Try Me (song)
Encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Try MeTry Me-Track listing:All tracks written by Rosie Gaines except where noted# "Try Me" – 4:45# "B.I.T.C.H." – 4:35# "In the Middle of a Garden" – 4:51# "Ooh La La" – 4:41# "In the Socket" – 3:56# "Lost in the Wilderness" – 3:14# "Do What You Wanna Do" – 5:45...
"Try Me" is a song written and performed by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
. He recorded it with his singing group The Famous Flames
The Famous Flames
The Famous Flames was an R&B vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd that recorded and performed with James Brown during the early years of his career...
in 1958
1958 in music
-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....
. A plaintive ballad, it was the group's second R&B hit (following 1956
1956 in music
-Events:*January 26 – Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee*Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records*January 27 – Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One" is released...
's "Please, Please, Please
Please, Please, Please
"Please, Please, Please" is an R&B song written by James Brown and Johnny Terry and recorded by Brown and The Flames. Released in 1956 as a single on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, it was Brown's first professional recording and his first hit, eventually selling over a million...
"), and early in 1959
1959 in music
-Events:*January 5 – The first sessions for Ella Fitzgerald's George and Ira Gershwin Songbook are held.*January 12 – Tamla Records is founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in Detroit, Michigan....
it became their first song to reach #1 on the R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and was also the first time the group hit the Hot 100, peaking at number forty-eight.. Its success is credited with saving Brown's recording career after a string of nine non-charting single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s. He described the song as "really a pop tune. I had heard 'Raindrops' by Dee Clark
Dee Clark
Dee Clark was an African-American soul singer best known for a string of R&B and pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the ballad "Raindrops," which became a million-seller in the United States in 1961....
and 'For Your Precious Love
For Your Precious Love
"For Your Precious Love" is a song written by Arthur Brooks, Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler, and performed by Butlers' group The Impressions in 1958. It was released as a single on Vee-Jay Records and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores and Top 100 charts...
' by Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
, so I wrote my song to fit between them." He may have been thinking of another Dee Clark
Dee Clark
Dee Clark was an African-American soul singer best known for a string of R&B and pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the ballad "Raindrops," which became a million-seller in the United States in 1961....
song, as "Raindrops" was released two years later after "Try Me".
"Try Me" was included on the albums Please Please Please
Please Please Please (album)
Please Please Please is the debut studio album of American R&B and soul singer James Brown and his backing vocal group, the Famous Flames. It includes Brown's first two hit singles, the title track and "Try Me" , along with all the non-charting singles and b-sides he had recorded up to the time of...
and Try Me.
Personnel
- James Brown - lead vocal
and The Famous Flames:
- Johnny Terry - vocals
- Bill Hollings - vocals
- J.W. Archer - vocals
- Louis Madison - vocals
plus:
- George Dorsey - alto saxophone
- Clifford Scott - tenor saxophone
- Ernie Hayes - piano
- Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
- guitar - Carl Pruitt - bass
- David "Panama" Francis - drums
Other versions
"Try Me" is the second song Brown performs on Live at the Apollo.Brown recorded a version of "Try Me" with strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
for his 1963 album Prisoner of Love.
Brown recorded an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version of "Try Me" for the Smash
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...
label in 1965 which charted #34 R&B and #63 Pop in the U.S. It marked one of the few times in American music history that a song became a hit on two separate occasions in vocal and instrumental form by the same artist.
Last performance
One of the last performances of the song in concert was in late 2006 with the guest girl group, SugababesSugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
. Sugababes were among the last to perform with Brown before his death.
External links
- [ Song Review] from Allmusic