Bustin' Loose
Songfacts®:
- This joyous romp was a huge hit on the R&B charts, where it stayed at #1 for four weeks. It is perhaps the most famous song of the go-go genre, a funk/soul hybrid with a rolling percussion that originated in Washington, DC.
Thanks to this track, Chuck Brown became known as the "Godfather of Go-Go." He formed the Soul Searchers in 1968. They quickly became a popular local act, and in 1972 got a deal with Sussex Records. They had some success with the singles "We The People" and "Blow Your Whistle," but when Sussex went out of business in 1975, the Soul Searchers recorded only sporadically, focusing instead on their live act, which was far more lucrative.
Brown worked up "Bustin' Loose" in 1976. "I kept hearing it, like an engine turning over in my head," he said in the Billboard Book of #1 R&B Hits. "It stayed with me, so finally I wrote a song out of that particular groove."
The song became a highlight of their live shows, and in 1978, his friend James Purdie convinced him to record the song and helped him secure a deal with Source Records. With Purdie producing, they recorded the Bustin' Loose album at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, laying down the title track first. They knew they had something special when they recorded it, and the song became Brown's signature tune. - Getting the drums right on this song was the biggest challenge, according to Brown. He says he fired three drummers before Ricardo Wellman delivered the sound he was looking for. Ricardo is the son of Frank Wellman, who was Brown's original drummer in the Soul Searchers.
- The song was released as both a 12" single and a 7" single, both with "Bustin' Loose Part 1" on the A-side and "Bustin' Loose Part 1" on the flip. The 12" A-side is the one that got most of the club play; running 7:42, this is the version that was included on the album. The 7" was the radio edit, which was truncated to 3:52.
- The Nelly hit "Hot In Herre," where Nelly says, "I feel like bustin' loose," is based on this song. Other songs to sample or interpolate "Bustin' Loose" include "Eric B. Made My Day" by Eric B. & Rakim, "I Ain't Mad at All" by Public Enemy, and "Do It Again" by Cherokee.
Comments: 2
- Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn this day in 1979 {April 7th} Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers performed "Bustin' Loose"* on the nationally syndicated television program, 'Soul Train'...
At the time "Bustin' Loose" was at position #12 on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart, seven weeks earlier it had peak at #1 {for 4 weeks} and it spent twenty one non-consecutive weeks on the chart...
It reached #34 on Billboard's Top 100 chart...
Between 1972 and 2007 the group had eleven records on the Hot Soul Singles chart, after "Bustin' Loose", their next biggest hit was "Block Party" {featuring DJ Cool}, it peaked at #19 in 2007...
Charles Louis Brown passed away at the age of 75 on May 16th, 2012...
May both he and Don Cornelius {1936 - 2012} R.I.P.
* "Bustin' Loose" has been played after every home run the Washington Nationals hit at Nationals Park since that stadium's opening in 2008 until the present, with the exception of the 2015 and 2016 seasons, when the Jessie J song "Bang Bang" was played... - Poetdannyqueen from Md.The Godfather of Go-Go
(A tribute to Chuck Brown 1936-2012)
Chuck,soul-Searchin'
Busstin' loose,Brown is
the undisputed God-father
Of the Go-Go sound.
As the brightest star on
The Go-Go walk of fame
You gave the home grown
Groove a national name.
The way you wind me up
I know it's your pleasure
And as DC's native-son
You're a national treasure.
You put the trouble in
The funk for all to see,as
The God-father of Go-Go
In the first degree.
As the rare essence of
What Go-Goes around
You are the host in the
House of the DC.sound.
Latin rhythms,Jazz,Soul
And a non-stop beat
Are the roots of go-go with a
Call and response, from the street.
If it ain't got the Go-Go,groove
It don't mean a thing
If it ain't funky enough
To have the Go-Go swing.
As an indigenous-icon
Of classic Go-Go soul
You have a feel for the
Music that never grows old.
Thru experience-unlimited
As a master-music man,you
Are the great-Godfather of
Go-Go all over the land.
You put the soulful-funk
In it for all to see as the
God-Father of Go-Go
In the first-degree.
Ps.Sho' ya right!
By:poetDannyQueen
Copyright 2001
All rights reserved
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