Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" is a song recorded by James Brown with Bobby Byrd on backing vocals. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

In 2004, "Sex Machine" was ranked number 326 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Analysis

"Sex Machine" was one of the first songs Brown recorded with his new band, The J.B.'s. In comparison with Brown's 1960s solo funk hits such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", the band's inexperienced horn section plays a relatively minor part. Instead, the song centers on the insistent riff played by brothers Bootsy and Catfish Collins on bass and guitar and Jabo Starks on drums, along with the call and response interplay between Brown and Byrd's vocals, which consist mostly of exhortations to "get up / stay on the scene / like a sex machine". During the song's final vocal passages Brown and Byrd started to sing the main hook of Elmore James' blues classic "Shake Your Moneymaker."

The original single version of "Sex Machine" — recorded, like many of Brown's hits, in just two takes^[3] — begins with a spoken dialogue between Brown and his band which was recreated with minor variations in live performances:

Fellas, I'm ready to get up and do my thing! (Yeah! That's right! Do it!) I want to get into it, man, you know? (Go ahead! Yeah!) Like a, like a sex machine, man, (Yeah!) movin', doin' it, y'know? (Yeah!) Can I count it off? (Okay! Alright!) One, two, three, four!

Personnel

James Brown – lead vocal, piano

with The JB's:

Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells – trumpet
Darryl "Hassan" Jamison – trumpet
Robert McCollough – tenor saxophone
Bobby Byrd – organ, vocal
Phelps "Catfish" Collins – guitar
William "Bootsy" Collins – bass
John "Jabo" Starks – drums^[4]

Chart positions

Chart (1970)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[5]	4
Germany (Official German Charts)^[6]	29
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[7]	8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[8]	7
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[9]	32
US Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles^[2]	2
US Billboard Hot 100^[2]	15
US Cash Box^[10]	17
US Cash Box R&B	1
US Record World^[11]	17

Other recordings

"Sex Machine Part I"

Single by James Brown

from the album Sex Machine Today

B-side

"Sex Machine Part II"

Released

1975

Format

Genre

Length

5:45 (Part I)
5:09 (Part II)

Label

Polydor 14270

James Brown charting singles chronology

"Reality"
(1975)

"Sex Machine Part I"
(1975)

"Hustle!!! (Dead on It)"
(1975)

Brown made two other studio recordings of "Sex Machine" in addition to the original single version. One was made in 1970 for his ostensibly all-live Sex Machine album. It is over 10 minutes long and includes added reverb and overdubbed audience noise intended to conceal its studio origins. (A version of this recording without overdubs appears on the 1996 compilation Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang.) The other, which was released in 1975, features a new instrumental arrangement and lyrics aimed at disco audiences. Nearly 12 minutes long, it was released as a two-part single and appeared on the album Sex Machine Today. Though it was poorly reviewed — Robert Christgau wrote that "if you own another version of 'Sex Machine' you own a better one"^[12] — it charted #16 R&B.

"Sex Machine" remained a staple of Brown's concert repertoire until the end of his career. Live performances of the song appear on the albums Revolution of the Mind: Recorded Live at the Apollo, Vol. III (1971), Hot on the One (1980), Live in New York (1981), Love Power Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971 (1992), and Live at the Apollo 1995.

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100^[2]	61
US Billboard Hot Soul Singles^[2]	16

Chart (1985)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[13]	47

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[5]	34
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[13]	46

Chart (1991)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[13]	69

Cover versions

The Flying Lizards recorded a cover of "Sex Machine" in 1984, which appeared on their album Top Ten.
In 1986 the Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono and his band F.O.E. recorded vocal and instrumental cover versions of "Sex Machine" for the album F.O.E. #1: Sex, Energy and Star. The instrumental version featured a guest solo by Brown's longtime saxophonist Maceo Parker.^[14]
Another 1986 cover was performed by Rap group The Fat Boys for the album Big & Beautiful.^[15]
The Australian band New Waver recorded a parody of the song under the title "Gene Machine" for their 1994 album Aspects of Loserdom.
German comedian and jazz musician Helge Schneider recorded a comedic version of the song for his 1995 album Es rappelt im Karton. It was also released as a single with an accompanying video that features Schneider walking around a metro station making faces.
R&B singer Mýa recorded the single for the 2001 Legally Blonde soundtrack.
The rock band Widespread Panic covered the song on their 2004 live album Jackassolantern.

Sampling

La Toya Jackson's 1991 single "Sexbox" sampled a portion of the lyrics. Sy Smith and her back-up singer LeJon Walker sampled the song during their performance of "Think (About It)", which is featured on her DVD Sy Smith Live: Worship at the Temple.

