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The Classic Soul of James Brown
Guide by Cliff White, Let It Rock, August 1975
It's White on Black. Cliff White examines the output of the sex machine inch by inch. ...
James Brown, Valentines Park, Ilford
Live Review by Andy Gill, MOJO, August 1994
TEN MINUTES BEFORE JAMES BROWN IS DUE TO APPEAR ON AN English stage for the first time since his release from prison, there is an ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 1 December 2003
James Brown talks about survival, mistrust, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Invention of Funk.
File format: mp3 File size: 28.5mb Interview length: 31 minutes 8 seconds Sound quality: ***
List of articles in the library
TAMI, Electronovision's Latest, Gets N.Y. Showing
Report by uncredited writer, Billboard, 21 November 1964
PRESS, TEENERS GET EYEFUL ...
James Brown: The Stones Can't Stop Talking About King James
Interview by Guy Stevens, Record Mirror, 19 December 1964
EVERY NOW and then, a rhythm and blues artist in America breaks through the confines of his own field of music and becomes a giant ...
James Brown: Sue Hit with 'Night Train'!
Report by Guy Stevens, Record Mirror, 2 January 1965
FIRST STOP No. 1 IN THE CHARTS FOR JAMES BROWN CLASSIC! ...
Solomon Burke: The Burke v. Brown Feud
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 3 July 1965
"TELL ME," I said, "all about you and James Brown. There was a two-second hush, and then Solomon Burke, king of rock & soul, launched ...
Top Tunes: James Brown Explains About 'Papa's Bag'
Interview by Ronnie Oberman, Evening Star, The (Washington DC), 7 August 1965
YOU MIGHT say that July 23 to 29 was a sort of James Brown Week in Washington. ...
James Brown: Crescendo Tiger's Tail, Hollywood CA
Live Review by Nikki Wine, KRLA Beat, 11 September 1965
Mr. Excitement Stirs Audience With Soul ...
James Brown: 95 Per Cent of Credit
Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 1 October 1965
IT COULD have been James Brown, professional boxer or baseball player. Instead he chose to enter the world of entertainment and became a giant, playing ...
Report and Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 4 March 1966
JAMES BROWN. Such a plain name – they call him Mr. Dynamite. They are one person. But there are two faces to the entertainer. Thousands ...
Film/DVD/TV Review by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 5 March 1966
James Brown arrives In England next week for a couple of concerts and to perform, with his entire troupe, throughout the March 11 Ready Steady ...
Tom Jones: Brown's LP Lacks Live Excitement
Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 5 March 1966
Opines TOM JONES in this exclusive feature ...
Brown's A Super-Spectacle: James Brown: Walthamstow Granada, London
Live Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 19 March 1966
OUT INTO THE cold streets of Walthamstow, ears ringing and apparently not working properly; eyes definitely out of focus; legs a trifle shaky. ...
Four days that shook the British pop world: The Brown Bomb!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 March 1966
James Brown brought something that has been missing... ...
James Brown: Ready Steady Go! (Rediffusion Television)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 19 March 1966
AND TELE VIEWER RICHARD GREEN SAYS... ...
James Brown: James Earns $20,000 a Day in U.S.
Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 19 March 1966
THE RECEPTION laid on for the purpose of meeting up with America's James Brown was timed for 6 p.m., to finish at 7.30 p.m. James ...
James Brown: The Soul Of Mr. Brown
Interview by Dave Godin, Record Mirror, 26 March 1966
JAMES BROWN has at last been to Britain. His all too brief stay had just about the maximum impact that it could have had. It ...
James Brown: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 27 March 1966
He's the singer who puts Elvis to shame ...
Stars Turn Out For Grammys: Standing Ovation For Herb Alpert
Report by Louise Criscione, Carol Deck, KRLA Beat, 9 April 1966
HOLLYWOOD: In the finest tradition of glittering Hollywood premieres and openings, the Eighth Annual Grammy Awards were presented in the International Ballroom of the Beverly ...
James Brown Shined Shoes Here!
Interview by Tracy Thomas, New Musical Express, 22 July 1966
"SHINE, MISTER?" a tiny shoeshine boy called after a passing businessman, who dismissed him with a shake of his head. The young Negro sighed and ...
Report and Interview by Tracy Thomas, New Musical Express, 22 July 1966
THERE WAS excitement both inside and outside of the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sunday, when the James Brown Show played to an audience of ...
