It's a Man's Man's Man's World
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| “It's a Man's Man's Man's World” | |||||
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| Single by James Brown from the album It's a Man's Man's Man's World |
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| B-side | "Is It Yes or Is It No?" | ||||
| Released | April 1966 | ||||
| Format | 7" (mono) | ||||
| Recorded | February 16, 1966 at Talent Masters Studios, New York, NY | ||||
| Genre | R&B, soul | ||||
| Length | 2:46 | ||||
| Label | King K6035 |
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| Writer(s) | James Brown Betty Jean Newsome |
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| Producer | James Brown | ||||
| James Brown singles chronology | |||||
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"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966 in a New York studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts and #8 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song became a staple of Brown's live shows.
The song's lyrics, which Rolling Stone characterized as "almost biblically chauvinistic",[1] attribute all of the productive work that goes on in the world to the male gender, but allows that it would all amount to "nothing without a woman or a girl." Brown's female co-writer Newsome wrote the lyrics based on her own observations of the relations between the sexes. The song's title is a pun on the title of the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Like Brown's earlier ballad recording of "Prisoner of Love", "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was recorded with a studio band that included some members of his touring band as well as a string section. Brown's vocal group, the Famous Flames, were not used on this recording, though they did receive label credit. A female chorus was involved in the recording sessions, but their parts were edited out of the song's final master.
In 2004, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" was ranked number 123 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Brown recorded a big band jazz arrangement of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" with the Louie Bellson Orchestra for his 1970 LP Soul on Top.
Contents |
[edit] Personnel
- James Brown - lead vocal
with studio band:
- Dud Bascomb - trumpet
- Waymon Reed - trumpet
- Lamarr Wright - trumpet
- Haywood Henry - baritone saxophone
- Ernie Hayes - piano
- Billy Butler - guitar
- Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - drums
Other players, including trombone, bass and strings, unknown.
Arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B | 1 |
[edit] Development
The song that became "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" evolved over a period of several years from various tentative efforts. Tammy Montgomery (later known as Tammi Terrell) recorded a sound-alike song, "I Cried", for Brown's Try Me label in 1963. Brown himself recorded a demo version, provisionally entitled "It's a Man's World", in 1964.
[edit] Cover versions
The song has been recorded by many artists in various idioms over the years. It was the first hit single for Australian singer Renée Geyer, who recorded it for her 1974 album It's a Man's Man's World. Cher recorded it on her 1995 album It's a Man's World. It is also a popular song for live performances, having been performed in concert by such artists as Govt. Mule and The Grateful Dead. Christina Aguilera performed the song as a posthumous tribute to James Brown at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Celine Dion performed the song as a part of her 2008-2009 Taking Chances Tour.
[edit] The Residents recording
The Residents recorded a cover version of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" and released it as a single in 1984. The U.S. version of this single is usually referred to as "The White Single", as it was printed on white vinyl with a blue iris as the record label. The accompanying plastic sleeve was printed with red "veins" to give the entire thing an eyeball effect (leading some to mistakenly label this as a picture disc). 4000 copies of this version were released. The b-side is "Safety Is a Cootie Wootie". The second U.S. release was a 5000-copy run on black vinyl, released in a regular paper sleeve, and sometimes referred to as "The Black Single". UK releases of the single on Korova Records were all on black vinyl and contained a different b-side, "I'll Go Crazy", which is part of the "Live at the Apollo Suite" from the album George and James. The 1986 Australian release contained live performances from the Residents' 13th Anniversary Tour.
[edit] Citations
[edit] References
- Leeds, Alan M., and Harry Weinger (1991). Star Time: Song by Song. In Star Time (pp. 46-53) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.
- White, Cliff (1991). Discography. In Star Time (pp. 54-59) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.
