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James Joseph Brown, Jr. (May 3, 1933 –
December 25, 2006)[1][2], most commonly known as James Brown (also known
as The Godfather of Soul), was an African American entertainer who was
recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century music.
As a prolific singer, songwriter,
bandleader and record producer, Brown was a seminal force in the
evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his
mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae,
disco, dance and electronic music, afrobeat, and hip-hop music.
Brown began his professional music career
in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the
strength of his thrilling live performances and a string of smash hits.
In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to
score hits in every decade through the 1980s. In the 1960s and 1970s
Brown was a presence in American political affairs, noted especially for
his activism on behalf of African Americans and the poor (as well as his
outspoken support for Richard Nixon).
Brown was recognized by a plethora of
(mostly self-bestowed) titles, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr.
Dynamite, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New
New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please, The Boss, and the
best-known, the Godfather of Soul. He was renowned for his shouting
vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style.
****
Birth name James Joseph Brown, Jr.
Born May 3, 1933
Augusta, Georgia, USA
Died December 25, 2006
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Genre(s) R&B/soul/funk
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, dancer,
bandleader, record producer
Instrument(s) Singing,
organ/piano/keyboard, drums & guitar
Years active 1956 - 2006
Label(s) King/Polydor Records
Associated
acts
****
Biography
Early life
Brown was born in the small town of
Barnwell in Great Depression-era South Carolina as James Joseph Brown,
Jr; as an adult, Brown would legally change his name to remove the "Jr."
designation.[3] Brown's family eventually moved to nearby Augusta,
Georgia. During his childhood, Brown helped support his family by
picking cotton in the nearby fields and shining shoes downtown. In his
spare time, Brown variously spent time either practicing his skills in
Augusta-area halls, or committing petty crimes. At the age of sixteen,
he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to a juvenile detention
center upstate in Toccoa from 1948.
While in prison, Brown later made the
acquaintance of Bobby Byrd, whose family helped Brown secure an early
release after serving only three years of his sentence, under the
condition that he not return to Augusta or Richmond County and that he
would try to get a job. After brief stints as a boxer and baseball
pitcher (a career move ended by leg injury) Brown turned his energy
toward music.
The beginnings of the Famous Flames
Brown and Bobby Byrd's sister Sarah
performed in a gospel group called "The Gospel Starlighters" from 1955.
Eventually, Brown joined Bobby Byrd's group the Avons, and Byrd turned
the group's sound towards secular rhythm and blues. Now called The
Famous Flames, Brown and Byrd's band toured the Southern "chitlin'
circuit", and eventually signed a deal with the Cincinnati, Ohio-based
King Records, presided over by Syd Nathan.
The group's first recording and single,
credited to "James Brown with the Famous Flames", was "Please, Please,
Please" (1956). It was a #5 R&B hit and a million-selling single.
However, their subsequent records failed to live up to the success of
"Please, Please, Please". After nine failed singles, King was ready to
drop Brown and the Flames until the success of their 1958 single "Try
Me." While not a big hit, it went to number forty-eight on the Billboard
Hot 100, which was enough to keep the group working Southern one-night
stands.[1] Nearly all of the group's releases were written or co-written
by Brown, who assumed primary control of the band from Byrd and
eventually began billing himself as a solo act with The Famous Flames as
his backup.
These early recordings, also including
"I'll Go Crazy" (1959) and "Bewildered" (1960), were fairly
straightforward gospel-inspired R&B compositions, heavily inspired by
the work of contemporary musicians such as Little Richard and Ray
Charles. Yet the songs were already marked by a rhythmic acuity and
vocal attack that would later become even more pronounced, contributing
to the developing style that would eventually be called "funk". Brown,
in fact, called Little Richard his idol, and credited Little Richard's
saxophone-studded mid-1950's road band The Upsetters as the first to put
the funk in the rock and roll beat. [4]
Brown's arrangements and instrumentation,
initially standardized, began to give way to more improvisational and
rhythm-heavy tracks such as 1961's #5 R&B hit "Night Train", arguably
the first single to showcase the beginnings of what today is considered
the "James Brown sound". Except for declamatory ad-libs by Brown, "Night
Train" is completely instrumental, featuring prominent horn charts and a
fast, highly accented rhythm track.
"Papa gets a brand new bag"
While Brown's early singles were major hits
in the southern United States and regularly became R&B Top Ten hits, he
and the Flames were not nationally successful until his self-financed
live show was captured on the LP Live at the Apollo in 1962, released
without the consent of his label King Records.
