ATLANTA, Georgia (AP)—James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured “Godfather of Soul,” whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
One of my most vivid memories as a teenager is of going to see James Brown at the old D.C. Coliseum in 1965. I told my parents that I was going to a friend’s house, which was true. What I didn’t tell them was that I was tagging along with some older kids who were going to the show. They would have stroked out if they’d known, mainly because the Coliseum was in a “bad part of town.” In other words, a very, very black part of town. This was in a time of unrest, at the height of the civil rights movement. The Watts riots had just happened, and tensions were high. We were a little apprehensive about going–ok, we were scared shitless–and as it turned out, we were just about the only white faces in the place. Other than a couple of good-natured comments about being in the wrong part of town, nobody paid much attention to us. Everyone was there to see J.B. And what a show he put on.
Motown pretty much dominated the soul charts with its commercial, highly produced sound, along with Stax-Volt. The Stax-Volt artists were hipper and funkier, but it was still a relatively full sound. James Brown was the antithesis of that. He pioneered the spare, funky, bass-and-drums-with-a-splash-of-horns sound that would be taken up by groups like Dyke and the Blazers, among others. He was a whirling dervish of energy, flashing across the stage with dance moves punctuated with stage directions to his musicians, never stopping the whole time. (As an aside, one of the things that first attracted me to the Who was their version of “Please, Please, Please” on the My Generation album.) The Coliseum had no air conditioning, and if you’ve ever been in D.C. in August, you can imagine what it was like in there, but nobody cared. You probably could have powered Takoma Park for a couple of days with the aroma, and no one was sweating more than J.B.
He got a little wacky in his later years, but green will do that to ya, yannow? The domestic violence and DUI’s and all the rest of his troubles tarnished his image, and of course led to him being the butt of a thousand jokes by late-night comics, but as far as I’m concerned, none of that, as uncondonable as it is, takes away from his place in the Pantheon of Music. He made a great memory for a white kid from the suburbs that night, and a fan for life.
Hey Craig, nice time had by all, eh?
And I still say you way overrate Cheryl Crow… but hell, it’s Christmas.
Merry for everyone!!!!!!!!
Papa Don’t Take No Mess….. ever again.
Rest in peace, Mr. Brown.
Tom, I have to say that Sheryl’s last CD was a bitter disappointment. The middle three, though are all tour de forces of writing, producing, and performing. When you hit that trifecta three times in a row, and they’re in a unique voice (in the artistic sense of the word), with a totally affecting, instantly recognizable sound, you deserve your place in history
I first saw James Brown in a movie called “Ski Party” in a theater in Alaska when it came out in the mid sixties. He and the Famous Flames dance in to a “ski party” of white college-age kids and did I Got You (I Feel Good). The next day, everyone at my school were trying to duplicate his dance moves! Unsuccessfully, for the most part. We were only 12 or 13 at the time. I heard him years later, when I was in the Air Force in Tucson, a song called “King Heroin” off of some album I can’t remember. Years later again I saw him in Vegas, I think it was 1993, and got to shake his hand as he closed out his show. Surely one of the greatest musicians and showmen ever!
Sadness.
Knowing lots of musical oldsters, and having boomers for parents, I’ve probably squandered five years of my life sitting through ‘60s concert storiesâ€â€my commie ancestors must have been half the audience at every MC5 showâ€â€and that’s only the second or third one that made me think “I wish I’d seen that.”
You’re a lucky geezer, CraigC, to have that memory.
(My “I saw Big Black!” story will not enchant the kiddies in forty years.)
A James Brown LP was the music of choice on move-in day at my college, each stereo trying to establish its owner’s dominance over the rest.
Cacophany and chaos, perfect for the 1960s.
I wonder if his last words were “I don’t feel so good…OW”
My first thought was, “Papa’s got a brand new body bag.”
BoZ, I wouldn’t be too sure that kids won’t be impressed by the Big Black story. Santiago Durango gave me free product in law school after he found out my Mom was a fan.
