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#REDIR [[Sexual arousal]]
[[Image:Jb-godfatherofsoul.jpg|thumb|250px|right|James Brown, known variously as: Soul Brother Number One, the Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, and The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business]]
'''James Joseph Brown''' (born [[May 3]], [[1933]], in [[Barnwell, South Carolina]]) is an [[African American]] entertainer, having worked as a [[singer]], [[songwriter]], and [[record producer]] during his career. Brown, recognized as one of the most influential figures in [[20th century music]], was a prime influence in the evolution of [[gospel music|gospel]] and [[rhythm and blues]] into [[soul music|soul]] and [[funk]], a genre he is associated with as its primary founder. His quick ascent to iconic status can be attributed to his rejection of traditional music formulas, and becoming a symbol of self-motivation and achievement in the face of racism against African Americans.
Beginning his professional music career in [[1953]], Brown scored hits from the [[1950s]] to the [[1980s]]. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he has significantly influenced music and culture as a singer, dancer and bandleader since the [[1960s]]. He has also left his mark on musicians across many outside genres, including [[rock and roll|rock]], [[jazz]], [[reggae]], [[disco]], dance and [[electronic music]], and, most notably, [[hip-hop music]].
Recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including "'''Soul Brother Number One'''", "'''Mr. Dynamite'''", "'''the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business'''", "'''the Minister of the New Super-Heavy Funk'''", "'''Universal James'''", and the most familiar, "'''the Godfather of Soul'''", James Brown is noted for his improvisional music style, shouting vocals, and energetic live performances.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Born in the small town of [[Barnwell, South Carolina|Barnwell]] in [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era [[South Carolina]], Brown's family eventually moved to nearby [[Augusta, Georgia]]. During his childhood, Brown helped support his family by picking [[cotton]] in the nearby fields and shining shoes downtown. In his spare time, Brown variously spent time either practicing his performing skills in Augusta-area dance halls, or committing petty crimes. At the age of 16, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to a juvenile detention center upstate in [[Toccoa, Georgia]].
While in prison, Brown later made the acquaintance of [[Bobby Byrd]], whose family helped Brown secure an early release after serving only three years of his sentence, under the condition that he not return to Augusta or [[Richmond County, Georgia|Richmond County]] and that he would try to get a job. After a brief stint as a boxer, then as a [[baseball]] pitcher (a career move ended by leg injury) Brown turned his energy toward music.
[[Image:Jb-1950s-style.jpg|left|thumb|200px|James Brown during the early years.]]
===The beginnings of the Famous Flames===
Brown and Bobby Byrd's sister Sarah performed in a gospel group called "The Gospel Starlighters" during the early and mid [[1950s]]. Eventually, Brown joined Bobby Byrd's group the Avons, and Byrd turned the group's sound towards secular rhythm and blues. Now called '''The Famous Flames''', Brown and Byrd's band toured the Southern "[[chitlin' circuit]]", and eventually signed a deal with the [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]-based [[King Records]], presided over by Syd Nathan.
The group's first recording and single, credited to "James Brown with the Famous Flames", was "Please, Please, Please" ([[1956]]), which failed to crack the U.S. pop top 100, but was a #5 R&B hit and a million-selling single. However, their subsequent records failed to live up to the success of "[[Please, Please, Please]]". After nine failed singles, King was ready to drop Brown and the Flames until the [[1958]] single "Try Me" became a #1 R&B hit, and a #50 pop hit. Nearly all of the group's releases were written or co-written by Brown, who assumed primary control of the band from Byrd and eventually began billing himself as a solo act with The Famous Flames as his backup.
These early recordings, also including "I'll Go Crazy" ([[1959]]) and "Bewildered" ([[1960]]), were fairly straightforward gospel-inspired R&B compositions, heavily inspired by the work of contemporary musicians such as [[Little Richard]] and [[Ray Charles]]. Yet, these songs were marked by a rhythmic acuity and vocal attack that would later become even more pronounced, leading to the style called "[[funk]]". In addition, the initially standardized arrangements and instrumentation began to give way to more improvisational and rhythm-heavy tracks, such as that of [[1961]]'s #5 R&B hit "Night Train", the first single to showcase the beginnings of what today is considered the "James Brown sound". "Night Train" completely eschews singing of any sort, and excepting ad-libs by Brown, is completely instrumental, featuring prominent [[horn]] instrumentation and a fast, highly accented rhythm track.
