Christmas Day 2006: The world lost one of the greatest musical pioneers of all time. News of the unexpected death of “Mr. Dynamite”, “Mr. Please, Please” himself, “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown sent shock waves throughout the world. Christmas music from his three Christmas albums played in heavy rotation, along with his vast catalogue of hits during his illustrious 50-year career. Makeshift memorials were placed around the legendary Apollo Theater, the arena where Brown performed more than any other arena in the world. His myriad fans came out in force to pay homage to him and his memory as CD players blasted his music. Fans of all ages danced to his hits on the streets of Harlem, his hometown of August, GA, and all across America. Memorials were also placed around B.B. Kings Blues & Grill Club in New York City, where Brown was scheduled to perform on New Year’s Eve. Fans from all over (including this journalist) signed posters on the venue advertising Brown’s scheduled appearance.
At the viewing of Brown’s body at the Apollo days following his death, I stood in line with thousands of fans as Brown’s music played, James Brown T-shirts were sold, and memories of Brown and his legacy were discussed. One elderly woman proudly stated that she was at the Apollo Theater the night Brown recorded his classic James Brown Live At the Apollo Vol. 1 album. Fans also proudly held up copies of Brown’s 45s and albums.
At Brown’s funeral, thousands of fans came out to pay their respects. The Reverend Al Sharpton, a very close and dear friend of Brown who eulogized the funeral, said, “In my last conversation with James Brown, he said to keep fighting for justice but tell the people to love one another. What happened to us? We are now celebrating being down. What happened to how we went from saying it loud, I’m black and I’m proud, to calling each other niggers, hoes and bitches? We need to change the music and lift the music back to where children and their grandmothers can sit and listen to the music together. I didn’t know that would be our last conversation.”
The late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, also appeared at the funeral and recollected how as a child he was “mesmerized” when he would see Brown perform on television, and he knew what he wanted to do the rest of his life because of James Brown.
Now, five years after the Godfather of Soul’s death, one can look back at his career and see what a true trailblazer he was and marvel at the legacy he left on the world.
Growing up poor in Barneswell, South Carolina before his dad moved him to Augusta, Georgia to be raised by his aunt, Brown had dreams–dreams to aspire to be something greater. As he wrote in his last memoir, I Feel Good: “Everyone has something special to contribute to this country. America is not just a country of rich, white folks anymore. It should be a place where any young person should have the right and, perhaps more important, the belief in the right to do whatever he or she wants with his or her life. The word ‘can’t’ should not exist in the hopes and dreams of any young American today.”
Indeed, the world “can’t” was definitely not in Brown’s vocabulary. Despite the struggles and hardships he endured during childhood and adolescence, he kept on believing in himself and his talent in order to make his dreams possible. In fact, it was his struggles and hardships that formed the basis for much of the music he recorded in his career. As he stated in I Feel Good, “To understand where my music comes from is to understand where I came from and in order to do that, it’s necessary to look at the culture that produced me, and the single most relevant issue of that culture – race.”
Without a doubt, much of Brown’s music reflected not only the pain he endured, but also the pain and struggle that other African Americans endured; at the same time, it focused on uplifting and empowering people.
Brown taught African Americans to be “black and proud”, to “open up the door and get it yourself”, and “don’t be a dropout.” The messages in his music are as relevant today as they were years ago.
His 1966 hit “Don’t Be a Dropout” taught kids not to drop out of school, but rather to stay in school and get the education that they needed. Brown himself did not finish school, so he wanted to teach kids not to make the mistake he made but to get the best education they could get.
His number one soul hit from 1968, “Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud”, is undoubtedly the most important song in soul music history. Recorded some months after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this song taught African Americans to have pride in their ethnicity, to have dignity and self-worth. The same can be said of another one of his important hits a year later, “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself)”. In this song he spoke about the importance of making your own goals and dreams happen without relying on others.
One of his most chilling songs was his 1972 hit “King Heroin”, in which he spoke or “rapped” in the first person as King Heroin who had his followers strung out and doing unthinkable things. In this song, as well as “Public Enemy Number One” and “I Need Help”–tunes from his 1972 classic album There It Is–he was also sending a haunting message to people about the dangers of drug use, warning them about its effects not only on themselves but others. Such records need to be blasted on loud speakers in every inner city neighborhood across America. On another song, the powerful “Mind Power” from his 1973 classic album The Payback, he was again teaching people to learn as much as they can and get as much knowledge as they can to empower themselves so that they can have powerful minds. Hence, “Mind Power.”
Of course, one can’t discuss James Brown without talking about his dance music. Soul Train lines have been done at parties to his “Doing It To Death” (a/k/a “Gonna Have A Funky Good Time”). Records like “I Can’t Stand Myself”, “Sex Machine”, “Get Up Get Into It Get Involved”, “Hot Pants”, “Make It Funky”, “It’s A New Day”, “Get On The Good Foot”, “The Payback”, and “Get Up Offa That Thing” have been mainstays at parties and dances for years and will be for years to come. As many would say, “you can’t have a party without James Brown’s music.” One tune that gets heavy play at parties is his classic live version of “Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose”, which contains his repetitive percolating chant, “Clap your hands! Stomp your feet!”.
