no, really. ;_; rip, godfather ;_;
By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
James Brown, the legendary singer known as the “Godfather of Soul,” has died, his agent said early Monday. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia on Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said Brown’s family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. “We really don’t know at this point what he died of,” he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. 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 on Brown’s rhythms and vocal style.
If Brown’s claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.
“James presented obviously the best grooves,” rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. “To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one’s coming even close.”
His hit singles include such classics as “Out of Sight,” “(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Say It Out Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud,” a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
“I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black,” said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. “The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society.”
He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (best R&B recording) and for “Living In America” in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.) He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. Brown, who lived in Beech Island near the Georgia line, spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. After his release on in 1991, Brown said he wanted to “try to straighten out” rock music.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, “Please, Please, Please” in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business.”
With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
In 1986, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.
Brown’s work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. “The music out there is only as good as my last record,” Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
“Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I’m saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me,” he told the AP in 2003.
ahhh shit
:(
I AM MORTIFIED.
wha? fuck.
This is terrible.
RIP forever.
as soon as it’s morning, I’m playing Mother Popcorn.
worst christmas present
holy shit.
rip, mr. brown.
godfather forever.
x-post i wasn’t gonna say it, but otm
oh my fucking god.
RIP
This is lousy, but given the date I’ve got to say JB even managed to die with style. There aren’t words to do justice to how important he is.
RIP Godfather.
He kept busy til the end...one of the greatest. And everyone says that all the time but fuck, the guy is responsible directly and indirectly for some massive percentage of the music i listen to...
Aw, hell.
Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
oh no!!!
;___;
RIP. now i hope there’s an afterlife.
I was reading about his stay in the hospital minutes ago.
Is this the biggest rock death since George Harrison in 2001? (and when I say “biggest” I mean in terms of likely coverage and such)
“Lost Someone”
I said if you leave me I’ll go craaazy *DA DNN*...
If you leaaaave me *DA DNN* There’s only one thing I can do now *DA DNN* There’s only one thing I can say *DA DNN* There’s only one thing I can say *DA DNN*...
I lost someone, myyy love—Someone who’s greater than a staaarararr ooh
Someone who I need, someone, who don’t let my heaaaaraart bleeeeed
Someone, that someone, that’s the somone, that’s the someone that I lost...
I love you tomorrow, I love you today, Help me help meeeeEEeee, I’m so weak
Gee whiz I love you, I’m so weak...
—————-
“You got your rap and your disco,
You got your drum machine.
You got your R-rated gangster,
You got your grungy scene.
You got your state of the art,
You got your digital sound.
It doesn’t matter where it’s going to
I’ll still be diggin’ on James Brown.
You know the more things change, the more they stay the same. It may be a different age but I’m on the same page. ’Cause there’s one thing I have found—I’ll still be digging on James Brown.”—Tower of Power
(I listened to this song randomly coming back from a midnight church service this morning. Coincidences can be odd.)
x-post
Since Johnny Cash at least.
RIP. Time to get out the Star Time box.
Oh christ, somehow I thought he was never gonna die.
The single most important musician of the 20th century, I’d say.
RIP
unbelievable and sad! rest easy, godfather.
Wait, Ray Charles died after Cash. Man, these past few years...
Ahhh, he was booked to play here soon!
god, that sucks. :-(
i’ll be playing his xmas album tomorrow for sure.
He played here just last month and I missed him, honestly thinking “Dude’s gonna live forever, I’ll catch him next time!”
aaahhhhh
overrated
Crapola. Yeah, I thought he’d be going for a while yet.
Rest in Peace God of Soul.
Just watched The Blues Brothers the other night, and then saw the “Living In America” video at a club. Most JB I’d seen in a year and now this.
RIP. Too bad I don’t have a wife or girlfriend, I would hit her in tribute.
overrated
Worst xmas trawl ever.
Death took way too many people this year :(:(:(:(:(
This is mass hysteria.
Oh christ, somehow I thought he was never gonna die.
So did I.
Stephen Bush, fuck you.
A humble attempt at a reasonable obit on my blog:
http://www.xanga.com/VivaChe/558539953/rip-james-brown-may-3-1933--dec-25-2006.html
I’m sure there are many many others who can do the man more justice than I can, but I was grieving and wanted to give it a try.
pretty shitty unexpected news to hear on xmas morning. major bummer.
