James Brown is gone

[Disturber]

Latest news he died in Atlanta due to illness.

Sad, he was the hardest working man in showbusiness.

[kizanski]

I heard that it wasn't illness but actually from him attempting to jump back and kiss himself.

[Brooks]

JB was a huge influence, as his stuff was the 1st non hard rawk music that i dug, thus leading me into funk & jazz.

r.i.p. godfather.

[gwayne]

This is sad news. JB was from Augusta and continued to do a lot for the disadvantaged in the community. Before Thanksgiving he gave away turkeys and he gave out toys prior to Christmas. He's done this for years. The local gov't finally chose to honor him by changing the name of the civic center to James Brown Arena. I'm glad he lived long enough to see that.

R.I.P. James

[Willie G. Moseley]

James Brown had many self-styled monikers: "The Godfather of Soul", "The Ruler of Rhythm & Blues", "The Founder of Funk", and "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business", and he lived up to all of 'em. To have witnessed a JB show in the '60s was to have been in the presence of an unleashed monster with hyper-tight band arrangements. The knee-drops, the cape antics on "Please, Please, Please"...still mind-boggling and encaustic.

Moreover, Jimmy Nolen's scratchy, chugging rhythm guitar is requisite listening in the lexicon of electric six-string musical history. Trenton, NJ guitarist Paul Plumeri once keenly observed "Jimmy Nolen was an influence, and none of us knew who he was."

If anything, the "Founder of Funk" designation is spot-on. That emphasis on the first beat was new in its time, and was later appropriated by who know how many others. One of my favorite examples is "There Was A Time" on the 1967 live at the Apollo album. It'll make you sweat just listening to it. And that's the song on which Brown had the audacity to name a dance after himself...

While he was at times the butt of Letterman jokes, James Brown was an American original, period. Nobody else even came close, or ever will. Good Gawd!

[LordOfTheThighs]

RIP JB

[tafkathundernotes]

Well said, Willie! You should be a professional writer!

I loved his early stuff. Please, Please, Please was a great example of how to put everything you have into a song. That carried on to everything he did. After going through drugs, prison, and cancer he lived to be 73; a tribute to human durability. RIP JB!

[BTMN]

I'm gonna miss the guy. He was somethin' to watch all my life as a music fan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_en_mu/obit_brown

[Chollie]

It's sad that this had to happen this morning.... James Brown passed away early this morning.

[Hamer Bass Head]

Papa's got a brand new harp.....

Goodbye to a true legend....

[greggorypeccary]

We listened to James Brown's Funky Christmas this morning and then I heard the news.

[tbabinec]

Sure do like the James Brown sound of the mid- and late-

60s, with the "in the pocket" playing of the rhythm section

and the horns. The secret to the sound included 2 guitars -

different at different times, but featuring Jimmy Nolen

and Alphonso Kellum on There Was a Time and Cold Sweat -

and often 2 drummers - Clyde Stubblefield and John Starks

at that time.

[Stokesdead]

if it wasn't Christmas the news would have surely ruined my day.

What a great performer. He was a workhorse.

[Stokesdead]

He was a workhorse for sure.

[Steve Haynie]

We listened to James Brown's Funky Christmas this morning and then I heard the news.

I have that album. It really gives a good perspective on James Brown's musical point of view. I am glad that I got to see the man perform in concert a few years back.

[Hamer95USA]

Hey guys,

I saw James Brown w/ The Family Stone Experience (ex-members of Sly & The Family Stone and Graham Central Station. My friend, Gail Mudrow on vocals/guitar) in November 2005 at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA. What a great show seeing some old school funk. There were guys in the theater lobby dressed up like pimps, people dancing and great music to be heard that night. The world has lost a great purveyor of a unique musical style. Long live The Godfather Of Soul!!!

Guitar George

[DavidE]

I can't get into my hot tub without thinking of James Brown and that wasn't even him! He put out some incredible and ground breaking music over the years.

[mindriff]

Horrible news. Biggest influence on me, period. Huge loss to the planet, no matter what kind of shithead he was to the band, because PAPA DIDN'T TAKE NO MESS.

For me, one of the pillars of post-classical music. I will definitely be playing some funk late into the night . . . a little Cold Sweat.

RIP JB. We are all your children.

[killerteddybear]

Hat's off to another pioneer, gone too soon but never to be forgotten.

[seeker]

WOW, I just saw him on an airing of his induction into the UK Hall of Fame Awards ceremony. During his performance, he seemed a bit weakened, but gave it his 110%.

Conversely, Led Zep's induction performance was Wolfmother covering Communication Breakdown.

[Jeff R]

Incredible loss for many genres of popular American music and American culture in general.

I swiped my Dad's oldskool LP of "Live At The Apollo" for a weekend back when I was in high school and I wasn't ever the same again. I think that was the first time I tried to play electric guitar without full distortion.

[Hackubus]

RIP James Brown.

I'd hoped I'd get to see him perform live sometime, guess not now.

: (

[hamerican gigolo]

The greatest and the most original performer in RnB.

R.I.P.

[lonote049]

I can't believe he's gone. I got to see him in a club in Minneapolis in the 80's!

[Mad Man Mike]

I diged those moves that he had on the dance floor. What smooth moves. He will be missed.