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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 25, 2006 16:35:48 GMT -1
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 25, 2006 16:55:46 GMT -1
Read this and understand why James Brown is such a great man.
Obituary: James Brown
Brown was the self-confessed "Godfather of Soul"
When James Brown styled himself Soul Brother Number One, for once, this was no idle showbusiness exaggeration. His influence on popular music was, quite simply, enormous.
He transformed gospel music into rhythm and blues, and soul music into his own creation - funk - with its driving rhythms and insistent beat.
His performances remain unsurpassed for their urgency of expression and raw physicality, influencing later white rockers like Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop.
Born James Joe Brown Junior in 1933 in a one-room shack in the backwoods of South Carolina, by the age of seven he was boarding at a brothel in Augusta, Georgia.
Delighted and outraged audiences
He helped to pay the rent by shining shoes and tap-dancing in the streets.
Nine years later he was harshly punished for trying to steal a car. Sent to prison for between eight and 16 years, he eventually served only three years and a day.
Brown was a charismatic frontman
On his release, he joined a gospel group. While pursuing a promising but ultimately abortive career as a semi-professional boxer, he rose to become the leader of the James Brown Revue.
Audiences were delighted and outraged by the group's tight R&B sound, fronted by the charismatic Brown, whose stage antics caused him to shed up to seven pounds a night.
In 1956, Brown wrote the song Please, Please, Please. It sold one million copies and propelled the singer to stardom.
Other hits followed as Brown worked up to 350 nights a year, earning himself another reputation, as the hardest-working man in showbusiness.
Mould-breaking show
Though the financial returns were scant - Brown and his band members earned a derisory $150 each for Please Please Please - he refused to compromise on the quality of his performances.
His reason was simple: "When you're on stage, the people who paid money to get in are the boss, even if it cost them only a quarter. You're working for them."
The success: James Brown in the 1970s
He treated his band like an army, imposing fines for lateness, scruffy costumes and poor playing. By the early 1960s his growing reputation saw him play to packed crowds at the Mecca of black music, Harlem's Apollo Theatre.
In 1961, realising that the essence of his music could only be captured live, Brown personally financed the recording of an album at the theatre.
The result, the mould-breaking James Brown Show Live at the Apollo, was a sensation. Establishing his reputation throughout the United States, it remains one of the most critically-acclaimed live albums ever recorded.
His status was enhanced by a succession of worldwide hits like Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good) and Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine).
Presidential thanks
Artistically, James Brown was breaking new ground with a whole new musical form, funk.
Songs like Cold Sweat, where the brass section and guitars drove the rhythm, exemplified the stylistic change which Brown wrought.
Success brought great wealth. James Brown owned radio stations, fast food restaurants and a private jet.
He embraced "black capitalism" even before the phrase was coined, urging his fellow countrypeople to live the American Dream.
The prisoner: In jail in the late 1980s
He gave back, too, sponsoring food stamps for the poor and giving money and land to those in need, especially in Africa.
Some radicals, though, criticised him for his patriotism and he received death threats after playing to US troops in Vietnam.
Such was James Brown's influence that when Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, the order went out to broadcast Brown's show in Boston live across the United States.
Punctuated by his pleas for calm, the show helped to stem the tide of anger and Brown earned the personal thanks of President Lyndon Johnson.
Living in America
The 1970s were bad times for James Brown. His son Teddy died in a car accident, he himself was beset by tax problems and disco music threatened to eclipse his career.
Sheer hard work on the club circuit brought him back from the brink. A cameo role as a singing preacher in the cult 1980 film The Blues Brothers brought his music to another generation.
Brown was still strutting in his sixties
His song Living in America, a paean to the American Dream, was chosen as the theme music to Rocky IV and James Brown was among the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But James Brown's capacity for self-destruction was a constant danger. In 1988 an incident with a shotgun led to a high-speed police chase and he spent two-and-a-half years in jail.
His release coincided with a huge upswell in rap and hip-hop music, both of which borrowed freely from Brown's work. His role as a pivotal musical innovator was recognised as never before.
Even with his faults, James Brown was an important role model to a whole generation of African Americans.
Triumphing over poverty and racism, his outlook is best summed up by the title of one of his greatest hits - Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud.