James Brown — Soul For The Cool
Profile and Interview by Mike Tuck, KRLA Beat, 30 July 1966
HOLLYWOOD — James Brown stood in the corner of the Villa Capri banquet room and began to relax. His first day in Los Angeles had ...
Bob Dylan, James Brown, Otis Redding et al: Album Reviews
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966
Dylan rocks through 4 great sides ...
Brown Arrives in His Own Style
Report and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 15 September 1966
JAMES BROWN, who will appear at the Hollywood Bowl for a concert Friday night, has built up a 10-year momentum which catapulted him out of ...
James Brown Says 'I'm A Dynamo!'
Interview by Rochelle Reed, KRLA Beat, 8 October 1966
Mr. Soul Speaks Out On Himself, His Music, His Points of View... ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Hullabaloo, November 1966
On stage, there are a dozen musicians and a few dancers, gyrating to a rock tempo. The conductor is tall and he smiles toward the ...
Tempo: R&B and Jazz Album Reviews
Review by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, November 1966
FOR SOME reason, recordings of live rock and roll shows are selling very well. You can hardly hear the music above the enthusiastic audience response ...
Overview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, November 1966
RAVE's Maureen O'Grady puts on parade some of the greatest and the latest singers of "soul". The sound the "in" crowd said would happen. ...
LP Reviews: Sam & Dave, James Brown, Chet Atkins, and the Mothers of Invention
Review by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, April 1967
Sam And Dave: Double Dynamite (Stax 589003) ...
New Albums From The Doors, Roy Orbison, Sonny & Cher et al
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 22 April 1967
Orbison Gibson album — a fine LP but could be depressing... ...
James Brown: Cobo Arena, Detroit MI
Live Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 23 May 1967
Brown Had The Crowds In His Hand ...
James Brown: the Royal Tahitian, Ontario CA
Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 1967
JAMES BROWN has sustained 12 years of rock solid solid rock popularity, carving his career scream by scream, frantic performance after frantic performance, building a ...
Soul LPs... including Wilson Pickett and James Brown
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 17 February 1968
WILSON PICKETT: The Best Of Wilson Pickett 'In The Midnight Hour'; 'I Found A Love'; '634-5789'; 'If You Need Me'; 'Mustang Sally'; 'Don't Fight It'; ...
New Albums by John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison et al
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 2 March 1968
Staunch British blues fans will dig Mayall's Diary LP set ...
James Brown, Box Tops, Albert King, Otis Redding et al, Album Reviews
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 18 May 1968
Loads of R&B albums including Otis' great Dock Of The Bay LP ...
Soul: it's what Negroes have and white men are learning
Overview by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 30 June 1968
THE WORD is "soul" and if white Americans haven't been quite sure what it meant before, they are this week. ...
James Brown: Oakland Auditorium, Oakland CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 30 July 1968
Music World's Soul Brother: James Brown Deserves Title ...
James Brown, the Count Basie Orchestra, Ramsey Lewis Trio: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 23 November 1968
James Brown Scores Knockout With Soul Music at the Garden ...
Newport Jazz Festival 1969: New Records & Not All That Jazz
Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, 19 July 1969
NEWPORT, R.I. — On paper at least the experiment of adding rock music to the Newport Jazz Festival 1969 came from the purest of motives. ...
James Brown: Telling The Natural Truth
Interview by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 6 September 1969
'SAY IT LOUD – I'm Black and I'm Proud' sold 20,000 copies in Britain, although the BBC played it only once. Is James Brown surprised? ...
Albums from Isaac Hayes, Taste and James Brown
Review by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 10 January 1970
Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul (Stax) Tremendously successful in the States, this is the first solo album from Isaac Hayes, better known as the hit songwriter with Dave ...
James Brown — Outrageous Extrovert
Profile and Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 24 October 1970
PERHAPS ONLY the outrageous James Brown could get away with a single like 'Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine', which stands at ...
Report and Interview by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 1971
JAMES BROWN will die on the stage one night, on the moving staircase of his own feet in front of a thirty-piece band; and then ...
James Brown: The Sugar Shack Club, Boston
Live Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 5 February 1971
The Greatest Showman In Soul ...
Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1971
IF YOU'VE ever wondered who the second voice is on James Brown's 'Sex Machine', we can put your mind at rest for it is none ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1971
IF ARETHA is the Queen of Soul and Otis was the King of Soul, James Brown must qualify as the Super-King of Funk! On the ...