[[Image:Jb-live-apollo.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The landmark ''[[Live at the Apollo (James Brown)|Live at the Apollo]]'' LP from 1962.]]
===Papa gets a brand new bag===
While Brown's early singles were major hits in the [[southern United States]], and regularly became R&B Top Ten hits, he and the Flames was not nationally successful until his self-financed live show was captured and released on record as ''[[Live at the Apollo (James Brown)|Live at the Apollo]]'' in [[1963 in music|1963]]. Brown followed this success with a string of singles that, along with the work of [[Allen Toussaint]] in [[New Orleans]], essentially defined funk music. [[1964 in music|1964]]'s "Out of Sight" was, even more so than "Night Train" had been, a harbinger of the new James Brown sound. Its arrangement was raw and unornamented, the horns and the drums took center stage in the mix, and Brown's singing had taken on an even more rhythmic feel.
"[[Papa's Got a Brand New Bag]]" and "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]," both from [[1965 in music|1965]], were major #1 R&B hits, remaining the top-selling single in black venues for over a month apiece, and becoming Brown's first pop Top 10 hits. Both of these songs today are considered the most important of his works from this second stage of his career, and are also two of his signature tunes.
Brown would often make creative adjustments to his songs for greater appeal. For instance Brown sped up the released version of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" to make it even more intense and commercial. "Cold Sweat" ([[1967 in music|1967]]) was considered a departure lyrically, and even harder hitting. Critics have come to see this recording as a high mark in the music of the [[1960s]]. Mixed in with his more famous rhythmic essays of the era were [[ballad]]s such as "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" (1965), and even [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] show tunes.
[[Image:Jb-soul-on-top.jpg|left|thumb|200px|the 1970 LP ''Soul on Top.]]
===The late 1960s: "Ain't It Funky Now"===
Brown employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of [[jazz]]. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band, with guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided deceptively simple riffs for each song heavily tied to the dominating rhythm, and [[Maceo Parker]]'s prominent saxophone solos. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, Maceo Parker's brother Melvin; saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, trombonist [[Fred Wesley]], and guitarist Alphonso Kellum.
As the 1960s came to a close, Brown refined his style even further with "I Got the Feelin'" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in [[1968 in music|1968]]), and "[[Funky Drummer]]" (recorded in [[1969 in music|1969]]). By this time, the vocals that graced his songs were no longer sung traditionally, but instead delivered in a rhythmic pattern that only periodically featured melodical embellishment. Brown's vocals, not quite sung but not quite spoken, would be a major influence on the technique of [[rapping]], which would come to maturity along with [[hip hop culture]] and [[hip hop music]] during the following decade. Supporting his vocals were instrumental arrangements which featured a more refined and developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style. The horn section, guitars, bass, and drums all locked in strong rhythms based around various repeating riffs, usually at least one prominent [[break (music)|breaks]].
Brown's recordings influenced musicians across the industry, most notably [[Sly Stone|Sly]] and his [[Sly & the Family Stone|Family Stone]], [[Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band]], [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]], and soul shouters like [[Edwin Starr]] , [[The Temptations|Temptations]] [[David Ruffin]] and [[Dennis Edwards]], and a then-preadolescent [[Michael Jackson]], who took Brown's shouts and dancing into the pop mainstream as the lead singer of [[Motown]]'s [[The Jackson 5]]. Those same tracks would later be resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s on; in fact, James Brown remains the world's most [[sampling (music)|sampled]] recording artist, and "Funky Drummer" is itself the most sampled individual piece of music.
The content of Brown's songs was now developing along with their delivery. Socio-political commentary on the black person's position in society, and lyrics praising motivation and ambition filled songs like "[[Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]" ([[1968 in music|1968]]) and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door I'll Get It Myself)" [[1970 in music|1970]]).
[[Image:Jb-sex-machine-live.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The cover to the 1970 live ''Sex Machine'' LP.]]
===The 1970s: The JB's===
By [[1970 in music|1970]], most of the members of James Brown's classic 1960s band had quit his act for other opportunities. He and Bobby Byrd employed a new band that included future funk greats such as bassist [[Bootsy Collins]], Collins' guitarist brother [[Catfish Collins|Phelps "Catfish" Collins]], and trombonist/musical director [[Fred Wesley]]. This new backing band was dubbed "[[The JB's]]", and made their debut on Brown's 1970 single "(Get Up I Fell Like Being a) Sex Machine". Although it would go through several lineup changes (the first in [[1971]]), The JB's remain remembered as Brown's most familiar backing band.
As Brown's musical empire grew (he bought radio stations in the late [[1960s]], including Augusta's WRDW, where he had shined shoes as a boy), his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. In [[1971]], he began recording for [[Polydor Records]]; among his first Polydor releases was the #1 R&B hit "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)". Many of his sidemen and supporting players, such as Fred Wesley & the JB's, [[Bobby Byrd]], [[Lyn Collins]], Myra Barnes, and [[Hank Ballard]], released records on Brown's subsidiary label, People, which was created as part of Brown's Polydor contract. These recordings are as much a part of Brown's legacy as those released under his own name, and most are noted examples of what might be termed James Brown's "house" style. The early 1970s marked the first real awareness, outside the African-American community, of Brown's achievements. [[Miles Davis]] and other jazz musicians began to cite Brown as a major influence on their styles, and Brown provided the score for the [[1973]] [[blaxploitation]] [[film]] ''[[Black Caesar]]''.
[[Image:Jb-the-payback.jpg|left|thumb|200px|The 1974 LP ''The Big Payback''.]]
His 1970s Polydor recordings were a summation of all the innovation of the last twenty years, and while some critics maintain that he declined artistically during this period, compositions like "The Payback" ([[1973 in music|1973]]); "Papa Don't Take No Mess" and "Stoned to the Bone" ([[1974 in music|1974]]); "Funky President (People It's Bad)" ([[1975 in music|1975]]); and "Get Up Offa That Thing" ([[1976 in music|1976]]) are still considered among his best.
===Into the late-1970s and 1980s===
By the mid-70s, Brown's star-status was on the wane, and key musicians such as [[Bootsy Collins]] had begun to depart to form their own groups. The disco movement, which Brown anticipated, and some say originated, found relatively little room for Brown; his [[1976]] albums ''Get Up Offa That Thing'' and ''Bodyheat'' were his first flirtations with 'disco-fied' rhythms incorporated into his funky repertoire. While [[1977]]'s ''Mutha's Nature'' and [[1978]]'s ''Jam 1980's'' generated no charted hits, [[1979]]'s ''The Original Disco Man'' LP is nonetheless a notable late addition to his oeuvre, containing the song "It's Too Funky in Here," which was his last top R&B hit of the decade.
Brown experienced something of a resurgence in the [[1980]]'s, effectively crossing over to a broader, more mainstream audience. Brown made a cameo appearances in the feature films ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'' and ''[[Rocky IV]]''. He also released ''Gravity'', a modestly popular crossover album, and the hit [[1985]] single "[[Living in America (song)|Living in America]]". Acknowledging his influence on modern hip-hop and R&B music, Brown collaborated with hip-hop artist [[Afrika Bambaataa]] on the single "Unity", and worked the R&B/hip-hop group [[Full Force]] on a #5 R&B hit single, [[1988]]'s "Static".
[[Image:S2-02 James Brown.jpg|right|200px|thumb]]
===Later years===
In spite his return to the limelight, by the late 1980s, Brown met with a series of legal and financial setbacks. In [[1988]], he was arrested following a high-speed car chase down [[Interstate 20]] in Augusta. He was imprisoned for threatening pedestrians with firearms and abuse of [[phencyclidine|PCP]], as well as for the repercussions of his flight. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released in [[1991 in music|1991]] after having only served three.
