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The reach of Brown's influence extended to many different musical genres, including rap. Chuck-D of Public Enemy once said of him ... "there never has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close".

Funk isn't an easy R&B sub-genre to play well. It can come off as brash, lacking in style. Kind of like a runaway musical freight train. It took a master like James Brown to work the groove and produce the intricate rhythms that later inspired a host of other musicians.

James Brown was a gutsy performer who wasn't afraid to challenge social taboos. In an era when African Americans were referred to as "colored", it took the meteoric James to seize the microphone and electrify America with "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". His sheer raw power commanded attention, and the tight rhythms his back-up musicians perfected, added to a primal power that was impossible to ignore.

JB was a small man with an outsize ego. When he appeared on-stage with his meticulously groomed pompadour hairdo and flash clothes, he was like some kind of attention magnet in the flesh. When he started up, he seemed possessed as he delivered wild yelps and moans. Like the rhythms of his music, his dance style went all the way from speedy foot movements to full body gyrations. There was little about it that seemed choreographed. It was all about soul and rhythmic intuition.

James Brown had a tough life. Born in 1933 in Barnwell, N. Carolina, and abandoned at age four, he was raised by family and friends. As a teen on the streets of Georgia, he turned to petty crime and was sent to a reform school for a few years.

His first break came when he joined the Gospel Starlighters, a group that later changed its name to the Famous Flames . In 1956 the Flames were signed by King Records and shortly after, the single "Please, Please, Please" made it to the R&B Top Ten.

In the early 1990's Brown was charged with assaulting his wife, Adrienne. Just another episode in a life that was marked with the same excess he brought to his stage performance. Prison time didn't dampen his enthusiasm for performing and when he was paroled he bounced back with shows on cable TV.

James Brown was in a class of his own. His stage presence and personal style influenced performers like Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson and Prince.

In 1992 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement.

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About The Author

Aidan Maconachy is a freelance writer and artist based in Ontario.

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