James Brown the Cassius Clay of Music
Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971
JAMES BROWN — broad and stocky — America's Soul Brother Supreme, with a warm smile etched deep into his granite face — perhaps the very ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971
"I WANNA know... do I you feel alllllrrriiiigggght?" "Yeaaaaahhhh," roared the audience in reply. "Did yaa bring your sex machine with you?" The affirmative cry ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
The clockwork king of soul? ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 20 March 1971
SOUL POWER TO THE PEOPLE... AND HOW! ...
James Brown: The Cassius Clay of Music
Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971
JAMES BROWN — broad and stocky — America's Soul Brother Supreme, with a warm smile etched deep into his granite face — perhaps the very ...
James Brown: Superbad (Polydor 2310 089)
Review by Royston Eldridge, Sounds, 17 April 1971
HAVING ADMITTED that James Brown is the premier entertainer in soul after seeing him in concert at the Albert Hall, I thought that perhaps I ...
Report and Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Columbia Daily Spectator, 22 April 1971
WE'RE SITTING there rapping just before camera time. This evening James Brown is taping the Johnny Carson Show and he is in a good mood, having just ...
James Brown: Hot Pants (Polydor 2425086 £2.15p)
Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 6 November 1971
IF YOUR big turn on is leapin' n' boogalooin' about in stuffy, sweatin' coalbunker discotheques while having your ears and mind blown by a thundering ...
James Brown: Talking Loud And Saying Something
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 31 March 1972
JAMES BROWN is renowned for being a leader of his people and never more so than right now. During his long and successful career, he ...
James Brown: Revolution Of The Mind (Polydor Double-Album).
Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 April 1972
SOMETIMES IT'S hard to separate James Brown the entertainer from James Brown the social voice of the down-trodden American negro, but in Brown's case he ...
Comment by Bob Merlis, Words & Music, July 1972
WE'VE BEEN experiencing a remarkable phenomenon in recent months; the re-emergence of rhythm and blues as an important force in American popular music. Since it ...
Retrospective by Jonh Ingham, Creem, September 1972
Monster Rock Flick Flips Out Freaks Coast To Coast ...
James Brown: There It Is (Polydor)
Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 2 September 1972
WHERE JAMES BROWN IS AT ...
James Brown: He Ain't Slowing Down
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
SOUL BROTHER Number One leaned back in his chair, adjusted his robe, and expounded: "Back in 1969 King Records didn't want to know. They said ...
James Brown: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
SOUL BROTHER Number One's in town, and the James Brown Revue's gettin' down and gittin' it on at the Rainbow. Bop through to the stalls ...
James Brown: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Martin Hayman, Sounds, 10 March 1973
MR. JAMES BROWN — Soul Brother Number One. Mr. Dynamite. ...
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, May 1973
JUDGED SOLELY on sales figures, James Brown has to be one of the half-dozen most important performers in popular music since the War. ...
James Brown, Mandrill, George McCrae: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 11 July 1974
GODFATHER'S GROOVE ...
James Brown: The Apollo Theater, New York NY
Live Review by Vernon Gibbs, New Musical Express, 16 November 1974
UPTOWN AT the Apollo, an eager audience is wondering when The King of Soul will make his appearance. ...
Comment by Cliff White, Black Music, March 1975
Is the Sex Machine slowing down? Can the Godfather Of Soul keep getting down now that he's over 40? Cliff White caught the man's recent ...
James Brown: Reality and Breakin' Bread
Review by Bob Fisher, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975
A WORD OF advice. Never attempt to review James Brown product whilst the records are actually playing. It's impossible either to write or type when ...
Comment by Vernon Gibbs, The Village Voice, 28 July 1975
Last summer, when I visited Afriac with James Brown for one of his "triumphant" blitzes, I was surprised at the discontent among his employees. The ...
James Brown: Sex Machine Today, Hamilton Bohannon: Insides Out, The Commodores: Caught in the Act
Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 2 August 1975
"WHITE ROCK", OBSERVED CSM last week in his Wailers review, "lays its beat on you; the Wailers' music allows you to find your own rhythm ...
James Brown: Live at the Apollo Vol.1
Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975
EVERY SO OFTEN an album comes along that is more than just another good, bad, or indifferent release from the artist concerned. ...
