No, you are not wrong. James sort of scared white people with his flamboyancy and gyrations. There was a rumor that he was gay and married to his drummer. Stevie Wonder and E, W &F were more mainstream. He got his look from a little known R & B singer named Eskew Reeder. I had the very good fortune to see James live in the Apollo Theater in 1965 when I was 17. The show was incredible. I was the only white female and the guy I was with was the only white male. We were up in the balcony. He did all my favorites, Try Me, Please, Please Please and my very favorite (If you leave me) I'll go crazy. His band was probably the best R&B band I have ever heard, tight, right on the money and they knew exactly how to back him up. While his antics might seen off the cuff, I guarantee they were carefully orchestrated. He would swoon, appear to faint. Someone would come on stage and throw a velvet cape over him and help him off stage, like he was prostrate. Then just as he would get off stage, he would throw the cape off and bound back to the stage grab the mike, do a split to the floor and begin again. One woman in the audience stood up and said, James! Show us your peter! Another one raised her dress and said "James! I'm yours, take me James.!" I will never ever forget that might. I consider him the greatest R&B singer of all time, even better than Otis, maybe because Otis died so young. James brought black culture into the 60's with a new hair do (the afro), wearing regular suits and the slogan "say it loud, I'm black and I"m proud." He wanted the young kids to know he was serious. As much as I loved just about everything he did, I think It's a Man's World is my favorite. Out in '66, incorporated strings. Now, Bobby Bland had also used strings, but this song was tender and powerful in a way he had never been before. There will never be another. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it was certainly overdue. No matter how well it comes off, it will never compare to the real James Brown. I'm glad to see young people are digging him. Maybe there is hope for music yet. You much be a cool guy. What about Otis? And Al Green, he's another giant.
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helios987
10 years ago
Thanks Lolarites, lucky for you to have seen JB in his heyday. He had a great routine during his shows and I don't know what kind of drugs he was taking to keep going like that for a full concert set.
I like Otis as well but Al Green did not do it for me, he is too soft. James Brown had that hard edge, the "it" factor.
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Rabbit_with_a_Gun12
10 years ago
My Thang! My first time hearing that song was on Jacobs Ladder and that I will never forget that freaky scene. It's a Man's, Man's, World is also another favorite.
God has a hard on for marines because we kill everything we see. He plays his game, we play ours.
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Rabbit_with_a_Gun12
10 years ago
Interesting you mention that because every time my folks would talk about Mr. Brown, they would say that some people thought he was gay. What had them confused was the way he song his song in the early days. Singing a little to high as if it was a women and at times their was some suspicions between him and Little Richard. That is what I think made him changed his style in singing and sounded more manly with the shouting.
Glad to hear you are a fan of James Brown and lived through that good years in music history. My interpretation of why music was so great at that time is the fact that it really captured America in the 60s. A change in the music was because America was changing and can be heard in some songs at that time.
God has a hard on for marines because we kill everything we see. He plays his game, we play ours.
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