Renée Geyer - It’s A Man’s Man’s World (1974)

(James Brown - Betty Jean Newsome)
Australia
#29 Melbourne #29 Brisbane #30 Adelaide

Single on RCA Australia, also on the RCA Victor album of the same name.

Versatile Sydney soul-jazz-blues singer Renée Geyer (1953-2003) was active from the early 1970s, working in Australia and America. See, for example, her career outline at Howlspace [archived].

Double-sided hit in Adelaide with the B-side, Once In A Lifetime Thing.

See also Renée Geyer’s Mama’s Little Girl (1974) and Stares And Whispers (1977), and The Renée Geyer Band’s Heading In The Right Direction (1975).

Suggestion from Mike Robbins.

James Brown And The Famous Flames - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (1966)

(James Brown - Betty Jean Newsome)
USA
Original released version
#8 USA #13 UK #26 Sydney #32 Melbourne

Single on King.

Co-writer Betty Newsome is not credited on the label but this omission was rectified following a legal ruling in 1967.

The title echoes that of the (unconnected) 1963 film It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

A much-recorded song
Second Hand Songs lists 132 versions and 5 adaptations including those by Big Maybelle (1966), Irma Thomas (It’s A Man’s Woman’s World, 1966), Tom Jones (1968). The Originals page on It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World has a selective list of cover versions.

See also Other cover versions, Sampling and Answer songs at the Wikipedia entry for the song.

James Brown - It’s A Man’s World (1964)

(James Brown - Betty Newsome)
USA
First recording: not released at the time

Prototype, without orchestra, of the hit version. This was recorded in 1964 but was not released until its inclusion on Polydor’s CD Of JB (Sex Machine And Other Soul Classics) (1985).

See the liner notes at Discogs.com. An excerpt:

What we have here … is a previously unknown recording of the song from two years earlier, unearthed by a diligent engineer during the preparation of this CD … [It] is a tremendous performance, excelling even the renowned hit re-recording and doubly interesting because of the sparse accompaniment. The later released version, featuring a sizeable orchestra arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe, amplified but added nothing exceptional to this basic workout with James directing the rhythm section of his own band.
From the liner notes (1985)

Renée Geyer - It’s A Man’s Man’s World (1974)

James Brown And The Famous Flames - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (1966)

James Brown - It’s A Man’s World (1964)

Pop Archives

Sections

More