Blimey, I watched The Blues Brothers on telly the other night too. Creepy.
Gonna snort a line and get funky in tribute then.
Sad, sad news. Can’t really claim to have known him, but I did meet him and he was (contrary to his reputation) a really lovely, friendly, considerate guy.
Oh noes. Let’s make Christmas mean something this year. RIP.
This is awful news. My James Brown story is probably dull but this is it: when I was 20 or 21 years old, I remember knowing JB only from what I’d hear on oldies radio—the hits, which were great of course but I’d never really gotten into them. They were already part of the background, the fabric. Then one day I was at Music Plus in Norwalk and I thought I’d buy Star Time on cassette; it was 1989 I think & I didn’t own a CD player yet. A day or two later I drove into Claremont to see my friend Mark. I put on the tapes and then Mark had to go to work, but his roommate (also named Mark) was really transfixed. Roommate Mark & I hadn’t really done all that much hanging out together, but we sat there listening to the really long jams—Papa’s, Mother Popcorn—with our jaws on the floor, missing appointments we’d meant to keep just to not have to break the spell, and goin’ “OK, why didn’t somebody grab me & shake me & tell me JAMES BROWN SIDES ARE THE GREATEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE”? ’Cause on that afternoon it really seemed like there couldn’t be any music more transcendent or timeless, and like the music opened onto something much bigger than music for entertainment’s sake. I remember about eight minutes’ worth of one tune going my in silence and then Mark just saying “wow,” not in response to any riff or fill but just the totality of it.
i thought 2006 might have yet another nasty surprise in store. :-(
RIP. Too bad I don’t have a wife or girlfriend, I would hit her in tribute.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously though, RIP.
So this really isn’t about “L.A. Style” then :(
hoosten yr obit is excellent btw, nice work.
RIP
(I refrain from making any comments other than this is a sad day for his family and friends)
Is this the biggest rock death since George Harrison in 2001? (and when I say “biggest” I mean in terms of likely coverage and such)
Likely, yes, although Johnny Cash got quite a bit of media coverage too. Obviously, even though personally I think he brought it in the wrong direction, Brown had an enormous impact on today’s popular music. Obviously more so than the aformentioned Johnny Cash.
ugh we were just talking last night, quite morbidly, about the stage we’re at now 50+ years after rock n’ roll kicked off so of course lots of modern musical icons, entertainment and industry veterans will be passing away these days and i was thinking of Brown then because of his health problems even tho he looked pretty good all things considered and 73 isn’t so old.
was he really only 73? I thought I usta see his birth year as ’28.
he did abuse his girlfriends, huh?
that sucks
RIP JB. He didn’t know karate, but he knew karazy.
i still say he says ‘ka-RAZOR’. and i am very bummed about his death.
Fucking hell.
I got to see him in action, at least. About ten years ago—I know I’ve talked about this before, but surely if there’s any time that it bears repeating, it must be now.
It was a big three-day outdoor festival called “One World” at some country-club type venue that I don’t think was ever used for live music before or since. He played Friday night, and was the only performer of any note on that day’s bill—Saturday and Sunday were stacked high with a lot of great acts late and some truly atrocioius ones early. His band was actually pretty tight, running through several medleys of hits, but I have no idea who any of them were. I guess it could have been some real pro pickup guys he rehearsed the shit out of or his actual touring group—I’d guess the latter. JB seemed pretty game to perform, but clearly already too old, stiff and feeble to be dancing and singing with the incredible athleticism that all his nicknames imply. The saddest thing was that he appeared to have abdicated the role of showman in the band to his bassist, a white guy with a beard, specs and combover that gave him the appearance of the stereotypical cube-dwelling wageslave, an impression he dressed up to balance against with a costume featuring a cape, frogged and epauletted jacket and gold rope. The overall impression was Johnny Fever ready to go trick-or-treating as Shazam. The guy was a pretty good player, though, and clearly on top of the world to be playing in the band of a living legend. Anyway, even though they didn’t take the stage till after dark, we’re still talking about Texas in summer here (it’s been long enough that I can’t recall which month—could’ve been any from late May through August, though I’m thinking most likely June) so it was HOT AND MUGGY AS FUCK and I can’t blame an old man for not wanting to overexert himself in the bug soup that passes for evening air down here at that time of year. Furthermore, either because he was really the only thing to see on Friday—unlike the other days of the festival, or because a lot of the audience didn’t arrive until the second day on account of coming in from way the fuck out of town, or some shit like that, the crowd for that night was much, much too small for the area furnished for it—only a few hundred people in a field that could easily many, many more. By the end of the night Saturday and Sunday, for example, I’d guess the crowd was around ten thousand.
