I GOT YOU (I FEEL GOOD)

:''For the song by Sonny & Cher see 'I Got You Babe'.''
"'I Got You (I Feel Good)'" (commonly known as "'I Feel Good'") is a hit song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1965, it is one of Brown's signature songs, and is arguably his most widely-known recording.

Contents

Description

Reception

Appearances in film and television

Personnel

Smash Records version

Other versions

Live recordings

1975 remake

Cover versions

References

External links

Description

On the record, Brown revels in how "good" he feels ("nice, like sugar and spice"), now that he has the one he loves. Brown's vocal performance features his trademark soul shouting vocals and screams. The song's form is a twelve bar blues. Its brass-heavy instrumental arrangement is similar to that of Brown's previous hit "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", including the trademark emphasis "on the one" (i.e. the first beat of the measure) that characterizes Brown's then-new funk style. The song also features a prominent tenor sax solo by Maceo Parker.

Reception

Of Brown's 99 hits to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (a total second only to Elvis Presley) "I Got You (I Feel Good)" is Brown's highest charting song, peaking at number three. The song remained at the top of the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart for six weeks, after his previous single, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", held the number-one spot for eight weeks. Brown's screams at the beginning and end of the song have been sampled countless times for hip hop and dance songs. The song has also been covered many times by other performers, and is frequently played at sporting events.
In 2000 "I Got You (I Feel Good)" reached #21 on VH1's ''100 Greatest Songs in Rock and Roll'' and #75 on VH1's ''100 Greatest Rock and Roll Dance Songs,'' one of only seven songs to make both lists. (The others were Aretha Franklin's "Respect", Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", The Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie", Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba", The Bee Gees' "Staying Alive", and Chubby Checker's "The Twist".)
In 2004 it was ranked number 78 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Appearances in film and television

"I Got You (I Feel Good)" has appeared in numerous film soundtracks, including ''The Nutty Professor'', ''Good Morning Vietnam'', ''Home Alone 4'', ''Dr. Dolittle'', ''Boat Trip'', ''Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre'', ''K9'' and ''. Although Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames, received label credit for this song, they don't actually sing on it. However, they do perform the song with Brown in a cameo appearance in the 1965 film, "Ski Party".
The song's television appearances include ''Tour of Duty'' episode "The Road to Long Binh" and the ''Simpsons'' episode "Bart's Inner Child". In the ''Lost'' episode "The Greater Good", Hurley sings the song to stop little baby Aaron from crying. However, his efforts are unsuccessful.
Most recently the original song made a little cameo appearance in the 2007 action film Transformers when the Autobot Bumblebee plays it for break the ice in a romantic spot between Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (played by Megan Fox), previously Bumblebee had played "Sexual Healing" from Marvin Gaye, then "I Feel Good" until finally turned off.

Personnel

★ James Brown - lead vocal
''with the James Brown Orchestra:''

★ Ron Tooley - trumpet

★ Joe Dupars - trumpet

★ Levi Rasbury - trumpet

★ Unknown - trumpet

★ Nat Jones - alto saxophone, organ

★ St. Clair Pinckney - tenor saxophone

★ Eldee Williams - tenor saxophone

★ Al "Brisco" Clark - tenor saxophone

★ Maceo Parker - tenor saxophone

★ Jimmy Nolen - guitar

★ Alphonso "Country" Kellum - guitar

★ Bernard Odum - bass

★ Melvin Parker - drums

Smash Records version

Brown recorded an early version of "I Got You (I Feel Good)" with a different arrangement (including a prominent baritone sax part) under the title "I Got You" in 1964. This version of the song, the composition of which was credited to Ted Wright, appeared on the album ''Out of Sight'', released by Smash Records. The recording was also intended for release as a single on Smash, but was withdrawn due to a court order from King Records, Brown's primary label at the time, with which he was involved in a contract dispute.
Brown performs this arrangement of the song in the movie ''Ski Party''.

Other versions

Live recordings

Brown performs the song on the live albums ''Live at the Apollo, Vol. II'' (1968) and ''Live at the Apollo 1995''.

1975 remake

Brown re-recorded the song for his 1975 album ''Sex Machine Today''.

Cover versions

"I Got You (I Feel Good) has been covered in a variety of styles by performers including James Cotton, Joshua Redman, The Jam, James Chance and the Contortions and Bobby McFerrin.

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

★ Song review at All Music Guide