The Grammy Museum hosted a special evening on the life, music and impact of the late James Brown on Monday, February 12. The night included exclusive clips from A&E’s upcoming documentary James Brown: Say It Loud and an early listening of a never-before-released James Brown single, “We Got To Change.”
The public program remembered a cultural icon this Black History Month touching on various aspects of how the “Godfather of Soul” James Brown influenced not just musicians, but everyone in the world. The night was led by a panel moderated by Billboard’s Executive Director of R&B/Hip-Hop Gail Mitchell in conversation with award-winning filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper, five-time Grammy-award winner Jimmy Jam, and General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Universal Music Group Jeffrey Harleston. The panel followed a layout of a back-and-forth between exclusive clips from the James Brown: Say It Loud documentary and a Q&A with the panel.
The panel briefly discussed the thematic question within the upcoming A&E documentary, “Is he the most important black man in America?” Draper stated that she found the question on the cover of a 1969 Look Magazine. Draper also mentioned that at the end of her research, she did come up with an answer, but pushed the audience to watch the documentary for themselves. Jimmy Jam spoke on how various generations have been impacted by James Brown’s music including a superstar such as Prince who reminded him of Brown, not a perfectionist but an artist who believed and pushed everyone in the band to be their best. Jeffrey Harleston spoke on the Boston live and televised performance of “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Harleston touched on the social importance the show had following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and mentioned how James Brown made sure his band and himself were paid. Every panelist emphasized how important James Brown was, how he encouraged everyone to be their authentic selves but also to take pride in being black.
The anticipated James Brown: Say It Loud documentary will premiere on A&E on Monday, February 19 followed by a second part premiere on Tuesday, February 20. Draper served as a director and co-writer on the four-part series. Legendary artist Mick Jagger serves as executive producer alongside Academy Award-winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The docu-series examines the legacy of James Brown through never-before-seen footage, his music catalog, and exclusive interviews with artists such as Chuck D, LL Cool J, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. According to Director Draper, some of the footage within the documentary dates back to 1928, shot on 16mm by one of the first African American filmmakers Zora Neale Hurston. The rare footage consists of Buck dancing, a dance that originated among African Americans during the era of slavery.
Just before opening the Q&A portion to audience members, Harry Weinger Vice President of A&R for Universal Music Enterprises hopped on stage to introduce the never-before-released James Brown single, “We Got To Change.” Weinger explained that the song was recorded in August of 1970 in Miami, Florida. It was discovered on a reel that contains other tunes that did not come out at the time. Weinger stated “that on the tape box, the name of this song is ‘In The Jungle Groove.'” Weinger, alongside his colleague Maxwell Dartey, discovered the unreleased track, the single was renamed “We Got To Change” as Brown did not sing the words “In The Jungle Groove.”
“We felt this song was perfect for this year in our country. And we thought it would make a powerful statement and align with things he says and of what we have explored in the documentary,” said Weinger. The single features Bootsy Collins and Clyde Stubblefield. “We Got To Change” is a free-flowing funky beat that spans nearly four minutes long.
The new James Brown single “We Got To Change” will be digitally released on Friday, February 16 on all platforms. Pre-save the new single here. Watch the trailer for James Brown: Say It Loud and listen to a snippet of the new single “We Got To Change” below.
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