Overall, what can you say? The show was just okay and fairly short at an hour and a half or so, but on the other hand, it was James Motherfucking Brown! A stand was set up to sell fake roses with electric lights in ’em to throw on the stage, and a ribbon attached reading “James Brown, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” They were $5 apiece, I think, and a lot of people did it, with most buying one to throw and one to save. I didn’t (cheapskate, broke) but kind of wish I did, now. I’ve missed my shot with Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, and Miles Davis, but no-one can take JB away from me.
And Bush, if I catch you talking that shit around town, you better have friends with you.
hahahahaha
Now playing—Love Power Peace.
Aw, man. RIP.
superbummer. RIP
kinda surprised George Clinton has outlived him.
I dunno how old Star Child is, but I think he’s a little younger than the late great. I’d guess they’re about equal in terms of substance abuse.
kinda surprised George Clinton has outlived him.
He is a bit younger, isn’t he?
When you are 73, dying from natural causes isn’t all too unexpected, really.
Geir, I’d like to personally thank you for your restraint today. I know you’re itching to say something negative about his music, but you’re taking the high road. That’s classy and smart.
When you are 73 and have a decades long history of popping any pill, smoking any stick, and snorting any powder you can get your hands on, dying from natural causes isn’t all too unexpected, really.
Also, Matt on the money.
was he really only 73? I thought I usta see his birth year as ’28
You did ... I always saw it listed as either ’28 or ’33. I thought nobody knew his true birth year with any real certainty?
:-(
SO LAME
RIP FOREV
Damn. It’s sticks and coal this year.
Rest in peace, Godfather
When i get blitzed tonight, I will be doing it for the remembrance of you, JB. RIP. One of the legitimate greats.
RIP Godfather.
My GF and I just watched him on The Simpsons last night. We have been jamming the Star Time box at work a lot lately. RIP.
Also a vote of thanks to Geir for his comments.
HEY!!! This bandstand wasn’t double-bolted!!!
; (
just heard about this. just recently i was thinking how great his music was/is.
fucking awful. :-(
Frickin’ frick.
RIP. Time to get out the Star Time box.
Currently down south at home, otherwise I’d join you. When I get back, though.
Death took way too many people this year :(:(:(:(:(
I just said elsewhere this really is the last bloody kick of this year’s passings. At least fate saved the best for last.
None of us knew him as a person, just as an icon — and sometimes that’s enough, and it was so here. RIP.
Very sad about this. I think it’s pretty obvious how important his music is to me. Three people have already called this morning to tell me...
Wow.
I don’t know what to say.
I think there should be a tribute song, though called “James Brown Is Dead”. Sortof like Bela Lugosi.
not two nights ago i saw the ad for his nye show and asked myself how long i had left to see him for the first time. apparently a good question. this seems more definitively era-ending than chuck berry will be when (if) he goes.
there’s really no way to articulate james brown, is there? james fucking brown. goddam. r.i.p.
I think there should be a tribute song, though called “James Brown Is Dead”. Sortof like Bela Lugosi.
— Bimbler (Bimble87...), December 25th, 2006.
damm last year it was derek bailey on xmas day, this year james brown, what a festive fuckin season it is
WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 /PRNewswire/ — The following is a statement by President Bush:
Laura and I are saddened by the death of James Brown. For half a century, the innovative talent of the “Godfather of Soul” enriched our culture and influenced generations of musicians. An American original, his fans came from all walks of life and backgrounds. James Brown’s family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers this Christmas.
