"Soul Power" is a song by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

. Brown recorded it with the original J.B.'s (plus

Fred Wesley Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s, and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s. Biography Wesley was born the son of a high school teacher and big band le ...

) and it was released as a three-part

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1971. Like "

Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" is a funk song recorded by James Brown with Bobby Byrd on backing vocals. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2004, "Sex ...

" and other hits from this period it features

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Bobby Byrd Bobby Howard Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an American rhythm and blues, soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, bandleader, and talent dedicated. He played a part in the development of soul and funk m ...

. It charted #3 R&B and #29

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

. Part 1 of "Soul Power" appeared on the 1972

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

''Soul Classics''. Live versions of the song were included on ''

Revolution of the Mind ''Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III'' is a live double album by James Brown released in 1971. As its subtitle suggests, it is Brown's third album recorded at the Apollo Theater, following the original '' Live at the Apollo'' ( ...

'' (1971) and ''

Love Power Peace ''Love, Power, Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971'' is a live album by James Brown. It is the only recording that documents one of his live performances with the original J.B.'s lineup featuring Bootsy and Catfish Collins. (The group's con ...

'' (1992; recorded 1971), but no longer version of the original studio recording received an album release until an eight-minute

re-edit In popular music, a re-edit is an altered version of a recorded song created by repeating, reordering, or removing sections of the original recording - for example, making a chorus repeat several times in a row, or extending the length of a break ...

was issued on the 1986

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

In the Jungle Groove ''In the Jungle Groove'' is a compilation album by American funk musician James Brown, released in August 1986 by Polydor Records.Grein, Paul.Hot Summer Releases on the Way. ''Billboard'': 77. August 2, 1986. Background Originally issued to ca ...

''. The complete studio recording, over 12 minutes long, appeared for the first time on the 1996 CD compilation '' Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang''.

Personnel

* James Brown - lead vocal ;with The J.B.'s *

- organ, vocals * Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison - trumpet * Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet *

- trombone *

St. Clair Pinckney St. Clair Pinckney (September 17, 1930 – February 1, 1999) was an American saxophonist who performed with James Brown as a member of the James Brown Orchestra and The J.B.'s. He played tenor and baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (so ...

- tenor saxophone *

Phelps "Catfish" Collins Phelps "Catfish" Collins (October 17, 1943 – August 6, 2010) was an American musician. A lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist, he is known mostly for his work in the P-Funk collective. Although frequently overshadowed by his younger brother, ...

- guitar * Bobby Roach - guitar *

William "Bootsy" Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

- bass *

John "Jabo" Starks John Henry "Jabo" Starks (; October 26, 1937 – May 1, 2018), sometimes spelled Jab'o, was an American funk and blues drummer best known for playing with James Brown as well as other notable musicians including Bobby Bland and B.B. King. A self- ...

- drums * Johnny Griggs - congas

Soul Power 74

In 1974, Brown created an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

version of "Soul Power" by having

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of ...

and Fred Wesley

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

new horn parts onto the rhythm track of the original recording.

Sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

Bob Both added

sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

s at several points to conceal where the original

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

track had bled through into the rhythm parts. Titled "Soul Power 74" and credited to "Maceo and the Macks", the new version was released as a two-part single on

People Records __NOTOC__ Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own Record producer, productions of artists associated with his revue. Try Me Brown founded his first la ...

and charted #20 R&B and #109 Bubbling Under Pop. It also appeared on the album ''Us!''.

Cover versions and sampling

Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

"Soul Power" on their 2000 album ''

Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music ''Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music'' is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. Plans for a standard physical release, bund ...

''. * Rapper

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

performed it on his 2007

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

''Tribb to JB''. *

Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

band

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted ...

has performed "Soul Power" as an extended ending/jam to their popular hit "What Is Hip?". Both the "Soul Power" and "Soul Power 74" have been extensively sampled in

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

and other genres. "Soul Power 74" was sampled on Redman's "Rated R",

MC Breed Eric Tyrone Breed (June 12, 1971 – November 22, 2008), better known as MC Breed, was an American rapper best known for his singles " Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'", which peaked at #66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and " Gotta Get Mine" (fe ...

and

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

's " Gotta Get Mine",

Spoonie Gee Gabriel Jackson (born May 27, 1963), better known by his stage name Spoonie Gee, is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of the few to have released rap records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term hip hop and some of ...

's "The Godfather",

Black Machine Black Machine is an Italian electronic music group, most active throughout the 1990s. They are best known for the singles " How Gee", "Funky Funky People" and "Jazz Machine", all of which charted in several countries across Europe. In 1992, "How ...

's "

How Gee Black Machine is an Italian electronic music group, most active throughout the 1990s. They are best known for the singles " How Gee", "Funky Funky People" and "Jazz Machine", all of which charted in several countries across Europe. In 1992, "How ...

" and Usher's "Ride" (later re-made by

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

as "

Get Right Christopher Alesund (born 29 May 1990), better known as GeT_RiGhT, is a Swedish ''Counter-Strike'' player who is currently a full time streamer. During his time as a member of Ninjas in Pyjamas, he was considered one of the best ''Counter-Strike ...

"), among many others.

Appearances in other media

"Soul Power 74" is featured in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on the radio station Master Sounds 98.3.

References

External links

Song Review A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

List of songs that sample "Soul Power"
{{Authority control Songs about soul James Brown songs Songs written by James Brown The J.B.'s songs 1971 singles 1974 singles King Records (United States) singles 1971 songs