Mother Popcorn

1969 single by James Brown

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me) Part 1"

Single by James Brown

from the album It's a Mother

B-side

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me) Part 2"

Released

June 1969 (1969-06)

Recorded

May 13, 1969 (1969-05-13), King Studios, Cincinnati, OH

Genre

Funk

Length

2:55 (Part 1)
3:00 (Part 2)

Label

King
6245

Songwriter(s)

James Brown
Alfred Ellis

Producer(s)

James Brown

James Brown charting singles chronology

"The Popcorn"
(1969)

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me) Part 1"
(1969)

"Lowdown Popcorn"
(1969)

"Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit,^[1]^[2] it was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance the Popcorn which Brown made that year, including "The Popcorn", "Lowdown Popcorn", and "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn". The "mother" of the song's title was, in the words of biographer RJ Smith, "[Brown's] honorific for a big butt".^[3]

"Mother Popcorn" has a beat and structure similar to Brown's 1967 hit "Cold Sweat", but a faster tempo and a greater amount of rhythmic activity (including much agitated 16th note movement from the horn section) give it a more frenetic quality than the earlier song. Critic Robert Christgau singled out "Mother Popcorn" as the turning point in Brown's funk music in which he "began to concern himself more and more exclusively with rhythmic distinctions."^[4] The song features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker, which starts at the end of Part 1 in the single version of the song.

Vicki Anderson recorded the answer song "Answer to Mother Popcorn (I Got a Mother for You)", also in 1969.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

with the James Brown Orchestra:

A James Brown Production^[5]

Live version

Brown performs a live version of "Mother Popcorn" on his album Sex Machine.

"You Got to Have a Mother for Me"

On January 13, 1969 Brown recorded a song at the RCA Studios in Los Angeles, California under the title "You Got to Have a Mother for Me". It had most of the same lyrics as "Mother Popcorn" but a completely different instrumental component, and was rejected for release as a single in favor of the later recording, which retained the earlier song title as a subtitle. The original "You Got to Have a Mother for Me" was first issued on the 1988 James Brown compilation album Motherlode.

Cover versions

Aerosmith covered "Mother Popcorn" during a live set in 1973^[6] that was recorded, and eventually releated on their album Live! Bootleg. It was also covered by Frank Black on the 1998 tribute album James Brown Super Bad @ 65, and by The Blues Brothers in a medley with "Do You Love Me" on Made in America.

Trivia

The lyrics and music from "Mother Popcorn" are briefly quoted in the Prince song "Gett Off".
The lyrics "you got to have a mother for me" are quoted by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in their song "Brenda".

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 84.
^ White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
^ Smith, R.J. (2012). The One: The Life and Music of James Brown, 220. New York: Gotham Books.
^ Christgau, Robert. "A Consumer Guide to James Brown". Retrieved on March 7, 2008.
^ Leeds, Alan M., and Harry Weinger (1991). Star Time: Song by Song. In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
^ "Aerosmith – 'Live! Bootleg' (1978) – Album Review (The Aerosmith Collection Series)". 11 November 2021.

External links

Song Review at Allmusic
"Popcorn Unlimited", an article by Douglas Wolk about James Brown's "Popcorn" records

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"