SOURCE White House Press Office
That makes me want to vomit.
cokeheads gotta stick together
eh I think the fact that he’s getting the response he deserves makes me put aside the GW hate for a minute; when dude was breaking into cars at age 15 I don’t think he ever imagined the president of the united states would one day honor him for his incredible contributions to american musical culture.
Yeah, but you know that the only JB on Bush’s ipod is Jimmy Buffet.
Dubya knows nothing about anything else but country, but it is his job paying tribute to someone who—in spite of what I would have preferred personally, it must be added—has been incredibly influential on today’s music.
There aren’t words to do justice to how important he is.
Indeed. How much music that we listen to and like wouldn’t be there without him? Can we get a percentage?
I’d guess they’re about equal in terms of substance abuse.
i know he had a pretty horrific 80s, but wasn’t JB clean for most of the 50s/60s/70s? fining his band for drugs, etc? i certainly never saw him as a ‘snorting any powder, smoking any stick’ kinda dude. wheras george was born high, and has mostly stayed there.
i had a girlfriend once who refused to listen to JB’s music or acknowledge his genius, because of how he abused his wife. i respect that position, but the music he made was just so insanely brilliant. Star Time is awesome. a lot of his albums are awesome. nearly all of his live albums are insanely awesome.
really very sad about this... and i still feel, despite all the terrible things he did, that he was ultimately a ‘good’ man—albeit flawed, terribly so. just thinking about his 1968 boston set the night Martin luther King died (struggling to find the DVD of this somewhere in the house tonight), or a song like ‘i don’t want nobody to give me nothing (just open up the door i’ll help myself)“—he was just such an inspiration.
Yeah, but you know that the only JB on Bush’s ipod is Jimmy Buffet.
plus ‘i feel good’, off the good morning vietnam soundtrack.
i still feel, despite all the terrible things he did, that he was ultimately a ‘good’ man
Well of course. In the grand cosmic balance of things, he hurt himself and his loved ones with drugs, and he beat his wife. But he also made many millions of people happy, made them dance, inspired them artistically, and made their lives better places to live in. The man’s music, for all his personal flaws, is nothing less then completely essential.
RIP, Mr. Brown. Nothing but the most enormous, almost unspeakable respect. You blew my fucking mind.
Peace, respect, and mad funk.
Trust the art. Forever.
James Brown is never far from my mind nor my stereo. I’m at my mother’s house in Norfolk, Va., waiting for my lost suitcase from yesterday’s flight — in part so I can change clothes, and in part so I can play the copies of “Foundations of Funk” and “Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag” I packed.
“The long-haired hippies and the Afro blacks, they all get together across the tracks — and they *party*.” Rest in peace, Mr. Brown.
on the good foot
Yeah, but you know that the only JB on Bush’s ipod is Jimmy Buffet
I think he’s a bit too laidback (and literary) for W’s taste, even if he’s occasionally reactionary. plus, the fact that he hates Bush.
he got the toast at xmas dinner this afternoon
RIP
IT’S A MAN’S WORLD
BABY
RIP Mr. Brown, consummate showman extraordinaire. That clip from the TAMI show with the multiple caped revivals, damn!
Ha! what it’s all about, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme
Gimme, gimme, gimme, YEEAAH! AACCKK!
R.I.P.
As a Christmas gift to everyone else who feels a little sadder and lonelier tonight, here’s a repost of my transcription of the lyrics to “My Rapp” from the monumental 1970 Christmas Album Hey America:
Sweet Thing … you’re dead now… you’re *dead*… yeah — you’re out cold… but live on — now, now at Christmastime, and the whole year around… right on? Right on.
Look here, Sweet Thing, let me explain myself baby… when I say… you’re dead… I mean, you know, I mean you’re really outtasight, out of sight, totally together. But you, you let me down now… you didn’t even defend yourself… you didn’t *defend* yourself… now I mean… and you left me like, like.. Oh. No. I can’t say this on record, but I’m gonna try to write this little ol’ letter and let you dig my litte ol’ rap. It starts like this… listen to it. For what it’s worth, for what it can mean to you and I both… later on.
Dear Sweet Thing… Fox… All the beautiful things, all the little names that I give you… I sit here so aggravated, and bewildered, because you didn’t… you know you didn’t come home… you didn’t come straight back to me… last night… no fussin’, no fightin’, *no nothin’*… you just up, and split… with another cat.