James Brown: Everybody's Doin' The Hustle/Dead On The Double Bump (U.K. Polydor)/Hot (U.S. Polydor)
Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 December 1975
J.B. reforms the Famous Flames, says hello to '57 ...
Disco: "Who's that on the jukebox?" "Who cares?"
Overview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 January 1976
ROGER ST. PIERRE considers what the disco boom has done for soul, and reviews forthcoming action on the soul scene. ...
Review by Simon Frith, Street Life, 1 May 1976
IN WHICH the Godfather of Soul issues a firm but gentle reminder of who's boss and why... ...
James Brown: Git Down! Git Down! Git Down!
Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 8 January 1977
Is Britain ready for the return of the Godfather of Soul? On the eve of JAMES BROWN'S fourth visit to the UK, Cliff White reveals ...
James Brown: After 21 Years, Still Refusing To Lose...
Report and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, April 1977
A MONTHLY magazine cannot attempt to match the ephemeral topicality of a weekly news-sheet, particularly a monthly magazine that works within the rigid structure of ...
James Brown: Mutha's Nature (Polydor PD-1-6111)
Review by John Swenson, Rolling Stone, 20 October 1977
ELVIS' DEATH exploded the myth of his senescence with the fury of a surprise eruption from a long-dormant volcano. It had been easy to laugh ...
James Brown: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Pete Wingfield, Melody Maker, 2 December 1978
The Sex Machine winds down ...
James Brown: OOOP! YAAA! UNNGH!
Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 December 1978
(That's right, this is a James Brown review.)James Brown: Odeon, Hammersmith ...
James Brown: The original Disco Man
Report by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 5 June 1979
'People are doing what I was doing ten years ago and calling it Disco' ...
James Brown: The Original Disco Man (Polydor Import)
Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 August 1979
THERE HE SITS, a sly grin splitting up his face to show a set of teeth worthy of a prize nag, his hair dixie-peached to ...
James Brown: Get Up, I Feel Like Being A Rap Machine
Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 15 September 1979
JAMES BROWN is late for our appointment. But then it would almost be heresy on his part were he not a regal 45 minutes behind ...
Sweat, Power And Expensive Perfume
Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 15 September 1979
TALKIN' 'BOUT The Venue...and people, it's bad. There is no way that something the size of a small theatre can pretend to be an intimate ...
James Brown: Studio 54, New York City
Live Review by Roy Trakin, Melody Maker, 17 April 1980
Despite the recent hip upsurge in his popularity, James Brown has for over a year studiously avoided playing a live gig in Manhattan. Pity that, ...
James Brown: Prisoner Of Love Meets The Prisoners Of Hate
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, New Musical Express, 11 April 1981
"Those black kids ain't ever seen a black president – and they won't ever see one. This country is no better off than it was ...
James Brown: Soul Brother Number One
Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982
James Brown: the most famous flame of all. ...
James Brown: Twilight Of The Godfather
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, New Musical Express, 23 January 1982
APART FROM several Arsenal players, James Brown was my first hero. ...
The Superstar: Much More Than The Just The music
Overview by Vernon Gibbs, Billboard, 5 June 1982
IT MAY be one of the most frequently misused of the music industry's accolades, since in a business full of stars there are few genuine ...
James Brown: Roots Of A Revolution
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 4 February 1984
YAAAOOWWW . . . Witchaw bad self! A few years ago Polydor issued a deluxe double album commemorating the first 21 years of James Brown's ...
James Brown (and Afrika Bambaataa): Sex Machine Today
Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 September 1984
WHAT DO you think of when you think of James Brown? A stretcher case raddled with emotional pain dragging himself back from endless encores of ...
James Brown: Calling Mr. Dynamite
Overview by J.D. Considine, Record, November 1984
WHEN JAMES Brown first took to being called The Godfather of Soul, it was more to play upon the faddish success of Francis Ford Coppola's ...
Overview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 12 January 1985
From the raw to the pure, from the sublime to the meticulous — BARNEY HOSKYNS sings the praises of 24 of music's most glorious voices. ...
James Brown: He's So Good, He Says
Report and Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 February 1986
JAMES BROWN is a litany of hit songs and personal titles. He's the Godfather of Soul, the King of Soul, the Living Legend of Soul, ...
James Brown: Papa's Got A Brand New Hit
Report and Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, BAM, 11 April 1986
"CALL HIM MR. BROWN," a colleague advised me on the eve of my first meeting with James Brown. "Or he might not talk to you." ...