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Post by ITFC Dudette6 on Dec 25, 2006 16:58:50 GMT -1
True legend. Put a song of his on my MySpace as a tribute  Keep it funky |
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 25, 2006 17:00:55 GMT -1
Buy all his albums sweetheart, the man is a legend and must be remembered by every gerneration. Please this really is hurting me, it's like my dad's died.  |
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Post by woolerinho on Dec 25, 2006 17:32:40 GMT -1
not a fan of all of his songs but he did do some class stuff, R.I.P. Master Of Soul
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 25, 2006 18:25:38 GMT -1
HE'S GONE ON UP (LIKE A SEX MACHINE)
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Post by Billy on Dec 25, 2006 18:28:31 GMT -1
Hey Lucas. I have to admit to not being the world's biggest James Brown fan, but he was indeed a legend in what he did. This has hit you pretty hard hasn't it mate, I have always thought I would be gutted when my musical heroes die, so just take care ok? RIP James Brown |
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 25, 2006 20:38:01 GMT -1
I will man, it is like a family member dieing, I can't tell you how gratefull I am for James Brown's music and infulence on music, I love the guy and am gutted. Just please if anything this will try and make him even more special, just like when Ray Charles died, not many people new him before he died, but now everyone has heard of him. Just a sad sad day for music, for Soul, Funk, Rock and a load of other genres he invented or poineerd.
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Post by thales on Dec 28, 2006 10:27:50 GMT -1
R.I.P. to the godfather of soul!! friend said he wont even mention it until christmas and new years are over, because too hard! it will be a moment remembered just like elvis, lennon and cobain |
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 28, 2006 11:17:43 GMT -1
R.I.P. to the godfather of soul!! friend said he wont even mention it until christmas and new years are over, because too hard! it will be a moment remembered just like elvis, lennon and cobain And Hendrix. Yes he's up there with the greats. We love you JB. |
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Post by thales on Dec 28, 2006 11:20:28 GMT -1
R.I.P. to the godfather of soul!! friend said he wont even mention it until christmas and new years are over, because too hard! it will be a moment remembered just like elvis, lennon and cobain And Hendrix. Yes he's up there with the greats. We love you JB. see spike lee is making a film about his life story |
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 28, 2006 11:31:49 GMT -1
And Hendrix. Yes he's up there with the greats. We love you JB. see spike lee is making a film about his life story Have you got a link for this? |
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Post by thales on Dec 28, 2006 11:57:49 GMT -1
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 28, 2006 12:02:08 GMT -1
Ah yes news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061227/en_nm/brown_death_film_dc_3I hope they focus on the music and the positive stuff rather than the negative stuff all the time. I wonder who will play James Brown? Nobody looks like him.....? I quite like the idea of a Biopic of James Brown's life but I doubt it'll do him justice. Ray Charles wasn't that big a star but had a great movie to remember him by, unless this film is twice as successfull and twice as good as Ray then it won't do JB justice. |
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Post by thales on Dec 28, 2006 12:05:01 GMT -1
Ah yes news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061227/en_nm/brown_death_film_dc_3I hope they focus on the music and the positive stuff rather than the negative stuff all the time. I wonder who will play James Brown? Nobody looks like him.....? I quite like the idea of a Biopic of James Brown's life but I doubt it'll do him justice. Ray Charles wasn't that big a star but had a great movie to remember him by, unless this film is twice as successfull and twice as good as Ray then it won't do JB justice. he had a good few meetings with spike lee before he died, so think it should be good, so am looking foward to this spike joint ;D |
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Post by Dr LuKas on Dec 28, 2006 15:56:56 GMT -1
There doesn't seem to be anything on imdb.com about it.
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Post by Dr LuKas on Jan 2, 2007 12:14:57 GMT -1
Eddie Murphy has been mentioned more than a couple of times about playing the role of James Brown.
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Post by mortontheblade on Jan 2, 2007 12:15:42 GMT -1
is he still dead?
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Post by Billy on Jan 2, 2007 12:16:40 GMT -1
um, how would he not be  |
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Post by ITFC Dudette6 on Jan 2, 2007 12:17:58 GMT -1
That was a dumb question?  |
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