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Mister Dynamite

JDmichael
Jan 24, 2018
5 min read

If you listen to disco, funk, hip-hop, rap...you have a portion of thanks to give to Mister Dynamite himself, James Brown. His very name he forged into a synonym for attitude, for black pride and power, for the band the funk the autonomous control of musical engines.

I NEED THOSE HIT-SA!

James Brown was born into unimaginably tough circumstance in Augusta, Georgia. Raised in a whorehouse, without the love of family and right to a childhood, he hustled his way through with a recklessly desperate, determined work ethic. And went on to dominate, rule, two genres single-handedly at his prime. According to Joel Whitburn's take on the Billboard R&B charts James Brown is the number one artist from 1942-2010. According to Rolling Stone magazine he is ranked 7th best, most paramount artist of all time. The same institution recognises him as the most sampled artist of all time and it is a well-known fact that Brown is the most sampled artist in hip-hip history, which built its foundations on funk beats, riffs and styles.

The Hardest Working Man In Show Business.

Inimitable showmanship was his signature. With 800 tracks under his belt either as a solo artist or credited as part of The Famous Flames and The J.B.'s, performance was an art to the man who supposedly sweated seven pounds off a night and broke financial, statistical and most definitely decibel records in every major black venue across the States. From regional success he became an icon in the first world and the third world thanks to regular shows in Zambia and Nigeria. He demanded extreme discipline, precision, and nothing less than perfection from his dancers and musicians. A fine system, unwavering in nature, guaranteed it was achieved.

King Records pre-1965 did not give him the artistic license his talent demanded, which led to Brown financing his infamous 1962-3 Live at the Apollo album, praised as 5/5 stars by Allmusic, Blender, Mojo, Rolling Stone and Virgin Encyclopedia as well as A+ by Entertainment Weekly, 10/10 by Pitchfork Media and PopMatters as well as 'favourable' by the BBC and Yahoo! Music, featuring the blockbuster records 'Try Me', 'Think', 'Lost Someone', 'Please, Please, Please', 'Night Train' backed by the ever-reliable, equally fervent Flames consisting of 30+ years sideman Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett and Lloyd Stallworth. It often was played in its entirety (31:31 minutes) with a commercial break during the mid track 'Lost Someone' by contemporary R&B jockeys. The record was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004 and in 1998 into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Plus, he continuously flirted with the film industry, featuring in The Blues Brothers, Rocky IV, Blues Brothers 2000, and The Tuxedo, aged 69, just four years before congestive heart failure and pneumonia passed him on during Christmas Day.

Soul Brother #1.

During the late sixties, Brown elevated himself, and the people elevated him, to Soul Brother #1. He had risen to the status of ultimate black cultural icon, a wealthy, influential, independent symbol of self-worth and determination in the face of stacked odds both socially and racially. Advocating rights and responsibility through sponsoring youth programmes, black business and high schools and performing for the troops lodged in disillusionment and mania in Vietnam as well as soothing the infernal pressure of the country after Dr. King's assassination in 1968, resulting in being thanked publicly by Vice President Humphrey. Hit 'Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)' amongst others evidence a man doing his best to steer his people in the right direction out of institutional quicksand.

Mr. Please Please Please.

The star was a supernova of emotion, wailing, shrieking, bawling, with coarse yet loving, delirious desperation. His trademark act during 'Please, Please, Please' would see Brown drop to his knees succumbing to exhaustion allowing his showtime MC to drape his cape over his shoulders and escort him out. The gimmick culminated in Brown shimmying the cape off and staggering back to the encore appeasing the Flames' "please, please don't go" chorus. Silly it may seem, but it captured the audience's imagination and scorched the venues in a crucible of sex appeal, hollering and hysteria.

The Godfather of Soul.

Brown had soul in abundance, equipping himself with it in funk records, his pre-funk records and truly soulful, desperately pleading, rough and tender numbers such as 'Try Me', 'Lost Someone' and the aforementioned 'Please, Please, Please'. He had many strings to his bow and perfected his work whether it was rhythm and blues, soul or funk, or seminal blends between the three. Another side to him, the soul work was equally as strong as anything else, from him, or others, and arguably it was his soul music that elevated him to the father figure to Black America and Africa.

Minister of New New Super Heavy Funk. The Original Disco Man.

It was the 1964 rhythm and blues record 'Out of Sight' which marked the beginnings of funk for the Minister, and is the origin of many licks, riffs, rhythms and sounds dotted through the history of funk and its successors. Even the 1969 departure of the world's greatest alto-saxophonist in Maceo Parker and trombonist Fred Wesley failed to derail James Brown from his course into the public imaginary as a music, dance, show-business legend. He simply took fresh, young instrumentalists under his wings forming the J.B.'s group with the likes of formidable brother duo Bootsy and Catfish Collins (Bootsy of ever-sampled 'I'd Rather Be With You' fame ), revolutionising soul and forming funk. They left a year later and absorbed the James Brown-Collins sound into Parliament/Funkadelic.

...And minister he was, spearheading fresh musical styles and sounds (as well as seminal showmanship and performances) which were absorbed/sampled into disco, hip-hip, rap, by upcoming successors such as Sly and the Family Stone, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Prince, Funkadelic, Parliament, even Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Nas, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, the list is literally endless with every passing year.

My James Brown collection:

I Feel Good

Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine

*I Got The Feelin

Mother Popcorn Part 1

Give It UP Or Turn It a Loose

Make It Funky Part 1

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

Think

*It's a Man's Man's Man's World

*Try Me

*Night Train