James Brown's top 15 songs, ranked

3 November 2025, 12:09

By Thomas Edward

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He earned the moniker of "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business".

But then again, given his legendary talent and deep impact on culture throughout the latter half of the 20th century, James Brown earned many names.

"The Master of Groove", "Soul Brother Number One", "Mr. Dynamite", "The King of Soul", "The Godfather of Funk", being among them.

Born in South Carolina in 1933, Brown made his name as a gospel singer before switching to R&B where he'd establish himself as a dynamic, restless and ingenious performer both as a vocalist and a dancer.

His passioned voice, buckets of sweat expelled on stage, and flamboyant dance moves (like the splits) set him apart from any other performer of his era.

It's safe to say that without James Brown, the likes of Prince and Michael Jackson wouldn't exist, nor would funk or hip hop music. Some impact.

Being one of the first ten artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Brown kept performing – with enviable levels of energy and enthusiasm – right up until his death on Christmas Day in 2006.

Among his many accolades, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as their 7th greatest artist of all time, suggesting how intrinsic he was to the development of new kinds of music and new ways in which to perform it.

To prove what an impeccable body of work Brown created, we've ranked his very best 15 songs:

Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

James Brown - Give It Up Or Turn It A Loose (BBC Four Sessions, Jan 3, 2004)

Though there's not much going on lyrically in 'Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose', it's all about the rhythm.
Its sizzling groove propelled it to No.1 in the US R&B Billboard charts after its 1969 release.
Due to its instrumentation, particularly the tight-as-you-like breakbeat drums, the song became a vital touchstone of hip hop and was sampled on several occasions.
Writing credit is strangely given to Brown's manager Charles Bobbit, though it's improbable he actually penned it – Brown sometimes assigned writing credits in exchange for services.
Funky President (People It's Bad)

Funky President (People It's Bad)

After James Brown was photographed alongside scandal-riven president Richard Nixon in 1972, his fanbase was livid.
So with 'Funky President (People It's Bad)', he ensured his fans he was still a man of the people by lashing out at the White House.
In this case "funky" refers to the underhand goings on and corruption in the US government. By this time Nixon was replaced by Gerald Ford, so Brown certainly wasn't anointing the 38th president of the United States as a fellow funkster.
After Nixon's impeachment, 'Funky President (People It's Bad)' peaked at number four in the US R&B Billboard charts in 1974.
Cold Sweat

James Brown - Cold Sweat (Live Zaire '74)

'Cold Sweat' can lay claim to being the first ever funk song in history.
According to James Brown's band leader Pee Wee Ellis, "the Godfather of Soul" came to him and asked him to write down a bass line idea he grunted to him.
Basing the repeating sax riff on the Miles Davis' song 'So What', the sax and the overlapping guitar riff made for a funky rhythm.
It certainly got hips shaking through the US, reaching the top of the US Billboard R&B charts in 1967.
Night Train

James Brown performs "Night Train" on the TAMI Show (Live)

'Night Train' was first recorded by blues artist Jimmy Forrest as an instrumental composition with jazz musician Oscar Washington.
After becoming a No.1 R&B hit the following year, 'Night Train' soon became an R&B staple, with Brown incorporating it into his energetic sets.
Originally appearing on his album James Brown Presents His Band and Five Other Great Artists, it was his live rendition that truly shone.
Harnessing the rabid enthusiasm he generated at his live sets, Brown encouraged his label boss Syd Nathan to record the live album Live At The Apollo with 'Night Train' closing out the set. The single reached No.35 in the US charts.
Living In America

James Brown - Living in America (Official Video)

'Living In America' was one of James Brown's biggest hits, and reintroduced him to an entire new generation in 1985. Though it nearly never happened.
Written by Dan Hartman and Charles Midnight, Brown was unsure about singing a song someone else had penned, especially as its primary intention was to be used to soundtrack Sylvester Stallone's sports thriller Rocky IV.
Convinced by Stallone that 'Living In America' would reinvent his career with a new audience, he went for it.
The song became Brown's first charting single in the Hot 100 for nearly a decade and bagged him the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance in 1986, despite being heavy on the jingoism.
Try Me

James Brown - Try Me

'Try Me' was the song that reignited James Brown's fortunes, whose career was flailing and nearly in the dust until it appeared in the R&B charts in 1958.
Originally released with his band the Famous Flames, it became the biggest selling single of that year.
Having been relegated to backing singer for the band's previous single 'Please, Please, Please', Brown was in free fall, especially after most of the original Famous Flames (including founder Bobby Byrd) had walked out on him.
He reformed the group with some of Little Richard's previous players and the rest, as they say, is history.
Super Bad

James Brown - Super Bad (Parts 1 & 2) ft. The Original J.B.s

"I got soul, but I'm super bad," wails James Brown in 'Super Bad', arguably the baddest song he wrote.
It was one of the first uses of linguistic reappropriation of the word "bad" to mean dangerous, great, and seductive as it was used in African American vernacular.
Michael Jackson used a similar trick with his 1987 single titled 'Bad'.
The funk track – which was initially recorded in three parts – reached the top of the R&B charts in 1971.
Please Please Please

James Brown performs "Please Please Please" at the TAMI Show (Live)