Brown followed this success with a string
of singles that, along with the work of Allen Toussaint in New Orleans,
essentially defined funk music. 1964's "Out of Sight" was, even more
than "Night Train" had been, a harbinger of the new James Brown sound.
Its arrangement was raw and unornamented, the horns and the drums took
center stage in the mix, and Brown's vocals had taken on an even more
intensely rhythmic feel. However, Brown violated his contract with King
again by recording "Out of Sight" for Smash Records; the ensuing legal
battle resulted in a one year ban on the release of his vocal
recordings.[5]
The mid-1960s was the period of Brown's
greatest popular success. Two of his signature tunes, "Papa's Got a
Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)," both from 1965, were
Brown's first Top 10 pop hits as well as major #1 R&B hits, remaining
the top-selling single in black venues for over a month apiece. His
national profile was further boosted that year by appearances in the
films Ski Party and the concert film The T.A.M.I. Show, in which he
upstaged The Rolling Stones. In his concert repertoire and on record,
Brown mingled his innovative rhythmic essays with ballads such as "It's
a Man's Man's Man's World" (1965), and even Broadway show tunes.
Brown continued to develop the new funk
idiom. "Cold Sweat" (1967), a song with almost no chord changes, was
considered a departure even compared to Brown's other recent
innovations. Critics have since come to see it as a high-water mark in
the dance music of the 1960s; it is sometimes called the first "true"
funk recording.
Brown would often make creative adjustments
to his songs for greater appeal. He sped up the released version of
"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" to make it even more intense and
commercial. He also began spinning off new compositions from the grooves
of earlier ones by continual revision of their arrangements. For
example, the hit "There Was a Time" emerged out of the chord progression
and rhythm arrangements of the 1967 song "Let Yourself Go."[6]
The late 1960s: "Ain't It Funky Now"
Brown employed musicians and arrangers who
had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as
a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B
with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis
Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor
to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band; guitarist Jimmy Nolen
provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song; Maceo
Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many
performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart singer and
sideman Bobby Byrd; drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, and
Melvin Parker (Maceo's brother); saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney;
trombonist Fred Wesley; guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum; and bassist
Bernard Odum.
As the 1960s came to a close, Brown refined
his funk style even further with "I Got the Feelin'" and "Licking
Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968), and "Funky Drummer"
(recorded in 1969). By this time Brown's "singing" increasingly took the
form of a kind of rhythmic declamation that only intermittently featured
traces of pitch or melody. His vocals, not quite sung but not quite
spoken, would be a major influence on the technique of rapping, which
would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades.
Supporting his vocals were instrumental arrangements that featured a
more refined and developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style. The horn
section, guitars, bass, and drums all meshed together in strong rhythms
based around various repeating riffs, usually with at least one musical
"break".
Brown's recordings influenced musicians
across the industry, most notably Sly and his Family Stone, Charles
Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and
soul shouters like Edwin Starr , Temptations David Ruffin and Dennis
Edwards, and a then-prepubescent Michael Jackson, who took Brown's
shouts and dancing into the pop mainstream as the lead singer of
Motown's The Jackson 5. Those same tracks would later be resurrected by
countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s on; in fact, James Brown
remains the world's most sampled recording artist, and "Funky Drummer"
is itself the most sampled individual piece of music.[citation needed]
The content of Brown's songs was now
developing along with their delivery. Socio-political commentary on the
black person's position in society and lyrics praising motivation and
ambition filled songs like "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud"
(1968) and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door
I'll Get It Myself)" (1970). However, while this change gained him an
even greater position in the black community, it lost him much of his
white audience who could no longer relate to his lyrics.
The 1970s: The JB's
By 1970, most of the members of James
Brown's classic 1960s band had quit his act for other opportunities. He
and Bobby Byrd employed a new band that included future funk greats such
as bassist Bootsy Collins, Collins' guitarist brother Phelps "Catfish"
Collins, and trombonist/musical director Fred Wesley. This new backing
band was dubbed "The JB's", and made their debut on Brown's 1970 single
"(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine". Although it would go through
several lineup changes (the first in 1971), The JB's remain Brown's most
familiar backing band.
As Brown's musical empire grew (he bought
radio stations in the late 1960s, including Augusta's WRDW, where he had
shined shoes as a boy), his desire for financial and artistic
independence grew as well. In 1971, he began recording for Polydor
Records; among his first Polydor releases was the #1 R&B hit "Hot Pants
(She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)". Many of his
sidemen and supporting players, such as Fred Wesley & the JB's, Bobby
Byrd, Lyn Collins, Myra Barnes, and Hank Ballard, released records on
Brown's subsidiary label, People, which was created as part of Brown's
Polydor contract. These recordings are as much a part of Brown's legacy
as those released under his own name, and most are noted examples of
what might be termed James Brown's "house" style. The early 1970s marked
the first real awareness, outside the African-American community, of
Brown's achievements. Miles Davis and other jazz musicians began to cite
Brown as a major influence on their styles, and Brown provided the score
for the 1973 blaxploitation film Black Caesar.
In 1974 Brown performed in Zaire as part of
the build up to the The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali
and George Foreman.
His 1970s Polydor recordings were a
summation of all the innovation of the last twenty years, and while some
critics maintain that he declined artistically during this period,
compositions like "The Payback" (1973); "Papa Don't Take No Mess" and
"Stoned to the Bone" (1974); "Funky President (People It's Bad)" (1975);
and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (1976) are still considered among his best.
Into the late-1970s and 1980s
By the mid-1970s, Brown's star-status was
on the wane, and key musicians such as Bootsy Collins had begun to
depart to form their own groups. The disco movement, which Brown
anticipated, and some say originated, found relatively little room for
Brown; his 1976 albums Get Up Offa That Thing and Bodyheat were his
first flirtations with "disco-fied" rhythms incorporated into his funky
repertoire. While 1977's Mutha's Nature and 1978's Jam 1980's generated
no charted hits, 1979's The Original Disco Man LP is a notable late
addition to his oeuvre. It contained the song "It's Too Funky in Here,"
which was his last top R&B hit of the decade.
Brown experienced something of a resurgence
in the 1980s, effectively crossing over to a broader, more mainstream
audience. He made cameo appearances in the feature films The Blues
Brothers, Doctor Detroit, and Rocky IV, as well as being a guest star in
the Miami Vice episode "Missing Hours" in 1988. He also released
Gravity, a modestly popular crossover album, and the hit 1985 single
"Living in America". Acknowledging his influence on modern hip-hop and
R&B music, Brown collaborated with hip-hop artist Afrika Bambaataa on
the single "Unity", and worked with the group Full Force on a #5 R&B hit
single, 1988's "Static," from the hip-hop influenced album I'm Real. The
drum break to his 1969 song "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" became so
popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) in the late
1970s and early 1980s that hip hop founding father Kurtis Blow calls the
song "the national anthem of hip hop."[1]
Later years and death
In spite of his return to the limelight, by
the late 1980s, Brown met with a series of legal and financial setbacks.
In 1988, he was arrested following a high-speed car chase down
Interstate 20 in Augusta. He was imprisoned for threatening pedestrians
with firearms and abuse of PCP, as well as for the repercussions of his
flight. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was
eventually released in 1991 after having only served three. A new album
called Love Overdue was released that same year, with the new single
"Move On".
During the 1990s and 2000s, Brown was
repeatedly arrested for drug possession and domestic abuse. However, he
has continued to perform regularly and even record, and has made
appearances in television shows and films such as Blues Brothers 2000.
The 1991 four-CD box set Star Time spans his four-decade career. Nearly
all his earlier LPs have been re-released on CD, often with additional
tracks and commentary by experts on Brown's music. In 1993, James Brown
released a new album called Universal James, which spawned the singles
"Can't Get Any Harder", "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina". In 1995, the live
album Live At The Apollo 1995 was released, featuring a new track
recorded in the studio called "Respect Me". It was released as a single
that same year. A megamix called "Hooked on Brown" was released as a
single in 1996. And in 1998, James Brown released a new studio album,
I'm Back, featuring the single "Funk On Ah Roll".
In 2002, James Brown released the album The
Next Step, which features the single "Killing is Out, School is In."
Brown appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final Live 8
concert, on July 6, 2005, where he did a duet with British pop star Will
Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." He also did a duet with another
British pop star, Joss Stone, a week earlier on the UK chat show Friday
Night with Jonathan Ross. Before his death, he was scheduled to perform
a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" on her new album
Venus, scheduled for release in early 2007.
In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades
Of Funk World Tour", to be his last, performing all over the world. His
latest shows were still greeted with positive reviews. His last Irish
performance was at the Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006.
On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted to
the UK Music Hall of Fame. He was one of several inductees that
performed at the ceremony.
Brown was admitted to the Emory Crawford
Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on December 24, 2006 after a dentist
visit where he was found to have severe pneumonia.[7] Brown died the
next day on December 25, 2006, around 1:45 a.m. (06:45 UTC),[2] at the
age of 73. Brown is remembered amongst peers and fans for his far
reaching influence and commitment to his music.
Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music said the
cause of death was uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what
he died of," he said. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side,
Copsidas said.
Personal life and dedications to Brown
Brown had been married four times. He and
his last wife Tommie Raye Hynie were married in 2002, but the marriage
was annulled. They remarried in 2004 and had one child together. Brown
also had two children by his first wife, Velma Warren, and three more by
his second, Deidre Jenkins. Adrienne Rodriegues, Brown's third wife, had
him arrested four times on charges of assault.
James Brown lived in a riverfront home in
Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from
Augusta. On November 11, 1993, Augusta mayor Charles DeVaney held a
ceremony during which Augusta's 9th Street was renamed "James Brown
Boulevard" in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a
seventy-second birthday present for James Brown, the city of Augusta
unveiled a seven-foot bronze statue of Brown. The statue was to have
been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because
of a domestic abuse charge Brown was facing at the time. He later
forfeited bond on the domestic abuse charge.
On August 22, 2006, the Augusta-Richmond
County Coliseum Authority voted to rename the city civic center the
James Brown Arena.
Trivia
Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center
Honors for 2003, and a scheduled 2004 unveiling of a statue of Brown in
Augusta was delayed because of James Brown's ongoing legal problems.
Brown's eyebrows were tattoos.
In December 2004 Brown was diagnosed with
prostate cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery.
Brown collaborated in the production of
Soul Survivor -- The James Brown Story with English director Jeremy
Marre.
Brown held the record for the artist who
has charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever
hitting number one on that chart.
At around the time of his legal troubles in
the late 1980s, there happened to be a Supreme Court vacancy. Late-night
talk-show host Arsenio Hall proposed nominating Brown, because "He's
black, he's liberal... and he's familiar with the court system!"
A mistaken news broadcast reported him as
dead in 1992. A sample of that broadcast became the basis of a techno
hit for L.A. Style called "James Brown Is Dead".
James Brown Jr. was featured as a recurring
character on Mad TV, played by Aries Spears. The portrayal was an
humorously exaggerated parody of Brown's energetic performing style.
Brown was the subject of the Tom Tom Club's
1982 hit song, "Genius of Love."
Brown's 1976 single "Hot" (I Need To Be
Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B #31) was a cover of David Bowie's
"Fame", not the other way around. The funky riff was provided to
co-writers Lennon/Bowie by guitarist Carlos Alomar.
"Funky President" and "The Payback" were
included in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on
fictional radio station Master Sounds 98.3.
"The Payback" was prominently played in the
film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Brown's works have been sampled by a number
of the most popular rap artists of the 80's, 90's and 00's.
He appeared at the World Championship
Wrestling pay-per-view event SuperBrawl X in 2000, dancing alongside
wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller.
Buy at AllPosters.com 
Discography
****
[Discography from Wikipedia.com at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown_discography]
Charting singles
Given are chart positions for the Billboard
R&B Singles Chart, the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK singles chart.
1956: "Please, Please, Please" (R&B #5)
1959: "I Want You So Bad" (R&B #20)
1959: "Try Me" (R&B #1, U.S. #48)
1960: "I'll Go Crazy" (R&B #15)
1960: "Think" (R&B #7, U.S. #33)
1960: "This Old Heart" (R&B #20, U.S. #79)
1960: "You've Got the Power" (R&B #14, U.S.
#86)
1960: "The Bells" (U.S. #68)
1961: "Baby, You're Right" (R&B #2, U.S.
#49)
1961: "Bewildered" (R&B #8, U.S. #40)
1961: "I Don't Mind" (R&B #4, U.S. #47)
1961: "Just You and Me, Darling" (R&B #17)
1962: "Lost Someone" (R&B #2, U.S. #48)
1962: "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." (R&B #21,
U.S. #82)
1962: "Night Train" (R&B #5, U.S. #35)
1962: "Shout and Shimmy" (R&B #16, U.S.
#61)
1962: "Three Hearts in a Tangle" (R&B #18,
U.S. #93)
1963: "Every Beat of My Heart" (U.S. #99)
1963: "Like a Baby" (R&B #24)
1963: "Prisoner of Love" (R&B #6, U.S. #18)
1963: "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered" (U.S.
#77)
1963: "These Foolish Things" (U.S. #55)
1964: "Caldonia" (U.S. #95)
1964: "Oh Baby Don't You Weep" - Part 1
(U.S. #23)
1964: "Out Of Sight" (U.S. #24)
1964: "Please, Please, Please" (reissue,
U.S. #95)
1964: "The Things That I Used To Do" (U.S.
#99)
1965: "Have Mercy Baby" (U.S. #92)
1965: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" - Part I
(R&B #1, U.S. #8, UK #25)
1965: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (R&B #1,
U.S. #3, UK #29)
1965: "Try Me" (reissue, R&B #34, U.S. #63)
1966: "Ain't That a Groove" Pts. 1 & 2 (R&B
#6, U.S. #42)
1966: "Don't Be A Drop-Out" (R&B #4, U.S.
#50)
1966: "I'll Go Crazy" (reissue, R&B #38,
U.S. #73)
1966: "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (R&B
#1, U.S. #8, UK #13)
1966: "Lost Someone" (reissue, U.S. #94)
1966: "Money Won't Change You" - Part
1(U.S. #53
1966: "Sweet Little Baby Boy" - Part 1
(U.S. #8)
1967: "Bring It Up" (U.S. #29)
1967: "Cold Sweat" - Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S.
#7)
1967: "Get It Together" - Part 1 (U.S. #40)
1967: "Kansas City" (R&B #21, U.S. #55)
1967: "Let Yourself Go" (R&B #5, U.S. #46)
1967: "Think" (reissue, U.S. #100)
1968: "America Is My Home, Pt. 1" (R&B #13,
U.S. #52)
1968: "Goodbye My Love" (U.S. #31)
1968: "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch
Me)" (R&B #4, U.S. #28)
1968: "I Got The Feelin'" (R&B #1, U.S. #6)
1968: "I Guess I'll Have To Cry, Cry, Cry"
(R&B #15, U.S. #55)
1968: "Licking Stick - Licking Stick" -
Part 1 (R&B #2, U.S. #14)
1968: "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm
Proud" - Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #10)
1968: "There Was A Time" (R&B #3, U.S. #36)
1968: "Tit For Tat" (Ain't No Taking Back)"
(U.S. #86)
1968: "You've Got To Change Your Mind" (R&B
#47)
1969: "Ain't It Funky Now" (R&B #3, U.S.
#24)
1969: "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (R&B
#1, U.S. #15)
1969: "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me
Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" (R&B #3, U.S. #20)
1969: "Let A Man Come In And Do The
Popcorn" - Part One (R&B #2, U.S. #21)
1969: "Lowdown Popcorn" (R&B #16, U.S. #41)
1969: "Mother Popcorn (You Got To Have A
Mother For Me)" Part 1(R&B #1, U.S. #11)
1969: "The Popcorn" (R&B #11, U.S. #30)
1970: "Ain't It Funky Now" (U.S. #24)
1970: "Brother Rapp" - Part 1 &" (Part 2)"
(U.S. #32)
1970: "Funky Drummer" - Part 1 (U.S. #51)
1970: "Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A)
Sex Machine" (Part 1)" (R&B #2, U.S. #15, UK #32)
1970: "It's A New Day" - Part 1 & Part 2
(U.S. #32)
1970: "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To
Stay" (U.S. #7)
1970: "Super Bad" - Part 1 & Part 2 (R&B
#1, U.S. #13)
1971: "Escape-ism" - Part 1 (R&B #6, U.S.
#35)
1971: "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" -
Pt. 1 (R&B #4, U.S. #34)
1971: "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She
Got To Get What She Wants)" – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #15)
1971: "I Cried" (R&B #15, U.S. #50)
1971: "I'm A Greedy Man" - Part I (R&B #7,
U.S. #35)
1971: "Make It Funky" - Part 1 (R&B #1,
U.S. #22)
1971: "Soul Power" - Pt. 1 (R&B #3, U.S.
