"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" is a song recorded in 1964 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 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...

. Based upon the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep

Mary Don't You Weep

"Mary Don't You Weep" is a Negro spiritual that originates from before the American Civil War – thus it is what scholars call a "slave song," "a label that describes their origins among the enslaved," and it contains "coded messages of hope and resistance." It is...

", it was 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...

 K5842 and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100

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...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. (At the time of the single's release, Billboard's R&B singles chart had been temporarily suspended). The song was recorded as an extended-length track, and broken up into two parts on the original 7-inch vinyl single release. "Oh Baby, Don't You Weep" was originally issued with dubbed-in audience noise to simulate a live recording and added to the authentic live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 Pure Dynamite: Live At The Royal.

Brown plays the role of the song's narrator, a man comforting a woman devastated by lost love:

"You scream and you holler,

your back is soaking wet,

You know that you still love him

and still you can't forget"

The Famous Flames support Brown's lead vocal with gospel-inspired chants of "Oh baby, don't you weep". During the course of the song, the theme suddenly changes, as Brown sings of famous entertainers he has met in his travels ("I've got a lot of friends in my business"), and then begins to quote titles of songs recorded by them, such as Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...

 ("You Better Stop Dogging Me Around"), Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke

Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...

 and Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...

 ("If You Need Me....Call Me" and "It's Too Late"), Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

 ("You Send Me") Ray Charles

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

 ("Born To Lose") and even Famous Flames member 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...

's solo release ("I Found Out Now").

"Oh Baby Don't You Weep", despite its hit status, has rarely been heard on radio since its original 1964 release. It appeared on LP and CD on the King/Polydor

Polydor Records

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 release Roots of a Revolution

Roots of a Revolution

Roots of a Revolution is the first of several James Brown era overviews released by Polydor Records in the mid-1990s. Expanding on the 1984 double LP compilation of the same name it covers 1956 to 1963, but omits some of Brown's big hits from that time period, which can be found on Star Time.-Track...

in its originally recorded version without the dubbed-in crowd noise, and in the 2007 Hip-O Select release James Brown: The Singles Vol. 2. It has inspired a cover version by Eddie Money

Eddie Money

Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...

.

Personnel

• 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...
  
  : lead vocals and piano
• with 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...
  
  : 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...
  
  , Bobby Bennett, Lloyd Stallworth – backing vocals

• Music by: The James Brown Band