He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. ==Early life== Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack.
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader.
He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. ==Early life== Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993) in a small wooden shack.
In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No.
He managed to stay in school until the sixth grade. He began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long".
His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984.
Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952.
His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953, and they had three sons together.
Shortly after being paroled he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, featuring Byrd's sister Sarah. ==Music career== ===1953–1961: The Famous Flames === Brown eventually joined Byrd's group in 1954.
In 1955, the group had contacted Little Richard while performing in Macon.
The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records' Federal subsidiary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" in March 1956.
By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of Universal Attractions Agency.
That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames". In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits.
That year the original Flames broke up, after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames". In October 1958, Brown released the ballad "Try Me", which hit number one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits.
Brown, the Flames, and his entire band debuted at the Apollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Brown's idol, Little Willie John.
His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music.
By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, his singing group, the Famous Flames, and his band, a separate entity from The Flames, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band.
Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: strutting bass lines, syncopated drum patterns, and iconic percussive guitar riffs.
Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy.
He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band. ===1970–1975: Godfather of Soul=== In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968.
Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble.
The riff was composed by Alomar, who had briefly been a member of Brown's band in the late 1960s. "Papa Don't Take No Mess" would prove to be his final single to reach the No.
The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads.
During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band: Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage.
Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "Don't Be a Drop-Out".
Dynamite=== In 1962, Brown and his band scored a hit with their cover of the instrumental "Night Train", becoming a top five R&B single.
On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.
Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule. In 1962, Tammi Terrell joined the James Brown Revue.
The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired air stewardess and teacher who lives in Houston.
In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love".
The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album Live at the Apollo is a representative example: ===Concert repertoire and format=== James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length.
Terrell ended their personal and professional relationship because of his abusive behavior. In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records.
The Flames' dynamic gospel-tinged vocals, polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octane singing upstaged the proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones. Having signed a new deal with King, Brown released his song "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965, which became his first top ten pop hit and won him his first Grammy Award.
Later in 1965, he issued "I Got You", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart.
1=== By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music.
In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine.
He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud".
Clair Pinckney, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum. In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 television special, Man to Man.
In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine.
WJBE began on January 15, 1968, and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format.
In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself".
He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band. ===1970–1975: Godfather of Soul=== In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968.
It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968.
In 1968, in response to a growing urge of anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War, Brown recorded the song, "America Is My Home".
At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam. ====The Boston Garden concert==== On April 5, 1968, a day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The show was later released on DVD as April 5, 1968.
As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction. ===Political views=== During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies.
The main guitar ostinatos for "Ain't It Funky" and "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence.
Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years. ===1975–1991: Decline and resurgence=== Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today.
I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood. In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement.
Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969.
Over a decade later, the couple had separated and the final divorce decree was issued in 1969.
By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback".
Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s".
Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward.
Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970. Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band.
He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band. ===1970–1975: Godfather of Soul=== In March 1970, most of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames singing group for the same reason in 1968.
Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who chose to remain in the band during this tumultuous period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.'s, Brown's new backing ensemble.
1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though he continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings.
After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20.
The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during the ballads.
During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band: Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage.
In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, he recorded "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" and "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing".
As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction. ===Political views=== During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies.
Al Sharpton during the 1970s. ==Personal life== At the end of his life, James Brown lived in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia.
"She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as Marvin Gaye's singing partner in the mid-Sixties.
Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970.
This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St.
Clair Pinckney and drummer John Starks. In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog.
In 1971, he began touring Africa, including Zambia and Nigeria.
During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection to the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern.
As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, most prominently 1972's "King Heroin" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with drug addiction. ===Political views=== During the 1968 presidential campaign, Brown endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies.
Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the 1972 presidential election negatively impacted his career during that period with several national Black organizations boycotting his records and protesting at his concert shows; a November 1972 show in Cincinnati was picketed with signs saying, "James Brown: Nixon's Clown".
As a result, Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year.
That year he also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million; five years earlier, the IRS had claimed he owed nearly $2 million. In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar.
Brown initially was invited to perform at a Youth Concert following Nixon's inauguration in January 1973 but bailed out due to the backlash he suffered from supporting Nixon.
Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973.
In 1974 he returned to the No.
1 two more times in 1974, with "My Thang" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess".
It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "Living in America", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968.
After Nixon resigned from office, Brown composed the 1974 hit, "Funky President (People It's Bad)", right after Gerald Ford took Nixon's place.
Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show that ran for three years. ===1975–1991: Decline and resurgence=== Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene (exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso) from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975's Sex Machine Today.
His 1976 single, "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B No.
4), the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C.
After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20.
After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100.
By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B.
Brown later supported Democratic President Jimmy Carter, attending one of Carter's inaugural balls in 1977.
After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "Bodyheat" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "It's Too Funky in Here" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "Kiss in '77" reaching the Top 20.
The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts because its slicker, more commercial style had superseded his more raw funk productions. By the release of 1979's The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period.
The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981.
Show" in their 1980 song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around". ===As band leader=== Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers – performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals and members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances.
During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band: Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage.
After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981.
The couple were separated by 1979, after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse, and the final divorce decree was issued on January 10, 1981.
In 1984, he teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaattaa on the song "Unity".
Brown only performed the song sporadically following its initial release and later stated he had regrets about recording it, saying in 1984, "Now 'Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud' has done more for the black race than any other record, but if I had my choice, I wouldn't have done it, because I don't like defining anyone by race.
Brown also openly supported President Ronald Reagan's reelection in 1984. Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Reagan as well as Democratic presidents John F.
His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984.
Brown was one of the first ten inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia.
A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album Gravity in 1986.
In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America". In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real.
In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America". In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced I'm Real.
Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled.
This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of Parliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St.
He returned to music with the album Love Over-Due in 1991.
Before the year was over, Brown–who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release–organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theatre, that was well received. On June 10, 1991, James Brown and a star-filled line up performed before a crowd at the Wiltern Theatre for a live pay-per-view at-home audience.
In 1993 his album Universal James was released.
In 1995, Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995.
His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996), in 1984.
Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife. On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev.
Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively.
In 1999, when being interviewed by Rolling Stone, the magazine asked him to name a hero in the 20th century; Brown mentioned John F.
Show (1964) in which he and The Famous Flames upstaged The Rolling Stones, and over the closing credits of the film Blues Brothers 2000.
Brown then appeared in Tony Scott's short film Beat the Devil in 2001.
In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed.
(born 2001)—not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members.
Brown's final studio albums, I'm Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively.
Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer.
In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself. In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.
Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc.
Less than a year after Rodriguez died in 1996, Brown hired Tomi Rae Hynie to be a background singer for his band and she later became his fourth wife. On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev.
He's like a grandfather to me." In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a Washington D.C.
In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in Variety featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways.
In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself. In 2004, Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.
In 2004, Brown was successfully treated for prostate cancer.
Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a Green Card and that the marriage was annulled but the annulment did not occur until April 2004.
The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot.
He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".
In his 2005 autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul, Brown, who was a fan of Gorgeous George, credited the wrestler as the inspiration for both his cape routine and concert attire, stating, "Seeing him on TV helped create the James Brown you see on stage". Brown performs a version of the cape routine in the film of the T.A.M.I.
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader.
Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006. Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No.
Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, "Gut Bucket", appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO.
In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world.
performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason.
His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people.
He played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes. Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month.
Before his death, Brown had been scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007. ==Artistry and band== For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music.
According to an August 22, 2007, article published in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children.
In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wanted appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings.
In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No.
Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter.
In 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow. Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons – Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Jr.
Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter.
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