James Brown -- "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (1964)

My first experience with "the hardest working man in show biz" was in fifth or sixth grade, watching one of those cheesy low budget "Beach Party" movie rip-offs called "Ski Party" on TV. Starring beach movie regular Frankie Avalon and "Dobie Gillis" star Dwayne Hickman, I thought this movie was hilarious at the time, a real "find" that I had to tell all my friends about.

This movie predated the "Bosom Buddies" concept of men dressing like women by at least a decade. And like many movies of its ilk, it featured cameo performances by rock, pop and soul stars of the time. "Ski Party" had Leslie Gore singing "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" on the college bus traveling to the ski chalet, and the Hondells performing "The Gasser" on a beach somewhere.

However, the corniest cameo was by far James Brown and his Fabulous Flames, who play a heavily-dressed ski patrol crew who rescue one of the goofball characters, somebody recognizes them for who they are, and they suddenly break out in "I Got You (I Feel Good)," dropping their parkas and wearing the most preppie red and white wool sweaters you've ever seen in your life.

I feel privileged and honored to present this classic scene.


But that was about the only James Brown song I liked for a long time. "Mother Popcorn" became a hit, but I didn't get into it because it remained on pretty much one chord for the whole song. That was my complaint for all the James Brown stuff I heard -- too long on one chord.

Fast forward to the early 80's. The new wave and New Romantic movements of music, all heavily influenced by and making tribute to American black soul, bring back a rush of all these classic R&B and Motown songs to the clubs again. I bought a 12" single by an English studio group who put together their own "Stars on 45" by slicing together various James Brown hits to a pumping 4/4 beat. I started hearing James Brown at parties, and then put them on my mix cassette tapes. When I went out dancing with my girlfriend at the time, and the DJ spun"I Got You," I not only had every word memorized, but the black man inside propelled me up in the air, spinning around with arms flailing and legs kicking.

I finally started to get James Brown, a very delayed reaction for a white guy from Queens who got into R&B and soul at an early age. I hung out at the Sounds used record store on St. Marks Place one afternoon, and they were on a James Brown marathon over the stereo system. I caved and bought a James Brown greatest hits compilation on Polydor records, and then in later years, bought the whole Startime anthology.

I finally understood Brown's power of the never-ending groove, funk and jazz, even if it was one chord for a few minutes. I realized I had to let loose a little more, not think about it and just let it take me.

Sometimes the best songs are just the simplest. "I Got You" has the award-winning intro of a patented James Brown wild scream ("Wo-o-w-w-ww!"). You hear that shout, you know it's time to get going. It's about as close to a pop song you'll hear from Brown, under three minutes of uptempo blues, swinging saxophones, and those easy nursery rhyme lyrics.

I feel good, I knew that I would, now.
I feel good, I knew that I would, now.
So good, so good, I got you.

Whoa! I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you.

When I hold you in my arms,
I know that I can't do no wrong.
and when I hold you in my arms
My love won't do you no harm.

and I feel nice, like sugar and spice.
I feel nice, like sugar and spice.
So nice, so nice, I got you.


In these simple lyrics, you get loads of shouts, screeches and held notes. The man is a ball of outrageous energy. And that ending, when the horns do their solo staccato, a tiny pause, a quick snare snap, Brown's explosive "Hey!" and the last chord -- it's just perfect.

Watching the above "Ski Party" clip and the videos below is that this man could dance. Brown swished and swayed across the floor like somebody greased the bottom of his shoes, while snapping his head to the beat. He was so popular, that he broke through the most white bread TV shows of the era. Three very special videos below: the first two are black and white clips of Brown slipping up a storm on early 60's teen TV shows, and finally the man himself on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1966.

James Brown - I Feel Good
Uploaded by bebepanda

James Brown - I Feel Good
Uploaded by swotch

The Five Stairsteps -- "Ooh-Child" (1970)

One of the most enduring one-hit wonder soul songs of all time, you just can not help but love the Five Stairsteps' claim to musical fame. It stands up amazingly well after more than 35 years with its dazzling optimism, impassioned vocals, emotionally-charged arrangement, and irresistible melody.



