“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

September 16, 2022 • 1:45 pm

Don’t expect many meaty posts until I’m over this bout of insomnia which, I hope, will be soon. Try writing on 3 hours of sleep! But I do my best.

There are many great songs by James Brown, nicknamed “The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business,” and that name isn’t far from the truth. This is my favorite of his records:  “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”.  It was written by Brown and Jean Newsome, recorded and released in 1966, and went to #1 on the U.S. R&B singles chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Yes, it can be seen as a bit sexist, but that’s leavened by his nod to “women and girls”.  Regardless, it’s a great song with smoking vocals. I’ll first put up a live performance by Brown in Paris in the year of release. Notice the sweat streaming down his face: he was working hard. But you really want to see the sweat, and the source of his nickname, go here.

You can hear the original and see the official video, which is quite unusual, here.  But I put up the live version just so I could put up the performance below, suggested for me on YouTube. It’s Brown and, of all people, Luciano Pavarotti, collaborating on the song. I thought it would be dreadful, but—guess what?—it’s pretty good.

By this time Pavarotti had become too obese to stand, and is sitting on a disguised stool, but he hadn’t lost a lick in his voice. He sings in a classical style, and in Italian, so I have no idea if the words are part of Brown’s song. For some reason the two styles complement each other well, and it’s clear that the men respect each other. What a combination! Watch to the end for some lagniappe.

14 thoughts on ““It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World””

  3. I was in Saudi Arabia at the end of the first Gulf War. When the fighting ended at the end of February, 1991, I wrote to friends and family, “The war is over, and I feel better than James Brown.” The man truly had an impact on humanity.

  4. James Brown was The Best. Check out Weird Al’s parody of him in his video “Living with a Hernia”. I cant imagine readers of this list arent familiar with Weird Al’s work..but if you are benighted in that respect, just google all his videos.Like a Surgeon. White and Nerdy (one of the best). Dare To Be Stupid. Eat It. Fat. Brilliant lyrics and absolutely stupendous musical performance. And of course all of his Polka videos! Just panting to see Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al in the upcoming biopic.

    2. When it comes to impression rather than parody, I think the best ever done was by Eddie Murphy did on SNL:

  5. Yes – a great song made even better by Brown’s superb delivery, it has been a favourite since I first heard it, eons ago.

    One small disagreement: ‘leavened’ is far too weak a word to describe the effect of both the words and Brown’s hyper-intense delivery of ‘but it wouldn’t mean nothing, nothing without a woman or girl.’ So powerful is the affect generated here, that I interpret the song title as ironic, and the preceding factual list of man’s achievements as a statement of value is completely undermined.

  7. Deep trivia that you would never guess if you didn’t already know it: James Brown & Co delivered the poppin’ fingers on the Stanley Bros version of Finger Poppin’ Time, since they both happened to be in the King Studios at the same time.

    Given what the Stanleys generally recorded, it’s probably comes as a surprise that they ever recorded this one to begin with.

  10. Here’s James Brown in his prime doing a medley “It’s A Man’s World” & “Please Please Please” on The Ed Sullivan Show:

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