On this day in music history: September 9, 1967 - “Cold Sweat Pt. 1” by James Brown hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 3 weeks, also peaking at #7 on the Hot 100 on August 26, 1967. Written by James Brown and Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, it is the fifth R&B chart topper for “The Hardest Working Man In Show Business”. The song is originally written in 1962, but is re-recorded and given a dramatic re-arrangement after Brown hears “Funky Broadway”, the recent hit single by Wilson Pickett. The track is recorded at King Studios in Cincinnati, OH in May of 1967, and is the first session for engineer Ron Lenhoff who becomes Brown’s recording engineer for the next eight years, recording and mixing numerous hits for “The Godfather Of Soul”. The extended workout runs over seven minutes in its entirety, but is edited and split into two parts for single release. “Cold Sweat” marks the beginning of a major turning point in the evolution of R&B music, being the first record to introduce the sub genre known as Funk. By putting more emphasis on the rhythmic aspects of the song, rather than the melody, it is regarded as one of the most influential records ever released. Released as single in July, “Cold Sweat” climbs the R&B and pop charts quickly. Ironically, it is replaced at the top of the R&B charts by Wilson Pickett’s “Funky Broadway”, the very song that inspired James Brown to create “Cold Sweat”.