#29, UK #78)
1971: "Spinning Wheel" - Pt. 1 (U.S. #90)
1971: "Hey America" (UK #47)
1972: "Get On The Good Foot" - Part 1 (R&B
#1, U.S. #18)
1972: "I Got A Bag Of My Own" (U.S. #44)
1972: "King Heroin" (R&B #6, U.S. #40)
1972: "Talking Loud And Saying Nothing" -
Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #27)
1973: "Down And Out In New York City" (R&B
#13, U.S. #50)
1973: "I Got A Bag Of My Own" (R&B #3)
1973: "I Got Ants In My Pants (and I Want
to Dance)" - Part 1 (U.S. #27)
1973: "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" (R&B #6, U.S. #50)
1973: "Think" (R&B #15, U.S. #77)
1974: "Coldblooded" (U.S. #44)
1974: "Funky President" (People It's Bad)"
(R&B #4, U.S. #44)
1974: "My Thang" (R&B #1, U.S. #29)
1974: "Papa Don't Take No Mess" - Part I
(R&B #1, U.S. #31)
1974: "Stoned To The Bone" - Part 1 (R&B
#4, U.S. #58)
1974: "The Payback" - Part I (R&B #1, U.S.
#26)
1975: "Hustle!!!" (Dead On It)" (R&B #11)
1975: "Reality" (R&B #19, U.S. #80)
1975: "Sex Machine" (U.S. #61, UK #47)
1975: "Superbad, Superslick" - Part I (R&B
#28)
1976: "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B #4,
U.S. #45, UK #22)
1976: "Hot" (I Need To Be Loved, Loved,
Loved, Loved)" (R&B #31)
1976: "I Refuse To Lose" (R&B #47)
1977: "Body Heat" (UK #36)
1977: "Give Me Some Skin" (R&B #20)
1978: "Eyesight" (R&B #38)
1978: "The Spank" (R&B #26)
1979: "For Goodness Sakes, Look At Those
Cakes" - Part I (R&B #52)
1979: "It's Too Funky In Here" (R&B #15)
1979: "Star Generation" (R&B #63)
1980: "Rapp Payback" (Where iz Moses)" (R&B
#46, UK #39)
1980: "Regrets" (R&B #63)
1981: "Stay With Me" (R&B #80)
1983: "The Night Time Is The Right Time"
(To Be With The One That You Love)" (R&B #73)
1983: "Bring It On... Bring It On" (UK #45)
1984: "Unity" (with Afrika Bambaataa) (UK
#49)
1985: "Froggy Mix" (UK #50)
1985: "Living in America" (R&B #10, U.S.
#4, UK #5)
1986: "Gravity" (R&B #26, U.S. #93, UK #65)
1987: "How Do You Stop" (R&B #10, UK #90)
1988: "She's The One" (UK #45)
1988: "The Payback Mix Pt 1" (UK #12)
1988: "I'm Real" (R&B #2, UK #32)
1988: "Static, Pts. 1 & 2" (R&B #5, UK #83)
1989: "Gimme Your Love" (with Aretha
Franklin) (UK #79)
1991: "(So Tired of Standing Still We Got
to) Move On" (R&B #48)
1992: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (vs
Dakeyne) (UK #72)
1993: "Can't Get Any Harder" (R&B #76, UK
#59)
1999: "Funk On Ah Roll" (UK #40)
Albums
Please Please Please (1959)
Try Me (1959)
Think (1960)
The Amazing James Brown (1961)
James Brown Presents His Band/Night Train
(1961)
Shout And Shimmy (1962)
James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the
USA (1962)
Live at the Apollo (1963)
Prisoner of Love (1963)
Excitement - Mr. Dynamite (1963)
Pure Dynamite: Live at the Royal (1964)
Showtime (1964)
The Unbeatable James Brown (1964)
Grits and Soul (1964)
Out Of Sight (1964)
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (1965)
I Got You (I Feel Good) (1966)
James Brown Plays James Brown Today and
Yesterday (1966)
Mighty Instrumentals (1966)
James Brown Plays New Breed (The
Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966)
Soul Brother No. 1: It's A Man's Man's
Man's World (1966)
James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)
Handful of Soul (1966)
The James Brown Show (1967)
Sings Raw Soul (1967)
James Brown Plays The Real Thing (1967)
Live At The Garden (1967)
Cold Sweat (1967)
James Brown Presents His Show of Tomorrow
(1968)
I Can't Stand Myself (1968)
I Got The Feelin' (1968)
Live At The Apollo, Volume 2 (1968)
Jams Brown Sings Out Of Sight (1968)
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few
Nice Things (1968)
A Soulful Christmas (1968)
Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Gettin' Down To It (1969)
The Popcorn (1969)
It's A Mother (1969)
Ain't It Funky (1970)
Soul On Top (1970)
It's A New Day - Let A Man Come In (1970)
Sex Machine (1970)
Hey America (1970)
Super Bad (1971)
Sho' Is Funky Down Here (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
Revolution of the Mind/Live At The Apollo,
Volume 3 (1971)
There It Is (1972)
Get On the Good Foot (1972)
Black Caesar (1973)
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
The Payback (1974)
Hell (1974)
Reality (1975)
Sex Machine Today (1975)
Everybody's Doin' The Hustle and Dead on
the Double Bump (1975)
Hot (1976)
Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)
Bodyheat (1976)
Mutha's Nature (1977)
Jam 1980's (1978)
Take A Look At Those Cakes (1979)
The Original Disco Man (1979)
People (1980)
Hot On The One (1980)
Soul Syndrome (1980)
Nonstop! (1981)
Live In New York (1981)
Bring It On (1983)
Gravity (1986)
James Brown And Friends (1988)
I'm Real (1988)
Love Over-Due (1991)
Universal James (1993)
Funky President (1993)
Live At The Apollo (1995)
I'm Back! (1998)
Say It Live & Loud: Live in Dallas, 1968
(1998)
The Next Step (2002)
Compilations
Soul Classics (1972)
Soul Classics, Volume 2 (1973)
Solid Gold (1977)
The Fabulous James Brown (1977)
Can Your Heart Stand It? (1981)
The Best of James Brown (1981)
The Federal Years, Part 1 (1984)
The Federal Years, Part 2 (1984)
Roots of A Revolution (1984)
Ain't That A Groove - The James Brown Story
1966-1969 (1984)
Doing It To Death - The James Brown Story
1970-1973 (1984)
Dead On The Heavy Funk 1974-1976 (1985)
The CD of JB: Sex Machine and Other Soul
Classics (1985)
The LP of JB (1986)
In the Jungle Groove (1986)
The CD of JB II: Cold Sweat and Other Soul
Classics (1987)
Motherlode (1988)
Messin' With The Blues (1991)
Star Time (1991)
20 All-Time Greatest Hits! (1991)
Chronicles - Soul Pride (1993)
JB40: 40th Anniversary Collection (1996)
Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang (1996)
On Stage (1997)
The Godfather - The Very Best of James
Brown (2002)
50th Anniversary Collection (2003)
****
Top ten singles
These singles reached the top ten on either
the Billboard Hot 100 or the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts.
1956: "Please, Please, Please" (R&B #5)
1959: "Try Me" (R&B #1, U.S. #48)
1960: "Think" (R&B #7, U.S. #33)
1961: "Baby, You're Right" (R&B #2, U.S.
#49)
1961: "Bewildered" (R&B #8, U.S. #40)
1961: "I Don't Mind" (R&B #4, U.S. #47)
1962: "Lost Someone" (R&B #2, U.S. #48)
1962: "Night Train" (R&B #5, U.S. #35)
1963: "Prisoner of Love" (R&B #6, U.S. #18)
1965: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" - Part I
(R&B #1, U.S. #8)
1965: "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (R&B #1,
U.S. #3)
1966: "Ain't That a Groove" Pts. 1 & 2 (R&B
#6, U.S. #42)
1966: "Don't Be A Drop-Out" (R&B #4, U.S.
#50)
1966: "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (R&B
#1, U.S. #8)
1966: "Sweet Little Baby Boy" - Part 1
(U.S. #8)
1967: "Cold Sweat" - Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S.
#7)
1967: "Let Yourself Go" (R&B #5, U.S. #46)
1968: "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch
Me)" (R&B #4, U.S. #28)
1968: "I Got The Feelin'" (R&B #1, U.S. #6)
1968: "Licking Stick - Licking Stick" -
Part 1 (R&B #2, U.S. #14)
1968: "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm
Proud" - Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #10)
1968: "There Was A Time" (R&B #3, U.S. #36)
1969: "Ain't It Funky Now" (R&B #3, U.S.
#24)
1969: "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (R&B
#1, U.S. #15)
1969: "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me
Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" (R&B #3, U.S. #20)
1969: "Let A Man Come In And Do The
Popcorn" - Part One (R&B #2, U.S. #21)
1969: "Mother Popcorn (You Got To Have A
Mother For Me)" Part 1(R&B #1, U.S. #11)
1970: "Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A)
Sex Machine" (Part 1)" (R&B #2, U.S. #15)
1970: "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To
Stay" (U.S. #7)
1970: "Super Bad" - Part 1 & Part 2 (R&B
#1, U.S. #13)
1971: "Escape-ism" - Part 1 (R&B #6, U.S.
