James Brown Dead At 73 2006-12-25 by JohnXDoesn't | 40 Comments | Associated Press - Dec. 25 2006
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.
Copsidas said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.
Hospital spokesman Lance Skelly said he could not confirm or deny the death because Brown's name was not on the hospital's registry. But he added that patients can request that their names be shielded for privacy.
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."
His hit singles include such classics as "Out of Sight," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Out Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud," a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.
"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."
He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (best R&B recording) and for "Living In America" in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male.) He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. Brown, who lived in Beech Island near the Georgia line, spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer. After his release on in 1991, Brown said he wanted to "try to straighten out" rock music.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, "Please, Please, Please" in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business."
With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.
In 1986, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.
Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. "The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
"Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me," he told the AP in 2003.
Born in poverty in Barnwell, S.C., in 1933, he was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an "ill-repute area," as he once called it. There he learned to wheel and deal.
"I wanted to be somebody," Brown said.
By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Ga., for breaking into cars.
While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home. Byrd also took Brown into his group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B Top Ten.
While most of Brown's life was glitz and glitter, he was plagued with charges of abusing drugs and alcohol and of hitting his third wife, Adrienne.
In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants if they were using his private restroom.
Police chased Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.
Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991. In 2003, the South Carolina parole board granted him a pardon for his crimes in that state.
Soon after his release, Brown was on stage again with an audience that included millions of cable television viewers nationwide who watched the three-hour, pay-per-view concert at Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.
Adrienne Brown died in 1996 in Los Angeles at age 47. She took PCP and several prescription drugs while she had a bad heart and was weak from cosmetic surgery two days earlier, the coroner said.
More recently, he married his fourth wife, Tomi Raye Hynie, one of his backup singers. The couple had a son, James Jr.
Two years later, Brown spent a week in a private Columbia hospital, recovering from what his agent said was dependency on painkillers. Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, said singer was exhausted from six years of road shows.
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Tagged: James Brown
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My goodness....
Condolences to his family, especially today.
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Merry Christmas, James Brown.
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Oh God, that's terrible =[ i didn't even believe it at first
RIP
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"I feel good, and i knew that i would now"
Not the best time for that song...This Message Edited On 12.25.06
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Bye James, Merry Christmas.
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wtf
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Darth Vader: Where is James...Is he alright...Will he be here for Christmas?
Palpatine: I'm sorry, but in your rage you killed the man whom no other could. He's not coming home for Christmas either.
Darth Vader: NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
R.I.P oh, exalted one.
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We'll always love you James Brown.
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James Brown dead on Christmas...whoa.
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This sort of sucks, especially on christmas and stuff
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I certainly didn't believe it when I first read it... wow. Who would've thought.
RIP Godfather of Soul
RIP Music Legend
RIP Hero
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thats just a goddamned shame
That crazy old bastard is gone, thats a real downer on christmas.
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A sad, sad day. A true legend, and its not often you can describe many musicians as legends these days. He will be sorely missed!
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Talented musician.
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Well he's not on the scene now is he...R.I.P.
Instead of people saying a 3rd of the world is releated to Gehnjis Kahn its now gonna be James Brown...cos down the line its probably gonna be the truth
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This is terrible. He was coming here on the 9th, I really wanted to go see him, as I didn't know how much longer he'd be performing.
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^^ Lols, hates to be you, nah only kidding, unlucky mate
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My god. This is horrible to hear that he died.
R.I.P. James, you had a really cool life.
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R.I.P. James Brown
I wanted to see him live before he died too. He was supposed to be in NY on New Years Eve. I wouldn't have gone because tickets were like 200 bucks, but still, it would have been a really cool experience if i was rich enough.
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james brown rocked. he was crazy and real. RIP
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R.I.P.
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Woah. THis is a shoker. He is in music heaven now.
This Message Edited On 12.25.06
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x 73
R.I.P.
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damn!!! he was one of the few musicians that both me and my dad enjoyed listening too. R.I.P.
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/plays "Live at the Apollo"
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That's pretty shitty. I don't know much at all about him or his music but it's a real shame he died on Christmas.
RIP.
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RIP James Brown. Your show you put on in London, Ontario, Canada in 2005 was nothing short of brilliant! I will never forget.
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that's really sad.
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RIP James Brown. Your show you put on in London, Ontario, Canada in 2005 was nothing short of brilliant! I will never forget.
I just remembered, I think he was supposed to play at CasionoRama on Jan 5th and I remembered saying to myself that I would wanna check that out.
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Damn, this sucks. I don't know much about him, but from what I've heard from him, he owned. It's sad, that shit like this has to happen around Christmas. R.I.P. we'll all miss you.
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I can’t get too sympathetic. James Brown led a long life and made a hella good legacy for himself.
But I guess he deserves the mandatory props/.
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Play that funky funeral march, white boy?
I feel so dirty for saying that. James Brown is one of the greats of Soul.
My condolences to his family.
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Rest in peace brother.
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I'm sure everyone will miss you. i found out yesterday(Christmas! which i hate anyway!)
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It's funny because most of you don't even listen to him
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So what if they don't listen to his music? Does that mean that they can't express condolences for his death?This Message Edited On 12.27.06
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Originally Posted by Fisticuffs
Lawl
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i don't know a lot about james brown, but that's a fitting obituary for someone i now realise is a musical legend. i did see him on tv a year or two ago, performing, and the one or two songs he did that i recognised, he was able to do just as good as the originals, he never lost the ability.
a sad loss, R.I.P.
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Bye bye magic singing black man
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The most sampled musician EVER. For good reason, what a voice!
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