Godfather of Soul

"I don't want nobody to give me nothin'. Just open up the door and I'll get it myself!"

REST IN PEACE

May 3, 1933 to December 25, 2006

James Brown, Godfather of Soul, is receiving 3:1 more newsprint than Gerald Ford, former President, as measured by Google searches of news items. Mourning for President Ford will go on for eight days, as is customary, but the outpouring for James Brown is truly amazing as well.

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Thousands Pay Respects to James Brown

NEW YORK - Even in death, James Brown can move a crowd. Thousands of people danced and sang in the streets outside the Apollo Theater in a raucous celebration Thursday of the music legend's life as his body was displayed on the stage where he made his 1956 debut.

Music thumped from storefronts and portable stereos. Brown's wails and growls even blasted inside the auditorium as fans marched quietly, single-file past his open gold coffin.

Brown lay resplendent in a blue suit, white gloves and silver shoes. Flanking the casket were giant photographs of the singer performing. An arrangement of red flowers on a white background spelled out his nickname: Godfather. It was maybe the first time the hardest-working man in show business graced a stage in stillness, but that didn't stop his fans from partying.

"This is a celebration of his life," said 41-year-old Bryant Preudhomme of suburban New York. "James Brown gave you heart. He lifted you up when you were down. He gave you hope."

Brown, who died of heart failure Christmas morning at 73, lay in repose in the theater that helped catapult him to fame and was the setting for a thrilling live album in 1962. At an evening program for family and close friends, the Rev. Al Sharpton said it was difficult to believe that a man who was "so much alive" was dead.

"How could someone with such energy and life really ever be gone?" said Sharpton, a close friend of the Godfather of Soul for three decades.

Sharpton credited Brown with inspiring countless musicians in all genres and with refusing to become a conformist. "He became a superstar on his own terms ... he never bent, buckled or bowed," Sharpton said. "James Brown wasn't just No. 1, he changed the beat of music all over the world."

Earlier, Brown's body was carried to the theater through the streets of Harlem on a majestic white carriage drawn by two white horses. Hundreds of fans followed behind the caisson singing the chorus of Brown's anthem, "Say it Loud _ I'm Black and I'm Proud." To many, Brown was more than just an energetic performer. As Norman Brand of Harlem waited for the procession to begin, the 55-year-old recalled hearing "Say it Loud" for the first time in his native Alabama.

"It really changed the attitude of most black people. It was like a wake-up call. Before that, if you were called black, it was like an insult," Brand said. "Just one song and one word can change a whole situation."

Mourners came from far and wide to attend the first in a trio of services that will keep Brown almost as busy in death as he was in life. His casket left a Georgia funeral parlor Wednesday for an all-night drive to New York. It arrived at Sharpton's Harlem headquarters just before noon Thursday, and was quickly transferred to the carriage for a 20-block procession to the theater.

Sharpton accompanied the body from Georgia and walked behind the carriage Thursday. He stood at Brown's side for hours during the viewing. On Friday, a private ceremony is planned at a church near Augusta, Ga. A second public viewing of the singer's body will be held Saturday at the James Brown Arena in Augusta.

Some fans arrived at the Apollo as early as midnight for a chance to pay their respects, and more than 100 were inline outside the theater by 8 a.m. "He seemed like family, a friend of mine," said Brenda Harper, who was the first to arrive, shortly after midnight. Fourteen years ago, she said: "I jumped on the stage and he danced with me. I danced with the Godfather that day."

Musicians and celebrities slipped in to pay their respects throughout the day: boxer Joe Frazier, band members including bass player Fred Thomas, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, who was a singer with the Temptations in the 1980s and again in the early 1990s. Relatives passed through, too, some wiping away tears.

"He was my uncle, but he acted like a big brother to me," said Brown's nephew Earl Swindell, 54, who acted as a pallbearer. "I loved him, though. I was right there with him till the end. He meant a lot to me."

Brown, who lived in Beech Island, S.C., continued to work to the end, dying less than a week before he was to perform New Year's Eve in Manhattan at B.B. King's blues club. Chaka Khan, the Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues performer, will play instead.

