Gettin' Down to It

Gettin' Down to It
Studio album by
James Brown
ReleasedMay 1969
RecordedDecember 1968–March 1969
GenreSoul jazz
Length48:35
LabelKing
ProducerJames Brown
James Brown chronology
Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud
(1969) 		Gettin' Down to It
(1969) 		The Popcorn
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Gettin' Down to It is the 24th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in May 1969, by King Records.[3][1] A pet project of Brown's, the album consists of standards sung in the jazz ballad style of Frank Sinatra, whom Brown greatly admired.[1] In addition, two of Brown's own compositions, "Cold Sweat" and an instrumental version of "There Was a Time", are included, reinterpreted in the same style.

Robert Christgau has called it "a ballad album that could scare the shades off Ray Charles".[4]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sunny" (Marva Whitney, vocals)Bobby Hebb3:17
2."That's Life"Kelly Gordon, Dean Kay4:29
3."Strangers in the Night"Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder3:26
4."Willow Weep for Me"Ann Ronell4:39
5."Cold Sweat"James Brown, Alfred Ellis5:02
6."There Was a Time" (Kenny Poole and Lee Garrett, guitar)James Brown, Bud Hobgood2:58
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chicago"Fred Fisher2:51
2."(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons"William Best, Deek Watson7:40
3."Time After Time"Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne4:48
4."All the Way"Sammy Cahn3:40
5."It Had to Be You"Isham Jones, Gus Kahn2:42
6."Uncle" (Kenny Poole, guitar)Frank Vincent2:35

Personnel

  • James Brown – vocals and producer
  • Dee Felice Trio:
    • Frank Vincent – piano
    • Lee Tucker – bass
    • Dee Felice – drums

References

  1. ^ a b c Al Campbell. "Gettin' Down to It - James Brown". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  2. ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "James Brown". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 109. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ^ "iTunes - Music - Gettin' Down to It by James Brown". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  4. ^ "Album: James Brown: Star Time". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2018-11-11.


Stub icon

This 1960s album–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.