Graycap23 said:

I think its a little more insideous than that. You see, Its not just that James Brown is strong willed and thinks for himself,..Its MUCH more than that.

You have to recognize that at his peak in the late 60's and early 70's,..he was not only a ground breaking musical innovator,...but also an extremely influential POLITICAL and social force.
Remember that many his songs werent only about partying and love,...but about instilling awareness, self esteem and political and social conciousness,..in not only just african americans,.. but all people.

Talking loud and sayin nothin,
Im Black and Im Proud,
Dont be a dropout,
Get it together,
America is my home,
King Heroin,
Lets unite the World at christmas,

Hell,..the man wasnt just out to redesign music itself , ..but he wanted to uplift and inspire society and the world along with it!!


With the exception of Elvis, James had more songs on the charts than anyone in history, so people were listening.


Not only that,..he had become very powerful finacially,..he owned his own airplane, tons of real estate, had his own subsidary record label with lots of artists, and several radio stations.

Now heck,..you add all this into the very SAME era when the civil rights movments were being spied on and sabatoged by the government. When forward seeing and thinking leaders like Martin Luther and Robert Kennedy were being assasinated,....the writing was on the wall for James.
Now, he wasnt as much of a threat as they were. James wasnt as confrontational and direct as they were, but nevertheless, he was very powerful, very influential and.... african-american.

So it was no suprise when the IRS came to hound him for years, years and years. Dismanteling much of James's fortune.
Also specifically targeting and breaking up his radio stations on charges of "payola".

On top of that,...whole segments of the music industry were selfishly appropriating and copying James's musical and dancing style without EVER giving him any proper recognition,..making it look like it was their own,..or that it was some collective creation. Or that James was merely just a contributor to the musical expression of FUNKY beats, rythms melodys and arrangments..
When he was the man who invented the whole thing, ..from the ground up, top to bottom!!

So with all that stress,...its no wonder that James's musical output took a dive and his personal life became a mess.
Here was a man,..spreading positivity, love in his music. Being a strong positive role model.
Living a clean life, never doing drugs or drinking...and then being driven into it from pain of people F'ing him over.

Like they continue to do today.

People wont give James his due until long after he's gone. When they realize that ALL modern music in all its genres (rock, jazz, pop, rap, dancehall, club, R &B, world music, etc.) ,.. in both performing and composition, ...since 1967, is or has become in one way or another DIRECTLY traceable and linked to his creations and models.


A glimpse into the future of music and its performance from 1966...
http://www.t-v-b.net/popUp.php?v=238861









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Some good points here. But I don't see James Brown as anybody's victim (except maybe himself, but that's another issue).

James has always been big enough and hard enough to stand up for himself.

Also, a great deal of the greatness in his classic music didn't come from James himself but from the great musicians he surrounded himself with, and went on to treat quite badly from many accounts. For sure, without him as the catalyst, the stuff wouldn't have happened but, like some others, he apparently took a whole lot of credit for things he did not initiate personally.

I do think he was a victim though of sampling. The early hip hop producers strip-mined all his band's superbad grooves and beats, for a long time without paying dues. They kind of took the musical clothes off his back, making him a victim of his own success.

But in the end, he still doesn't get full respect because a) He is and always has been a complex and difficult man and b) His classic music was and is just too black for many white ears. They have to have the pill sugared with a pop sensibility like Sly Stone (who I also love), or watered down and mechanised into disco.

But at least the man is still out there, gettin' down ...

I CANT WAIT for a real James Brown movie..or are they gonna wait till he dead