Of course, I found out later he was your friend… and this much, this morning, I was able… I was able to understand that… after a *very* *hectic* *NIGHT!* You can dig the night was *long*. Now I made it *clear* as possible, as possibly I could say it… baby, don’t go to strangers… come on home to me.
Now it’s true. It’s true, this is a man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothin’… without your kind. That I see now, after 24 hours of sufferin’… tears, cold sweat… “Why does my girl always have to be… the one to go south and go away from me...” and leave me stringin’ on a tree… dinglin’ on a string, that’s alright… I’m gon’ be there when you come back… but I’m gonna give you this little old rap, so you can get this together.
Since you gonna… you know… smoke it in a pipe… it’s just... shoot… but understand what I’m sayin’… I want you to know where I’m comin’ from… now, like, I have a right, you know, to like come on with this old aggravated, uh-uh-antagonizing rap… because I feel a little down… but I think you gonna make it alright because… you just together that way.
Now baby… can’t you just be conscious of, like, every moment in the day and the night… and let all of our moves be for… each other, *together*… you know… and completely. Out of sight. Completely out of sight, in every way… and how can I explain it, when we live, and concentrate, on being happy one hundred percent, in mellow tone, however…
Yes, I know sometime that you aren’t mellow… but, you know, uh, deep down inside I know you’re mellow people… but at least… not as mellow as I hope you would be sometime… but you know how to do somethin’ ’bout that too… ’cause you just to good to be… anything but you…
Now I’m still, I’m still willing to, to… help... for, for… let’s say… help each other… and I don’t care what it take, even if we have to sleep in a tent, as long as I know that we are close together… and that vibrations… of, of your love and affection… and the warmth of you… is there.
“Can’t you see that this opportunity… comes once in a lifetime…” Sometimes my one and all you livin’ in the past time… past time thinks right before your eyes, you know… uh. Well, and sometime it just seems that it’s impossible for you to *see*…you’re not blind, you know… you just hard-headed stubborn, but that’s alright… those are the sweet things that makes you you. And I wouldn’t take nobody else but you.
“You let my flame go out… last night. You let my flame go out…” You know, I-I don’t expect… like, you just, you can sleep James Brown… or you can sleep your man… but, uh, since I’m your man, you can even sleep me, James Brown… you know, ’cause that’s what we talkin’ about, we’re not not talkin’ ’bout John Doe… maybe Johnny Taylor or somebody…. or Bobby Byrd. We’re talking about me and you, or you and I… if you wanna be, you know, correct, but I think to say me and you makes it close, you know I can feel you that way… that’s alright… just take your time.
Respect.
I knew this day would come eventually.
RIP JB
“Blow me some Trane, brother!”
Love me tender
And love me slow
If that don’t get it
Come back for more
My favorite song by anyone over the past month has been “She’s the One,” from “Motherlode” and then “Foundations of Funk.”
Yeah, wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that James Brown was honored at the UK Music Hall of Fame? He looked a little more frail than when I saw him in ’95 and ’00, but he was still moving pretty good, even dancing! He always looked like he was chiseled from stone, and would last forever. No doubt his music will.
JB on stage at Boston Gardens, the day after MLK was assassinated. Anything else I could say wouldn’t do it justice.
I always kinda liked this... OK, it’s a hyperkinetic Tony Scott BMW commercial with Clive Owen and Gary Oldman, but JB runs away with it.
^ best live album ever
Nah it sounds limp next to this one:
no
Have you heard it?
yes
I need to hear that. Besides, isn’t the Sex Machine album live in the studio, with an overdubbed audience?
RIP Godfather and Thank You For All The Music.
Alright, each to his own but damn. The extra horn section, Phelps Collins’ solo on Ain’t It Funky, the ridiculous transitions, the energy level...you can tell it was a hot night rather than studio tracks with fake applause.
xpost
i agree with amon. sex machine is one of the best albums ever.
RIP JB. yr the first dead musician i’ve heard about in my lifetime that actually made me tear up a little bit.
