"Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)" is a 1971 song by American singer James Brown, released as a single on his People Records label (then distributed by King Records) in July of that year with "Pt. 1" on the A-side and "Pt. 2 and 3" on the B-side. It was a number-one hit on the BillboardR&B chart, and reached number fifteen on the Hot 100[1] and number ten on the Cashbox[2] magazine charts.[3][4] "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he and the People label moved to Polydor Records.
The song is an ode to the captivating power of hotpants, which he and his band first saw on their 1970 European tour. Like much of Brown's funk repertoire, "Hot Pants" has been extensively sampled by various hip hop artists.[5]
Soon after moving to Polydor, Brown re-recorded "Hot Pants" for inclusion on the Hot Pants album. The 8:42 long album version, which was never released as a single, was recorded on July 12, 1971, at Rodel Studios in Washington, D.C., with the same personnel as the previous recording. This version of the song was later included on the 1986 compilation albumIn the Jungle Groove.
Byrd's wife Vicki Anderson also recorded an answer song, "I'm Too Tough For Mr. Big Stuff (Hot Pants)", for Brownstone. The J.B.'s recorded the instrumental "Hot Pants Road" as the B-side of their 1972 single "Pass the Peas".
Brown's 1998 single "Funk on Ah Roll" reuses the guitar and horn parts of "Hot Pants".[9]
References
^Whitburn, Joel (1997). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p. 73. ISBN0-89820-122-5.
^Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 65.
^White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 54.