I have vague memories of the song playing on Top 40 radio. The song's timing was perfect, coming at the turn of the decade when blacks were fighting for equal opportunity in jobs and education, and the musical tide was turning with socially-driven artists like Curtis Mayfield, the Norman Whitfield-powered era of The Temptations, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, and The Staple Singers. What makes "Ooh Child" stand out on its own is its inherent sweetness, letting listeners read between the lines of its upbeat message of hope.

The lyrics basically come down to these two passages:

Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter
Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child, things'll be brighter.

Some day, yeah
We'll put it together and we'll get it all done.
Some day
When your head is much lighter.
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun.
Some day
When the world is much brighter.


Musically, the song is truly marvelous. The "Ooh child" verses are a descending three-chord pattern while the "Someday" verses take the same chords up three steps. Between the two, it creates a "softness" during the verses, and strident fuller choruses with the whole family joining in accompanied by horns and strings. The song really kicks into overdrive during the instrumental break when the whole group is singing "La la la" as the melody, then the drummer does a hyper-fast snare and tom fill when it lifts up those three keys, and everybody is just soaring in layered choruses. The ending is just perfect, when the family hammers in "Right now" while ad-libbing around it, the horns popping in and out.

You want to see an amazing video, check out this one with the group performing the song live on the "Barbara McNair" TV show a year or so after the song became a hit and they now called themselves the Stairsteps. The clothes are right out of the early 70's quasi-white flash look, and you can see somebody actually conducting the band behind the singers. These guys are totally into it, and you absolutely realize why this song still brings chills. Wow.

Curtis Mayfield -- "Move On Up" (1970)

Hard to believe that the first time I heard this 8-minute cooking jam from one of the great black power singer/songwriters was five years after it had come out, on the soundtrack to a low-budget sketch flick called "The Groove Tube."

By the time I hit college, there were two cheap-o R-rated comedy movies which parodied TV shows, commercials and popular movies that played the midnight circuit -- "The Groove Tube" and "Kentucky Fried Movie." Groove Tube's memorable opening was in two parts, the first parodying 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the second was a loony sketch involving a hitchhiker getting picked up by a hot babe on a California highway and then chasing her through the woods in a twisted version of "The naked Prey" -- all of it done to Mayfield's "Move On Up." There was nothing on screen remotely connected to ghetto struggles or black liberation... it just had a kickin' percussion-driven groove that made for good editing and fast pacing.

Some years later, I tracked down a used vinyl copy of Curtis down on St. Marks Place and played "Move On Up" at many parties. I loved Mayfield's Superfly soundtrack album, and I can still recite the lyrics to most of those songs today. But "Move On Up" was his extended party theme, something where everybody can join in with that killer minor key horn hook.

Hush now child,
and don't you cry.
Your folks might understand you
by and by.
Move on up...
towards your destination.
You may find
from time to time
Complications.

Bite your lip
and take a trip.
Though there may be
wet road ahead
You cannot slip.
Just move on up...
and peace you will find
Into the steeple
of beautiful people
Where there's only one kind.

So hush now child
and don't you cry.
Your folks might understand you
by and by.
Just move on up
and keep on wishing.
Remember your dreams
are your only schemes.
So keep on pushing
Take nothing less -
not even second best
And do not obey -
you must have your say
You can past the test

Move on up!


This song reminds me of many of War's early 70's jam songs, where it was all live, analog, warm and deep. Mayfield's gorgeous falsetto told many tales of hard times and pushing ahead, building on his body of similar themes with The Impressions ("People Get Ready," "We're A Winner," "It's Alright").

Song highlight: after soloing and just letting the percussion and horns carry the beat, the song pauses for a split second, and the horns do sort of a fake major chord coda. You think it's over and them wham, the drums come whirling back in by themselves, lots of cymbals and snares, with the bass and guitar following in a simmer.

Yes, this is old school, but crank this at the right time in a club or party, and the place goes into a frenzy.

Lucky you, here is the famous R-rated opening sequence for "The Groove Tube," followed by all eight-minutes of "Move On Up," and then Mayfield performing the song live in concert.

