Cold Sweat
"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written by his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a #1 R&B hit, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles chart.[1] A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album Cold Sweat.
In the song's lyrics Brown protests that he doesn't care about his woman's past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him "I break out in a cold sweat."
Creation
In an interview with Down Beat magazine, Ellis described the circumstances of the song's creation:
After one of the shows, one night somewhere, James called me into the dressing room and grunted a bass line of a rhythmic thing (demonstrates), which turned out to be "Cold Sweat." I was very much influenced by Miles Davis and had been listening to "So What" six or seven years earlier and that crept into the making of "Cold Sweat." You could call it subliminal, but the horn line is based on Miles Davis' "So What." I wrote that on the bus between New York and Cincinnati. The next day we pulled up in front of King Records studio, got off the bus, got in the studio, set up, and I went over the rhythm with the band. By the time we got the groove going, James showed up, added a few touches—changed the guitar part, which made it real funky—had the drummer do something different. He was a genius at it. Between the two of us, we put it together one afternoon. He put the lyrics on it. The band set up in a semicircle in the studio with one microphone. It was recorded live in the studio. One take. It was like a performance. We didn't do overdubbing.[2] |
Characteristics
Like "Out of Sight" (1964) and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965), "Cold Sweat" was a watershed event in the evolution of funk music. While those songs were both based on a conventional twelve bar blues chord progression, "Cold Sweat" has only one definite chord change, a move to the subtonic at the bridge. As in the earlier songs, all the band's instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively in "Cold Sweat", and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of each measure ("on the one"). The main drum part is a two-bar pattern with a snare hit on the two and four beats (a standard 4/4 rock pattern) with a simple variation: the four beat hit in the first measure is delayed by one eighth note. This snare pattern contributed greatly to the funky feel of the arrangement. It was copied, often with embellishments, in later James Brown songs and numerous songs by other musical artists.
"Cold Sweat" is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo ("give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music. It also features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker.
Impact
Sometimes cited as the first true funk song,[3][4] "Cold Sweat" was recognized as a radical departure from pop music conventions at the time of its release. Jerry Wexler recalled that "'Cold Sweat' deeply affected the musicians I knew. It just freaked them out. No one could get a handle on what to do next."[5] Cliff White described it as "divorced from other forms of popular music."[6] Some musicians criticized it as simplistic. Fred Wesley recalled that before he joined Brown's band he "was very unimpressed with ['Cold Sweat']. . . It only had one change, the words made no sense at all, and the bridge was musically incorrect."[7] Critic Dave Marsh, while acknowledging the song as pivotal, has argued that "the post-'Cold Sweat' de-emphasis of melody" was partly responsible for a "decline in the number of genuinely memorable songs" in the years since its release.[8]
Brown would continue to develop the rhythmically intense, harmonically static template pioneered on "Cold Sweat" in later recordings such as "I Got the Feelin'", "Mother Popcorn", "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", and "Super Bad".
Like many of Brown's funk hits, "Cold Sweat" has been extensively sampled by hip hop DJs and producers.
Other versions
"Cold Sweat" has been covered by various bands and musicians, notably by Mongo Santamaría in 1968. Brown himself recorded a jazz-inflected version of "Cold Sweat" with the Dee Felice Trio for his 1969 album Gettin' Down to It.
Personnel
with the James Brown Orchestra:
Produced by James Brown
Chart positions
Chart (1967) |
Peak
position |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
7 |
U.S. Billboard R&B |
1 |
Citations
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 84.
- ^ James Brown's Musicians Reflect On His Legacy. Down Beat. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- ^ Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm & Blues (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 101.
- ^ Rickey Vincent, Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One (New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1996), 123.
- ^ Vincent, Funk, 123.
- ^ Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom (New York: HarperCollins, 1986), 242.
- ^ Fred Wesley Jr., Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002), 80.
- ^ Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock & Soul : The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (New York: New American Library, 1989), 451.
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.
