on the front page of Billboard‘s August 28, 1971 edition — an artful image of James Brown on stage (below) accompanied by the following promotional text:
Ad Text
Way to move, James. And moving is what James Brown is all
about … he never stops. Whether it be the way his records
fly up on the charts, or his famous stage performance, he is
in constant motion, transmitting a level of energy no man or
machine could possibly match. His latest single, “Hot Pants“
is already a million seller and the album titled Hot Pants
and containing the original hit is making the same meteoric rise.
P.S. Let’s not forget his latest chart bustin’ Polydor single
“Make It Funky“
“Starday-King Music Complex Acquired By Four Music Men,” blared the headline on page 7 of Cash Box‘s October 2, 1971 edition — a partnership consisting of Hal Neely, former Starday-King president and Lin VP, along with veteran music publisher, Freddy Bienstock, and famed rock ‘n’ roll songwriting duo, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who paid $1.4 million for Starday-King and its publishing companies. This final chapter of the Starday-King era would bring an infusion of energy/ideas that would lead to the creation of new subsidiary labels, as well as distribution partnerships with other promising labels: Agape, Hopi, Mandala, Good Medicine, Mpingo, and Tri-Us.
Tennessee Recording & Publishing Company:
Mike Stoller, Hal Neely, Freddy Bienstock & Jerry Leiber
Cash Box
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, proven hitmakers were able to establish a Billboard Hot 100 presence by year’s end with their potent Latin-infused remake of “Love Potion Number Nine” for The Coasters (whose “Yakety Yak” had reached number two on Billboard‘s Hot 100 in 1958). “Love Potion Number Nine,” which spent six weeks in the Hot 100 beginning the second week of December, would reach its peak position #76 in January of 1972.
Cash Box
Ad Text
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are one of those rare writer-producer teams that set trends – creates something new – always seem to come up with a big winner and we think they have done it again with our first new release “Love Potion #9” by the Coasters. King has been around for a long long time but from now on it’s an all new KING. Leiber and Stoller form the creative end of our new partnership and we are proud and excited about the new artist roster they are putting together. See if you don’t agree.
“Love Potion Number Nine,” sadly, would be Starday-King’s final flirtation with Billboard Hot 100 success. Five months later, “Million To One” by The Manhattans “bubbled under” the Hot 100 for two weeks at the #114 position.
“Million To One“
Record World
“Million To One“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
“One Life To Live“
Record World
“One Life To Live” by The Manhattans — the final Starday-King “pop” single to chart nationally — managed to “bubble under” the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and reach a peak position of #102 in November of 1972. However, when ranked by Cash Box, “One Life To Live” was able to climb as high as #72 — a thirty-point differential. The single performed even better on Record World‘s Pop Singles chart, peaking at #67 for two straight weeks.
“One Life To Live“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
“One Life To Live“
Top 100 Pop Chart
Cash Box
“One Life To Live“
Pop Singles Chart
Record World
“Back Up” by The Manhattans — historically significant as the last Starday-King “pop” single to chart nationally — “bubbled under” the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in the February/March transitional period, reaching a peak position of #107 for two weeks. By way of contrast, “Back Up” spent seven weeks on Record World‘s “Singles 101 Through 150” chart, entering at the #145 position and peaking at #113 on March 10th.
“Back Up“
“Bubbling Under” Chart
Billboard
“Back Up“
Singles 101 to 150 Chart
Record World
By 1973, independent labels like Starday-King are no longer appearing on US pop radio playlists — consolidation of radio airplay by the major music labels was now essentially complete.
James Brown –
Top Pop Vocalist, Singles Artist & Producer
LINKS:
