James Brown is dead

ATLANTA - The agent for James Brown says the legendary singer known as the "Godfather of Soul" has died.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_en_mu/obit_brown

no story yet....what a tragedy

thanks for everything james :salute:

RIP, James. :cry:

Astounding show. He brought it well and the sold-out crowd never sat ONCE from the first note.

Possibly one of, if not the, most important contribution to modern music in history. How many genres single-handedly spawned from his creations?

Amazing artist. Godspeed and you will be missed.

Seriously - he must be the most sampled artist in the history of sampling.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7K3KbzjT6Sc&mode=related&search=

From the hardest working man in show business...

nt

nervous breakdown along with the cape thing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USTilaOqNHM&eurl=

Why do I get the impression he's coming back? He's going to throw that cape to the ground and fly back down.

I saw him do the cape thing as recently as '99 or 2000, can't remember
the year - but he was still fantastic.

James Brown, `Godfather of Soul,' dead at 73
GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press
ATLANTA - James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died Monday, his agent said. He was 73.

Brown was hospitalized Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital with pneumonia and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, Copsidas said.

The agent said Brown's family is being notified of his death and that it's cause is still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," Copsidas said.

Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, he 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."

MORE: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/16315327.htm

Remember that house techno instrumental "James Brown Is Dead"?

The passing of a legend. It's truly a sad thing.

RIP, Godfather Of Soul.

I'm black and I'm proud!"

That song with all the political overtones helped raise the consciousness of America. James Brown, along with Muhammad Ali, were two of the strongest voices of our generation.

Moreover, his music made you wanna dance! I loved his style and his attitude.

Will be sadly missed.Here is the BBC obituary.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/386563.stm

Thanks for the music.

Today's music owes him so much. RIP, James.

Weird Al did a parody of Living in America called "Living with a Hernia".


I learned a very tacky joke when i was young about James brown which i will not repeat here because there are ladies and gentlemen present.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ANojwdkDcY

Just watched as a means of cheering myself up :(

Peace to James Brown.

rarely are saints

RIP James

And good point. :thumbsup:

I can't believe he's gone.

Saw him in '66. After the required instrumental warmup by his tight-as-a-snare band, he danced in the trademark gold cape, and when that "I feel sooooooo goood! Uh!" came screaming out, everyone in the audience felt soooooo gooood! Uh! He had us for the rest of the two hours. Uh!

Musicians knew him as a harsh taskmaster who fined band members for almost everything, including missing cues or hitting an off note, but he wanted to keep up the reputation of having the tightest backup band in the business. He wore out a lot of guys over the years.

Some friends took me to see him as a surprise.

I was in college and when he came out dragging the coat across the stage it was a sight not to be forgotten.

The audience went wild I mean wild!

At that time, there were tables on the dance floor and we had seats around our table.

About 8 notes into the song, people started jumping on top of the tables dancing!

I was in shock! I knew my parents would never approve of me jumping on top of a table!

About 50 notes into the song, he threw that cape down and I had my friend put me up on the table and I DANCED with the rest of the wild crowd!

It was one of those magical experiences where you couldn't help but be excited by the music, the man, the band and the fantastic audience.

He held that audience from start to finish.

RIP James!

I have seen many entertainers in my life but none had me dancing on a table!
:bounce:

harpboy_ak wrote:

<<<Musicians knew him as a harsh taskmaster who fined band members for almost everything, including missing cues or hitting an off note,>>>

This is certainly true. A classic example being during live performances in the 60's, when someone would miss a cue or hit a duff note, he would shout "I Gotcha!" like it was a standard JB ad-lib, while pointing a finger in the general direction of the unfortunate recepient. That would generally cost the cat $25-$50 per "infraction" and it was sometimes the case that a really off night could result in a band member not getting paid at all! OWWW!!!!

A Yuletide Mp3 from the Godfather:

http://www.ampcamp.com/images//albums/sounds/mp3_of_day/B/James_Brown_santa_claus_go_straight_to_the_ghetto.mp3

I met James Brown... He put on a Christmas charity concert for the inmates at the Joliet Correctional Center, back in the early 90's. I was working the front gates at the prison, and was part of his security detail. Nice guy... Couldn't understand a single word he was saying, when he spoke, but the fellow just kept on smiling.

But man, oh, man - what a show...

"Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year" nearly brought me to tears, but the incredibly funky bassline in "Soulful Christmas" got me back in line.

in my memories.

Recommended and :kick:ed

Maceo was waiting at the gate with his cape?
R.I.P Mr Brown

Him and Gerald

I've had a continous James Brown kick the last years - he was a true genious IMHO. R.I.P. James Brown.

From "Living in America":



From "Play that funky music":



Goodbye James, hope you're still playing that funky music somewhere!

How in the world is he gonna make a song saying "play that funky music white boy"?

On another note, I just happened to watch this video on youtube with James Brown bringing Michael Jackson and Prince up to the stage at a concert in 1983 just before I heard the news of his passing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t16tJUGPy5I

it was written by Robert W. Parissi and was performed many times by James Brown.

Wild Cherry's version is probably the best known.

whereas Wild Cherry had a Top 40 hit with it. Rob Parissi was the leader of Wild Cherry so your revelation that Parissi wrote the song is totally meaningless.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that James Brown NEVER ONCE performed that lame-ass song. With his incredbible back catalogue, why would James Brown need to play somebody else's hit?

You're seriously comparing the Godfather of Soul to one-hit wonders and funk wannabes Wild Cherry, well that is very sad.

It's embarrassing to see references to Weird Al Yankovich, "Hot Tub" and "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" in a James Brown memorial thread. Really embarassing.

but Brown did cover the song and I found several references to his version so I thought it ok to include the lyrics here.

If your upset, I apologize for making the reference in my OP.

and that he actually wrote Funky White Boy but had to find an actual funky white boy to ghost-sing it for him so as not to give himself away?

His legacy as a musician is legendary. From his band, his dress, and his upbeat style, he was truly one of a kind and one of the first to gain success with his own individual style.

What I admire about him, was his ability to motivate and inspire generations of musicians. The music world will be an emptier place with his passing.

My favorite JB song: "Pass the Peas" I think I will have peas for dinner tonight in tribute to JB's legacy to music!

you are gone too soon -- we will all miss you so very, very much.

bless you!

Thanks for the memories

Love the vibez!

I was amazed & thrilled!!

RIP James Brown.

:cry:

A tiny club with no more than 100 people. Sadly I only recall a flash of light, and dancing wildly. After that night my friend Jimmy changed his name to James.

I knew a guy who used to be his bodyguard. I remember him saying that James would go back stage with a suitcase full of cash, and hand out the pay.

He was the hottest thing alive back then.

That was the caption that appeared on the label of his Polydor 45's in the 1970s. And like Waylon said, "It ain't braggin' if you done it."

I think it was 2003 when he played at Riverfront Amphitheatre in Little Rock. You could tell that he had slowed down (which would put him at approximately normal human speed), but the crowd was delighted. Even some of the kids knew who he was!

Wilson Pickett in January and James Brown on Christmas Day. Bookends to a sad year.

Rock on, JB. You truly were Soul Brother Number One!

:loveya:
dbt
There Was A Time

I laughed myself sick over this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly_CGin6QS8

I bet St Peter had James' cape ready for him!

Rest in peace, James Brown. Your music lives on.

But can they reproduce the magical ecstatic delirious trance James Brown, the Hitman, the Godfather, Soul Brother No 1, his musicians, his dancers, his show on-stage would put the whole place in? Chills are now running up and down my arms and spine just remembering the times I experienced James Brown live, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. Nobody else could do what he did. The whole thing. That's what we'll mis.

...

