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Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" is a song recorded by James Brown with Bobby Byrd on backing vocals. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (Part 1)"

"Get Up I Feel Like Being Like a Sex Machine (Part 2)"

July 1970 (1970-07)

April 25, 1970, Starday-King Studios, Nashville, TN

Funk[1]

2:49 (Single part 1)
2:33 (Single part 2)
5:15 (Complete original version)
10:48 (Album version)

James Brown

In 2004, "Sex Machine" was ranked number 326 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.[3] In the 2021 update of the list it had risen to 196.[4]


In 2014, the 1970 recording of "Get Up - I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine" by James Brown on the King Records label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5]

James Brown – lead vocal, piano

with The J.B.'s:

"Sex Machine Part I"

"Sex Machine Part II"

1975 (1975)

  • 5:45 (Part I)
  • 5:09 (Part II)

Polydor 14270

One was made in 1970 for his ostensibly all-live . It is over 10 minutes long and includes added reverb and overdubbed audience noise intended to conceal its studio origins. (A version of this recording without overdubs appears on the 1996 compilation Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang.)

Sex Machine album

Another, which was released in 1975, features a new instrumental arrangement and lyrics aimed at audiences. Nearly 12 minutes long, it was released as a two-part single and appeared on the album Sex Machine Today. Though it was poorly reviewed — Robert Christgau wrote that "if you own another version of 'Sex Machine' you own a better one"[15] — it charted no. 16 on the R&B charts.

disco

In 1993, Brown sang another version that was released in collaboration with his sponsorship of Nissin's Miso Soup.

[16]

Brown would go on to re-record "Sex Machine" several times in addition to the original single version:


"Sex Machine" remained a staple of Brown's concert repertoire until the end of his career. Live performances of the song appear on the albums Revolution of the Mind: Live at the Apollo, Volume III (1971), Hot on the One (1980), Live in New York (1981), Love, Power, Peace: Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971 (1992), and Live at the Apollo 1995.