Post by erik on Feb 26, 2022 13:25:36 GMT -5
James Brown, the self-proclaimed Hardest Working Man In Show Business (and for good reason), is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight with one of his many R&B/funk hits that attracted White and Black music audiences alike.
LET A MAN COME IN AND DO THE POPCORN (PART TWO) (James Brown; King; 1969)—From his debut on the R&B charts in 1953 until his death in 2006, nobody could ever accuse James Brown of being a boring performer. Particularly during the turbulent years of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, he was known as “The Hardest Working Man In Show Business”; and there was no question of it. His legion of fans ranged across all ethnic and racial lines and included no less than Elvis Presley, with whom he remained friends until Elvis’ death in August 1977. One of Brown’s most prominent dance moves was one that he called The Popcorn, and which he immortalized in a series of singles with the word “Popcorn” in the title. One such hit was in fact divided into two parts, both of which were three minutes in length, called “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn”—proof that, besides not being a boring performer, he also wasn’t above being creative when it came to song titles. Part 1 of “Let A Man Come In” was the more successful of the two (#2 R&B/#21 pop in October 1969); but the propulsive funk nevertheless carried over to Part 2, which was released as a single on the King label just before Christmas in 1969. While “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn” only stayed on the Hot 100 for ten weeks, peaking at #40 on January 24, 1970, it continued Brown’s streak of having Top Ten R&B hits on top of Top Ten R&B hits, peaking at #6. Brown maintained his reputation as the hardest working man in show business throughout most of the 1970’s, though, after 1974’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess”, he would not be able to have another significant pop hit until he hit in late 1985 with “Living In America”, from the soundtrack of Sylvester Stallone’s film Rocky IV.
LET A MAN COME IN AND DO THE POPCORN (PART TWO) (James Brown; King; 1969)—From his debut on the R&B charts in 1953 until his death in 2006, nobody could ever accuse James Brown of being a boring performer. Particularly during the turbulent years of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, he was known as “The Hardest Working Man In Show Business”; and there was no question of it. His legion of fans ranged across all ethnic and racial lines and included no less than Elvis Presley, with whom he remained friends until Elvis’ death in August 1977. One of Brown’s most prominent dance moves was one that he called The Popcorn, and which he immortalized in a series of singles with the word “Popcorn” in the title. One such hit was in fact divided into two parts, both of which were three minutes in length, called “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn”—proof that, besides not being a boring performer, he also wasn’t above being creative when it came to song titles. Part 1 of “Let A Man Come In” was the more successful of the two (#2 R&B/#21 pop in October 1969); but the propulsive funk nevertheless carried over to Part 2, which was released as a single on the King label just before Christmas in 1969. While “Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn” only stayed on the Hot 100 for ten weeks, peaking at #40 on January 24, 1970, it continued Brown’s streak of having Top Ten R&B hits on top of Top Ten R&B hits, peaking at #6. Brown maintained his reputation as the hardest working man in show business throughout most of the 1970’s, though, after 1974’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess”, he would not be able to have another significant pop hit until he hit in late 1985 with “Living In America”, from the soundtrack of Sylvester Stallone’s film Rocky IV.