He had also talked recently about returning to Harlem, friends said, "He told me two weeks ago to book the Apollo for two days," said his friend and manager, Charles Bobbit. "He said, `Let's play two days at the Apollo, and we'll see the lines again around the block.'"

"The Apollo was always his home because that's where it all started," said his agent, Frank Copsidas, "and the people of Harlem were his family."
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UPDATE: 30 December, 2006

Fans gather for Brown's funeral

This is Brown's third memorial service in as many days
Thousands of mourners have paid their last respects to soul star James Brown, whose body is lying in state in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia.
Fans queued up in the rain to file past the singer's golden coffin at the city's 8,500-seat James Brown Arena.

A funeral is also due to take place, overseen by the musician's former manager, Reverend Al Sharpton.
Famous for hits like Sex Machine, Brown died suddenly on Monday in hospital after suffering pneumonia. He was 73.

He was a God-sent person - almost like an angel
Vickie Greene, James Brown fan

The public funeral will be the third memorial event in as many days for the musician known as the Godfather of Soul. On Thursday, thousands of fans poured into the Apollo Theatre in New York, where Brown made his stage debut in 1956 and recorded several live albums. A private service for family and close friends was held in South Carolina on Friday, with mourners including boxing promoter Don King, rapper MC Hammer and comedian Dick Gregory.

A private service for friends and family has already been held Reverend Sharpton, now a black civil rights leader, delivered the eulogy and praised Brown's effect on popular music.

"The James Brown that I know, he started singing in the woods of South Carolina," he said.
"What made James Brown so great was his commitment to a beat that some people tried to kill."

Influential

Nearly 8,500 mourners are filling up the James Brown Arena ahead of today's service, reports the Associated Press. Many more are expected to gather outside the auditorium, where the funeral will be broadcast on a public address system.

"He was a God-sent person - almost like an angel," said Vickie Greene, who had come to view Brown's body with her husband and grandson. . "He was so inspirational to people about sharing and helping and giving."

Atlanta resident Maynard Eaton, who organised a bus to carry 20 people to the funeral, said it was Brown's political message he valued.
"I'm black and I'm proud' was the most influential black slogan of the 1960s," he said, referring to the refrain of Brown's song Say It Loud.

Adopted home

Brown was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in November
Brown was born in 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina. He spent much of his childhood in Augusta, and adopted the town as his home. He remained involved with the city throughout his stardom, handing out Thanksgiving turkeys every year, providing meals for more than 1,000 families.

The singer had also participated in an annual toy drive in the city just three days before his death.
As well as the auditorium named in his honour, the town renamed one of its streets James Brown Boulevard, and erected a statue to the singer last year. Since his death, fans have flocked to the statue, leaving flowers, records and messages at its feet.

Three funerals in three days, upstaging Gerald Ford and Saddam - and I would like to see even more response. This is the James Brown Challenge - to see who are the true fans!


Thousands pack arena for James Brown funeral
By Matthew Bigg

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Civil rights leaders, entertainers and legions of fans turned out in force on Saturday for a celebration and funeral for James Brown, whose music and message embodied a generation of revolutionary change for black Americans.

Brown lay in an open-topped golden coffin at the front of the James Brown Arena, which was renamed in honor of Augusta's most famous native son in August. Brown died of congestive heart failure on Christmas Day at the age of 73.

The legendary showman, known as the "Godfather of Soul," was dressed in a black suit and gloves with a ruby red shirt. Jewels sparkled on his lapels and the tips of his shoes.

An overwhelmingly black crowd of about 8,000 packed the arena for the public funeral and celebration following a private funeral on Friday and a viewing of his body at the Apollo Theater in New York.

Some in the crowd at the arena had waited since 9 p.m. on Friday for the start of the public viewing of the body. Many more disappointed people crowded the outside of the arena but were unable to get in.

"James Brown in my opinion is the greatest singer of all time and I am his number one fan," said Jesse Williamson, 59, who said he first saw Brown perform in 1963.

