''Gravity'' is the 53rd

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. The album was released on September 15, 1986, by

Scotti Bros. Records Scotti Brothers Records (typically spelled Scotti Bros. Records) was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing singles and albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped ...

. It was largely written and

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight, the authors of the album's previously released hit single " Living in America", which had reached #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was prominently featured in the film '' Rocky IV''. It was Brown's first album for the

Scotti Brothers Scotti Brothers Records (typically spelled Scotti Bros. Records) was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing singles and albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped ...

record label. The album's title track became a minor hit on both the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and R&B charts, while the tango-based slow jam "

How Do You Stop "How Do You Stop" is a song written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight and recorded by James Brown. It appeared on Brown's 1986 album ''Gravity'' and was released as a single which charted at number 10 on the US R&B chart. Brown also performs t ...

" cracked the R&B top ten. The album track "Turn Me Loose, I'm Dr. Feelgood" was used as the theme song for the Australian TV sketch comedy series ''

The Late Show The Late Show may refer to: Books * ''The Late Show'' (book), a 2017 book by Michael Connelly Film * ''The Late Show'' (film), a 1977 film * ''Late Show'', a 1999 German film by director Helmut Dietl Music * ''The Late Show'' (Eddie "Loc ...

'' (1992–93) and is often played by Major League Baseball's

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

when one of their batters hits a home run at Citizens Bank Park.

Reception

''Gravity'' earned a lukewarm reception from critics.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

went so far as to describe it as " t a James Brown album--a James Brown-influenced Dan Hartman record, with James Brown on vocals", and urged readers to seek out recent

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

s of Brown's earlier work instead. Ron Wynn of Allmusic.com described the album as "moderately interesting" but that, ultimately, Brown was trying to "catch up" with contemporary trends. Brown himself stated that the album was "'about 10 percent of James Brown. This is about as real James Brown as we`re gonna put on (producer) Dan Hartman`s album.'' Nevertheless, Brown did praise Hartman and Midnight for capturing the essence of his style in " Living in America".

Track listing

2012 BBR Expanded Remaster

:9. "Living in America" (12" R&B Dance Version) :10. "Gravity" (12" Extended Dance Mix) :11. "How Do You Stop" (12" Special Extended Mix) :12. "Goliath" (12" Message House Mix) :13. "Living in America" (''Rocky IV'' Soundtrack Album Version) :14. "Gravity" (Single Version) :15. "Living in America" (Instrumental)

Personnel

*James Brown - all main vocals,

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

solo on track 8 *

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s (listed in liner notes as "lead & backing synthesizer") on track 3 * Dan Hartman - guitars, keyboards, programming, backing vocals, Fairlight programming (listed as "Eddie Fairlight III"), all instruments except drums & horns on track 7 "Repeat the Beat (Faith)" *

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

- guitars on track 5 *

T. M. Stevens Thomas Michael "T. M." Stevens (born July 28, 1951) is an American bass guitarist from New York City. Stevens has worked with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician, and also leads his own groups and works as a solo performer. ...

- bass (on all tracks except 7), backing vocals *Ray Marchica, Art Wood, George Recile - drums, percussion *Trazi Williams - congas *The Uptown Horns (Arno Hecht, Bob Funk, Crispin Cioe, "Hollywood" Paul Litteral) - all brass instruments * Maceo Parker - alto saxophone *

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

- ad-libs/vocal trade-offs, backing vocals * Charlie Midnight, Gail Boggs - backing vocals ;Technical * Chris Lord-Alge - mixing *Bonnie Schiffman - cover photography

References

{{Authority control James Brown albums 1986 albums Albums produced by Dan Hartman Scotti Brothers Records albums