‘I’m Shook’: James Brown’s most underrated masterpiece
A ball of energy driven by funk, soul, and copious amounts of cocaine, James Brown was a performer like no other. Behind all the onstage theatrics and endearingly erratic mannerisms, though, he had a profound musical mind responsible for a litany of America’s most iconic rhythms.
In the 1950s, Brown first made an impact as a solo performer, releasing ‘Please, Please, Please’ in 1956 and launching his infectious funk sounds into the heart of the American mainstream. Within a few short years, he cracked the pop charts, in addition to becoming a regular feature of the R&B chart in the US, and the ‘Godfather of Funk’ managed to keep that incredible career going for over 50 years, which is all the more impressive when you remember how physically demanding his stagecraft was.
Within that extensive and overwhelming discography, Brown produced his fair share of forgotten masterpieces and underrated gems. For every ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag’ there is an ‘It’s a New Day’, and for every ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’, there is an ‘I’m Shook’. That latter single, in particular, goes down among Brown’s most woefully underappreciated triumphs, adept in typifying the innate energy of his funk sound, even if the pop charts never caught on.
Originally, ‘I’m Shook’ was included on Brown’s 1969 album It’s a Mother, which is probably best remembered for its namesake single, ‘Mother Popcorn’, which topped the R&B charts and reached number 11 on the pop charts, representing the pinnacle of the ‘popcorn’ era of funk. For all the undeniable quality of that record, its success did overshadow the album’s other stand-out anthem in ‘I’m Shook’.
Reflecting Brown at his absolute best, the track opens with a strong, infectious funk beat coupled with Brown’s signature shouts and yelps. By the standards of the performer, the song is fairly low-key, opting for a somewhat stripped-back beat dominated by a bassline and a few sporadic horns, rather than the grandiose orchestral arrangements of some of his previous work. Nevertheless, the song expertly emanates floor-filling energy throughout its regrettably quick sub-three-minute runtime.
Sure, it might not be as boldly captivating as something like ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’, or as energetic as ‘Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine’, but songs like ‘I’m Shook’ offer an entirely different side to Brown than his popular perception.
The prevailing image of the performer is one of being larger than life, endlessly energetic, and with a seemingly unending supply of cocaine and PCP. Whereas this underrated 1969 effort presents him as what he was, at his core: a songwriting master with a deep-rooted knowledge, respect, and appreciation for the world of funk and R&B.
Particularly for 1969, an era when funk and soul seemed to dominate the pop charts on a regular basis, it seems bizarre that ‘I’m Shook’ was never a hit single. After all, Brown seemed to have a Midas touch back then, with virtually all of his output climbing up the charts. As it turns out, though, ‘I’m Shook’ was doomed for failure before it even hit the airwaves, as the single was pulled prior to its widespread release.
As such, the track was never officially released as a single, although you can still find seven-inch copies knocking about, with an entirely different mix of the song from the album version. The exact reason why the single was pulled by King Records is ultimately unknown, but that decision certainly resurrected ‘I’m Shook’ to become an underappreciated masterpiece within the colossal discography of James Brown.
