PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE

"'Please, Please, Please'" is an R&B song written by James Brown and Johnny Terry and recorded by Brown and The Famous Flames. Released as a single on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, it was Brown's first professional recording and his first hit, eventually selling over a million copies.^[1] It became a staple of Brown's live act, usually performed as part of his signature cape routine.
Heavily rooted in a southern gospel music sensibility, "Please, Please, Please" features the 23-year-old Brown as a heartbroken man begging his woman not to leave him. Bobby Byrd and the rest of The Famous Flames back up Brown's impassioned lament with smooth vocal harmonies.
"Please, Please, Please" reached #6 on the R&B singles chart, but did not sell well to pop audiences, and peaked at #105 on the pop singles chart. A 1964 reissue of "Please, Please, Please" on King Records (K5853) featuring overdubbed audience noise meant to mimic a live recording reached #95 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
An album named for the song was released in late 1958 after Brown scored a second hit with "Try Me".
In 2004, "Please, Please, Please" was ranked number 142 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
In the movie ''Blues Brothers 2000'' Brown performs the song after the closing credits, trying (and ultimately failing) to persuade a woman to come back to him.
On a Jimmy Neutron Special, The League of Villains, Tee is begging Jimmy to save his bandit friends, he gets down on his knees and pleads into a microphone, "Please! Please!" Please!" Sheen walks over and lays a blanket on Tee's back as he leans forward in despair.

Contents

Personnel

Cover versions

Citations

References

Personnel

★ James Brown - lead vocal
''with The (Famous) Flames:''

★ Bobby Byrd - vocals

★ Johnny Terry - vocals

★ Sylvester Keels - vocals

★ Nash Knox - vocals

★ Nafloyd Scott - guitar
''plus:''

★ Wilbert "Lee Diamond" Smith - tenor saxophone

★ Ray Felder - tenor saxophone

★ Lucas "Fats" Gonder - piano

★ Clarence Mack - bass

★ Edison Gore - drums

Cover versions

"Please, Please, Please" has been covered by many performers, including Tina Turner and the British rock group The Who on their 1965 album ''The Who Sings My Generation''.

Citations

1. James Brown

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.