:kick:

Rest in peace, Godfather.

RIP

This is truly bad news on this weird Christmas Day.

He brought so much fun and pleasure to us. A very exciting performer!

RIP, James.

:cry:

RIP and thanks, Mr. Brown!

Believe it or not, I am somewhat relieved by this. I just lost my beloved cat on the night of winter solstice. But he has good company now.

Because of you, when I feeel good, I can testify to that.

tell me it's not true. Quite a shock. I never actually got to see him perform, therefore my life will always be incomplete. RIP, almighty Godfather of Soul!!

Thank you for many, many years of great music.

on Christmas morning.

Rest in peace, James.

Too bad he won't get to see his first surge in record sales in years.

:cry:
rocknation

:(

Never was there a musician more capable of getting me up to dance. He was and always will be an inspiration. "The Godfather" does reach well and deep down into the soul.

:patriot:

James Brown sang this song in 2000, at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. He walked up the aisle into the audience singing in the most soulful,soft voice:

If I ruled the world, ev'ry day would be the first day of spring
Every heart would have a new song to sing
And we'd sing of the joy every morning would bring

If I ruled the world, ev'ry man would be as free as a bird,
Ev'ry voice would be a voice to be heard
Take my word we would treasure each day that occurred

My world would be a beautiful place
Where we would weave such wonderful dreams
My world would wear a smile on its face
Like the man in the moon has when the moon beams
If I ruled the world every man would say the world was his friend
There'd be happiness that no man coud end
No my friend, not if I ruled the world
Every head would be held up high
There'd be sunshine in everyone's sky
If the day ever dawned when I ruled the world

I've been fortunate to see many great and famous performers, but that song and moment in time was a wondrous moment. He was more than soul and funk, he was a man. May James Brown rest in eternal peace.

How sad, another legend gone.

He was responsible for bringing white and black youth together at a time, at least in the South, when that simply wasn't happening. I went to a concert of his in 1964 in Atlanta when schools were still racially segregated, social interaction between blacks and whites was virtually non-existent, and not one of my friend's parents or mine (all white) would have allowed such a thing to happen if they had known exactly which concert we were attending.

He was just so cool and wonderful that we risked everything to get into that concert...and it was just what we expected. For the first time in our lives we simply hang out, danced, and loved being together with other young people who were just like us...except for skin color, and that didn't matter. Many of us came away that night totally changed forever. Ahem, we are all now dems, of course.

It didn't just happen that one night in Atlanta: there were fans across America that made a bridge across racial divides because of the love of one man. That's a LEGACY, JB! May you rest in peace.

James Brown, the original soul man!!
(I was 7 when I asked my brother, who was that guy??)

Who remembers the song by L.A. Style, "James Brown Is Dead"?

...
once in a kind of a dinner theater type setting...it was nice but...then there was..
once at the Cabooze in Mpls.
the place was packed.... if a fire marshal or inspector had walked in he'd have been obligated to close it down....it was shoulder-to-shoulder from front to back.
it was a riproaring show, all of his hits, and -- it was a hot summer night -- by the time it was over everybody in the bar was as drenched in sweat as James Brown was....it was unforgettable.
Thanks, JB!


if you can get your hands on a double-album "Live at the Apollo" grab it.
had the vinyl and ultimately wore it out....I was the only one in my crowd of friends that had it and it got nerdy ol' me a LOT of cool points.....i think it's been re-issued on CD in recent years.....oh, doin' the camel-walk......

and in the sixties, seventies, eighties.

I loved him. He put on one of the greatest performances in
rock and roll.

He would always give away some bicycles to the kids and they would shine a spotlight on some kid and he/she would win. A couple of times the spot light was shown on me because I was a white face in a sea of black faces. One time when that happened he said, "We even have some white folks here!"

I always liked when he did Mr Please Please.

Rest in Peace, James.:cry:

I just found out the James Brown campaigned for Nixon. I never knew that.