The godfather of soul had something that made him want to scream, he announced. He had something telling him what it was about. “I have soul,” he announced with his trademark boast, “and I’m super bad.” Who did we have to argue with James Brown?
So the Billboard Hot 100 of October 3, 1970 greeted a new entry from the hardest working man in show business. Incredibly, this was already his 61st entry on this chart. “Super Bad (Part 1 & Part 2)”, written and produced like never before by Mr. Brown himself, had been recorded in late June in Nashville and was a prime example of the “new, new super heavy funk” of which he was the self-proclaimed minister.
The track had something to do with it, as a follow-up to one of the big names in The Godfather’s cast, “Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine (Part 1).” But “Super Bad” was up to the task. While most of Brown’s singles featured Part 1 on the A side and Part 2 on the reverse, this time the nine minute groove was split differently, with two parts on the top side and a 3 part on the reverse. .
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The first presses of the single King had the song called “Call Me Super Bad,” before it adopted its more familiar title. Bass prodigy William “Bootsy” Collins was part of the star group, with his right-hand man Bobby Byrd on organ and John “Jabo” Sparks on drums.
“Super Bad” climbed to No. 13 on the Hot 100 and, entering the R&B chart a week after his pop debut, rose to the top, spending two weeks at the top of soul in November. When Mr Brown performed in the majestic surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall in London the following March, emerging for the second half in a gray and black catsuit, the song was part of a distinctively energetic Soul Brother No.1 set.
Buy or stream “Super Bad” on the album of the same name.
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