"Please, Please, Please" is an R&B song written by James Brown and Johnny Terry and recorded by Brown and The Famous Flames. Released as a single on the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, it was Brown's first professional recording and his first hit, eventually selling over a million copies. It became Brown's signature song and a staple of his live act, usually performed as part of his cape routine.
Heavily rooted in a southern gospel music sensibility, "Please, Please, Please" features the 23-year-old Brown as a heartbroken man begging his woman not to leave him. The Famous Flames back up Brown's impassioned lament with smooth vocal harmonies.
"Please, Please, Please" reached #6 on the R&B singles chart, but did not sell well to pop audiences, and peaked at #105 on the pop singles chart. An album named for the song was released in late 1958 after Brown scored a second R&B hit with "Try Me".
A 1964 reissue of "Please, Please, Please" on King Records featuring overdubbed audience noise meant to mimic a live recording (and capitalize on the success of Brown's hit Live at the Apollo album) reached #95 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, "Please, Please, Please" was ranked number 142 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