Appearances in other media

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" has appeared in a number of feature films, including City of God, Twisted, Legally Blonde, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Friday and The Tuxedo (in which it is performed by Jackie Chan). It has also been used in an episode of the television sitcom Scrubs and in commercials for the Renault Clio and Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto. The song was featured in the BMW direct-to-video commercial Beat the Devil starring James Brown as himself, as well as on a Pontiac commercial.
The song figures prominently in the 2003 Japanese film Get Up!, a comedy about a James Brown-obsessed yakuza gangster. The film's title (which transliterates into Japanese as Geroppa!) is taken from the song's lyrics.
British satirical puppet show Spitting Image ended an episode with an opera-style cover of the song, starring Luciano Pavarotti.
The song is alluded to in "The Crunge" by Led Zeppelin.
Part 1 of "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" is available as downloadable content for both the Rock Band and Dance Central series of video games.
The song also inspired the title of the 2014 James Brown biographical film Get On Up, starring Chadwick Boseman as the singer.

References

↑ "R&B » Soul » Funk". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
1 2 3 4 5 "James Brown – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
↑ Smith, R.J. (2012). The One: The Life and Music of James Brown. Gotham Books. p. 241.
↑ Leeds, Alan; Weinger, Harry (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". Star Time (CD booklet). New York: PolyGram Records. pp. 46–53.
1 2 "Ultratop.be – James Brown – Sex Machine" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – James Brown – Sex Machine". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – James Brown - Sex Machine search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – James Brown – Sex Machine" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
↑ "Archive Chart: 1970-10-31" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending AUGUST 15, 1970 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 22, 2012). Cash Box magazine. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
↑ RECORD WORLD 1970 at the Wayback Machine (archived May 22, 2004). Record World. Geocities.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
↑ Christgau, Robert. "James Brown". Retrieved June 12, 2014.
1 2 3 "James Brown: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
↑ "Haruomi Hosono". Discog.info. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
↑ "Fat Boys – Big & Beautiful". Discogs. Retrieved June 12, 2014.

External links

James Brown singles

Billboard charting singles (R&B and Pop)

1950s

1956	"Please, Please, Please"

1958	"Try Me"

1959	"I Want You So Bad"

1960s

1960	"I'll Go Crazy" "Think" "You've Got the Power" "This Old Heart" "The Bells"

1961	"Bewildered" "I Don't Mind" "Baby, You're Right" "Just You and Me, Darling" "Lost Someone"

1962	"Night Train" "Shout and Shimmy" "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." "Three Hearts in a Tangle" "I've Got Money"

1963	"Like a Baby" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Prisoner of Love" "These Foolish Things" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"

1964	"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" "Please, Please, Please" "Caldonia" "The Things That I Used to Do" "Out of Sight" "Have Mercy Baby"

1965	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" "Try Me" "I Got You (I Feel Good)"

1966	"Lost Someone" "I'll Go Crazy" "Ain't That a Groove" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" "Money Won't Change You" "Don't Be a Drop-Out" "Sweet Little Baby Boy"

1967	"Bring It Up" "Kansas City" "Think" "Let Yourself Go" "Cold Sweat" "Get It Together" "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" "There Was a Time"

1968	"You've Got to Change Your Mind" "I Got the Feelin'" "Licking Stick – Licking Stick" "America Is My Home" "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" "Goodbye My Love" "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"

1969	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" "Soul Pride" "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" "The Popcorn" "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" "Lowdown Popcorn" "World" "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" "Ain't It Funky Now"

1970s

1970	"It's a New Day" "Funky Drummer" "Brother Rapp" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Super Bad" "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here to Stay" "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved"

1971	"Spinning Wheel" "Soul Power" "I Cried" "Escape-ism" "Hot Pants" "Make It Funky" "I'm a Greedy Man"

1972	"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" "King Heroin" "There It Is" "Honky Tonk" "Get on the Good Foot" "I Got a Bag of My Own" "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"

1973	"I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" "Down and Out in New York City" "Think" "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" "Stoned to the Bone"

1974	"The Payback" "My Thang" "Papa Don't Take No Mess" "Funky President (People It's Bad)" "Coldblooded"

1975	"Reality" "Sex Machine" "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" "Superbad, Superslick" "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)"

1976	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" "Get Up Offa That Thing" "I Refuse to Lose" "Bodyheat"

1977	"Kiss in 77" "Give Me Some Skin" "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It"

1978	"Eyesight" "The Spank" "For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes"

1979	"It's Too Funky in Here" "Star Generation"

1980s

1980	"Regrets" "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)"

1981	"Stay with Me"

1983	"The Night Time Is the Right Time (To Be With the One That You Love)"

1984	"Unity"

1985	"Living in America"

1986	"Gravity"

1987	"How Do You Stop"

1988	"I'm Real" "Static"

1989	"Gimme Your Love"

1990s

1991	"(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On"

1993	"Can't Get Any Harder"

UK-only
charting
singles

"Hey America" (1970)
"Bring It On...Bring It On" (1983)
"Froggy Mix" (1985)
"She's the One" (1988)
"The Payback Mix" (1988)
"I Got You (I Feel Good) [James Brown v. Dakeyne]" (1992)
"Funk on Ah Roll" (1999)

Notable
productions

"The Grunt" (1970)
"Gimme Some More" (1971)
"I Know You Got Soul" (1971)
"Pass the Peas" (1972)
"Think (About It)" (1972)
"Doing It to Death" (1973)
"Soul Power 74" (1973)

Other
songs

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