Gettin' Down to It
1969 studio album by James Brown
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Gettin' Down to It is the 24th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in May 1969, by King Records.[5][3]
ReleasedMay 1969
StudioKing Studios (Cincinnati, Ohio)[1][2]
| Gettin' Down to It | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1969 | |||
| Recorded | December 18, 1968 – March 1969[1][2] | |||
| Studio | King Studios (Cincinnati, Ohio)[1][2] | |||
| Genre | Soul jazz | |||
| Length | 48:35 | |||
| Label | King 1051 | |||
| Producer | James Brown | |||
| James Brown chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
Overview
A pet project of Brown's, the album consists of standards sung in the jazz ballad style of Frank Sinatra, whom Brown greatly admired.[3] In addition, two of Brown's own compositions, "Cold Sweat" and an instrumental version of "There Was a Time", are included, reinterpreted in the same style.
Chart performance
Reception
Robert Christgau has called it "a ballad album that could scare the shades off Ray Charles".[7]
Al Campbell on AllMusic wrote "Although laid-back could be applied to the album's overall tone, these 12 tracks are by no means 'mellow'."[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sunny" (Marva Whitney, vocals) | Bobby Hebb | 3:17 |
| 2. | "That's Life" | Kelly Gordon, Dean Kay | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Strangers in the Night" | Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder | 3:26 |
| 4. | "Willow Weep for Me" | Ann Ronell | 4:39 |
| 5. | "Cold Sweat" | James Brown, Alfred Ellis | 5:02 |
| 6. | "There Was a Time" (Kenny Poole and Lee Garrett, guitar) | James Brown, Bud Hobgood | 2:58 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chicago" | Fred Fisher | 2:51 |
| 2. | "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" | William Best, Deek Watson | 7:40 |
| 3. | "Time After Time" | Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | 4:48 |
| 4. | "All the Way" | Sammy Cahn | 3:40 |
| 5. | "It Had to Be You" | Isham Jones, Gus Kahn | 2:42 |
| 6. | "Uncle" (Kenny Poole, guitar) | Frank Vincent | 2:35 |
Personnel
Charts
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top LPs[6] | 99 |
