Thank You Soul Brother #1

Soul Brother #1, Mr. Dynamite, The Godfather of Soul, and simply the Hardest Working Man in Showbiz. These are only a few phrases that were used to describe James Brown. My first concert was to see JB. I was about six years old and mesmerized. The thing that I have carried with me since that day was not his moves or even the music. It was the image of seeing thousands and thousands of mostly Black Americans in the sixties shouting at the top of our lungs, “Say it LOUD, I’m BLACK and I’m PROUD”! Even at six, it was electrifying.

To most of the world James Brown represented American creativity and superiority in the new musical movements of Soul, Pop, and Rock. But what James Brown represented to Black America was a Defendant Freedom Fighter that used song and music to rage against Racism and the Man. James Brown empowered Black Americans during a time when so many leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., John F Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Malcolm X were taken away from us. He was the Muhammad Ali of music. Thanks for the memories Godfather and may you rest in peace.

These singles reached the top ten on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts.

* 1956: “Please, Please, Please” (R&B #5)
* 1959: “Try Me” (R&B #1, U.S. #48)
* 1960: “Think” (R&B #7, U.S. #33)
* 1961: “Baby, You’re Right” (R&B #2, U.S. #49)
* 1961: “Bewildered” (R&B #8, U.S. #40)
* 1961: “I Don’t Mind” (R&B #4, U.S. #47)
* 1962: “Lost Someone” (R&B #2, U.S. #48)
* 1962: “Night Train” (R&B #5, U.S. #35)
* 1963: “Prisoner of Love” (R&B #6, U.S. #18)
* 1965: “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” – Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #8)
* 1965: “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (R&B #1, U.S. #3)
* 1966: “Ain’t That a Groove” Pts. 1 & 2 (R&B #6, U.S. #42)
* 1966: “Don’t Be A Drop-Out” (R&B #4, U.S. #50)
* 1966: “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” (R&B #1, U.S. #8)
* 1966: “Sweet Little Baby Boy” – Part 1 (U.S. #8)
* 1967: “Cold Sweat” – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #7)
* 1967: “Let Yourself Go” (R&B #5, U.S. #46)
* 1968: “I Can’t Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)” (R&B #4, U.S. #28)
* 1968: “I Got The Feelin'” (R&B #1, U.S. #6)
* 1968: “Licking Stick – Licking Stick” – Part 1 (R&B #2, U.S. #14)
* 1968: “Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #10)
* 1968: “There Was A Time” (R&B #3, U.S. #36)
* 1969: “Ain’t It Funky Now” (R&B #3, U.S. #24)
* 1969: “Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose” (R&B #1, U.S. #15)
* 1969: “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself)” (R&B #3, U.S. #20)
* 1969: “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn” – Part One (R&B #2, U.S. #21)
* 1969: “Mother Popcorn (You Got To Have A Mother For Me)” Part 1(R&B #1, U.S. #11)
* 1970: “Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine” (Part 1)” (R&B #2, U.S. #15)
* 1970: “Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To Stay” (U.S. #7)
* 1970: “Super Bad” – Part 1 & Part 2 (R&B #1, U.S. #13)
* 1971: “Escape-ism” – Part 1 (R&B #6, U.S. #35)
* 1971: “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” – Pt. 1 (R&B #4, U.S. #34)
* 1971: “Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)” – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #15)
* 1971: “I’m A Greedy Man” – Part I (R&B #7, U.S. #35)
* 1971: “Make It Funky” – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #22)
* 1971: “Soul Power” – Pt. 1 (R&B #3, U.S. #29)
* 1972: “Get On The Good Foot” – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #18)
* 1972: “King Heroin” (R&B #6, U.S. #40)
* 1972: “Talking Loud And Saying Nothing” – Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #27)
* 1973: “Down And Out In New York City” (R&B #13, U.S. #50)
* 1973: “I Got A Bag Of My Own” (R&B #3)
* 1973: “Sexy, Sexy, Sexy” (R&B #6, U.S. #50)
* 1974: “Funky President” (People It’s Bad)” (R&B #4, U.S. #44)
* 1974: “My Thang” (R&B #1, U.S. #29)
* 1974: “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” – Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #31)
* 1974: “Stoned To The Bone” – Part 1 (R&B #4, U.S. #58)
* 1974: “The Payback” – Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #26)
* 1976: “Get Up Offa That Thing” (R&B #4, U.S. #45)
* 1985: “Living in America (R&B #10, U.S. #4)
* 1987: “How Do You Stop” (R&B #10)
* 1988: “I’m Real” (R&B #2)
* 1988: “Static, Pts. 1 & 2” (with Full Force) (R&B #5)