James Brown

Genres:	Action & Adventure • Comedy • Documentaries • Funk • Holiday & Seasonal • Jazz • Music & Radio • Music Magazines • Music Videos & Concerts • Musicals & The Arts • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul • Television
Descriptive "tags":	funk • soul • rhythm and blues • blues • rnb
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Artist Compilations:	Aretha / James Brown
Links online:	BBC Music • Discography • Discography • Discography • Fan Page • IMDb • Official Homepage • Wikipedia

Biography

James Joseph Brown Jnr., 3 May 1928, Barnwell, South Carolina, USA, d. 25 December 2006, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. (NB: Brown always claimed he was born in 1933 in Macon, Georgia.) ‘The Hardest Working Man In Showbusiness’, ‘The Godfather Of Soul’, ‘The Minister Of The New New Super Heavy Funk’ - such sobriquets only hint at the protracted James Brown legend. Convicted of theft at the age of 16, he was imprisoned at the Alto Reform School, but secured an early release on the approbation of local singer Bobby Byrd. Brown later joined his group, the Gospel Starlighters, who evolved into the Flames after embracing R&B. In 1955 they recorded a demo of ‘Please Please Please’ at WIBB, a Macon, Georgia radio station. Local airplay was such that talent scout Ralph Bass signed the group to the King/Federal company. A re-recorded version of the song was issued in March 1956. Credited to ‘James Brown And The Famous Flames’,...

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