CURTIS MAYFIELD "move on up"
Uploaded by siegfried1budoka

Bloodstone -- "Natural High" (1973)

As with the earlier discussed Chi-Lites from Chicago, the early 70's was an overflow of doo wop-based soul and R&B acts who evolved with better production, more elaborate arrangements, and on-the-nail songwriting.

Like the Chi-Lites, Bloodstone came from the Midwest -- Kansas City -- and began as the doo wop group the Sinceres. in the early 60's. Toiling along for years in relative obscurity, Bloodstone actually did what the Stray Cats did nearly 10 years later, go to London to find fortune and fame. And when they came back, they came back big with "Natural High."

A prototypical early 70's soul ballad, "Natural High" had a piercing falsetto lead, light as a feather background vocals, and that kind of slow jam groove made for swaying back and forth. The song begins with a striking see-saw opening with the Strat playing the lead line, an occasional bell in the background, then in drops down with the bass, stops, and then three spectacular stuttering snare and kick drum fills for an intro. Throughout the song, there are jazzy guitar runs going up the fretboard, the group whispers "I... don't... know... you," and then the song changes tempo altogether for a melodic clean Gibson solo that races all over the high register, swallowed up by that old "ahh" breathing out vocal trick into the next verse.

There's also one of those "little things" that sort of watermark the song: in the verse after the first chorus, they sing: " If you have anything to do/Call me and I will do it for you/And I don't even know you." Just before he goes into the next verse, it sounds like they're whispering: "Hey Jeannie." You can definitely hear it on the "Soul Train" video below.

For some reason, despite having really shot their biggest load with "Natural High," Bloodstone convinced somebody two years later to finance a film starring the group, Train Ride To Hollywood. I remember the film vaguely coming out, and wondering how it actually got made and who would see it. I don't know if anybody did, but you can still get a used DVD of it from Amazon. Reading the IMDb plot description, I can understand why it wasn't exactly up there with Superfly and Shaft: "Harry Williams, member of the rhythm & blues band Bloodstone, is about to go onstage for a concert when he is hit on the head. The rest that follows is his dream. The four band members become conductors on a train filled with (impersonated) actors and characters from the 1930s such as W.C. Fields, Dracula, and Scarlett O'Hara. Patterned after movies by the Marx Brothers and the Beatles, 'Train Ride' features various songs. The thin plot requires the singing conductors to solve a mystery; Marlon Brando is murdering Nelson Eddy, Jeanette McDonald, and others by suffocating them in his armpits. Arriving in Hollywood, the Bloodstone boys are turned into wax sculptures by Brando."

However, the biggest compliment for "Natural High," certifying it as ultra-cool, is that Quenin Tarantino used it prominently in his film Jackie Brown, when Robert Forster first sees the title character, played by Pam Grier (see video below).

Before that video, Bloodstone performing "Natural High" on Don Cornelius' "Soul Train" TV show. I love that each guy is playing a different guitar, from the black and white Strat all the way ont he left, and then, from left to right, a gold-plated Gibson Les Paul, a Fender bass, a Fender Telecaster, and what looks like a black semi-hollow-bodied Gibson (I think). Am I imagining things when I hear the vinyl crackle on this lip-synch performance?
Soul Train 1973 - Bloodstone -Natural high

Ray, Goodman & Brown -- "Special Lady" (1980)

For more than dozen or so years, doo wop-influenced singing groups ruled the carts, starting with the early 70's Philly boom of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The O'Jays and The Intruders, right through several years later to The Manhattans and Blue Magic.

These were the trademarks: impeccable string and horn arrangements, multiple harmonies, light on the funk and heavy on the "smooth," precision dance moves during live performance, and a not very subtle male chivalry in the lyrics.

Ray, Goodman & Brown fit into this mold perfectly. I didn't know until recently that they were originally The Moments who performed the classic slow dramatic "Love On A Two Way Street," but it clicked when I realized the vocal similarities ("oh yeah, they do sound like each other!").

In a tribute to those doo wop roots, the song starts out with the trio singing the chorus a Capella and snapping their fingers in time, instructing each other on who sings what ("Harry, man, I'm singing second!" "Al, bring that bass out!"). They all join in for "Sittin' on top of the world, sittin' on top of the world!" and the horns pop in -- bom bom bom bomp!