One of James Brown's first ever commercial recordings, he recorded it at a radio station called WIBB in his hometown of Macon, Georgia.
Though the song doesn't really have any greater narrative than Brown screaming "please" over and over again, it showcases his dramatic yet primal nature of performing whilst lamenting over a girl that's done him wrong.
'Please, Please, Please' is all about the feeling. Though label bosses didn't feel it at first, as Brown's raw performance scared industry bosses.
Throughout the following decade, it became the jewel in the crown of his vibrant sets – one of his backing band would throw a cape around his shoulders whilst Brown acted weary and lovelorn, before throwing it off and sparking the performance back into life. It brought the house down every time.
Get Up Offa That Thang

Get Up Offa That Thing - James Brown | The Midnight Special

If there's one thing James Brown can do, it's get your off of your seat. That was the funk's first mission statement.
'Get Up Offa That Thing' came about after a drab concert in Fort Lauderdale, so Brown wrote a funk rhythm so infectious nobody could resist it.
"The audience was sitting down, trying to do a sophisticated thing, listening to funk," he recalled in the 2014 biography James Brown: The Godfather Of Soul. "One of the tightest bands they'd ever heard in their lives, and they were sitting.
"I had worked hard and dehydrated myself and was feeling depressed. I looked out at all those people sitting there, and because I was depressed they looked depressed. I yelled, 'Get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better!' I probably meant until I felt better."
The Boss

The Boss

As the '70s hit, James Brown became more socially conscious, aligning himself with black values and black creatives.
'The Boss' was the standout track to the 1973 blaxploitation film Black Caesar, his first experience of writing music for a film.
The swaggering track has since become highly influential with hip-hop, and is synonymous with the gangster genre.
Fun fact: Sammy Davis Jr. originally commissioned the film as an attempt to move away from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin's orbit, though backed out due to financial troubles.
Get Up, I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine

Sex Machine - James Brown | The Midnight Special

'Get Up, I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine' is James Brown at his most sexual, feral best. It was risqué, but Brown could pull it off.
In the 2014 film Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, bandmate Bobby Byrd revealed: "The lyric wasn't saying all that much, but the fact that we were saying 'sex machine,' that wasn't supposed to be said."
The 1970 funk masterpiece was recorded in two takes, typical of Brown's flawless studio habits at the time.
Bassist Bootsy Collins later recalled: "Once we got to the studio it was pretty much what it sounds like. Someone said, 'It sounds great, Mr. Brown. When are you going to mix it?
"He said, 'Mix it? It's already mixed, son!' He was teaching us how to be dynamic, with the ups, the breakdowns, the hard and soft parts. He felt that everything he did with a band was already mixed."
The Payback

James Brown - The Payback

Initially recorded for blaxploitation sequel Hell Up In Harlem, 'The Payback' was rejected by the film's producers for not being funky enough.
Brown's bandleader Fred Wesley later recalled: "All the music on the album was supposed to be the soundtrack but I carried the music to the producer out in Hollywood and he didn't like it. He said, it's not funky. Imagine someone saying 'The Payback' isn't funky?"
He brought the music home and James Brown released it as an album – 'The Payback' was the first in an unbroken succession of three singles by Brown to reach No.1 on the R&B charts that year.
The sauntering revenge song was given a second life after featuring prominently in Guy Ritchie's 1998 breakthrough crime comedy Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1)

A popular saying in the '60s, "a bag" was an expression used to describe a new lifestyle or doing something differently.
James Brown secured a bumper record contract with King Records in 1965 (after a long and drawn out dispute), so immediately cut 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' to put his elation on to record.
Marking the shift towards his trademark sound, the song lists a lot of dance crazes that Brown utilised throughout his live shows. There's no surprise the track is still a dance floor staple today.
'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Recording in 1965, and was also inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.
I Got You (I Feel Good)

James Brown - "I Got You (I Feel Good)" | Concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Papa James Brown had a brand new bag, and entered a brand new era after the legendary track 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' swayed to the No.3 in the US charts in 1965.
The unmistakable "OWWW" that kicks that track in is instantly recognisable as Brown's signature wail, and has been referenced countless times throughout the decades since its release.
A stellar example of a funk song where the lyrics take second place to the groove, it still gave Brown his catchphrase with "I feel good".
'I Got You (I Feel Good)' was his biggest hit, though "The Godfather of Soul" earned the not-so-wanted accolade of having the most Hot 100 singles without a No.1 hit than any other artist.
It's A Man's Man's Man's World

James Brown - It's A Man's Man's Man's World

No doubt the most iconic lyrics James Brown ever put from pen to paper: "It's a man's world, but it'd be nothing without a woman or a girl."
'It's A Man's Man's Man's World' is also the greatest song that "the hardest working man in show business" committed to tape.
Riffing off of the 1963 hit comedy movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the song was still criticised in some circles as being chauvinistic.
It's understandable why - all mankind's greatest innovations are attributed to men, though they're all worthless without the love of a good woman, according to the song.
Still, it's Brown's pained, pensive vocals that grind away with the regret of a love lost.
Recorded as though he's a preacher in a sermon, warning others to not make the same mistakes and hold love close.
Developed from the words of a woman called Betty Newsome, she wrote about the observations of her ex-boyfriends, one of which was Brown himself
Given his reputation for being the funkiest man of the 20th century, it's his iconic and impassioned ballad that stands head and shoulders above the rest of his work. Scratch that, it soars.