A new James Brown song, recorded almost fifty years ago, will be published later this month.
According to The Source, the single, titled “We Got To Change,” will be released by UMe/Republic Records on February 16. The unreleased tune will serve as the title track for Brown’s three-song EP, which also includes the music legend’s early recordings with bassists Phelps “Catfish” Collins and P-Funk hero “Bootsy” Collins.
The recording session for “We Got To Change” took place on August 16, 1970, at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. The song also features contributions from famed “Funky Drummer” Clyde Stubblefield and singer Bobby Byrd, two of Brown’s most dependable collaborators.
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James Brown The cover art for “We Got To Change” features one of Brown’s early backing bands, The J.B.’s, who would collaborate with him for a decade. In 2019, Republic published Brown’s concert CD Live at Home with His Bad Self, which was recorded on October 1, 1969 at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia.
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Despite his death in 2006, James Brown’s impact remains significant. A&E will air James Brown: Say It Loud, a four-part documentary directed by Deborah Riley-Draper, on February 19 and 20, only days after the release of We Got To Change. Say It Loud, which is executive produced by Mick Jagger, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter, Shawn Gee, and others, will explore Brown’s diverse life and career, as well as his impact on music and culture.
Brown was inducted into the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame in 2023 as part of the third class. In addition to Brown, other recipients included The Deele, L.A. Reid and Babyface, Louise Shropshire, and Philippé Wynne. That year, the pioneer also received flowers from Snoop Dogg, who claims he was given the title of “music’s hardest working man” at a meeting with Brown prior to his death.
“James Brown came to see me,” the Death Row Records owner stated in his Audible Original, Words + Music: From the Streets to the Suites. “And the most significant thing James Brown said was, ‘You’re the hardest working man in the business. It’s your responsibility to take it where I couldn’t. “It’s as if he saw it while I was watching myself.”
Pre-order James Brown’s “We Got To Change” here.
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