| May 3, 1933 - December 25.2006 James Brown birth place: Macon, Georgia, USA “The Godfather of Soul” won his audience with his musical genius and onstage histrionics. Shrieking, ‘Wow’ing and ‘Yeh’ing through four decades, James Brown is not only a brilliant musician and song writer, as a band leader he has fostered the careers of many other influential musicians. His innovative funk has provided the foundation for break dancing and rap, and his sound continues to be sampled in rap songs and electronic music. Brown picked up the keyboard, drums and bass at a young age. From a poor family, he left school in the 7th Grade, to earn a living on the streets of Augusta, Georgia shining shoes, dancing for pennies, picking cotton and stealing. Sent down for armed robbery at 16, Brown languished in prison until he met Bobby Byrd, who came with his gospel group to perform for the inmates. Byrd’s family helped to get Brown released by giving him a home and a job. While performing with the gospel group, Brown tried to become a pro boxer and then a baseball pitcher, but a leg injury wrecked his chances of fame on the field. Byrd and Brown sang duets together in church, until they saw a rock and roll show featuring Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. The duo quit gospel to form the Flames. With Brown on the piano and the drums, and Byrd on keyboard and vocals, they stuck together for the next three decades. On tour in the South , The Flames played to Ralph Bass, head of Federal Records and he signed them in 1956. 'Please, Please Please', their first single, was a big hit regionally, and eventually sold a million copies. More singles in the same gospel influenced, yet distinctly rougher R&B style, made Brown a regional star, and then 'Try Me' became a national hit in 1958. The group now added Famous to their Flames name, and Brown created the James Brown Revue, a carefully choreographed show with Brown pumping his hips and doing the splits, while the troupe performed an intricate dance behind him. Sweating off seven pounds a night, and breaking box office records in every major black venue in America, Brown was nicknamed "Mr. Dynamite" and was called "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business". Brown's 'Live at the Apollo', recorded in Harlem in 1962, sold a million copies, unprecedented for a black music album. His success continued with a string of singles that defined funk music. He used simple rifts on horn and guitar locked into a tight tune by a bass guitar, in songs like 'Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)', and he used his lyrics to make socio-political comment. By the mid-seventies the hits dried up, the wearing effect of Brown's ego caused key musicians to leave the band, and his singles became poor imitations of his earlier records. He continued to tour, however, and his reputation as a great showman and innovator still drew in the crowds. James Brown also made many movie apperances most remembered "The Blues Brothers" and "The Blues Brothers 2000" |