“Best live James Brown album” is a ridiculously difficult choice — you also have Say it Live and Loud, the two Live at the Apollo albums, Live in Zaire...
xxpost—i think parts of it were live in ga and parts were studio in ohio. i’m just way more attached to it and prefer that clean plucked-rubber-band guitar sound over the fuzzed-out tone on love, power peace (admittedly great too)
But man, this is still tough a day later. The one thing to remember is that he wasn’t cut down in his prime like Otis Redding or Sam Cooke and got the chance to amass a huge body of work, not to mention all the other artists he helped into the spotlight like Lyn Collins & Bobby Byrd, all the musicians he introduced to the larger world (Fred, Maceo, the Collins brothers, Stubblefield), and his hand in creating the backbone of about 75% of what I listen to.
xpost—yeah “best ever” aka “my favorite”. i’d rather avoid an ilm pissing contest here
say it live & loud is the best live album by any artist ever, at least while that phenom version of ‘cold sweat’ is playing
And that version of “There Was a Time” that makes Motorhead sound like Music for Airports
xp oh man that book is great!
Your music truly changed the world. Rest in peace, Mr. Brown.
two quick stories.
saw JB play live at a club in Ann Arbor around 1979–80. Sort of a low ebb in his career but no matter, after the endless warm-up from the band and teasing announcements of the Godfather’s imminent arrival he came onstage and got off on the good foot. guest Bootzy Collins played a little space bass and made it xtra special.
interviewed “Mr Brown” in 1986 at the time of “Living In America” and it was the stone highlight of my career. definitely felt the presence of genius. he radiated some kind of intense near-spiritual authority, wasn’t sure if I should genuflect, kiss his ring or what. and without disrespecting the man, he was deifinitely out there as well. this was right after the Sun City boycott so I asked if he would play in South Africa. “Only if the president sent me!” at one point his wife (who sat with us in the room) said something to try and prompt a memory and JB just lashed out at her: THIS MAN DIDN’T COME FROM THE ROLLING STONE TO INTERVIEW YOU HE CAME TO TALK TO THE GODFATHER OF SOUL...seriously I thought he was gonna smack her.
but how many great artists had messy/less than admirable personal lives? it surely doesn’t detract from the work.
JB pwned the 20th century.
not to break up the RIPs, respect, but couldn’t let this pass from slate
Matthew Perpetua at musically inclined Fluxblog gives HER take on the enormity of James Brown’s talent. “James Brown’s greatest gift to the world was his ability to express an undiluted yet highly stylized sexuality via a funk so intense and visceral that it served as the foundation for entire genres of music, but that was not the limit of his talent, only just the summit of his achievements.”
Most Blogged
Getting the most buzz
* James Brown
* Sufjan Stevens
* The Knife
* TV On The Radio
* Hot Chip
* Beck
not to break up the RIPs, respect, but couldn’t let this pass from slate
Matthew Perpetua at musically inclined Fluxblog gives HER take on the enormity of James Brown’s talent. “James Brown’s greatest gift to the world was his ability to express an undiluted yet highly stylized sexuality via a funk so intense and visceral that it served as the foundation for entire genres of music, but that was not the limit of his talent, only just the summit of his achievements.”
— bill sackter (joycevanputi...), December 26th, 2006.
(joke about having tits)
Okay, so I finally broke down today and bought Star Time. Why does it have to take something as bad as this to get me to do that? And why does attempted in-car break dancing caused by MASSIVE FUNK lead to bad driving? The world may never know...
Rodney, my friend, you understand the great mysteries.
And why does attempted in-car break dancing caused by MASSIVE FUNK lead to bad driving?
/dying
dude, you know there’s people driving badly all over the place today. i know i did, cause with jb, i’m superbad!
m.
Didn’t JB once say that prime-era Kool & the Gang could make you crash your car?
Re: “Star Time” — I bought it in 1995 and it blew my mind. after reading the story in the liner notes about King Coleman singing “Do the mashed potatoes” for james under the pseudonym “nat kendrick and the swans” I asked my friend Jeff Lemlich if he knew it. He told me “I interviewed King for my book” I asked him if he thought King would do the mashed potatoes one more time. so jeff tracked him down, he called me and I played the mashed potatoes with him a month later in the middle of a pop punk gig filled with kids. the crowd went nuts.
