| Name: |
James Brown |
| Birth Date: |
|
| Place of Birth: |
|
| Nationality: |
|
| Ethnicity: |
|
| Gender: |
|
| Occupations: |
|
"Godfather of Soul" James Brown (born 1933) is also known as "the hardest-working man in show business."
In the book about his life, Living in America, James Brown told the author, "I never try to express what I actually did," regarding his influence on the American soul scene. "I wouldn't try to do that, 'cause definition's such a funny thing. What's put together to make my music--it's something which has real power. It can stir people up and involve 'em. But it's just something I came to hear."
The music that James Brown heard in his head--and conveyed to his extraordinary musicians with an odd combination of near-telepathic signals and vicious browbeating--changed the face of soul. By stripping away much of the pop focus that had clouded pure rhythm and blues, Brown found a rhythmic core that was at once primally sexual and powerfully spiritual. Shouting like a preacher over bad-to-the-bone grooves and wicked horn lines, he unleashed a string of hits through the 1960s and early 1970s; he was also a formative influence on such rock and soul superstars as Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, Prince, and Michael Jackson, among countless others.
This is a free page. This page contains 151 words. This
biography contains 2,054 words (approx. 7 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our James Brown Access Pass.
