Written by James Brown, Bobby Byrd and Ron Lenhoff
Recorded by James Brown and the J.B.'s
This is undoubtedly an outstanding piece of music from Soul Brother Number 1, but since I'm here to focus on bridges, let's be clear - this is the song! As far as I know, it's the first time a singer discusses the bridge with his band before they get there. This is the original "Take me to the bridge" song! It's a tremendous part of musical history and endlessly meaningful to this blog.
It's also a rare song that includes parenthesis in the middle of the title. I've borrowed this parentheses application technique from Mr. Brown for a song's title, but enough about me - we're here to discuss the Godfather of Soul, and I'm the consigliere of soul at best.
This song was one of the first collaborations with the recently formed J.B.'s, a band with a much funkier and more contemporary approach to the music than Brown's previous groups. This is funk at its grooviest and most inviting. If you can't dance to this song, you shouldn't be dancing at all. The groove is wonderfully relentless and no backup singer has ever been as supportive as Bobby Byrd. So when we get to that midpoint part of the song, Bobby and the band are ready for James:
Brown: Bobby? Can I take 'em to the bridge?
Byrd: Go Ahead!
Brown: Take 'em on to the bridge?
Byrd: Take 'em to the bridge!
Brown: Can I take 'em to the bridge?
JBs: Yeah! Go ahead!
Brown: Take 'em to the bridge?
JBs: Yeah! Go ahead!
Brown: Hit me now!
And with that, we are into it! It's always a delightful bonus when the bridge offers us new or conflicting information. At first listen, one might think that Brown is reiterating his thoughts in the bridge: he wants to get up and stay on the scene like a sex machine. In other words, James is feeling it, he wants to get his groove on, and he wants everyone to know that it's going to be non-stop, hot action. But this is not just about being a sex machine, once we get to the bridge, James Brown has become a loving machine.
After the bridge, James and company keep the love going and stay on the scene until they get to the end. As with the beginning of the song and throughout the bridge, this band does things by committee. So when Brown asks the band to hit it, or count off the beats, the band responds with "one more time" and when he asks to "hit it and quit it," he is supported with "go ahead" and "yeah!" What an awesome band! I don't think Tony Orlando was getting that support from Dawn. Where were the Waves when Katrina wanted to hit and quit it? They probably just kept playing and the engineer had to fade the song. Nothing was hit, and nothing was legitimately quit.
Musically, this song finds its home grounded mostly in the "1" chord, jumping up to the "4" for the bridge, and intro/outro "hits." But within those chords, there are numerous voicings and every which way one can funk.
Everything about "Get Up" is awesome, from beginning to end, and it wouldn't be anything without that historic bridge at the center of it all. Unrelated, I sometimes think about James Brown, Al Green and Barry White as part of a soulful collection of crayons.
- Matthew J. Kaplan
Recorded by James Brown and the J.B.'s
This is undoubtedly an outstanding piece of music from Soul Brother Number 1, but since I'm here to focus on bridges, let's be clear - this is the song! As far as I know, it's the first time a singer discusses the bridge with his band before they get there. This is the original "Take me to the bridge" song! It's a tremendous part of musical history and endlessly meaningful to this blog.
It's also a rare song that includes parenthesis in the middle of the title. I've borrowed this parentheses application technique from Mr. Brown for a song's title, but enough about me - we're here to discuss the Godfather of Soul, and I'm the consigliere of soul at best.
This song was one of the first collaborations with the recently formed J.B.'s, a band with a much funkier and more contemporary approach to the music than Brown's previous groups. This is funk at its grooviest and most inviting. If you can't dance to this song, you shouldn't be dancing at all. The groove is wonderfully relentless and no backup singer has ever been as supportive as Bobby Byrd. So when we get to that midpoint part of the song, Bobby and the band are ready for James:
Brown: Bobby? Can I take 'em to the bridge?
Byrd: Go Ahead!
Brown: Take 'em on to the bridge?
Byrd: Take 'em to the bridge!
Brown: Can I take 'em to the bridge?
JBs: Yeah! Go ahead!
Brown: Take 'em to the bridge?
JBs: Yeah! Go ahead!
Brown: Hit me now!
And with that, we are into it! It's always a delightful bonus when the bridge offers us new or conflicting information. At first listen, one might think that Brown is reiterating his thoughts in the bridge: he wants to get up and stay on the scene like a sex machine. In other words, James is feeling it, he wants to get his groove on, and he wants everyone to know that it's going to be non-stop, hot action. But this is not just about being a sex machine, once we get to the bridge, James Brown has become a loving machine.
After the bridge, James and company keep the love going and stay on the scene until they get to the end. As with the beginning of the song and throughout the bridge, this band does things by committee. So when Brown asks the band to hit it, or count off the beats, the band responds with "one more time" and when he asks to "hit it and quit it," he is supported with "go ahead" and "yeah!" What an awesome band! I don't think Tony Orlando was getting that support from Dawn. Where were the Waves when Katrina wanted to hit and quit it? They probably just kept playing and the engineer had to fade the song. Nothing was hit, and nothing was legitimately quit.
Musically, this song finds its home grounded mostly in the "1" chord, jumping up to the "4" for the bridge, and intro/outro "hits." But within those chords, there are numerous voicings and every which way one can funk.
Everything about "Get Up" is awesome, from beginning to end, and it wouldn't be anything without that historic bridge at the center of it all. Unrelated, I sometimes think about James Brown, Al Green and Barry White as part of a soulful collection of crayons.
- Matthew J. Kaplan