Brown has been married four times. He and his current wife Tommie Raye Hynie, have been married since [[2002]] and have one child together; he also has two children by his first wife, Deidre Jenkins, and three more by his second, Velma Warren. Adrienne Rodriegues, Brown's wife through most of the [[1980s]] and [[1990s]], had him arrested four times on charges of assault, and also had problems with drug abuse.
During the [[1990s]] and [[2000s]], arrests for drug possession or domestic abuse became frequent occurrences for Brown. However, he has continued to occasionally perform and even record, and often makes appearances in television shows and in films such as ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]''. He lives in a riverfront home in [[Aiken County, South Carolina|Beech Island, South Carolina]], directly across the [[Savannah River]] from Augusta. On [[November 11]], [[1993]], Augusta mayor Charles Delaney held a ceremony during which Augusta's 9th Street was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" in the entertainer's honor.
The [[1991]] four-CD retrospective ''[[Star Time]]'' spans his four-decade career; nearly all his earlier LPs have been re-released on CD, often with additional tracks and enlightened commentary by experts familiar with Brown's music.
==Trivia==
*Brown was a recipient of [[Kennedy Center Honors]] for [[2003]], and a scheduled [[2004]] unveiling of a statue of Brown in Augusta was delayed because of James Brown's ongoing legal problems.
*James Brown had an appearance in the [[Jackie Chan]] movie ''[[The Tuxedo]]'', in which he is flipped and knocked unconscious, forcing Chan to do his routine.
*In December [[2004]] Brown was diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]], which was successfully treated with surgery.
*[[Weird Al Yankovic]] made a parody of ''Living in America'', entitled '''Living with a Hernia'
''
== Discography ==
''For a full listing of albums and singles, see [[James Brown discography]].''
===Top ten singles===
These singles reached number one on either the [[Billboard Hot 100]] or the Billboard [[Top R&B Singles]] charts.
{| cellpadding=0 cellspacing=15
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*[[1956 in music|1956]]: "[[Please, Please, Please]]" (R&B #5)
*[[1959 in music|1959]]: "Try Me" (R&B #1, US #48)
*[[1960 in music|1960]]: "Think" (R&B #7, US #33)
*[[1961 in music|1961]]: "Baby, You're Right" (R&B #2, US #49)
*[[1961 in music|1961]]: "Bewildered" (R&B #8, US #40)
*[[1961 in music|1961]]: "I Don't Mind" (R&B #4, US #47)
*[[1962 in music|1962]]: "Lost Someone" (R&B #2, US #48)
*[[1962 in music|1962]]: "Night Train" (R&B #5, US #35)
*[[1963 in music|1963]]: "Every Beat of My Heart" (US #99)
*[[1963 in music|1963]]: "Prisoner of Love" (R&B #6, US #18)
*[[1965 in music|1965]]: "[[Papa's Got a Brand New Bag]]" - Part I (R&B #1, US #8)
*[[1965 in music|1965]]: "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]" (R&B #1, US #3)
*[[1966 in music|1966]]: "Ain't That a Groove" Pts. 1 & 2 (R&B #6, US #42)
*[[1966 in music|1966]]: "Don't Be A Drop-Out" (R&B #4, US #50)
*[[1966 in music|1966]]: "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" (R&B #1, US #8)
*[[1966 in music|1966]]: "Sweet Little Baby Boy" - Part 1 (US #8)
*[[1967 in music|1967]]: "Cold Sweat" - Part 1 (R&B #1, US #7)
*[[1967 in music|1967]]: "Let Yourself Go" (R&B #5, US #46)
*[[1968 in music|1968]]: "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" (R&B #4, US #28)
*[[1968 in music|1968]]: "I Got The Feelin'" (R&B #1, US #6)
*[[1968 in music|1968]]: "Licking Stick - Licking Stick" - Part 1 (R&B #2, US #14)
*[[1968 in music|1968]]: "[[Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]" - Part 1 (R&B #1, US #10)
*[[1968 in music|1968]]: "There Was A Time" (R&B #3, US #36)
*[[1969 in music|1969]]: "Ain't It Funky Now" (R&B #3, US #24)
*[[1969 in music|1969]]: "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (R&B #1, US #15)
*[[1969 in music|1969]]: "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" (R&B #3, US #20)