External links
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Studio albums |
Please Please Please · Try Me · Think! · The Amazing James Brown · James Brown Presents His Band/Night Train · Shout and Shimmy · James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the USA · Prisoner of Love · Excitement - Mr. Dynamite · Showtime · The Unbeatable James Brown · Grits and Soul · Out of Sight · Papa's Got a Brand New Bag · I Got You (I Feel Good) · James Brown Plays James Brown Today and Yesterday · Mighty Instrumentals · James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) · It's a Man's Man's Man's World · James Brown Sings Christmas Songs · Handful of Soul · Sings Raw Soul · James Brown Plays the Real Thing · Cold Sweat · I Can't Stand Myself · I Got the Feeling · James Brown Sings Out of Sight · Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things · A Soulful Christmas · Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud · Gettin' Down to It · The Popcorn · It's a Mother · Ain't It Funky · Soul on Top · It's a New Day - Let a Man Come In · Hey America · Super Bad · Sho' Is Funky Down Here · Hot Pants · There It Is · Get on the Good Foot · Black Caesar · Slaughter's Big Rip-Off · The Payback · Hell · Reality · Sex Machine Today · Everybody's Doin' the Hustle and Dead on the Double Bump · Hot · Get Up Offa That Thing · Bodyheat · Mutha's Nature · Jam 1980's · Take a Look at Those Cakes · The Original Disco Man · People · Nonstop! · Soul Syndrome · Bring It On · Gravity · I'm Real · Love Overdue · Universal James · I'm Back · The Merry Christmas Album · The Next Step
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Live albums |
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Compilation albums |
Soul Classics · Soul Classics, Volume 2 · Solid Gold: 30 Golden Hits · The Fabulous James Brown · Can Your Heart Stand It? · The Best of James Brown · The Federal Years, Part 1 · The Federal Years, Part 2 · Roots of a Revolution - The James Brown Story 1956-1965 · Ain't That a Groove - The James Brown Story 1966-1969 · Doing It to Death - The James Brown Story 1970-1973 · Dead on the Heavy Funk 1974-1976 · The CD of JB: Sex Machine and Other Soul Classics · The LP of JB · In the Jungle Groove · The CD of JB II: Cold Sweat and Other Soul Classics · Motherlode · Messin' With the Blues · Star Time · 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! · Roots of a Revolution · JB40: 40th Anniversary Collection · Foundations of Funk - A Brand New Bag: 1964-1969 · Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang · Make It Funky - The Big Payback: 1971-1975 · Dead On The Heavy Funk: 1975-1983 · Classic James Brown - The Universal Masters Collection · The Godfather - The Very Best of James Brown · Classic James Brown Vol. 2 - The Universal Masters Collection · 50th Anniversary Collection · The Singles, Volume One: The Federal Years: 1956-1960 · The Singles, Volume Two: 1960–1963 · The Singles, Volume Three: 1964-1965 · A Family Affair · Dynamite X · The Singles, Volume Four: 1966-1967 · The Singles, Volume Five: 1967-1969 · The Singles, Volume Six: 1969-1970 · The Singles, Volume 7: 1970-1972 · The Singles, Volume 8: 1972-1973 · The Singles, Volume 9: 1973-1975 · Icon · The James Brown Complete Christmas · The Singles, Volume 10: 1975-1979 · The Singles, Volume 11: 1979-1981
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Notable singles |
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Band members |
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Associated acts |
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Related articles |
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Federal releases |
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King releases |
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Smash releases |
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Polydor releases |
"Escape-ism" · "Hot Pants" · "Make It Funky" · "I'm A Greedy Man" · "Hey America" · "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" · "King Heroin" · "There It Is" · "Honky Tonk" · "Get on the Good Foot" · "I Got a Bag of My Own" · "I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" · "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'" · "Down And Out In New York City" · "Think '73" · "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" · "Stoned to the Bone" · "The Payback" · "My Thang" · "Papa Don't Take No Mess" · "Funky President" · "Coldblooded" · "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" · "Reality" · "Sex Machine '76" · "Superbad, Superslick" · "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" · "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" · "Get Up Offa That Thing" · "I Refuse to Lose" · "Body Heat" · "Kiss in '77" · "Give Me Some Skin" · "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It" · "Eyesight" · "The Spank" · "For Goodness Sakes (Take a Look at Those Cakes)" · "It's Too Funky In Here" · "Star Generation" · "Regrets" · "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)" · "Stay With Me"
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Other releases |
" Night Time Is the Right Time" · "Bring It On...Bring It On" · "Unity" · "Froggy Mix" · "Living in America" · "Gravity" · "How Do You Stop" · "She's The One" · "The Payback Mix" · "I'm Real" · "Static" · "Gimme Your Love" · "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On" · "I Got You (I Feel Good) {James Brown v. Dakeyne]" · "Can't Get Any Harder" · "Funk On a Roll" · "Killing Is Out, School Is In"
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