The Godfather of Soul had somethin’ that made him wanna shout, he introduced. He had somethin’ that instructed him what it was all about. “I got soul,” he introduced along with his trademark braggadocio, “and I’m super bad.” Who had been we to argue with James Brown?
So it was that the Billboard Scorching 100 for October 3, 1970 performed host to a brand new entry by the hardest-working man in present enterprise. Extremely, it was already his 61st entry onto that chart. “Super Bad (Part 1 & Part 2),” written and produced as ever by Mr. Brown himself, had been recorded on the finish of June in Nashville and was a chief instance of the “new, new super heavy funk” of which he was the self-ordained minister.
The observe had one thing to stay as much as, because the follow-up to one of many Godfather’s cast-iron greats, “Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine (Part 1).” However “Super Bad” was nicely as much as the duty. Whereas most Brown singles featured Half 1 on the A-side and Half 2 on the flip, this time the nine-minute groove was divided otherwise, with two elements on the highest facet and a Half 3 on the reverse.
The primary pressings of the King single had the tune named as “Call Me Super Bad,” earlier than it adopted its extra acquainted title. Bass-playing prodigy William “Bootsy” Collins was among the many star band, with the star’s right-hand-man Bobby Byrd on organ, and John “Jabo” Sparks on drums.
“Super Bad” climbed to No.13 on the Scorching 100 and, coming into the R&B chart every week after its pop debut, rose to the very high, spending two weeks on the soul summit in November. When Mr. Brown performed the stately environment of the Royal Albert Corridor in London the next March, rising for the second half in a gray and black catsuit, the tune was a part of a usually high-energy set by Soul Brother No.1.
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