My youth was "a humiliating time (to be black) but as time went on Martin Luther King, James Brown and others made a difference," he said, referring to the system of racial segregation in the U.S. South and the civil rights movement.

Brown's music, with its staccato horns and guitars and his often explosive vocals, brought funk into the mainstream and has influenced pop and dance music since the 1960s.

Hip-hop artists revered him and dozens have employed his beats as the backdrop to their own songs. Entertainers such as Michael Jackson, who built their careers in part on their dancing, have drawn inspiration from Brown's style. The funeral was due to include a musical tributes and speeches.

In advance of the event, civil rights leaders Al Sharpton, a friend of Brown's, and Jesse Jackson appeared before the crowd and soaked up applause.

Activist-comedian Dick Gregory and singer MC Hammer also were on hand for the service, which opened with a rousing set of gospel music.

BLACK PRIDE

Brown was born in South Carolina and grew up in poverty in Augusta, beginning his musical career as a juvenile offender in jail. He later settled in as the most famous son of the city, also known for the Master's golf tournament, and earned a reputation for charitable giving and for eating at local restaurants. Brown's personal life was turbulent and in 1988 he was jailed for three years for drug and weapons charges.

He had 119 hits including "Please, Please, Please," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "It's a Man's World" and "Living in America" but his musical influence outweighed his chart success. He began touring in the 1950s on the all-black rhythm and blues circuit and his rise to national prominence coincided with the era of civil right. Brown became a living embodiment of black pride with "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)."

"Back in those days you could only get work in a cotton field or as a sharecropper," said Joe Louis Reliford, who grew up in Waycross, south Georgia, and first saw Brown perform in the late 1950s.

"James Brown opened up the door," he said, adding that the show set off a storm among Waycross' black community and many tried to imitate his dance and fashion style.

Brown, who insisted on being called Mr. Brown, styled himself "the hardest-working man in show business" and performed more than 100 live shows this year. He was due to perform on New Year's Eve in New York's Times Square.

Comments

[DiAnne]

Good God, y'all!

[Nyc Labretš]

Here's a happy tribute from back in the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evWsOmdeY78
Isn't it awesome that he got this sort of thing when he was still with us, and alive to enjoy it?

[Doug Tarnopol]

Being nearly 37, I can't claim to have been around in Brown's prime. I also missed seeing him -- several times.

However, my main memories are of the raw power of his music -- blasted at parties, in clubs, and recognizable through the many imitations and permutations in those that followed him, a popular-musical legacy matched only by the Beatles in breadth and originality.

The minimalist constrained power, with periodic explosions; the strong bass lines; the perfect tightness of the band; the marriage of sexuality and transcendence that defines all great American popular music...that's mostly what I remember, among images of happy, sweaty people of all ages and colors responding to the beat.

RIP, JB.

[DiAnne]

Courtesy of Doug:
James Brown in his own words, at Democracy Now - transcript at link or click for the video:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/29/1446218

I was 14 years old or so, went to the Mitchell SD Roller Drome, saw a group called DD Knight Train and the Soul Express - tall local white guy doing the James Brown thing, complete with being draped in cape and falling to the floor - several black guys in the band too, with trombones even - from Dakota Wesleyan University (Alma Mater of George McGovern).

Anyway, they did all James Brown music and I'd never heard of James Brown or heard him, so having no internet, I stayed up late at night and picked up radio stations in Chicago and Little Rock. I ordered singles from Sam's in Toronto by mail. I wrote to Hit Parader magazine talking about what I'd heard - ended up with 40 penpals - prisoners, soldiers in Vietnam, hippies, black kids etc. Visited some of them by Greyhound, spent most of my time in school writing to them and got at least 5 letters per day.

Saw James Brown at Bumbershoot in Seattle in the 80s. He wore a green satin tux with tails, but sleeveless, as he was buff. Saw him again on the Pier in Seattle in 1998 and Maceo Parker opened. I couldn't take my camera in so had to leave it with security, forgot it and went home then remembered. Rushed back there and James Brown was just leaving in his limo, leaned out and waved. Got a picture of me all dressed up still, next to the James Brown tour bus!