King was a big influence on Blowfly, and I wound up meeting him while writing an article on King eight years later. The fly and I have toured eight times and made two albums since.
Best boxset ever.
Thanks star time! And thanks James Brown—for being the greatest.
this paris 71 clip is so hottttt:
Odd happening today: I had some time to kill so I browsed through (the Scottish post-punk group) APB’s MySpace profile. Imagine my surprise when I saw how they were “the special guests” at a James Brown concert and that they had a photo of them posed with Mr. Brown backstage from this concert. From apropos of nothing to apropos of everything. And pretty neat connection.
Just a little while ago in November the Library of Congress in DC had a poorly publicized showing of the 1964 TAMI Show movie that I (and around 20 others) attended. I had seen it once before but was glad that I saw it again. James’ dancing and singing was awesome, and his band was incredible. The Stones appearance after him was clearly anticlimatic.
Huh. They just announced the newest inductees to the National Film Registry, and The T.A.M.I. Show is on the list.
Maybe it’ll be released on disc finally, then. When we showed it in college we showed the JB sequence first!
NY Post headline strikes again:
I think I heard the Apollo viewing hours are noon to 7:30 tomorrow? Anyway, too mobbed for me.
All of the good posts have been made already, so I’ll just say I’m happy I got to see him perform two years ago. Rest in peace, sir.
This may be apocryphal (or a character from one of his songs), but I remember reading an interview with Tom Waits years ago where he said that he wrecked his old Oldsmobile while listening to James Brown.
What a fucking massive bummer to hear this on the TV news the other day. & what a fucking stank year ’06 has been for all these great/creative/talented ppl dying.
get used to it guys (:|
this paris 71 clip is so hottttt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0fn-xyaGHE
— scott seward (skotro...), December 27th, 2006 5:15 AM. (121212) (link)
Holy crapppp, you’re right, it is!
Spike Lee is gonna direct the movie. Who plays JB?
please please please NO
Tracy Morgan
o lord.
>“Huh. They just announced the newest inductees to the National Film Registry, and The T.A.M.I. Show is on the list.
— Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), December 27th, 2006.”
Ha. At the Library of Congress showing in November they were asking folks to fill out forms to get it nominated. I had not seen the film since we showed it at the U. of Maryland back in 1980 or so. The Library of Congress has shown it periodically (for FREE) over the years but they do not always seem to get the word out. It would be nice if they worked out the rights to it and it was available on dvd.
What’s the chances of his estate getting all the good stuff like the Paris 71 clip (THANKYOUSOMUCHFORTHATTOTALLYBLEWMYMIND!)& other assorted goodies together for a dvd encompassing his prime. Effa a’YouTube, i wanna be able to put that in my a/v setup TONIGHT!
Polydor has been so good for so long about parceling out his stuff that I have to imagine they’ll open the gates even more now that JB has passed. They always seemed to have him involved in some manner with all the reissues and compilations, so maybe there’s stuff he wasn’t sure about that they were that will see light now. (This post is entirely conjecture, btw. Well, that and wishful thinking.)
Spike Lee is gonna direct the movie. Who plays JB?
— Roy Kasten
More importantly, who plays Al Sharpton?
Eddie Murphy & Anthony Anderson
Huh, that’s a different Paris ’71 show that the one on the record. Same songs & transitions, different versions. It’s still great and I would do some pretty terrible things to get it on dvd.
sweet coffin.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/29/1446218
leave it amy goodman,soul sista #1,to rezz this one up.
if this were an ivan reitman movie,he would pop up and do sum splits.
CNN carried a large part of the funeral ceremony, which included performances by Bobby Byrd, Marva Whitney, Fred Wesley and others. I watched it at Dulles Airport, waiting to make a connection. Pretty great funeral.
i dunno bout you but i’ve been (happily!) surprised at the scale of the national week of james brown. even with ford and saddam going down in the same week, he held his own, media-wise. i guess i’m used to people not getting due deference. my surprise is probably partly from having grown up after his prime (unless you extend his prime to “living in america”) and so not fully knowing how much his significance was recognized contemporaneously, or how many people in their 40s, 50s and 60s have a deep abiding love for the man. anyway, it’s been gratifying. he’s been given a good send-off.
i watched the funeral on NY1 today. very stirring — even michael jackson’s speech moved me.
dick gregory’s was my hands-down favorite though.
