James Brown dies
Obituary: James Brown (1933-2006)
AP
December 26, 2006 12:00am
JAMES Brown, the Godfather of Soul, whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms led to rap, funk and disco, has died aged 73.
He was taken to hospital in Atlanta with acute pneumonia but the cause of death has not been established, his agent, Frank Copsidas, 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 idolised 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 said. "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 coloured, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in 2003. "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 first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life. He was born into poverty, abandoned to live with relatives in Augusta, and was educated in a reform school.
His big break came in January 1956 when King Records of Cincinnati signed his group, the Famous Flames, and four months later Please, Please, Please was in the R&B Top 10.
Only Elvis had more hits than Brown.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20973869-661,00.html
