Reports out of Atlanta are saying that James Brown has died at the age of 73.
There are a lot of things that can be said about James. For now I’ll just focus on the music and say thank you for some great times.
Updated: Here is part of the CNN obituary.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — James Brown, the legendary R&B belter, a singer and songwriter who created a foundation for funk and provided the roots of rap, a man of many nicknames but a talent that can only be described as one of a kind, is dead.
Brown died early Monday at Atlanta’s Emory Crawford Long Hospital of congestive heart failure, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was in Atlanta for a dental appointment when he fell ill and was admitted to the hospital over the weekend for treatment of “severe pneumonia,” said his agent, Frank Copsidas.
“It appears what happened is that he did die of a heart attack as a result of his pneumonia,” Copsidas told CNN Radio.
Brown — known variously as “the Godfather of Soul,” “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” “Soul Brother Number One” and “Mr. Dynamite” (and often introduced as all of the above) — was known for his elastic dance moves, razor-sharp musicianship and all-stops-out performances.
He was, literally, an impossible act to follow: Keith Richards has said that the Rolling Stones’ appearance following Brown in “The T.A.M.I. Show,” a 1964 concert that appeared on film the next year, was the biggest mistake of their lives. Brown’s performance in that show even earned an ovation from the backing band.
“You have the Rolling Stones on the same stage, all of the important rock acts of the day, doing their best — and James Brown comes out and destroys them,” producer Rick Rubin wrote in Rolling Stone.”
Anonymous
James Brown was a giant.
Not just in regards to his music, but for what he meant to this world as a symbol of struggle, pride and pure human talent.
He was born under the iron boot of American apartheid, went hungry as a child and suffered in America’s chain gang gulag, yet he rose to be a universal symbol of pride, strength and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.
James Brown’s music was the anthem of the American Black Revolution. His lyrics were powerful and plain.
He was the embodiment of the blackness that the whole world craves, but only black people have.
“Say It Loud: I’m Black And I’m Proud”, “I’ve Got Soul and I’m Super Bad!”
Rest in Peace my brother.
Job Well Done!
A Blackman