Saw Maceo 2 years ago on New Year's Eve. EMP (the Paul Allen music museum) had a Funk Tribute a couple of years ago, with simulated party with all 5 senses - motion, Smell-a-Vision, virtual James Brown, virtual Parliament-Funkadelic. They still have some James Brown etc. stage costumes on display. George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic have been here a few times. Soul, funk, rap and disco owe alot to James Brown, Godfather of Soul!

[Robin]

I just can't help wondering what is to become of his wife, who was locked out of the house apparently by James Brown's attorneys on orders of James Brown. Sorry to be a fly in the ointment. I loved James Brown. But, golly, striking out at someone from the grave.... pretty vicious. Oh well.

[CJ]

JB was a serious influence in much of the music that influences me. I only hope that the negative influence from his life as a wife beater, drug abuser and alcoholic isn't forgotten and set to the side like it all too often is by fans, the media and anyone else who gives "super stars" a pass on being moral people.

I'm sure reminding people of the dark and evil side of the godfather of soul isn't welcomed here, but I guess I don't care.

[DiAnne]

from my best friend in high school:

Remember when we used to see that band in Mitchell that did the James
Brown imitation? It had the minister's son in it whose brother was a
hemophiliac and it had a Geyerman in it.

----
from me - on a personal note

Yes I don't admire the domestic violence, history of juvie, use of drugs later in life etc. but have just read JB's autobio a couple of weeks ago and so it's more in context of his whole life.

What I do admire is the music, the example of performing consistently, creatively and originally against all odds.

..I don't care what you do, but whatever you do .. make it funky ..!!

[not my president]

When it comes to death, illness or execution, I'm not obsessed with Castro, Saddam or Ford .. leave that to others .. for me, it's a wake for James Brown for at least a week! Pump up the volume!!

I said the long-hair hippies and the afro blacks
They all get together across the tracks
And they PARTY
Ho! On the good foot
You know they dance on the good foot
Dance on the good foot

[DiAnne]

from my friend Peter in London:

Sorry D,
He made some get music but he was also a wife batttering, gun toting sob, get on down, it's a man's man's man's world and it wouldn't be nuthin, without PCP and a woman to batter.

[DiAnne]

I've added articles from the other James Brown funerals - some guy has the nerve to say he's number one fan, but that's ok. Also disappointed at the lack of postings because I thought I had more rabid James Brown fans than this - oh well.

I am not reading or watching about Saddam Hussein or Gerald Ford and the Godfather of Soul can not be truly upstaged, even by Lindsay Lohan's pole dancing or the emergent feud between Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, who were friends last week.

[JBE]

People are saying:

Baby, baby, baby, I got the feeling James Brown will surely always be
loved and missed by millions forever!When ever he would perform, he
was always on the Good Foot!, and made it FUNKY!
He was Always Live! Never Memorex!

The Godfather of Soul
He had So-o-o-ul, and was Super Bad!
He made his mark on the world, whenever I hear dance music,or just see dancing on vidoes, I will always think of him. He was an original, and left with the world with the same dramatic flow as he enter many fans lives with his dramatic flair and presentation. When it was all said
and done, Iam sure he left any engagement knowing, it was so good, so
good, "I got you"!

I have great memories of the Godfather. I attended his fantastic
performances in the mid-60's at the Township Auditorium in Columbia,
SC. Does anyone have the exact dates of those performances, especially 1964-1967? I met him and obtained his autograph after one of the showsand want to put a date on it. Thanks.

[not my president]

A Clown Not Smiling on the Inside:

You don't know where to start mourning today, whether for noted wife beater James Brown, Nixon's BFF Gerald Ford, or torture aficionado Saddam Hussein, not to mention residual tears for Augusto Pinochet and his magical people-disappearing act. So perhaps it's best just to send in the clown (really):

"Harpo T. Clown painted on a happy face, then stood sadly Friday in front of the church where Gerald Ford, the former president he called a friend, was being remembered by family and well-wishers.