Mothra OTM. I missed Gregory; what’d he say? I’ve always admired him.
RIP
steinski is going to do an all-JB tribute mix on beats in space this week, can’t wait.
will that be podcastable?
Wag of the finger to CNN for cutting away to commercial just as Bootsy was playing a solo
WAHT EVIL BASTARDS
JB had 3 diff costumes in 3 days of public viewing! of course the same will probly be true when Buffalo Tom goes.
Christ, much too late to add my own personal RIPs here—the Sandbox c
Here’s another clip from the Paris show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_9JAmGUvw
Listening to “Messing With the Blues,” “Motherlode” and “Bobby Byrd’s Got Soul” tonight. I want a horn section at my funeral. Pls bring rhythm section too.
I also don’t wanna die too soon, so pls also let Fred Wesley live to be +/-150.
will that be podcastable?
yes!
James Brown still hasn’t been buried yet.
The TAMI Show comes to DVD in May.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MGUZDY/103-6252111-3442212
Hmm, wonder if this will include the Beach Boys’ set. I saw a print last summer that didn’t have it.
did the jb poll results happen before ilx died?
No, I guess the good foot will be got back onto, when it does.
yeah...this thread reminding me WHEN he died makes me think it might be cool if the results can get rolled out on or around the 5th anniversary of his passing
maybe it’d be a good idea for strongo to start a sandbox thread encouraging more voting since we ended up with kind of an extended window?
Strongo mentioned Lyfe Implosion a couple of days ago, so the poll results may be dependent on more than ILX coming back. Best wishes to strongo on whatever’s going down.
is this really mostly unheard stuff?
http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=zv4grqnm9j&ref=index.php
Pinch us, we’re dreaming – a lost album from The JBs! The set’s a treasure for any fans of the funky James Brown sound of the early 70s – and it features material originally recorded for release as the first full length album by The JBs in 1972 – but never issued at the time! A few cuts here made it onto other records and singles in different versions, but others are completely fresh – and heard here for the first time ever – really helping expand our understanding of the group at this point in their career. Dave Matthews did a lot of the arrangements for the set, and there’s a surprising amount of jazz in the mix, too – lots of full horn passages that show Fred Wesley leading the group with a damn hard-swinging sound – mixed in with just the right degree of soul you’d expect, but in ways that are different than some of the later JBs jams. Titles include “Transmograpification”, “Use Me”, “Everybody Plays The Fool”, “Sweet Loneliness”, “Watermelon Man”, “Secret Love”, “You’ve Got A Friend”, and “Seulb”. CD also features 4 bonus non-LP singles – “Funky & Some”, “JB Shout”, “Back Stabbers”, and “Alone Again Naturally” – all killer funky 45s
hmmm probably... altho I’m aware of a bunch of those covers being issued as People Records 45s. Involvement of Dave Matthews is a little bit of an eyebrow raiser.
Transmograpification—this has definitely been released
yeah, and I’d heard this before, tho I can’t remember where now. maybe on the JBs comp?
Involvement of Dave Matthews is a little bit of an eyebrow raiser.
it’s not that dave matthews.
this dave matthews is the one that gets a shout out on ‘love power peace’ for leading the additional horns & strings, probably arranged them too.
yes. would be impressive if five year old dave matthews (so bad and so hated) was doing arrangements for james brown back then.
I have the Grodeck Whipperjenny album, I know which Dave Matthews it is
and while he’s an interesting dude (and that album is pretty odd) I don’t think the stuff he did with JB really played to JB’s strengths
ha sorry. any examples of his jb arrangements you don’t like?
well there’s this which is not terrible per se, but the acid-fried electric guitar thing is sort of incongruous, it’s not what James and the JBs do best.
Man, I remember my dad waking me up on Christmas morning with this news. I had him in the Dead Pool that year.
your ... dad?
worst thread i ever started
adults sometimes visit their parents on Christmas iirc
think he misunderstood and thought you had your dad in the dead pool that year.
lotta misunderstandings in this thread.