"Lost Someone" is a song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 recorded 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...

 in 1961. Like "Please, Please, Please

Please, Please, Please

"Please, Please, Please" is an R&B song written by James Brown and Johnny Terry and recorded by Brown and The Flames. Released in 1956 as a single on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, it was Brown's first professional recording and his first hit, eventually selling over a million...

" before it, the song's lyrics combine a lament for lost love with a plea for forgiveness. In the US, the 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...

 was a #2 R&B hit and reached #48 on the pop chart. Although the single is credited to "James Brown & The Famous Flames

The Famous Flames

The Famous Flames was an R&B vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd that recorded and performed with James Brown during the early years of his career...

", The Famous Flames do not actually sing on the recording. However, two members of the Flames, Bobby Byrd

Bobby Byrd

Bobby Byrd born Robert Howard Byrd was an American funk/soul/R&B/gospel musician, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia, and is a 1998 winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award...

 and Lloyd Stallworth, co-wrote the tune with Brown, and Byrd plays organ

Electric organ

In biology, the electric organ is an organ common to all electric fish used for the purposes of creating an electric field. The electric organ is derived from modified nerve or muscle tissue...

 on the recording.

According to Brown, "Lost Someone" is based on the chord changes

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...

 of the Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...

 song "It's Only Make Believe

It's Only Make Believe

"It's Only Make Believe" is the title of a song written by Jack Nance and American country music artist Conway Twitty, released by Twitty as a single in July 1958. The single topped both U.S...

".

Personnel

• James Brown - lead vocal

with the James Brown Band:

• Roscoe Patrick - trumpet
• J.C. Davis - tenor saxophone
• Bobby Byrd
  Bobby Byrd
  Bobby Byrd born Robert Howard Byrd was an American funk/soul/R&B/gospel musician, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Toccoa, Georgia, and is a 1998 winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's prestigious Pioneer Award...
  
   - organ
• Les Buie - guitar
• Hubert Parry - bass
• Nat Kendrick - drums
• Other instruments unknown

Live version

A performance of "Lost Someone" is the centerpiece of Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo. Nearly 11 minutes long and spanning two tracks on the original LP release (the end of Side 1 and the beginning of Side 2), it is widely regarded as the album's high point and as one of the greatest performances in its idiom on record. Critic Peter Guralnick

Peter Guralnick

Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...

 wrote of the recording:

Here, in a single, multilayered track ... you have embodied the whole history of soul music, the teaching, the preaching, the endless assortment of gospel effects, above all the groove that was at the music's core. "Don't go to strangers," James pleads in his abrasively vulnerable fashion. "Come on home to me.... Gee whiz I love you.... I'm so weak...." Over and over he repeats the simple phrases, insists "I'll love you tomorrow" until the music is rocking with a steady pulse, until the music grabs you in the pit of the stomach and James knows he's got you. Then he works the audience as he works the song, teasing, tantalizing, drawing closer, dancing away, until finally at the end of Side I that voice breaks through the crowd noise and dissipates the tension as it calls out, "James, you're an asshole." "I believe someone out there loves someone," declares James with cruel disingenuousness. "Yeah, you," replies a girl's voice with unabashed fervor. "I feel so good I want to scream," says James, testing the limits yet again. "Scream!" cries a voice. And the record listener responds, too, we are drawn in by the same tricks, so transparent in the daylight but put across with the same unabashed fervor with which the girl in the audience offers up her love.

An edited version of the live performance was released as a single in 1966.

Personnel

• James Brown - lead vocal

with the James Brown Band:

• Lewis Hamlin - music director, principal trumpet
• Roscoe Patrick - trumpet
• Teddy Washington - trumpet
• Dickie Wells - trombone
• William "Po' Devil" Burgess - alto saxophone
• St. Clair Pinckney
  St. Clair Pinckney
  St. 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:*...
  
   - principal tenor saxophone
• Al "Briscoe" Clark - tenor and baritone saxophones
• Les Buie - guitar
• Bobby Byrd - organ
• Hubert Parry - bass
• Clayton Fillyau - principal drums
• Probably George Sims - drums

Other versions

Brown made several other recordings of "Lost Someone", including:

• A version of "Lost Someone" with strings
  String section
  The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
  
   for his 1963 album Prisoner of Love
• A studio version similar to the 1962 Apollo performance on 1972's Get On The Good Foot
  Get on the Good Foot (album)
  Get On the Good Foot is a double album by James Brown released in 1972.- Track listing :-Credits:* Tracks 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 13 produced and arranged by James Brown* Tracks 3 and 8 produced by James Brown, arranged by Sammy Lowe...
  
  
• An uptempo version on 1974's Hell

Covers

Cat Power

Cat Power

Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 recorded a cover version

Cover 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...

 of "Lost Someone" for her 2008 album Jukebox

Jukebox (Cat Power album)

Jukebox is the eighth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known by her stage name, Cat Power. It was released on January 22, 2008 on Matador Records...

.