As for JB, here’s a version of what I’ll have up at my regular gig Tuesday, for your audio-video consumption:
JAMES BROWN—“The Godfather of Soul,” “The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business,” “Soul Brother Number oÂÂne,” and “The Minister of New New Super Heavy Funk”—passed away in the early hours of Christmas Day of heart failure after being hospitalized with pneumonia. Everyone from the Rev. Al Sharpton (who toured with Brown in the 70s) to Little Richard to Pres. Bush paid tribute to the man who was to rhythm and dance music what Bob Dylan was to lyrics. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, among others. Songs such as David Bowie’s “Fame,” Prince’s “Kiss,” George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” and Sly and the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song” were clearly based oÂÂn Brown’s rhythms and vocal style. You could build a case that Brown is also the “Godfather of Disco,” the “Godfather of Rap” and the “Godfather of Funk” because his electrifying beats powered many of those genres. Or as Brown himself put it, “I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know.”
Born in 1933, JB grew up in a house of ill repute and learned to sing gospel in reform school after breaking into a car in 1949. Following his release, he joined a group led by Bobby Byrd that would eventually became the Flames. Brown started oÂÂn drums and shared vocals with others, but soon became the frontman with his trademark frenetic dance moves. Decades of hits would follow 1956’s “Please Please Please,” including 1962’s “Night Train,” 1964’s “Out of Sight,” 1965’s oÂÂne-two punch of “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (Part I)” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and 1966’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” (here’s more live JB circa 1966.) From there, he would oÂÂnly get funkier, with tracks like “Cold Sweat,” “Mother Popcorn” and “Say it Loud  I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1)” By 1968, James Brown was a major African-American icon. He often spoke publicly about the pointlessness of rioting and in February 1968, informed the black activist H. Rap Brown, “I’m not going to tell anybody to pick up a gun.” When Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Mr. Brown was due to perform in Boston. Instead of canceling his show, he had it televised, and Boston was spared the riots that took place in other cities—though fans rush the stage in the clip at the link.
Brown continued to make hits and influence the R & B scene in the 1970s, with tracks like “(Get Up I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine,” “Hot Pants,” “Get oÂÂn the Good Foot (Part I)” and “Papa Don’t Take No Mess.” He also endorsed Richard Nixon’s re-election in 1972. Here’s vintage video of “Sex Machine” and “Soul Power.”
Brown would again take a higher profile through the medium of movies, first by playing the Rev. Cleophus James getting down to “The Old Landmark” in The Blues Brothers, and later by contributing “Living in America” to the soundtrack for Rocky IV. The latter won Brown his second Grammy (the first being for “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”) He was oÂÂne of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with giants like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry; he won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992. Brown continued to struggle, very publicly, with personal demons, imprisonment, and addictions well into the 1990s. But by the turn of the century he was again a force, selling out venues and raising 30 million oÂÂn Wall Street by issuing bonds against future royalties—a deal he would later attempt to renegotiate through litigation. Of course, he will live oÂÂn primarily through recordings of his music and dynamic performances. As Connor McNicholas, editor of Britain’s NME put it: “Even if people don’t realise they’ve been influenced by James Brown, they’ve still been influenced by James Brown.” We can hope the Godfather spent “Christmas in Heaven.”
I read the news and was playing JB when the kids came downstairs on Christmas morning. It just seemed to be the right thing to do.
If that man could make me (the whitest surbanite ever conceived) want to move and groove, he must have been magic.
We lost a great talent. I will miss him. God has himself a bitchin’ show up there now. I wish XM would pick it up.
Reputed last words:
“OOOOOOOW! I don’t feel so good!”
JB was pretty awesome, but as his life passed him by, he became very erratic. I saw him at the Apollo Theater in 1967 and was floored. I’m sorry to say that the last time I saw him, all I felt was disappointment that he seemed to be doing nothing more than jerking off on his audience. What am I supposed to say about a man who had unlimited talent, and used it to grunt, scream, and grind?
Sorry. I know I aqm pissing off a lot of people, but JB pissed me off by trading his talent for acclaim.
I saw him in Boston in the early 70’s, and was less than impressed. I couldn’t understand why a man with his talent would turn that talent to Booga-Booga rythyms and stupid screaming. And please – don’t call me racist for saying that a man with his immeasururable talent would turn his “growth” into a shambling thatch of pointless rythym. Somewhere along the line, a true musician has to stop wiggling his willy and come to music.
Unfortunately, JB never got his dick out of his hand. What he did do was very impressive, but as far as I can see, he went backwards (musically speaking) from about 1970 or so. When you pass the point where you think your shit doesn’t stink, you are a piece of balogney (balogna? Crap?).
Anybody ever see Sam and Dave? If you think James was hot, these guys would tear the top of your head off. I hate to say it, but James Brown wishes…