The Chicken is an instrumental funk tune written by Pee Wee Ellis and first released in June 1969 as the B-side to James Brown’s single The Popcorn. It features Brown’s tight funk band and has since become a jazz-funk standard. The tune gained wider exposure through Jaco Pastorius, who recorded a studio version with John Scofield and Kenwood Dennard for Modern Electric Bass in 1985 (also released on a 2002 DVD), and who appears on the 1983 Invitation album recorded live in Japan with a big band. Pastorius also recorded The Birthday Concert in 1981, released in 1995. Notable other versions include Pee Wee Ellis’ Chicken Soup (Dave Liebman, 1977) and Maceo Parker’s Mo’ Roots (1991).
