James Brown

The godfather of soul, James Brown, passed away last night/this morning at the age of 73 after being hospitalized for pneumonia. The newspaper articles all say it's not clear what he actually died 'of' but I think many years of hard living probably put his body in a state that just couldn't fight off a bout with pneumonia. To call James Brown a huge musical influence would be an understatement of massive proportions - his music has inspired untold numbers of musicians and people, and I'm sure you'll hear a lot about his influence on the news and from other sources, so I'll stick to what I know best, which is what his music meant to me.

I probably first became aware of his music from his big hits like "I Got You (I Feel Good)" or "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." Sometime in high school, most likely around the age of 15 or 16 I decided to delve further into his extensive catalog, and the first album I bought was Love Power Peace - Live at The Olympia, Paris 1971. It's the only live CD commercially available that documents his band that included Bootsy Collins on bass, as well as other funk luminaries such as Bobby Byrd, Phelps Collins, Jabo Starks, and Fred Wesley. It has to be one of the tightest, most incredible performances ever captured on tape - the energy just pours out and translates into the recorded medium. I can only imagine what a force of nature the band must have been in person.

I was doing some reading about Brown today and came across this great interview with Bootsy Collins where he talks about the JB's going to see Fela Kuti while on tour in Nigeria.

Apart from his influence on other musicians, it's also interesting to look at the galaxy of musicians that came through Brown's band. Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley, Bobby Byrd, Clyde Stubblefield, just to name some - all of them incredibly accomplished musicians who went on to make a lot more music. Brown's standard of musicianship to be in his band was incredibly high - Lester Bowie of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, no slack on the trumpet, says he tried out for Brown's traveling band three times unsuccessfully.

In any case, the world's a lot less funky since the Hardest Working Man in Showbiz passed away.

RIP James, thanks for everything.