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James Brown
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
James Brown was born in 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina, and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. He is called the Godfather of Soul, but his greatest contribution lies in rhythm. Brown pushed melody and harmony into the background and made every instrument a kind of percussion. In this way he laid the foundation for funk, and later for a large part of hip hop.
Music and breakthrough
In 1954 he joined Bobby Byrd's group, which became The Famous Flames. Please, Please, Please (1956) became their first rhythm and blues success, and the live album Live at the Apollo (1963) showed what Brown did on stage. In 1965 came Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, his first top ten hit on the pop chart, and I Got You (I Feel Good), with a scream as its hook and horns playing short stabs. Cold Sweat (1967) is often called the first true funk song. After the murder of Martin Luther King he recorded Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1968), which became a civil rights movement anthem. Around 1970 a new band accompanied him, The J.B.'s, with the young bassist Bootsy Collins.
Influence
Brown is often called the most sampled artist in the world. Clyde Stubblefield's drum break in Funky Drummer (1970) became the basis of hundreds of hip hop tracks, and Public Enemy built Fight the Power on his grooves. In 1986 Brown was among the first ten names inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died on Christmas Day 2006 in Atlanta.
Listening
I Got You (I Feel Good) · James Brown, 1965Apple Music ↗
Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine · James Brown, 1970Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1961Twist Around
- 1963Prisoner of Love
- 1964Grits & Soul
- 1964Showtime
- 1965James Brown Plays James Brown: Yesterday and Today
- 1965Sings Out of Sight
- 1966Handful of Soul
- 1966James Brown Plays New Breed
- 1967James Brown Plays the Real Thing
- 1967James Brown Sings Raw Soul
- 1968A Soulful Christmas
- 1968I Got the Feelin’
- 1968Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things
- 1969Gettin’ Down to It
- 1969It’s a Mother
- 1969Say It Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud
- 1969The Popcorn
- 1970Ain’t It Funky
- 1970Hey America
- 1970It’s a New Day - Let a Man Come In
- 1970Soul on Top
- 1971Hot Pants
- 1971Sho Is Funky Down Here
- 1972Get on the Good Foot
- 1972There It Is
- 1973Black Caesar (soundtrack)
- 1973Slaughter’s Big Rip‐Off (soundtrack)
- 1973The Payback
- 1974Hell
- 1974Reality
- 1975Everybody’s Doin’ the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump
- 1975Sex Machine Today
- 1976Bodyheat
- 1976Get Up Offa That Thing
- 1976Hot
- 1977Mutha’s Nature
- 1978Jam 1980’s
- 1978Take a Look at Those Cakes
- 1979The Original Disco Man
- 1980People
- 1980Soul Syndrome
- 1981Nonstop!
- 1983Bring It On!
- 1986Gravity
- 1988I’m Real
- 1991Love Over-Due
- 1992Universal James
- 1996Soul Jubilee
- 1998I’m Back
- 1999The Merry Christmas Album
- 2002The Next Step
- 2007James Brown Presents A Soulful Christmas
- 2017Blowball
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 5: Jazz FestivalNL Reader
- Mixtape 6: Fear of a Black PlanetNL Reader
- Mixtape 9: The InstrumentNL Reader
- After Hours: Session 3NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 4NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Funk Genre
Funk grew out of jazz, rhythm and blues and soul in the second half of the 1960s, with James Brown in the leading role.
- Fusion and jazz rock Genre
Miles Davis listened to Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown, and played with electric instruments on In a Silent Way (1969) and, on Bitches Brew (1970), with several drummers at once.
- Afrobeat Genre
Around 1970 Fela Kuti in Lagos blended highlife with jazz and the funk of James Brown: Afrobeat.
- Jazz-funk Genre
Jazz-funk emphasises the groove of funk musicians such as James Brown and Sly Stone.