"The colorful character wore blue and white sequins, a neon green fuzzy wig and white floppy shoes and stood just beyond the police barricade near the church.

"The clown, who is mute, nodded when asked if he was sad. He pulled out a scrapbook of photographs showing him standing alongside President Ford at various charitable events and golf tournaments in the area. He also attended the Grand Rapids, Mich., opening of Ford's presidential museum in 1982.

"Harpo, who lives in Palm Springs but won't divulge his real name, nodded vigorously when asked if he was a Republican and when asked if he missed his friend, President Ford.

"When Palm Desert police officers walked up to check him out, he maintained his silence and scribbled down notes which the officers read before walking away.

"To get into the church to pay his respects, Harpo would have had to go to a public staging area five miles away for a bus escort. He chose to stay close to the barricades outside the church."

http://www.rudepundit.com

[Google Contest]

8 PM PST 30 Dec. 2006

GERALD FORD
Washington Honors A President
Ford's Casket Arrives at US Capitol ABC News
all 1,548 news articles »

JAMES BROWN
Fans bid joyous farewell to Godfather of Soul
all 2,401 news articles »

SADDAM HUSSEIN
Saddam Hussein executed
all 2,266 news articles »

JAMES BROWN IS STILL AHEAD IN THE SWEEPSTAKES OF POSTERITY

[slugbug]

I cross-posted that at Daily Kos and the diary is going down fast.
A guy named Jon wrote this though. I tried to link to this site at some other blogs but the moderators didn't let me. :(

None of them are worthy (1+ / 0-)
Gerald Ford, although undeniably a good man, was an unelected, caretaker president who will forever remain a footnote to the Watergate saga.

Saddam Hussein was an evil tyrant, but penny-ante in the context of events before and yet to come. Likely his name will be remembered the Ante Pavelic's is remembered – as a bit player in a much larger drama. Kudos, by the way, if you know who Ante Pavelic is without looking it up.

James Brown was a talented musical innovator whose legacy will be forever marred by his personal failings, most notably his repeated history of domestic abuse.

Sadly we seem to live in a time of very small personages.

[DiAnne]

This is so cool! Screw the media - the say things about James Brown and about Michael Jackson that they'd never say if they were white. I'm glad this turned out as it did.

Michael Jackson praises James Brown as inspiration

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson, rarely seen in the United States since being acquitted of child molestation charges, came out of seclusion on Saturday to attend James Brown's funeral and won a vote of confidence from civil rights leader Al Sharpton.

Jackson praised Brown as an inspiration after being invited to the stage by Sharpton during his eulogy of "the godfather of soul."

"I don't care what the media says tonight, James Brown wanted Michael Jackson with him here today," Sharpton said in a booming voice.

"He said ... 'I love Michael.' He said, 'Tell him don't worry about coming home. They always scandalize those that have the talent. But tell him we need to clean up the music and I want Michael and all of them that imitated me to come back and lift the music back."'

Jackson, who has been living abroad since being found not guilty of molestation charges in California in June 2005, called Brown "my greatest inspiration." He told the audience of 9,000 at the James Brown Arena that from the age of 6 his mother would make him watch television whenever Brown came on to perform.

"When I saw him move I was mesmerized," Jackson, 48, said. "I've never seen a performer perform like James Brown and right then and there I knew that that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

"James Brown, I shall miss you and I love you so much. Thank you for everything," said Jackson, who wore a black leather jacket, black pants and sunglasses.

Jackson was a child star with the Jackson 5 on the Motown record label and achieved global fame as a solo artist. His "Thriller" album in 1982 became a smash hit selling 27 million units worldwide and yielding seven top-ten singles. The next year he unveiled his signature "moonwalk" -- a dance move similar to one of Brown's -- while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.

Since the molestation case ended, Jackson has spent time in Bahrain, Ireland and France and has said he planned to move to Europe in a bid to resurrect his career. Earlier this month he reportedly had been discussing a comeback in Las Vegas.