This is not really a slow dancer, but the kind you imagine yourself slipping and sliding across the floor in unison, snapping those fingers, showing off those teeth. Lots of nice little bells during the verse, electric piano chords sitting in with the bass and drums, a gritty clavinet during what they call the "pre-chorus." This is prime 70's smooth soul.

We have two videos below. The first is for audio, since it's the complete recording with the opening a Capella part, which is to me is an essential trademark of this song. The second is the group lip-synching on some variety show of the time, with the a Capella part dramatically shortened, but worth seeing for their appearance, disco ball lighting, and the screaming from the audience.

The Chi-Lites - "Have You Seen Her" (1971)

One of the granddaddies of the "talking soul songs of the 70's," a whole subgenre which I plan on revisiting periodically. It's not enough to have a great song, because sometimes you just have to talk, you know, stream of consciousness, let the audience in on what you are thinking?

About half of this classic is sheer talking, the sad sack sitting by himself knowing he screwed it up bigtime with his girlfriend, that he really let a good one get away.

"Have You Seen Her" hits big right from the beginning, a slow ballad with a fuzz guitar lead and all kinds of background vocals building up ("Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhh!") before the talking starts.

If you're going to talk along with one of these records, you have to get the cadences right with every phrase. Remember, the key is doing the talking part sort of nonchalantly, you're not really showing how broken up you are.

One month ago today,
I was happy as a lark,
But now I go for walks,
To the movies... (beat) maybe to the park.

I have a seat on the same old bench,
To watch the children play (huh),
You know, tomorrow is their future,
But to me, just another day (sigh).

They all gather around me,
They seem to know my name (surprised tone),
We laugh, tell a few jokes (casual),
But it still doesn't ease my pain.

I know I can't hide from a memory
'Though day after day I've tried
I keep sayin' (and say it like you're talking to somebody) "She'll be back,"
But today again I've lied.

Of course, the questions I always had were, "Why was it 'One month ago today?' What was that day? Why wasn't it two weeks, or three? If the song came out three months later than it was recorded, wouldn't that make it 'Three months ago today?'"

Thank God the singing parts are so good, all doo-wop-type falsettos, led by Chi-Lites leader and songwriter Eugene Record (yep, that's his name). Of course, Record goes back to the spoken part towards the end, delivering the emotional egotistical punchline:

As another day comes to an end,
I'm lookin' for a letter... (beat) or somethin',
Anything that she would send.
With all the people I know,
I'm still a lonely man,
You know, it's funny,
I thought I had her in the palm of my hand.

The video below is a wonderful montage of the Chi-Lites' career featuring "Have You Seen Her."

The Winstons - "Color Him Father" (1968)

The Winstons, whoever they were, released this catchy, slightly sentimental single at the height of the Vietnam War. Little did they know that not only would it go on to be a smash, but its flip side would turn out to be one of the most utilized breakbeat samples to this very day.

Starting off as the opposite of the Intruders' "I'll Always Love My Mama," this first-person paean to a loving warm father who comes home every day after each hard day of work, preaches good education to get ahead, and "never a frown always a smile."

By the time it rolls into verse two, it's revealed that this man is not really the narrator's father but somebody who married his mother after "my real old man, he got killed in the war." And then he goes in for the teary final lines:

She said she thought that she could never love again
And then there he stood with that big wide grin
He married my mother and he took us in
And now we belong to the man with that big wide grin.

This is a big snappy song, and I sometimes thought the background vocalists sounded distinctly "white" (for some reason, Jay and The Americans came to mind?). I love the horn and string arrangements, and one of the beauties of 60's soul music, the grooving Fender licks you can hear underneath it all.

I didn't realize until I just looked it up -- "Color Him Father" won its composer, Richard Lewis Spencer, the 1970 Grammy Award for "R&B Songwriter of the Year, the same year Spencer left the music business.

OK, it's a great song, and you can hear it on the YouTube clip below, but flip it to the b-side and you get the gospel tune "Amen, Brother." A 5-second clip of the drummer became one of the most used samples in hip hop and other dance music. It eventually became known as "The Amen Break," and just about every urban music producer and composer knows exactly what it is.