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*[[1969 in music|1969]]: "Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn" - Part One (R&B #2, US #21)
*[[1969 in music|1969]]: "Mother Popcorn (You Got To Have A Mother For Me)" Part 1(R&B #1, US #11)
*[[1970 in music|1970]]: "Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine" (Part 1)" (R&B #2, US #15)
*[[1970 in music|1970]]: "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here To Stay" (US #7)
*[[1970 in music|1970]]: "Super Bad" - Part 1 & Part 2 (R&B #1, US #13)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "Escape-ism" - Part 1 (R&B #6, US #35)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" - Pt. 1 (R&B #4, US #34)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "Hot Pants (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)" – Part 1 (R&B #1, US #15)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "I'm A Greedy Man" - Part I (R&B #7, US #35)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "Make It Funky" - Part 1 (R&B #1, US #22)
*[[1971 in music|1971]]: "Soul Power" - Pt. 1 (R&B #3, US #29)
*[[1972 in music|1972]]: "Get On The Good Foot" - Part 1 (R&B #1, US #18)
*[[1972 in music|1972]]: "King Heroin" (R&B #6, US #40)
*[[1972 in music|1972]]: "Talking Loud And Saying Nothing" - Part I (R&B #1, US #27)
*[[1973 in music|1973]]: "Down And Out In New York City" (R&B #13, US #50)
*[[1973 in music|1973]]: "I Got A Bag Of My Own" (R&B #3)
*[[1973 in music|1973]]: "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" (R&B #6, US #50)
*[[1974 in music|1974]]: "Funky President" (People It's Bad)" (R&B #4, US #44)
*[[1974 in music|1974]]: "My Thang" (R&B #1, US #29)
*[[1974 in music|1974]]: "Papa Don't Take No Mess" - Part I (R&B #1, US #31)
*[[1974 in music|1974]]: "Stoned To The Bone" - Part 1 (R&B #4, US #58)
*[[1974 in music|1974]]: "The Payback" - Part I (R&B #1, US #26)
*[[1976 in music|1976]]: "Get Up Offa That Thing" (R&B #4, US #45)
*[[1985 in music|1985]]: "[[Living in America (song)|Living in America]] (R&B #10, US #4)
*[[1987 in music|1987]]: "How Do You Stop" (R&B #10)
*[[1988 in music|1988]]: "I'm Real" (R&B #2)
*[[1988 in music|1988]]: "Static, Pts. 1 & 2" (with [[Full Force]]) (R&B #5)
|}
[[Image:Doin-the-jb.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]
===Albums===
James Brown was not an album-oriented recording artist, and it is difficult to identify the most critical albums of his career. However, the following four albums all appear on the [[List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].
* ''[[Live at the Apollo (James Brown)|Live at the Apollo]]'' ([[1963]])
* ''[[In the Jungle Groove]]'' ([[1986]])
* ''[[Star Time]]'' ([[1991]])
* ''[[Greatest Hits (James Brown album)|Greatest Hits]]'' ([[1991]])
==Samples==
*[[Media:Papa'sGotaBrandNewBag.ogg|Download sample]] of "Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag"
==External links==
*[http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/ James Brown - Godfather of Soul], Brown's official site.
* {{imdb name|id=0113768|name=James Brown}}
* {{AMG name|id=ntknu3t5an1k|name=James Brown}}
*[http://dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Styles/Rhythm_and_Blues/Funk/Bands_and_Artists/Brown,_James/ DMoz], listing of James Brown sites.
*[http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/search.asp?q=James+Brown&pos=2 James Brown at the SoundtrackINFO project]*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1229299,00.html Interview with James Brown] - [[June 2]], [[2004]] - [http://www.guardian.co.uk The Guardian Newspaper (UK)]
*http://www.funky-stuff.com/jamesbrown/biography.htm
[[Category:1933 births|Brown, James]]
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[[Category:R&B musicians|Brown, James]]
[[Category:Soul musicians|Brown, James]]
[[Category:United States musicians|Brown, James]]
[[Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees|Brown, James]]
[[Category:Vocalists|Brown, James]]
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