Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by James Brown | ||
| A-side(s) | Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine - Pt. 1 | |
| B-side(s) | Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine - Pt. 2 | |
| Released | July 1970 | |
| Format | 45 rpm | |
| Recorded | April 25, 1970 at Starday-King Studios, Nashville, TN | |
| Genre | Funk | |
| Length | 5:15 | |
| Label | King Records (6318) | |
| Writer(s) | James Brown-Bobby Byrd-Ron Lenhoff | |
| Producer(s) | James Brown | |
| Chart positions | ||
"Sex Machine" redirects here. For other meanings of the term see Sex machine.
"Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" (also known as just "Sex Machine") is a song recorded by James Brown in 1970 and released as a two-part single on King Records. It is considered one of his hardest funk recordings. (Brown's Sex Machine double album, also released in 1970, contains a different, 11-minute-long performance of the song rather than the version released as a single.)
"Sex Machine" is the first song Brown recorded with his new band, The J.B.'s. In comparison with his 1960s funk hits such as "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "Cold Sweat", it is notable for the de-emphasis of the horn section. Instead, the song centers on the insistent riff played by brothers Bootsy and Catfish Collins on bass and guitar and Jabo Starks on drums, along with the call and response interplay between Brown and Bobby Byrd's vocals. The freeform lyrics consist mostly of Brown's exhortations to "Get up / stay on the scene / like a sex machine" along with Byrd's regular shouts of "Get on up." The piece is harmonically static, aside from a move to the subdominant on the bridge.
In 2004, "Sex Machine" was ranked number 326 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
[edit] Personnel
- James Brown - lead vocal, piano
with The JB's:
- Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet
- Darryl "Hassan" Jamison - trumpet
- Robert McCollough - tenor saxophone
- Bobby Byrd - organ, vocal
- Phelps "Catfish" Collins - guitar
- William "Bootsy" Collins - bass
- John "Jabo" Starks - drums
[edit] Appearances in film and television
The song has been featured in a Renault Clio commercial and the movies City of God, Twisted, Legally Blonde, and The Tuxedo (in which it is performed by Jackie Chan).
