Farewell, James Brown

TWIT is sad to report the death of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.  Brown died yesterday morning at the age of 73 from congestive heart failure.  He'd been hospitalized on Sunday with pneumonia.  Brown's music changed the American cultural landscape through his gospel, soul, and R&B music.  His hits "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "I Feel Good" laid the foundation for funk, disco, rap and hip-hop music.  His wild style, high-energy dance moves, and over-the-top performances helped create the standard for showmanship. He will be remembered for his groundbreaking music, over-the-top stage presence, classic coiffed pompadour, political activism, and constant run-ins with the law.

Brown's 1969 hit "Ain't It Funky Now," helped build the foundation for the latest American music form called hip-hop. The sample of that song, known in urban music circles as "The Funky Drummer," is the most borrowed baseline in music history most notably on LL Cool J's "Boomin' System" and Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." Even Madonna ("Justify My Love"), Sinead O'Connor ("I'm Stretched On Your Grave"), and George Michael ("Waiting for the Day: You Can't Always Get What you Want), borrowed the famous drumbeat.

Brown was a more than the Godfather of Soul - he was the king of soul. With numerous chart topping hits and recordings, Brown was one of the charter members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1992.

While most of Brown's life was glitz and glitter, he was plagued with charges of abusing drugs and alcohol and of hitting his third wife, Adrienne.  In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants if they were using his private restroom.
Police chased Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.  Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991. In 2003, the South Carolina parole board granted him a pardon for his crimes in that state.

To me, James Brown was one of THE performers.  His stage presence could equal none.  When he moved, it was as if his hips, knees and ankles were double jointed.  During the climax of his stage show, he would do a variation of the splits, and it would seem as if he'd fainted on stage.  Then one of his peeps would appear with his cape, and once it was around his neck it was as if he'd come to life. 

You will be missed, James Brown. But thank you for expanding music and rhythm and blues for us and giving us funk and soul.