What The Godfather Meant

Tribute
What the Godfather of Soul Meant to Me
Aretha Franklin, Ice Cube, Reverend Run, and other peers and disciples remember James Brown
SOUL POWER Brown in 1964

All About
James Brown
By Leah Greenblatt

Say it loud! Following the Dec. 25 passing of James Brown, a.k.a. the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Soul Brother Number One, among many other monikers — most of which he coined himself — EW’s music team gathered a rich and varied collection of never-before-published quotes from his admirers. Be they contemporaries, musical descendents, or merely bystanders, all were touched in some way by his supreme funkiness. Here we offer an extended recollection of the memories and moments that made the man The Man, from some of his biggest bold-faced fans.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul
”His performance, you just can’t get away from that. Whatever else you might think of, you cannot get away from that. He was one-of-a-kind, an original, [like] a Rembrandt or a Picasso. The first time I heard him, I was traveling with my father as a teenager, and [Brown] had just joined the Famous Flames, I believe. We were driving in Florida and I heard this record, ”It Was You,” on the radio, and I just loved it instantly.

”And then I must have been about 19 or 20 when I first met him in person. We never actually performed much together, though I remember a show [we did] here in Detroit around ‘86 or ‘87 [with] me and Wilson Pickett. Oh my Lord.

”He was a showman extraordinaire, a social activist, and he was certainly concerned with the human condition. When I first heard about [the passing of] Gerald Ford, I thought oh, wow, that’s very sad, but I also thought that James might be overshadowed by that, but I don’t think he was at all. I think that the media and the people at large absolutely gave him his respect.”

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Alan Leeds On James Brown

James Brown, 1933-2006: A godson remembers the Godfather
We Called Him Mr. Brown

Image: Wireimage Kevin Mazur

January 3, 2007

by Alan Leeds as told to Steve Perry

James Brown was about a lot of things to a lot of different people. But to those of us who passed through his inner circle, he was about family. It wasn’t always a warm, fuzzy, or even functional family. But it was family. He was that crabby patriarch who’d seldom give you what you wanted but usually give you what you needed. He’d mock your performance and curse your efforts but if you ever needed to “come home,” the door was always open.

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Davey D On James Brown

Hip Hop Loses It’s Godfather James Brown
by Davey D

For those who don’t know James Brown the hardest working man in show business aka The Godfather of Soul passed away in Atlanta from pneumonia. A lot of newscasts have been bombarded with Christmas Day fanfare so news of his death has been a bit downplayed… This story was written a couple of years ago when we celebrated James Brown’s Birthday which is May 3rd… Hopefully people get to reflect upon the true essence of who this man was and what he meant to Hip Hop…Hopefully as you read this you recall the recent story we ran about the plight of Hip Hop pioneers…As you read this article..peep the Live Performance he did at Live 8 at Edinburgh

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James Brown’s Last Performance

James Brown

This is James Brown’s performance at the UK Music Hall of Fame in November.

James Brown Popcorn

James Brown Popcorn

Before James Brown music focused on the 2nd and 4th beat. After James Brown the world rocked to the 1st and 3rd beat. From him we all know that everything is on the one. This Christmas was a Black (cultural) Christmas and here is a clip of him in his majesty. RIP Godfather.

RIP:James Brown

The Godfather of Soul went home this morning. What can you say about one of the grand innovators of music that has not already been said?

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Happy Birthday Jimi!!!

Jimi Hendrix – Band of Gypsys – Who Knows

Today is Jimi Hendrix’s birthday! The greatest guitarist, most potent color and texture specialist and freaky freedom diver would have been 64.

RIP Gerald Levert

Gerald Levert has joined the ultimate jam session in heaven. Gerald’s music is some of the most soulful music to be recorded over the past two decades. If it was work with Levert, solo releases, collaborations with his legendary father Eddie Levert, LSG and of course those live TV appearances with the likes of Patti Labelle among others Gerald always delivered quality performances. If you haven’t heard him already you need to.

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See Gerald perform:
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Gnarls Barkley To Release Limited Edition 3-D CD+DVD Package

Just in time for the holiday season comes the Gnarls Barkley limited
edition 3-D CD and DVD package, /*St. Elsewhere*/. Out Tue, Nov 7th,
the package compiles the platinum-certified, genre-defying collection in
its entirety, along with an exciting assortment of exclusive extras and
mind-blowing bonus features.

Urban Organic 5 Year Anniversary

For its five year anniversary which takes place in Detroit from Friday November 17th through Sunday November 19th, Urban Organic plans to mark this milestone anniversary by inviting all of its friends to come out and celebrate. The schedule of events is as follows:

Friday, November 17th

10:00PM – Until – Buzz, Cut and Soul a DJ set from DJ OhSoKool of Brooklyn, DJ Frances Jaye of Dallas, DJ Hannibal of Milwaukee, and DJs Genesis of Detroit downstairs. Lashaun Phoenix of Detroit, Maya Azucena of Brooklyn, Mojoe of San Antonio AB of San Antonio and others upstairs at the Buzz Bar. The Buzz Bar is located at 546 Larned Downtown Detroit. Admission is $10.00