Cold Sweat
Encyclopedia
"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown
and written by his bandleader
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967
. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single
on King Records
was a #1 R&B hit
, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles
chart. A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album
Cold Sweat.
In the song's lyrics Brown protests that he doesn't care about his woman's past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him "I break out in a cold sweat."
magazine, Ellis described the circumstances of the song's creation:
" (1964
) and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
" (1965
), "Cold Sweat" was a watershed event in the evolution of funk
music. While those songs were both based on a conventional twelve bar blues
chord progression
, "Cold Sweat" has only one definite chord
change, a move to the subtonic
at the bridge
. As in the earlier songs, all the band's instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively
in "Cold Sweat", and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of each measure ("on the one"). The main drum part is a two-bar pattern with a snare hit on the two and four beats (a standard 4/4 rock pattern) with a simple variation: the four beat hit in the first measure is delayed by one eighth note. This snare pattern contributed greatly to the funky feel of the arrangement. It was copied, often with embellishments, in later James Brown songs and numerous songs by other musical artists.
"Cold Sweat" is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo
("give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield
, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music. It also features a saxophone
solo
by Maceo Parker
.
recalled that "'Cold Sweat' deeply affected the musicians I knew. It just freaked them out. No one could get a handle on what to do next." Cliff White described it as "divorced from other forms of popular music." Some musicians criticized it as simplistic. Fred Wesley
recalled that before he joined Brown's band he "was very unimpressed with ['Cold Sweat']. . . It only had one change, the words made no sense at all, and the bridge was musically incorrect." Critic Dave Marsh
, while acknowledging the song as pivotal, has argued that "the post-'Cold Sweat' de-emphasis of melody" was partly responsible for a "decline in the number of genuinely memorable songs" in the years since its release.
Brown would continue to develop the rhythmically intense, harmonically static template pioneered on "Cold Sweat" in later recordings such as "I Got the Feelin'
", "Mother Popcorn
", "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine
", and "Super Bad
".
Like many of Brown's funk hits, "Cold Sweat" has been extensively sampled by hip hop
DJs
and producers
.
by various bands and musicians, notably by Mongo Santamaría
in 1968
. Brown himself recorded a jazz
-inflected version of "Cold Sweat" with the Dee Felice Trio for his 1969 album Gettin' Down to It.
with the James Brown Orchestra:
Produced by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and written by his bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967
1967 in music
The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...
. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on King Records
King Records (USA)
King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...
was a #1 R&B hit
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Cold Sweat.
In the song's lyrics Brown protests that he doesn't care about his woman's past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him "I break out in a cold sweat."
Creation
In an interview with Down BeatDown Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine, Ellis described the circumstances of the song's creation:
| After one of the shows, one night somewhere, James called me into the dressing room and grunted a bass line of a rhythmic thing (demonstrates), which turned out to be "Cold Sweat." I was very much influenced by Miles Davis Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,... and had been listening to "So What So What (composition) "So What" is the first track on the 1959 Miles Davis album Kind of Blue.-History:"So What" is one of the best known examples of modal jazz, set in the Dorian mode and consisting of 16 bars of D Dorian, followed by eight bars of E Dorian and another eight of D Dorian... " six or seven years earlier and that crept into the making of "Cold Sweat." You could call it subliminal, but the horn line is based on Miles Davis' "So What." I wrote that on the bus between New York and Cincinnati. The next day we pulled up in front of King Records studio, got off the bus, got in the studio, set up, and I went over the rhythm with the band. By the time we got the groove going, James showed up, added a few touches—changed the guitar part, which made it real funky—had the drummer do something different. He was a genius at it. Between the two of us, we put it together one afternoon. He put the lyrics on it. The band set up in a semicircle in the studio with one microphone. It was recorded live in the studio. One take. It was like a performance. We didn't do overdubbing Overdubbing Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance.... . |
Characteristics
Like "Out of SightOut of Sight (song)
"Out of Sight" is an Rhythm and blues song recorded by James Brown in 1964. A twelve-bar blues written by Brown under the pseudonym "Ted Wright", the stuttering, staccato dance rhythms and blasting horn section riffs of its instrumental arrangement were an important evolutionary step in the...
" (1964
1964 in music
-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
) and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" is a song written and recorded by James Brown. It was released as a two-part single in 1965, and is considered seminal in the musical genre of funk.-The hit single:...
