James Brown, THE Godfather of Soul

[Hmph]

the man, the legend, the consumate performer. rest in peace and make good music

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/1 ... index.html

Soul 'Godfather' James Brown dies

POSTED: 8:17 a.m. EST, December 25, 2006

* James Brown dies after being hospitalized with pneumonia
* Agent says it is unclear what 73-year-old singer died of
* Groundbreaking hits include "I Feel Good," "Sex Machine"
* Death ends revolutionary career at forefront of funk and disco

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- 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 early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.

Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he 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.

Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown 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," Brown 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.

'Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown'

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, South Carolina, 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, Georgia, 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, Georgia, 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.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press . All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Silly Wabbit]

Truly sad to hear. His health was getting worse over the years. He's no longer in pain.

[MsNikaPooh]

And the drama about his money has already started. While his wife was at the hospital with him HIS FINACIAL ADVISORS locked her and their son out saying that they don't think she was legally married to him. What BULLSHIT they have been together to have an eight year old and she has been living as Mrs. James Brown for all this time and some of these assholes were at the wedding but she isn't legally his wife. Shit people will do when money is involved.

[Hmph]

my gawd, James Brown is still not buried. the family is still fighting. the estate is now in jeopardy of being stolen. Sharpton better step in because James didn't work THAT hard, including up to his death, to see all that money disappear.

that Tommy Rae Hiney(?) woman is strange. it will be interesting to see what the son looks like he's older, if he looks like James or not.

[miltie]

Whaaatttt? Where the hell is he, laid out at the Apollo??

Um, showtime is over for Mr. Brown!

[Hmph]

his body is at an undisclosed location in a climate controlled area. unreal huh. can he finally get some rest?! don't make James get up, Get On Up On The Good Foot, and give The Big Payback because Poppa Don't Take No Mess!

[MsNikaPooh]

I really don't care but she was with him at the Hosipital and by his side for the last god knows how long years and they are treating her like that. Man that is soo messed up. Rather than be with their daddy while he was dying his kids were locking this lady and child out because they are blinded by money. They could have tossed her a little some some for being there. They have even been around this kid for years and not said anything but the second it looks like they might get a smaller cut of the money pie they hollering it aint my family. The man will was about 7 or 8 years old the kid is only 5. James probably thought his kids would do the right thing. So sad this is surrounding one of the greatest in death but it just goes to show money makes people do crazy things.

[Hmph]

yeah I wondered about that too. Tommy Rae also lived right up the block from James and notice they are not denying it's his son, but that they were legally married. get over it, resolve issues and bury the man already. that's too tacky and I hope none of them get nothing being greedy jackasses.

but I heard in James' will there's a stipulation regarding no money for other women to come out of the woodworks w/more kids. I guess James WAS the hardest working man!! not bad for an old man to still get down.