#35)
1971: "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" -
Pt. 1 (R&B #4, U.S. #34)
1971: "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She
Got To Get What She Wants)" – Part 1 (R&B #1, U.S. #15)
1971: "I'm A Greedy Man" - Part I (R&B #7,
U.S. #35)
1971: "Make It Funky" - Part 1 (R&B #1,
U.S. #22)
1971: "Soul Power" - Pt. 1 (R&B #3, U.S.
#29)
1972: "Get On The Good Foot" - Part 1 (R&B
#1, U.S. #18)
1972: "King Heroin" (R&B #6, U.S. #40)
1972: "Talking Loud And Saying Nothing" -
Part I (R&B #1, U.S. #27)
1973: "Down And Out In New York City" (R&B
#13, U.S. #50)
1973: "I Got A Bag Of My Own" (R&B #3)
1973: "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" (R&B #6, U.S. #50)
1974: "Funky President" (People It's Bad)"
(R&B #4, U.S. #44)
1974: "My Thang" (R&B #1, U.S. #29)
1974: "Papa Don't Take No Mess" - Part I
(R&B #1, U.S. #31)
1974: "Stoned To The Bone" - Part 1 (R&B
#4, U.S. #58)
1974: "The Payback" - Part I (R&B #1, U.S.
#26)
1976: "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B #4,
U.S. #45)
1985: "Living in America (R&B #10, U.S. #4)
1987: "How Do You Stop" (R&B #10)
1988: "I'm Real" (R&B #2)
1988: "Static, Pts. 1 & 2" (with Full
Force) (R&B #5)
Best albums
The question of which were the most
critical albums of Mr. Brown's career is debatable. Until the early
1970s, he was famous mostly for his roadshow and singles rather than his
albums (his live LPs being a major exception). Many of his early albums
include tracks that were recorded in the studio and later overdubbed
with the sounds of a live audience in an attempt to recreate the
explosive excitement of the original Live at the Apollo. Four James
Brown albums, all but one of them compilations, appear on Rolling
Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time:
Buy at AllPosters.com
Live at the Apollo (1963)
In the Jungle Groove (1986)
Star Time (1991)
20 All-Time Greatest Hits! (1991)
The following albums, originally released
as double LP records, feature extensive playing by the legendary JB's.
They have been a prolific source of samples for later musical artists:
The Payback (1973)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
Hell (1974)
The Live at the Apollo Vol. 2 double LP
album, released in 1968, was notably influential on then-contemporary
musicians. It remains an example of Mr. Brown's highly energetic live
performances and audience interaction, as well as documenting the
metamorphosis of his music from R&B and soul styles into hard funk.
Chronological collections
In addition to the career-spanning Star
Time, Polydor released a series of CD collections devoted to specific
periods in Brown's long career, similar to Columbia Records' Miles Davis
boxed sets.
Roots of a Revolution (2 CD; covers
1956-1964)
Foundations of Funk: A Brand New Bag,
1964-1969 (2 CD)
Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang (1 CD)
Make It Funky - The Big Payback: 1971-1975
(2 CD)
Dead on the Heavy Funk, 1975-1983(2 CD)
Two other collections anthologize Brown's
instrumental recordings with his 60s band and the JBs:
Soul Pride: The Instrumentals (1960-69) (2
CD)
Funky Good Time: The Anthology (2 CD;
covers 1970-1976)
****
References
1. a b Anthony DeCurtis, & James Henke (eds)
(1980). The Rolling Stone: The Definitive History of the Most Important
Artists and Their Music, (3rd Ed.), New York, N.Y.: Random House, Inc.,
163-170. ISBN 0-679-73728-6.
2. a b Bluestein, Greg. "'Godfather of
Soul' James Brown dies", Associated Press, 2006-12-25. Retrieved on
2006-12-25.
3. Brown, James (2005). I Feel Good : A
Memoir of a Life of Soul. NAL Hardcover. 045-121393-9.
4. "Little Richard". Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. Retrieved from http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=179 on
October 28, 2006.
5. James Brown Biography. allmusic.
6. Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm &
Blues (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 101.
7. Agent: James Brown hospitalized with
pneumonia CNN. December 24, 2006.
****
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