James Brown Songs Ranked
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. A progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music and dance, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames “Godfather of Soul”, “Mr. Dynamite”, and “Soul Brother No. 1”. In a career that lasted over 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart which did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from many other institutions, including inductions into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn’s analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked No. 7 on Rolling Stone’s list of its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Here are all James Brown songs ranked.
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20. No, No, No, No (Please Please Please, 1958)
“James Brown’s debut single was a #6 R&B hit in 1956, but he had a very hard time following up that breakthrough hit. It wasn’t until he recorded ‘Try Me (I Need You)’ in 1958 that he broke a nine-single stretch of flops. Yet artistically these nine singles, of which ‘No, No, No, No’ was the first, are good and often sound ahead of their time. The best ones are usually in the pleading Southern gospel style and are carried by the passion of Brown’s vocals. ‘No, No, No, No’ features solid backing from the Famous Flames, but it is more of a stroll, and does reach the heights of some of his slower, soulful material from the era.”
19. Messing With the Blues (Messing With the Blues, 1990)
“Triplets played on a piano, a smooth horn section, doo-wop style backing vocals and James Brown’s throat-shredding vocals: a pretty decent combination, all in all.”
18. Begging, Begging (Please Please Please, 1958)
“Most judgements are made on the basis of comparison, and today people listen to Brown’s 1950s sides and say, “Nah, not as innovative as his later work.” True enough. But I prefer to compare it to most other 1950s R&B and say that it is very soulful and pleading for a track from 1957.”
17. Good Good Lovin’ (Think!, 1960)
“Good Good Lovin'” was cut in New York on 27 June 1959 by James Brown and the Famous Flames comprising James Brown (vocal), George Dorsey (alto saxophone), J.C. Davis (tenor saxophone), Bobby Roach (guitar), Bernard Odum (bass) and Nat Kendrick (drums). An uptempo rocking rhythm & blues which really swings throughout, the song features riffing saxophones, rhythmic guitar, and an alto saxophone solo from George Dorsey, Brown delivering a powerful, passionate vocal as he tells his woman he has something for her she has never had, a man who can give her good loving.”
16. Out of Sight (Out Of Sight, 1964)
“The ecstatic “Out of Sight” with its powerhouse horn riffs is one of the best records JB has ever made and seems to be the model of his later funk hit “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”. In addition its flip side “Maybe the Last Time”, with great vocal contribution of his gospel tinged Famous Flames, is a passionate ballad.”
15. Superbad (Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III, 1971)
“If your first thought is to go back to sleep when you first awake, turn on James Brown and bounce out of bed immediately! Dance your way to the bathroom.”
See more: James Brown Albums Ranked
14. People, Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul (Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off, 1973)
“People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul” is yet another memorable and danceable funk groove. There’s really nothing that James Brown made bunk. if you’re an oldie fan you need to pick up this funky song.”
13. Cold Sweat (Cold Sweat, 1967)
“After planting the seed with “Papa’s got a brand new bag”, JB delivered this first downright funky track in music history, slow, groovy, rhythmic, syncopated and “on the one”. It spawned a musical revolution.”
12. Make It Funky (Star Time, 1971)
“Love the James and Bobby interplay over the intro before the man takes over and does exactly what it says on the label as indeed he’d done for the previous 10 years at least.”
11. It’s Too Funky in Here (Sex Machine, 1970)
“Just when you though James lost his soul, he comes back even more. Maybe it was the wrong period of music time when it was released as it did not receive representative air time, nevertheless, it is Hot!”
10. Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved (Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III, 1971)
“You’d be hard pushed not to do as the title says, so vigorously do James and the great Bobby Byrd exhort the listener. Great groove, sho’nuff, but lacking that little piece of melodic flair whch elevated so many others of his classics at around this time.”
9. The Payback (The Payback 1981)
“It is a fact that James Brown is the king of grooves. No one could make a better groove then James Brown. This track, called “The Payback” (sometimes called “The Big Payback”), shows that fact in action. The song, whose full length is over seven minutes, still feels too short, that’s how good of a groove it has. It seriously could go on at least another ten minutes and still feel like it could go on even longer. Those horns are mighty good, the subdued guitar play is stellar, as is Brown himself. This man was a legend, and this is easily one of his greatest achievements.”
8. Try Me (Please Please Please 1958)
“1950s James Brown isn’t anywhere near as essential as the 60s incarnation, who all but single-handedly invented funk. But his best soul ballads, like ‘Try Me’, are very impressive, marking him out as an extraordinary performer, though still in his early 20s. This, his eleventh single, was the first made serious inroads with White audiences, and while it is much more restrained than some of his earliest platters, it is still authentically soulful and very smooth.”
7. Please, Please, Please (Please, Please, Please, 1958)
“James Brown’s best work was undoubtedly recorded in the 1960s to the early 1970s, when he was one of the major artists working during popular music’s Golden Age. But his 1950s work contains some great tracks too. His debut single, Please, Please, Please will not shock listeners today but it was an audacious release for 1956. On paper this isn’t much of a song, seeming to consist of just a few endlessly repeated pleas, but this release is not about the repetitive lyrics or the melody: it is all about delivery.”
6. Living in America (Rocky IV, 1985)
“Frankly, it’s underrated. The lyrics are pretty stupid, sure, but James Brown has never really been a lyrics-forward musician in the first place. And that groove! That chorus! That saxophone solo! If it’s a cheesy pop song, it’s the kind of cheesy pop song only James Brown could make. (Also, I like the fact that he shouts out cities like New Orleans, Detroit and Pittsburgh before New York.)”
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5. Get Up Offa That Thing (Sex Machine, 1970)
“Get Up Offa That Thing is Brown’s call to the audience, but it’s also him encouraging himself to rise above the slide and deliver one more great album. This sounds like the natural follower to Hell, as if those average albums in between had never happened…everything is full steam ahead on most of this disc.”
4. Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (James Brown Plays James Brown: Yesterday and Today, 1965)
““Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” sounds like little less than the birth of funk, with its tightly-wound rhythm outshining anything in Brown’s already-legendary back catalog. Every instrumental element is worthy of mention, but I’ve always been particularly partial to the shimmering guitar chords of Jimmy Nolen, which provide a bridge between the song’s verses and its iconic horn stabs.”
3. This is a Man’s World (It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, 1966)
“Mr. Brown invents funk. The story is probably a bit more complex than that, foundation stories tend to be, but the big bang on the first beat had arrived on the dance floor. In a way the song is just a continuation of the dance songs of the early 1960s, but, of course, the brand new bag is not just the dance, but the sound.”
2. Sex Machine (Sex Machine, 1970)
“This is another one of those longer version songs from James Brown that has some fantastic jamming by his band. Great stuff that puts one in a great mood.”
1. I Feel Good (Out Of Sight, 1964)
“The genius of James Brown at this critical period of his career has in paring things down. This song is an absolute triumph of simplification. It is repetitive both musically and lyrically but that is just the point. In removing all that is redundant, he presents you with the very essence of the song- that punchy horn section, that lyric refrain. What else could you ask for?”