Good morning, everyone. Today I thought I’d post some tunes and footwork by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. But first,
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James Brown was born in Barnwell, SC in 1933. He began singing Gospel music while still a young child. After his parents moved to Augusta GA he occasionally picked up some pocket change by singing and dancing for passing troops at nearby Fort Gordon in WWII. That was where he heard the blues of Howlin’ Wolf and others. About this time he picked up the piano, the guitar and the harmonica.
When he was 16, Brown was convicted of armed robbery and sent to juvenile detention facility. There he formed a Gospel quartet with some fellow inmates. He also met Bobby Byrd while competing in a ball game outside of the juvenile center. Byrd already had his own band. When he found out James could sing his family sponsored him for a work release program. The senior Mr. Byrd was so impressed by James’ work ethic he got him an early release.
The Gospel group of which Brown and Byrd were members was eventually called The Famous Flames. They were already locally successful when Little Richard performed in Macon. The Flames contacted Richard. He put them in contact with his own manager. The manager got them their first record deal with Brown as lead vocalist.
The ‘60s were the peak years for Brown both with the Famous Flames and his own band. Eventually Brown’s own sound evolved from blues-tinged Gospel into Funk.
Brown temporarily lost a good part of his Black audience in 1972 when he came out and endorsed Richard Nixon. From that, his career took a major hit. Further, he got into trouble with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes. If things couldn’t get worse, the style of Brown’s raw funk was falling out of style in the mid ‘70s and was being replaced by the slick, overproduced Disco.
However, Brown’s career was not over. At his lowest point, he took a job performing at a Hollywood country club. From there, he and his music got parts in major TV and movie releases. He was introduced to another generation.
James Brown died in 2006.
So what’s on your mind this morning?