JAMES BROWN
1933-2006
He was known as:
"The Godfather Of Soul"
"The Hardest Working Man In Show Business"
"Mr. Dynamite"
"Soul Brother Number One"
Whatever you may have called him and whatever moniker you may have remmbered him by,truly without question,James Brown was all that and a bag of chips.
The entire world of music world has lost a tremendous talented singer,a musical icon and a legend as James Brown passed away.
I was very shocked and stunned when I saw the news this morning as I'm sure many others that has listened to his music over the years.
James Brown was truly one of a kind,an innovator who has inspired and influenced many of our great performers including the likes of Mick Jagger,Prince,Michael Jackson,Justin Timberlake and many,many others.
His work has been sampled numerous millions of times by many rap and hip-hop artists,i.e. "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and D.J. E-Z Rock (YEAH!WOW! YEAH!WOW!-REMEMBER THAT SAMPLE FROM THAT SONG?!!?).
James Brown,the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose revolutionary rhythms,rough voice and flashing footwork influenced generations of musicians from rock to rap,died early Christmas morning due to pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
He was 73 years of age.
Born in poverty in Barnwell,S.C. in 1933,Brown was abandoned as a 4 year old to the care of relatives and friends.He grew up on the streets of Augusta,GA in an "ill-repute area" as he once called it,where he learned how to hustle to survive.
"I wanted to be somebody," Brown said.
By the eighth grade in 1949,Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa,Ga.,for breaking into cars.
While there,he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home.
Byrd also took Brown into his group,the Gospel Starlighters.
Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B Top Ten.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, "Please, Please, Please" in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business" and often tried to prove it to his fans.
His "Live at The Apollo" in 1962 is widely considered one of the greatest concert records ever. And he often talked of the 1964 concert in which organizers made the mistake of having the Rolling Stones,not him,close the bill.
He would remember a terrified Mick Jagger waiting offstage,chain smoking,as Brown pulled off his matchless show.
Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years.
From Mick Jagger to Michael Jackson,David Bowie to Public Enemy, Brown's rapid-footed dancing, hard-charging beats and heartfelt yet often unintelligible vocals changed the musical landscape.
He was to rhythm and dance music what Bob Dylan was to lyrics.
Brown's stage act was as memorable,and as imitated,as his records,with his twirls and spins and flowing cape,his repeated faints to the floor at the end as band members tried in vain to get him to leave the stage.
With his tight pants,shimmering feet,eye makeup and outrageous hair,Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
And the early rap generation overwhelmingly sampled his music and voice as they laid the foundation of hip-hop culture.
"Disco is James Brown,hip-hop is James Brown,rap is James Brown;you know what I'm saying?You hear all the rappers,90 percent of their music is me," Brown told The AP in 2003.
Brown's classic singles include "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud,"a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves 'colored',and after the song,we were calling ourselves black," Brown told The Associated Press in 2003.
"The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."
Brown used his stardom to help preach for self-sufficiency,recording such songs as 1968's "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)".
As myself being an African-American,his song "Say It Loud(I'm Black And I'm Proud)" was like an anthem that spoke volumes upon volumes to many African-Americans from back in the days of the Civil Rights movement even up this day in age.
On April 5 of 1968,as rioting broke out across America in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis,TN the previous night before,Brown insisted on playing a show in Boston,MA that the city's Mayor Kevin White had wanted to cancel.
Brown dedicated the show to King and it was broadcast on local television at the mayor's urging in an effort to keep people off the streets.
He won a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (best R&B recording) and for "Living In America" in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.)
He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986,along with Elvis Presley,Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
I have loved many a song by him including "Cold Sweat","Papa's Got A Brand New Bag","I Got You(I Feel Good)","Get Up(I Feel Like I'm A Sex Machine)","Get Up Offa That Thang" and "Living In America" from the "Rocky 4" movie.
I loved all those comedic skits that comedian/actor Eddie Murphy did impersonating him when he was on "Satruday Night Live" and during his tour.
I got a huge laugh out of that-LOL!
In my opinion,that skit wasn't out to denegrate James Brown,that was a sign of respect and paying homage to this great man.
In the latter years of his life,he had his internal and personal problems outside of music (TELL ME SOMEONE IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC WHO HASN'T HAD ANY TROUBLE IN SOME FORM OR WAY OR ANOTHER!) with charges of drug abuse and domestic abuse,that is not the way I want to remember him nor for him to be remembered.
I want to remember James Brown,this legendary,high energy performing Rock N' Roll Hall of Famer (ONE OF THE VERY 1ST BACK IN 1986 TO BE INDUCTED,BTW!) for the many contributions that he gave to music and to fans like me listening to his music and his fantastic dancing style (that performers such as Prince and Michael Jackson have emulated) through the years entertaining many a person throughout the 5 decades that he was in music performing.
James Brown earned the nickname "The Hardest Woreking Man In Show Business",performing tiredlessly and effortlessly show after show for the last 5 decades and ALWAYS was a man,whom until the end,who always gave back to his community.
I will miss James Brown immensely,but I am grateful and thankful to God and to the Good Lord that he left something behind for his fans and for future generations of music to remember,to enjoy and to respect.
Rest In peace to THE Godfather Of Soul,James Brown!
