NIMH Ep #757 Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud’: James Brown Speaks Volumes

NIMH Ep #757
Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud’: James Brown Speaks Volumes
‘
Say It Loud (I’m Black And I’m Proud)’ became an R&B smash and an anthem of the Civil Rights era

y 1968, James Brown was not just a vocal megastar and a musical innovator, but a social commentator who had the ear of a generation. In the politically charged atmosphere of the times, the Godfather of Soul was now reaching an audience that few politicians could match, with a credibility and integrity born of his own struggles to break through the inter-racial barriers.

On September 7, his boldest musical message yet, “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1)” became the highest new entry on the pop chart, the Billboard Hot 100, starting as high as No.60. It was proof that he was reaching an audience of all creeds and colors, and the message spread like wildfire: a week later the King Records single was at No.39, and in another five weeks, it was peaking at No.10.

Finding his voice
On the R&B survey, the single became a true anthem, going on to log six weeks at No.1, his seventh record to reach that summit. After a dozen years of being billed as James Brown and the Famous Flames, “Say It Loud” was also the first single to be credited just in his name. He really had found his voice.

There were those black activists who didn’t appreciate Brown’s integration into the American mainstream. Two months before the “Say It Loud” recording, he performed for American soldiers in Vietnam. But the naysayers were outnumbered by those for whom the song became the unofficial anthem of Black Power.

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