Mother Popcorn

"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,. It was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance The Popcorn which Brown made that year. Other entries included "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" and an album of instrumentals, The Popcorn.

"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 a lot of agitated 16th note movement from the horn section and the three guitars) give it a more frenetic quality than the earlier song. Critic Robert Christgau identifies "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." 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:

• Richard "Kush" Griffith - trumpet
• Joe Davis - trumpet
• Fred Wesley - trombone
• Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis - alto saxophone
• Maceo Parker - tenor...... ...
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