James Brown, RIP

[mms]

i should be astonished but i must have heard this somewhere and processed it unconsciously or something. because i spent all christmas thinking about him and listening to mystikal because i don't have any james brown on my ipod. it really was a shoddy substitute.

fuck. this bothers me.

first syd barrett and now james brown, it's been a shitty year for amazing fucking musicians and humanity.

yes i was thinking about him dying on saturday too.
On christmas day my friend texted me to tell me this news and also that a day or so before he had found my copy of 'james brown is dead' by la style which i had lent him ages ago.

i do worry about people who i admire alot dying, it's probably a default against worrying about really important people close to me dying, which is really troubling.
agreed about musicians, arthur lee, barrett, dilla, james brown and loads others all left the planet.

 

[Poisonous Dart]

Let us not forget!

James Brown was without a doubt the greatest showman/performer ever and a great producer, musician and bandleader. He is credited it having the greatest single recorded performance in history at the T.A.M.I. Show.

Interestingly enough, Prince used to keep it playing on a loop in Paisley Park and Sting mentioned it in one of my favorite all time Police songs. I'm gonna go see if it's up on YouTube...also peep the rare clip of which no one knows it's origin to this day of the Holy Funk/R&B/Rock/Pop Trilogy of Black Music: James Brown onstage with Michael Jackson and Prince...it will bug you out...just search for them. One.

 

[petergunn]

James Brown was without a doubt the greatest showman/performer ever and a great producer, musician and bandleader. He is credited it having the greatest single recorded performance in history at the T.A.M.I. Show.

been watching it all weekend!

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[nomadologist]

Whoa, PD, never heard about that performance. thanks for putting that video up Peter, blows my mind.

I'm kinda sick of the "dancing" element in R&B and pop performance (and some hip-hop that's made more for the pop market) taking over and the rest losing out. Nobody does it like James Brown anymore,nobody. For example I loved "1 Thing" so much and got so excited to see Amerie perform it when Youtube got big. So disappointing--especially because even if she can sing, almost all of the performances were either lip-synched, or there was so much dancing and cheesy choreography very few people would have been able to sing properly, particularly on such range-y/husky vocals.

James Brown could've performed "1 Thing" dancing five times faster and made it look effortless while he didn't miss a beat with the vocal delivery.

 

[Capper]

nomadologist>

completism is a rock and roll hang up

I don't know that completism is, so I'm not sure if I was accusing James Brown of it or not. But the comment about the sheer productivity of JB and his variability (or willingness to experiment to put it another way) was not a diss.



Music is work, and musicians sometimes flag in energy and during those periods their work reflects that.

Absolutely agreed. He could lay claim to the title The Hardest Working Man In Show Business and that productivity was part of the reason for his success.

 

[blunt]

It's difficult to feel sad for his loss when his life was so very very full. What a legend.

May he work that crowd in death as hard as he worked it in life.

 

[nomadologist]

nomadologist>

completism is a rock and roll hang up

I don't know that completism is, so I'm not sure if I was accusing James Brown of it or not. But the comment about the sheer productivity of JB and his variability (or willingness to experiment to put it another way) was not a diss.

No, I see now that you weren't--you made a good point about output up there. I think I missed the first comment you put up. I agree with you and it's a really good point.

 

[Poisonous Dart]

Also...

petergunn>

1. The point about the high volumes of output is that it's not just James Brown - it's most of the really influential musicians of the past 50 years have been powerhouses of the sublime and the ridiculous - The Beatles, Dylan, Prince.

And you could make the same point from a scenius rather than auteur perspective. Most jungle/2step/grime records are pretty ordinary but the sheer productivity of the scene is one reason why we have stone classics from these genres (tho not the only one).

Do you realise exactly how much music JB produced during his lifetime? Most discographies I gave seen list over 80 albums bearing the JB imprint. Now, I have not listened to all of those albums - but my guess is that not everyone of those songs is a killer tune.

But that does not lessen the sheer power of his greatest moments.

2. I wasn't dissing JB with the "collaborative" label (altho I can see how it would appear that way). You are absolutely correct in that he remade his band on several occasions, developing the talents of his musicians in a virtual "school of soul".

What interests me is that discussions of musical genius tend to focus on individual talents whereas JB's was not only about his showmanship and vision but also about his abilities to get the best from others.

Doin' it to the death.

Just to add that James Brown also discovered, put on or produced more legendary and talented artist than you can imagine...Lyn Collins, Hank Ballard, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, Marva Whitney, and list goes on..........One.

 

[baboon2004]

yes i was thinking about him dying on saturday too.
On christmas day my friend texted me to tell me this news and also that a day or so before he had found my copy of 'james brown is dead' by la style which i had lent him ages ago.

i do worry about people who i admire alot dying, it's probably a default against worrying about really important people close to me dying, which is really troubling.
agreed about musicians, arthur lee, barrett, dilla, james brown and loads others all left the planet.

It's a sad day for music, definitely, no question. It's interesting that others worry about the death of those they admire however, because I can't say that I do. JB was obviously a musical genius, but as a man I know nothing about him except vague rumour, and his death doesn't affect me at all.

I'm not judging here - I simply find this interesting.

 

[mms]

It's a sad day for music, definitely, no question. It's interesting that others worry about the death of those they admire however, because I can't say that I do. JB was obviously a musical genius, but as a man I know nothing about him except vague rumour, and his death doesn't affect me at all.

I'm not judging here - I simply find this interesting.

as i said its probably a default, but its also some kind of reflection of a kind of character of person gone, i worry that there aren't people to replace people i admire with i guess.

 

[baboon2004]

as i said its probably a default, but its also some kind of reflection of a kind of character of person gone, i worry that there aren't people to replace people i admire with i guess.

Fair enough. There's obviously no-one to directly place him, but I'm sure there will be several musical behemoths in the 21st century sitting astride/inventing several musical genres. We just don't know who they are yet, or how today's important figures will be judged from a vantage point far in the future.

He had a great and full life too. I can't imagine he'd have any regrets in the professional realm.

 

[Sectionfive]

Out to the big man in the sky


Happy xmas everyone