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Speaking of footwork, Brown helped pave the way for many to learn and study his fantastic dance moves. From his signature step “The Camel Walk” to a dance named after himself, aptly titled “The James Brown,” Brown was an inspiration to many that came after him–most notably the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. At the 2003 BET Awards, where Brown received a lifetime achievement award, Jackson, with Brown standing beside him, tearfully told the audience, “No one influenced me more than this man right here!” The pairing of the King of Pop and the Godfather of Soul was a classic moment in entertainment history that no one will ever forget.
At the 2005 Grammy Awards, Brown dubbed Usher, who had performed with him, “The Godson of Soul.”
Of important note: the fact that the Godfather of Soul and the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin performed together just one time is unbelievable. Still, their one time on-stage duet in 1987 doing a medley of “It’s A Man’s Man’s World”/”Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” is a classic moment in music history. They went on to do a duet in 1989 called “Gimme Your Love”, an up-tempo funky song that appeared on Franklin’s Through The Storm album (a music video was done for the song, but they did not appear together in it).
For those who feel that Brown wasn’t an actual singer but only a screamer and yeller, they need to listen to his early records. After one listens to his classic tunes such as “Please, Please, Please”, “Try Me”, “Prisoner of Love”, Bewildered”, and “I Want You So Bad”, he or she will believe otherwise. One of Brown’s underrated cuts was his 1978 recording of “Someone To Talk To.” The bluesy, mellow groove complemented Brown’s singing voice perfectly.
It goes without saying that none of Brown’s music would have been possible without the extremely talented musicians that backed him up. The legendary musicians that were part of his band included Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, John “Jabo” Starks, Fred Thomas, and Bootsy Collins. Without a doubt, Brown had the tightest band in the history of music. Brown was also responsible for making big hits for members of his band and entourage, such as the aforementioned “Doing it To Death” by Fred Wesley and the JBs, “I Know You Got Soul” by Bobby Byrd (the man who helped discover Brown), and “Think (About It)” by Lyn Collins, a song that was heavily sampled by Rob Base and D.J. E-Z Rock on their 1988 classic “It Takes Two.”
Speaking of sampling, Brown is the most sampled artist in the history of music. From the late eighties through much of the nineties, one could hear a James Brown yell, squeal, and grunt, or his band’s music in many R&B and rap tunes. Unfortunately, during the time Brown was in prison from 1988 to 1991, many artists took advantage of his music by sampling it without paying the required licensing fees. But after Brown came out of prison, he worked with authorities to get the back royalties he not only deserved but was entitled to from the many artists who sampled his music without compensating him. However, many of the rappers and artists have stated that they were not trying to steal his music, but were rather paying homage to him through sampling his voice or his music. Nevertheless, the Godfather of Soul got paid what he was due.
Brown is indeed the hardest working man in show business. His many weeklong one-nighters at the Apollo Theater, sometimes two shows a night, are indicative of how hard this man worked. Once during a concert he dropped to the floor so hard that his knees were bleeding, but like the trooper and professional entertainer he was, he kept going. He also made sure that his band and every one on stage with him was top notch. From how the musicians played their instruments, to the outfits they wore, to how their shoes were shined and how their hair was styled, everything had to be on point.
When riots broke out across several cities following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it was Brown whom the mayor of Boston called upon to put together an impromptu concert to help calm down the angry youth. Indeed, Brown’s impromptu concert in Boston, which was televised on its local television station, did, for a time, help to quell the violence that ran rampant in that city.
Brown’s music is as important today as it was years ago and should be played more often than it is. He has had more charted hits on Billboard’s R&B charts than any other artist, and on Billboard’s Pop charts he is only second to Elvis Presley in having the most charted hits. Brown united and uplifted thousands of people through the power of his music. Brown’s music is so much more than just the three or so big hits that get played on popular radio stations. From Brown’s early blues material, to his “funk” period, to his songs of self-empowerment, pride, and education, to his message songs about drug use, the Godfather of Soul’s timeless music should forever be a mainstay on radio airwaves.
At a time when certain artists resort to cursing, degrading each other and disrespecting one another with nonsensical lyrics of ignorance, stupidity, materialism, low self-esteem and violence, Brown’s music is reminiscent of a time when the music was clean and anyone, young or old, could listen to it. Brown’s music, like much of the music of that time, elevated minds. As Brown stated on his last TV appearance in late 2006 before his death, “Don’t play anything you can’t play for your mother.” In other words, keep the music clean. Brown’s music also brings to mind an era when all music was real. No sampling. No button pressed on a machine to make “canned music.” Brown used real musicians and the use of real musicians on records will forever outlive the use of digital technology on records.
Brown was about uniting people of all races and spreading love to others. Though he is no longer here, his music and cherished legacy live on. To commemorate the fifth anniversary of his death on Christmas Day 2006, here is a lyric taken from his 1970 Christmas hit, “Santa Claus is Definitely Here to Stay”: “I probably won’t be there this Christmas, but I want to say Merry Christmas to you and to all the people who can’t find themselves. Let’s try to get together and live in peace. Love one another and treat each and every man like your brother with a little love and kindness.”
Check out the Don Cornelius’ interview with Soul Brother #1: James Brown
–Stephen McMillian
In addition to being a journalist, Stephen McMIllian is also developing some creative projects in the entertainment industry.
