May 3, 1933 ? December 25, 2006
The season for giving took one of rock/funk/r&b/soul’s most influential and legendary figures Xmas morning, as The Hardest Working Man In Show Business was forced into retirement after 73 years of gettin’ on the good foot, gettin’ brand new bags, and gettin’ loopy on national television. Brown’s passing leaves a hole in the hearts of a legion of fans, and by Rev. Al Sharpton’s word, is the loss not of an artist, but of “a way of life.”
New Year’s was meant to be a working night for JB, too; he was slated to ring it in with a sold-out crowd at B.B. King’s in NYC. Instead, a night that’s tailor-made for nostalgia and reflecting will be even more so for those Brown fans, and bloggers have begun the process:
Fluxblog remembers JB with “Cottage For Sale,” offered in testament to James’s vocal prowess.
Papa Dodge serves up some of the Godfather’s Xmas songs.
Bag Of Songs has a sack full of Brown tunes for your ears.
He had his issues, but whether it was on Prince, Bowie, Jagger, or “hip-hop and a wide swath of current pop,” the man left a mark as deep as his band’s pocket. Respect.
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One of the best ever. Not a lot of folks would match his intensity, stage presence, and dedication to his music. He will be missed.
I remembered the Hardest Working Man in Show Business here – http://www.culturebully.com/archives/2328
being from augusta, georgia…..JB was always on the scene….like a sex machine……he would give away turkeys during thanksgiving & presensts during christmas…..i just saw him a few weeks ago……he will be missed dearly…and i hope augusta & the world will finally pay him his respects…..he was an icon….a true legend……we will be playing JAMES BROWN every night at midnight at THE SOUL BAR from now on in his honor…..RIP GFOS.
http://www.soulbar.com
Guess we can expect a movie on the life of James Brown in 2007.
I like to believe he’s up there bringing the Funk in heaven.
“Funky Christmas” will never be the same.
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/1853
The above is a six hour radio set from WFMU that originally aired on Dec. 25, 2001.
It’s six straight hours of James Brown, and it’s awesome.
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/1853
The above is a six hour radio set from WFMU that originally aired on Dec. 25, 2001.
It’s six straight hours of James Brown, and it’s awesome.
The first time I learned of his passing was after waking up with a slight hangover around 10:15 AM PST. I signed on Myspace and saw that a bulliten had been posted entitled “James Brown Is Dead” which I thought was gonig to be a bout the house song by L.A. Style from the mid 90’s. Unfortunately the contents of the bulletin had nothnig to do with that song.
His death was a complete shock since earlier this month I saw his performance on the UK Music Hall of Fame induction cerimony. Sure, he had backup singers handling the high notes in his songs, but the man was still full of energy and for the most part souynded pretty good. Soul Brother Number 1 was getting down during his performance and hadn’t missed a step.
He was a legend and will be missed.
James Brown is one of the very few who would get me to do blog research on Christmas, but I have compiled a mess ‘o’ audio and video links in tribute for the 26th.
I was lucky enough to catch James Brown this past June at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. He didn’t do any splits, but he still had all the fancy footwork and sounded surprisingly good.
He received several standing O’s and deserved every one. It was almost unholy watching a 73 year-old man shimmy, shake, squeal, and shout onstage for 90 minutes.
JB was awesome that night, but when it was over, I knew deep down that he couldn’t possibly have that many more shows in him..
RIP James Brown
It’s about time he kicked the can. Ugh.
This is how James Brown should be remembered. He single-handidly quelled the beginning of a riot in Boston in 1968 just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeOSZryERqo
HA! R. Schreiber!
im was very upset to hear about the death of james brown and my heart go out 2 his family
A friend of mine used to play with James back back in the day and says he was 78 and not 73 like it’s reported everywhere. He also said they knew he was going to die because he switched his drug of choice from meth to smoking crack. Shame