Atlanta – James Brown, the undeniable “Godfather of Soul,” told friends from his hospital bed that he was looking forward to performing New Year’s Eve, even though he was ill with pneumonia. His heart gave out a few hours later, on Christmas morning.
The pompadoured dynamo, whose classic singles include “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)” died Monday of heart failure, said his agent, Frank Copsidas.
He was 73.
“People already know his history, but I would like for them to know he was a man who preached love from the stage,” said friend Charles Bobbit, who was with Brown at the hospital. “His thing was ‘I never saw a person that I didn’t love.’ He was a true humanitarian who loved his country.”
The entertainer with the rough-edged voice and flashy footwork had diabetes and prostate cancer that was in remission, Bobbit said. Brown initially seemed fine at the hospital, Copsidas said.
Three days before his death, he had participated in his annual toy giveaway in Augusta, Ga., and he was looking forward to his New Year’s Eve show.
“Last night, he said: ‘I’m going to be there. I’m the hardest working man in show business,”‘ Copsidas said Monday.
Brown was himself to the end, at one point saying, “I’m going away tonight,” Bobbit said at a news conference Monday.
“I didn’t want to believe him,” he said.
A short time later, Brown sighed quietly three times, closed his eyes and died, Bobbit said.
One of the major musical influences of the past 50 years, Brown was to rhythm and dance music what Bob Dylan was to lyrics. From Mick Jagger to Michael Jackson, David Bowie to Public Enemy, his rapid-footed dancing, hard-charging beats and heartfelt yet often unintelligible vocals changed the musical landscape. And the pioneers of rap overwhelmingly sampled his music and voice as they laid the foundation of hip-hop culture.
He was one of the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.
“He was an innovator; he was an emancipator; he was an originator. Rap music, all that stuff came from James Brown,” entertainer Little Richard, a longtime friend of Brown’s, told MSNBC.
“James Brown changed music,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who toured with Brown in the 1970s and imitates his hairstyle.
“He made soul music a world music,” Sharpton said. “What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music. This is a guy who literally changed the music industry. He put everybody on a different beat, a different style of music. He pioneered it.”
Sharpton will officiate at Brown’s funeral service, details of which were still incomplete, Copsidas said.
Brown won a Grammy 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 even had a brief but memorable role on the big screen as a manic preacher in the 1980 movie “The Blues Brothers.”
His “Live at The Apollo” album in 1962 is widely considered one of the greatest concert records ever released.
Brown, who lived in Beech Island, S.C., near the Georgia line, had a turbulent personal life that included charges of abusing drugs and alcohol. After a widely publicized, drug-fueled confrontation with police in 1988 that ended in an interstate car chase, Brown spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work-release program.
From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, “Please, Please, Please” (1956), through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” and often tried to prove it to his fans, said Jay Ross, his attorney of 15 years.
Brown’s stage act was as memorable, and as imitated, as his records, with twirls and spins and a flowing cape, and repeated faints to the floor at the end.
“He was dramatic to the end – dying on Christmas Day,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a friend of Brown’s since 1955. “Almost a dramatic, poetic moment. He’ll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way.”
Born in poverty in Barnwell, S.C., in 1933, Brown was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends. He grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an “ill-repute area,” as he once called it, learning how to hustle to survive.
By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in reform school for breaking into cars. While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into its home. Byrd also took Brown into his singing group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.
In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later, “Please, Please, Please” was in the R&B Top Ten.
Brown is survived by his fourth wife, Tomi Rae Hynie, who was one of his backup singers, and at least four children – two daughters and two sons, Copsidas said.
Comments about James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” who died on Christmas morning at the age of 73:
— “What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music. This is a guy who literally changed the music industry. He put everybody on a different beat, a different style of music. He pioneered it.” – Rev. Al Sharpton.
— “He was an innovator, he was an emancipator, he was an originator. Rap music, all that stuff came from James Brown.” – Little Richard.
— “An American original, his fans came from all walks of life and backgrounds. James Brown’s family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers this Christmas.” – President Bush.
— “People already know his history, but I would like for them to know he was a man who preached love from the stage. His thing was ‘I never saw a person that I didn’t love.’ He was a true humanitarian who loved his country.” – Charles Bobbit, a friend who was with Brown when he died.
— “Last night, he said ‘I’m going to be there. I’m the hardest working man in show business.”‘ – Agent Frank Copsidas, on Brown’s comments the night before he died about a scheduled New Year’s Eve performance in New York.
— “He was dramatic to the end – dying on Christmas Day. … He’ll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way.” – Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Soul-shaking music
Here is a smattering of James Brown’s seminal, career-defining songs.
1956: “Please, Please, Please” – This begging ballad about a man trying to keep his woman took on a raw, sensual tone as Brown growled and yelped through the burning track.
1961: “Bewildered” – Brown’s she-done-me-wrong classic. He shrieks and shouts passionately, “bewildered” by the actions of his now-former woman.
1962: “Night Train” – One of the first songs to feature the tight, jumping horn section that would become a cornerstone of most of his major hits
1965: “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (Part 1)” – Another classic dance track about – what else – dancing.
1965: “I Got You (I Feel Good)” – Perhaps Brown’s most famous tune, and one of the all-time greatest songs in rock’s canon. A buoyant, joyful jam that is an instant party starter.
1966: “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” – Though the title may suggest a chauvinistic ode, this passionate, downbeat track really pays homage to a man’s eternal need for a woman by his side.
1967: “Cold Sweat (Part 1)” – A smoking, sultry mid-tempo jam that features Brown singing about a woman who makes him weak- kneed.
1968: “Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1)” – Released at the height of the civil rights movement, this anthem boldly asserted pride in being black at a time when African-Americans were still fighting for basic rights.
1970: “Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine” (Part 1)” – Despite its somewhat risque title, this frenetic groove is more of a call to move your feet.
1971: “Make It Funky (Part 1) – This could be the theme song of Brown’s entire career. It begins with Brown saying what would become his motto: “(Whatever) I play, it’s got to be funky!”
1974: “The Payback (Part I)”: The ultimate revenge song, this song sounded as if it would fit right in with many of the blaxploitation soundtracks of the day with its blaring horns and rumbling bass lines.
1985: “Living in America” – This rousing, patriotic song from the fourth installment of the “Rocky” movie franchise re-established Brown as a hit-maker in his sixth decade of life.
1988: “Static, Pts. 1 & 2” (with Full Force) – As Brown’s music was being sampled right and left by rappers, Brown showed hip-hop heads how it should be done.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
