James Brown in the 70s: How He Became the Godfather of Soul

James Brown in the 70s didn't coast on his 60s fame.

He rebuilt his entire sound from a crisis nobody saw coming.

In March 1970, most of his longtime band walked out over pay.

Within weeks he'd assembled a new group and recorded one of funk's defining records.

That pattern repeated across the decade: a setback, then a reinvention that landed harder than before.

A rejected film soundtrack became his only gold album.

A mid-chart single reportedly shaped a child star's signature move.

This is that decade, told through four moments that made it happen.

James Brown photographed arriving at Schiphol airport in January 1977, during his run as the Godfather of Soul

James Brown at Schiphol airport, January 12, 1977. Image credit: Photo by Koen Suyk / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

1970: The Band Walks Out, the J.B.'s Walk In

James Brown in the 70s opened with a crisis, not a victory lap.

In March 1970, most of his longtime backing band, the Famous Flames, walked out over a pay dispute.

Bandleader Bobby Byrd was one of the few who stayed.

Byrd helped Brown scramble together a replacement band within days.

They found it in Cincinnati, in a group called the Pacemakers.

Brothers Bootsy and Catfish Collins, on bass and guitar, became the anchor of Brown's new band.

That new lineup took the name the J.B.'s.

They recorded "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" within weeks of forming, on April 25, 1970.

Brown wrote the song on the back of an awards-show poster from a Nashville concert.

The track's insistent bass riff, played by Bootsy and Catfish, became one of funk's most sampled grooves.

Bootsy and Catfish stayed only about eleven months before leaving for George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic.

That brief, chaotic window still produced one of the decade's most foundational funk records.

1972: Get on the Good Foot and a Young Michael Jackson

The next chapter of James Brown in the 70s came with real chart proof.

Brown's momentum carried into 1972 with "Get on the Good Foot."

The single reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It also landed at #99 on Billboard's own year-end chart for 1972.

That's a real, verified entry, not just a footnote in Brown's catalog.

The song's title came from Brown's own energetic footwork on stage that year.

According to Billboard's own account, it reportedly inspired a young Michael Jackson.

Jackson began developing footwork of his own after seeing it.

That footwork would eventually evolve into the moonwalk.

Jackson spent the rest of his career citing Brown as a defining influence on his stagecraft.

Seven years later, Jackson would release his own first solo single as an adult.

Read about "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and the rest of that chart in Top Songs of 1979.

Curious which other 70s artist matches your mood right now?

Try the Random Artist Picker and find out.

1973: The Payback That Almost Wasn't

By 1973, Brown had a new soundtrack job lined up.

He recorded a full album meant for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem.

The film's producers rejected it.

They reportedly dismissed it as "the same old James Brown stuff."

A widely repeated version of this story adds a specific quote from the film's director calling it "not funky enough."

The director himself has denied ever saying that.

What's certain is the rejection itself, and what Brown did next.

He released the material as a standalone album instead, titled The Payback.

It hit #1 on the Soul Albums chart for two weeks.

It cracked the Top 40 on the Pop Albums chart too.

It became Brown's only album ever certified gold.

A rejection meant for someone else's movie turned into the commercial peak of his recording career.

James Brown in the 70s: The Sound Behind "The One"

None of this works without the rhythmic idea underneath it.

Brown built his 70s sound around a concept musicians call "the One."

Most soul and rock music of the era emphasized the backbeat, the second and fourth beats of a measure.

Brown flipped that.

He put the heaviest emphasis on the first beat instead.

He'd cue his band mid-song with a shouted "On the one!"

That shift anchored a harder, more percussive pocket underneath everything else.

Basslines and guitar riffs could syncopate freely around that fixed downbeat.

Nearly every funk act that followed built on that same template.

Parliament-Funkadelic did. Prince did, decades later.

Our own 70s Music Trivia post has a full question dedicated to this exact concept.

Want to test what you just learned against a fresh round of questions?

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Brown's influence on 70s soul runs even wider than funk alone.

See how it fits into the broader picture of the genre in 70s Soul Music.

Every story in this piece, the band walkout, the rejected soundtrack, the rhythm concept that outlived the decade, adds up to the same conclusion.

James Brown in the 70s wasn't a victory lap on 60s fame.

It was a second act built from crisis, on his own terms, every single time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did James Brown's band walk out on him in 1970?

Most of Brown's longtime band, the Famous Flames, walked out in March 1970 over a pay dispute.

Bandleader Bobby Byrd, one of the few who stayed, helped Brown recruit a new group within days.

That new lineup, built around Cincinnati players Bootsy and Catfish Collins, became the J.B.'s and recorded "Sex Machine" within weeks of forming.

How is James Brown connected to Michael Jackson's moonwalk?

Brown's 1972 single "Get on the Good Foot" reportedly inspired a young Michael Jackson to develop footwork that later evolved into the moonwalk.

The song reached #18 on the Hot 100 and #99 on Billboard's 1972 year-end chart.

Jackson has cited Brown as a major influence on his own stage performance throughout his career.

Why was James Brown's album The Payback rejected?

Brown recorded The Payback in 1973 as a soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, but the producers rejected it, reportedly dismissing it as "the same old James Brown stuff."

Brown released the material as a standalone album instead.

It became his only album certified gold, and hit #1 on the Soul Albums chart.

What does "the One" mean in James Brown's music?

"The One" refers to Brown's signature rhythmic approach, placing heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure instead of the traditional backbeat.

He would cue his band with the command "On the one!" during performances.

That shift became the rhythmic template nearly every funk act after him built on, from Parliament-Funkadelic to Prince.

How long did Bootsy Collins play with James Brown?

Bootsy Collins and his brother Catfish spent roughly eleven months in Brown's band, the J.B.'s, starting in early 1970.

They left after that brief run to join George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, where Bootsy became a defining figure in funk's next chapter.

Their short tenure with Brown still produced "Sex Machine" and other foundational funk recordings.