" (1965
1965 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is sold to CBS for $13 million.*January 12 – Hullabaloo premieres on NBC. The first show included performances by The New Christy Minstrels, comedian Woody Allen, actress Joey Heatherton and a segment from London in which Brian Epstein...
), "Cold Sweat" was a watershed event in the evolution of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music. While those songs were both based on a conventional twelve bar blues
Twelve bar blues
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics and phrase and chord structure and duration...
chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
, "Cold Sweat" has only one definite chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
change, a move to the subtonic
Subtonic
In music, the subtonic or flattened seventh is the lowered or minor seventh degree of the scale, a whole step below the tonic, as opposed to the leading tone...
at the bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
. As in the earlier songs, all the band's instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
in "Cold Sweat", and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of each measure ("on the one"). The main drum part is a two-bar pattern with a snare hit on the two and four beats (a standard 4/4 rock pattern) with a simple variation: the four beat hit in the first measure is delayed by one eighth note. This snare pattern contributed greatly to the funky feel of the arrangement. It was copied, often with embellishments, in later James Brown songs and numerous songs by other musical artists.
"Cold Sweat" is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo
Drum solo
A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance....
("give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield
Clyde Stubblefield
Clyde Stubblefield is a drummer best known for his work with James Brown.Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was A Time", "I Got The Feelin'", "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm...
, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music. It also features a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
by Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...
.
Impact
Sometimes cited as the first true funk song, "Cold Sweat" was recognized as a radical departure from pop music conventions at the time of its release. Jerry WexlerJerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
recalled that "'Cold Sweat' deeply affected the musicians I knew. It just freaked them out. No one could get a handle on what to do next." Cliff White described it as "divorced from other forms of popular music." Some musicians criticized it as simplistic. Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
recalled that before he joined Brown's band he "was very unimpressed with ['Cold Sweat']. . . It only had one change, the words made no sense at all, and the bridge was musically incorrect." Critic Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
, while acknowledging the song as pivotal, has argued that "the post-'Cold Sweat' de-emphasis of melody" was partly responsible for a "decline in the number of genuinely memorable songs" in the years since its release.
Brown would continue to develop the rhythmically intense, harmonically static template pioneered on "Cold Sweat" in later recordings such as "I Got the Feelin'
I Got the Feelin'
"I Got the Feelin" is a funk song by James Brown. Released as a single in 1968, it reached #1 on the R&B charts and #6 on the pop charts. It also appeared on a 1968 album of the same name....
", "Mother Popcorn
Mother Popcorn
"Mother Popcorn ", is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit,. It was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance The Popcorn which Brown made that year...
", "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine
Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine
"Get Up Sex Machine" is a funk song recorded by James Brown in 1970 and released as a two-part single on King Records....
", and "Super Bad
Super Bad (song)
"Super Bad" is a 1970 James Brown song. Originally released as a three-part single, it went to number one on the soul singles chart and number 13 on the Hot 100....
".
Like many of Brown's funk hits, "Cold Sweat" has been extensively sampled by hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and producers
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Other versions
"Cold Sweat" has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by various bands and musicians, notably by Mongo Santamaría
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
in 1968
1968 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding.*January 6 – Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design....
. Brown himself recorded a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-inflected version of "Cold Sweat" with the Dee Felice Trio for his 1969 album Gettin' Down to It.
Personnel
- James Brown - lead vocal
with the James Brown Orchestra:
- Waymond Reed - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Joe Dupars - trumpet
- Levi Rasbury - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis - alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
- Maceo Parker - tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Eldee Williams - tenor saxophone
- St. Clair PinckneySt. Clair PinckneySt. Clair Pinckney was a saxophonist who performed with James Brown as a member of the James Brown Orchestra and The J.B.'s. He played tenor and baritone saxophone.-External links:*...
- baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece... - Jimmy NolenJimmy NolenJimmy Nolen was an American guitarist, known for his distinctive "chicken scratch" lead guitar playing in James Brown's bands.-Early life and career:...
- guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Alphonso "Country" Kellum - guitar
- Bernard OdumBernard OdumBernard Odum was an US bass guitar player best known for performing in James Brown's band in the 1960s.Odum started playing with Brown in 1956 and became a full-time member of Brown's band in 1958...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Clyde StubblefieldClyde StubblefieldClyde Stubblefield is a drummer best known for his work with James Brown.Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was A Time", "I Got The Feelin'", "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Produced by James Brown
Chart positions
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B | 1 |
External links
- List of songs that sample "Cold Sweat"
- [ "Cold Sweat" song review from allmusic.com]