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Joined: Mar 2006
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Location: Louisiana
Karma: 0 |  | Remembering James Brown
« Thread Started on Dec 27, 2006, 3:39am » | |
James Brown Dies On Christmas
Godfather of Soul passes on.
by Spence D.
December 26, 2006 -- James Brown, the legendary Godfather of Soul and self-styled hardest working man in show business, passed away in the early hours of the morning on Christmas Day.
Brown, who had been admitted to Emory Crawford Long Island Hospital on Sunday December 24th with a case of pneumonia, died due to complications from heart failure at approximately 1:45 AM on Monday morning.
Born James Joseph Brown on May 3rd, 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina, Brown got his start in showbiz after a rocky upbringing. Abandoned at an early age by his parents, he grew up being passed around from home to home amongst family and friends. By the time he was in the eighth grade, Brown had landed in reform school. This was to be the turning point in his life, however, as it is where he met Bobby Byrd. Byrd's family took Brown in and soon he was performing with Byrd in The Gospel Starlighters. A name change (to The Famous Flames) and a style change (to R&B) would set Brown in motion to become the Godfather of Soul.
The Famous Flames scored a Top 10 hit with "Please, Please, Please" in 1956. While Brown kept cranking out music in the '50s and '60s, it wasn't until he more or less created what is now known as funk music in the late '60s, with such seminal recordings as "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)," that he established his own singular sound.
Brown's rowdy reform school beginnings were never quite forgotten as throughout his career he was haunted by drugs and alcohol abuse. Perhaps his most famous run-in with the law occurred in 1988 when he engaged police in a drug addled interstate car chase in Georgia and South Carolina, the end result of which landed Brown in jail for 25 months. The altercation led to a wildly popular underground "Free James Brown" movement with fellow musicians and fans sporting t-shirts, bumper stickers and calling for the singer's release. He was eventually pardoned in the state of South Carolina for his crimes in 2003.
Along with other artists such as, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, and Bob Dylan, James Brown had a unique style that left an indelible mark on modern music. This may well be an end to an era, for there will never be another artists like James Brown.
Brown's kinetic funk vibe helped bring gritty R&B into the mainstream consciousness in the '70s. In the '80s his signature sound was often the musical backbone of much of the seminal early rap music coming out of New York. Artists such as Eric B. and Rakim, Public Enemy, EPMD, Ultramagnetic MC's, and Nas, just to name a few, sampled, tweaked, and extrapolated much of Brown's music, furthering his legendary status and opening the ears of a whole new generation of listeners to his classic sounds.
Among the many awards he won over the years were Grammys for Best R&B Recording (1965 for "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag") and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (1987 for "Living In America"), as well as a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1992. He was one of the original artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and as such is considered a founding father of the museum.
Three days before his death Brown was present at his annual toy giveaway in Augusta, Georgia. He was also scheduled to perform at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York on New Year's Eve.
James Brown will surely be missed, but he will always be remembered.
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What are your thoughts on James Brown?
-- poetryinacup
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