As befits someone who was larger than life, James Brown took on a series of grandiose nicknames during his majestic career. “The Godfather of Soul” and “The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business” are two that spring immediately to mind.
But one lesser-known sobriquet attached to Brown was the “Minister of New Super Heavy Funk.” His landmark 1965 single “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” locked down that title for him then and forever.
Capturing the Live Energy
Even before he hit his mainstream stride, James Brown was already minting huge hits in the R&B world. And he was already causing a ruckus aside from his music as he battled for rights as an artist that he thought were being denied him.
Brown’s early 60s successes, while notable, came mostly via ballads that were structured like many other gospel/soul hybrids. Those who saw him perform live, however, with a scorching band behind him, heard an incendiary talent that wasn’t quite captured by the studio singles he was releasing.
Brown’s 1963 concert album Live At The Apollo, his biggest crossover success to that point, helped rectify that. But his recording career stalled a year later when he got into a scrap with his label, King Records. They put out an injunction preventing him from doing new studio songs. When the two sides settled a year later, Brown hustled to the studio. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” was the first song he recorded.
A “Bag” of Greatness
Brown’s song built on some of the rhythmic advances he had already pioneered in the 1964 song “Out Of Sight”. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” didn’t glide along smoothly like the Motown hits that dominated the world of rhythm and blues at the time. It stuttered, jabbed, and stabbed, the horns dropping in peppery phrases in the spaces left open by the stinging guitar and the burbling bass.
Most innovative of all was the way that the song emphasized the first beat in each measure, a major change from most popular music at the time. This was the style that would characterize funk, a genre that wouldn’t hit its heyday until many years later.
Audiences might not have known exactly what they were hearing with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”, which Brown also wrote and produced. But they knew that they loved it. For the first time ever, this one-of-a-kind performer hit the Top 10 on the pop charts.
Behind the Lyrics of “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”
Although improvised mostly on the spot, the lyrics to “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” actually tell a story that’s germane to what was going on with the song’s music. On the surface, it’s about a member of the older generation who’s willing to keep up with all the new dance crazes. “He ain’t too hip,” Brown explains of the man. “About that new breed thing.”
And yet, we found out that this elder statesman is out there trying every new dance in the book. “He’s not too fancy,” Brown admits. “But his line is pretty clean.”
When Brown sang the refrain (“He ain’t no drag/Papa’s got a brand new bag”), it’s easy to imagine he was sending a none-too-subtle message. This established artist was changing the game on the fly, daring everyone to play some catch-up.
(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
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