He made a musical appearance in November in London, his first since his acquittal, but fans said he looked uncomfortable and struggled with high notes.

[More Funky Kossacks]

My brother is having trouble posting here or at Kos. Damn!

Anyway, these are good. Good people.

James Brown wins the Google battle (0 / 0)
and he is also the one I want to read about now.

Saddam is an ongoing nightmare.

Ford represents the end of a nightmare from the past.

James Brown brings back memories from teen club, but his fast-dance music was just a prelude to the slow dances. It was "My Girl" that brought everyone to the dance floor.

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. Horace Mann (and btw, the bike in kayakbiker is a bicycle)

by Kayakbiker on Sat Dec 30, 2006 at 08:54:45 PM PST
[ Reply to This |Recommend ]
James Brown is in the lead, be proud. (0 / 0)
Sure, the Godfather had problems. Who amongst us doesn't?

He decided to be not any black performer, watered down to please a white audience, he decided to be who he was: a loud, proud, black man who could sing like no one's sung before. No puttin on skin lightener, ironing and slicking his hair before going on stage. He was the real thing.

Bush is a Deatheater -7.50, -7.79

by Rogneid on Sat Dec 30, 2006 at 09:53:52 PM PST
[ Reply to This |Recommend ]

LISTENING TO SHUGGIE OTIS RIGHT NOW

[slugbug]

I have now added the picture of Jacko with Sharpton and Jesse Jackson - now that is historic!!!

[not my president]

from Boston:

A little New Year's Day tidbit

Interesting bit of history here... James Brown performed live in Boston, the
day after Dr. Martin Luther King was assasinated. Originally cancelled, 38
year-old Mayor Kevin White decided that the concert should go on - and be
televised LIVE (on public televison station WGBH), and then re-broadcast
later that evening. This decision is widely regarded as having kept Boston
from the riots that broke out around the country following Dr. King's death
- ticketholders were in the Boston Garde (and not on the street), people
stayed home (and off the street) and watched it on television, and those
attending the concert in downtown Boston rushed home to see the performance
again on television (again keeping people off the street)... I'm sure you
can find out more about the concert by searching the internet...

HOWEVER, you can find the AUDIO here - fresh from the WGBH archives, and not
heard in over 35 years (note how the announcer refers to "negro singer Jimmy
Brown and his group):

http://www.miscon.net/audio/JamesBrownpt1.mp3

http://www.miscon.net/audio/JamesBrownpt2.mp3

Each part is about an hour long...

from Minneapolis:

CNN plans to broadcast his memorial service today I think at 2 or 3 pm EST. It may be one that had performers at it.

[jbe]

James Brown has made many missteps during his life, battling the
demons of bad judgment throughout. He often lost many of those
battles, as humans are sometimes known to do.

In that respect, he was no role model. But through his music, he made
many very positive influences in this world. He certainly influenced
my life greatly.

Those who followed his incredible life story know that James Brown
was a consummate musician who would settle for nothing less than
perfection. His performances were always worth every penny, he gave
the audience no less than 100% effort, even in his later years when
his aged body struggled to move in the unique style that it once did.

He was seventy-three years old when he passed away. He was scheduled
to perform two shows at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill in New York
City on New Years Eve. The man is amazing.

He rightly earned the title, "The Hardest Working Man in Show
Business" and he is, "The Godfather of Soul."

Years ago I heard him talking about all of the troubles in the world
and he said something that was rather profound being a simple man of
little formal education. He said, "The war should be on ignorance,
once you get past that, everything else will work itself out." Take a
moment to think about that statement. Truly amazing.

James Brown, the show is over. There will be no encore. The Hardest
Working Man in Show Business can finally take a well deserved rest.
No longer will you be taunted by the demons of this mortal life. You
have left a legacy of music that is often emulated but never equaled.
That legacy will continue to touch the hearts, and change the lives
of so many who enjoyed the bountiful fruits of your labor. True
blood, sweat, and tears.

Rest in peace JB, we love you.