James Brown – Cold Sweat - Pt. 1 Lyrics

from Wikipedia:

“Cold Sweat” is a song performed by James Brown and written by his bandleader Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of “Cold Sweat” released as a two-part single on King Records was a #1 R&B hit, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles chart. A complete version of the song, over 7 minutes long, was included on the album Cold Sweat.

In the song’s lyrics Brown protests that he doesn’t care about his woman’s past or faults, and testifies that with even her slightest display of affection toward him “I break out in a cold sweat.”

Pee Wee spoke about the construction of the song with Down Beat magazine:

After one of the shows, one night somewhere, James called me into the dressing room and grunted a bass line of a rhythmic thing, which turned out to be “Cold Sweat.” I was very much influenced by Miles Davis and had been listening to “So What” six or seven years earlier and that crept into the making of “Cold Sweat.” You could call it subliminal, but the horn line is based on Miles Davis' “So What.” I wrote that on the bus between New York and Cincinnati. The next day we pulled up in front of King Records studio, got off the bus, got in the studio, set up, and I went over the rhythm with the band. By the time we got the groove going, James showed up, added a few touches —changed the guitar part, which made it real funky— had the drummer do something different. He was a genius at it. Between the two of us, we put it together one afternoon. He put the lyrics on it. The band set up in a semicircle in the studio with one microphone. It was recorded live in the studio. One take. It was like a performance. We didn’t do overdubbing.

“Cold Sweat” has only one definite chord change, a move to the subtonic at the bridge. As in the earlier songs, all the band’s instruments (horns, guitars, etc.) are used percussively in “Cold Sweat”, and overwhelming emphasis is put on the first beat of each measure (“on the one”). The main drum part is a two-bar pattern with a snare hit on the two and four beats (a standard 4/4 rock pattern) with a simple variation: the four beat hit in the first measure is delayed by one eighth note. This snare pattern contributed greatly to the funky feel of the arrangement. It was copied, often with embellishments, in later James Brown songs and numerous songs by other musical artists.

Credits:
– James Brown — lead vocal
– Waymond Reed — trumpet
– Joe Dupars — trumpet
– Levi Rasbury — trombone
– Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis — alto saxophone
– Maceo Parker — tenor saxophone
– Eldee Williams — tenor saxophone
– St. Clair Pinckney — baritone saxophone
– Jimmy Nolen — guitar
– Alphonso “Country” Kellum — guitar
– Bernard Odum — bass
– Clyde Stubblefield — drums