View source for Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing

{{Infobox song
| name       = Talking Loud and Saying Nothing - Part I
| cover      =
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[James Brown]]
| album      = [[There It Is (James Brown album)|There It Is]]
| B-side     = Talking Loud and Saying Nothing - Part II
| released   = {{Start date|1972|02}}
| recorded   = October 1, 1970, Bobby Smith Studios, [[Macon, Georgia]]
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Funk]]
| length     = {{startplainlist}}
* {{Duration|m=3|s=15}} <small>(Part I)</small>
* {{Duration|m=4|s=00}} <small>(Part II)</small>
* {{Duration|m=14|s=42}} <small>(complete version)</small>
*5:07 (original version)
{{endplainlist}}
| label      = [[Polydor]]<br><small>14109</small>
| writer     = {{startplainlist}}
* James Brown
* [[Bobby Byrd]]
{{endplainlist}}
| producer   = James Brown
| chronology = [[James Brown]] charting
| prev_title = [[I'm a Greedy Man|I'm a Greedy Man - Part I]]
| prev_year  = 1971
| next_title = [[King Heroin]]
| next_year  = 1972
| misc       = {{External music video|{{YouTube|dFspNMW0sFo|"Talkin' Loud And Saying Nothin'"}}|header=Audio video}}
}}
"'''Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing'''" is a [[funk]] song written by [[James Brown]] and [[Bobby Byrd]]. Recorded in 1970 by Brown and the original [[J.B.'s]] with Byrd on [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]] and updated with a new melody, it was twice released as a two-part [[Single (music)|single]] in 1972. It also appeared on the album ''[[There It Is (James Brown album)|There It Is]]''.

==Background==
Critic [[Robert Christgau]] called it "the loosest and most infectious of Brown's many socially conscious jams."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rs/brown-07.php |title=The Genius: James Brown |publisher=Robert Christgau |date=2007-01-25 |access-date=2016-10-07}}</ref> It is in this song we learn that Brown originally envisioned rapping as [[call and response]]. The original version was more rock-oriented and featured on The Singles Vol Six, 1969-1970.

According to Brown, "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" was "aimed at the politicians who were running their mouths but had no knowledge of what life was like for a lot of people in [the United States]" as well as "some of the cats on their soapboxes... who were telling the people one thing while manipulating their emotions for personal gain."<ref>Brown, James, and Bruce Tucker (1986). ''James Brown: The Godfather of Soul'', 241. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.</ref> Biographer RJ Smith described it as "an open criticism of self-styled arbiters of racial justice" who attacked Brown for his often-heterodox political stances.<ref>Smith, R.J. (2012). ''The One: The Life and Music of James Brown'', 264. New York: Gotham Books.</ref>

In the middle of the song Brown orders all the band members to temporarily stop playing while he and Byrd maintain the rhythm using their voices alone - an early example of a dance music [[Break (music)#Breakdown|breakdown]].

''[[Record World]]'' praised the "unbelievable bass work."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks|magazine=Record World|date=January 22, 1972|page=10|accessdate=2023-04-02|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/72/RW-1972-01-22.pdf}}</ref>

==Personnel==
* James Brown - lead vocal

''with The J.B.'s:''
* Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells - trumpet
* Darryl "Hassan" Jamison - trumpet
* Robert McCollough - tenor saxophone
* [[St. Clair Pinckney]] - baritone saxophone
* Bobby Byrd - organ, vocal
* [[Phelps "Catfish" Collins]] - guitar
* [[William "Bootsy" Collins]] - bass
* [[John "Jabo" Starks]] - drums
* Johnny Griggs - congas<ref>Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In ''Star Time'' (pp.&nbsp;46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.</ref>

==Chart positions==
"Talkin' Loud and Saying Nothing"reached number one on the U.S. [[Hot Soul Singles]] chart and number twenty-seven on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] during the spring of that year.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=85}}</ref><ref>White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In ''Star Time'' (pp.&nbsp;54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.</ref> 
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Chart (1972)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|27
|-
|U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}

==Withdrawn version==
Brown recorded a [[blues-rock]] oriented version of the song on February 26, 1970 at the [[King Records (United States)|King]] studios in [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]].  His backup band on this version consisted of his arranger [[David Matthews (keyboardist)|David Matthews]] on [[Organ (music)|organ]], Kenny Poole on fuzz guitar, Michael Moore (who later played on Brown's 1972 hit "[[King Heroin]]") on bass, and Jimmy Madison on drums.  This group would record one album under the name The Grodeck Whipperjenny for Brown's [[Record labels owned by James Brown|People]] label, and back Brown on his final King album in 1971, ''[[Sho' Is Funky Down Here]]''.  This version, split in two parts, was scheduled for release on King 45-P-6359, and several copies were pressed on both white and black labels, but the record was withdrawn from release before it could be distributed.  (The J.B.'s-backed version was to have been concurrently released as 45-S-6359, but no copies of this variation are known to exist.)  The full version (5:07) of this blues-rock rendition was issued in 2000 on the compilation CD ''James Brown's Funky People: Volume 3''.

==Other versions==
A [[remix]]ed version of "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" was included on the 1986 James Brown [[compilation album]] ''[[In the Jungle Groove]]''.

A longer version of the song (9:28) is included in the ''[[Star Time (album)|Star Time]]'' [[box set]].

The complete version of the song (14:42) was released in 1996 on the compilation CD ''[[Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang]]''.

[[Living Colour]] recorded a [[cover version]] in 1991 for their ''[[Biscuits (EP)|Biscuits]]'' EP.

==See also==
*[[List of number-one R&B singles of 1972 (U.S.)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.allmusic.com/song/talkin-loud-and-sayin-nothing-mt0002499176 AllMusic review]

{{James Brown singles}}

[[Category:1972 singles]]
[[Category:James Brown songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by James Brown]]
[[Category:Songs written by Bobby Byrd]]
[[Category:1972 songs]]
[[Category:Polydor Records singles]]