James Brown at Wembley Arena: Back And Proud
Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 26 April 1986
IT'S A tribute to the unbelievable power of James Brown's music that it has always managed to overwhelm our reservations about this dodgiest of superstars. ...
James Brown: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 3 May 1986
"IT WAS just like watching Gary Glitter," said one voice on the way out, not in the least discontentedly. He wasn't far off, either. You ...
James Brown: Stay On The Scene Like An Answerin' Machine
Interview by Mark Sinker, New Musical Express, 18 October 1986
MARK SINKER talks to God – alias JAMES BROWN – on the great black telephone. ...
James Brown: Gravity (Scotti Bros.); Aretha Franklin: Aretha (Arista)
Review by Jon Young, Creem, March 1987
LADIES AND gentlemen, the Godfather and the Queen of Soul, Mr. James Brown and Ms. Aretha Franklin. Whether you hail 'em as living legends — ...
James Brown By James Brown with Bruce Tucker (Sidgwick & Jackson, £12.95)
Book Review by Cynthia Rose, The Wire, November 1987
JAMES BROWN is the Andy Warhol of sound — it's just not possible to imagine modern music without him. Nor could there be a more ...
James Brown: I'm Real (Polydor)
Review by Mark Sinker, New Musical Express, 11 June 1988
HE ISN'T, of course. He's Mr James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, the Funky President, the Original Disco Man. He's a numbing backbeat tightened to ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 17 November 1988
Friends of the soul singer say drug has 'whipped him' ...
Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1989
SOUL SINGER James Brown has received a second six-year prison sentence. The sentence will run concurrently with the six-year term Brown is already serving at ...
James Brown: Wrestling With The Devil
Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1989
The struggle for the soul of the Godfather of Soul ...
Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989
Over the years, BOBBY BYRD has been an integral part of JAMES BROWN'S career. PAOLO HEWITT spoke to him about his hot-and-cold relationship with the ...
Profile by Simon Witter, Sky, 1990
THE FIRST PHASE of James Brown's tempestuous career was as a '60s soul screamer in a suit at least two sizes too small for him. ...
Talking All That Jazz: the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame
Column by Danny Fields, Spin, April 1990
The Dish, The Dirt, The Inside Dope Sussed by DANNY FIELDS ...
James Brown: He’s Brown And He’s Proud
Profile and Interview by Cynthia Rose, The Observer, 16 September 1990
"NOT TOO MANY people can really set a precedent," James Brown told me. "But then, I was never too traditional about music." What an understatement. ...
Interview by Gene Santoro, Pulse!, November 1990
James Brown's saxman of choice, Maceo Parker cuts two solo albums, one jazz, one P-Funk ...
Bootsy Collins Effects the Funk
Interview by Gene Santoro, Musician, May 1991
Scouting bass hyperspace, speaking without words ...
Fred Wesley: Right, Said Fred...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 14 May 1991
Fred Wesley talks of funk, jazz and the idiosyncratic Mr. Brown ...
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, June 1991
AN ASSEMBLAGE of 71 tracks and slightly less than five hours of music, weighing in at four CDs or cassettes (committed vinylists are, unfortunately, totally ...
James Brown: Star Time (Polydor/CD Box Set)
Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, June 1991
SOONER OR later, all 20th Century music has to reckon with The Godfather. Before him there were be-bop revolutionaries blowing down the city walls, shamanic ...
Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 15 June 1991
THIS FOUR-CD mega-anthology reveals that there are actually two James Browns. The first is JB the patrician and patriarch: the disciplinarian who fined his musicians ...
James Brown: Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by RJ Smith, L.A. Weekly, 20 June 1991
Living in America: James Brown's defiant return ...
Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1991
Fresh out of jail, James Brown got back on the good foot with a couple of UK shows last month. Backstage afterwards, Robert Sandall met ...
Eyewitness: James Brown is arrested after a Car Chase
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, March 1997
1988, SEPT 24: HIGH ON PCP, SHOTGUN-WIELDING JAMES BROWN GETS ARRESTED IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, AFTER AN INTER-STATE CAR CHASE. ...
Profile by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 1 February 1998
ON 5 APRIL, 1968, when the National Guard was on full alert as America's black ghettos burnt in the wake of the assassination of Martin ...
Bootsy Collins on Bootsy Collins
Interview by Marc Weingarten, MOJO, April 1998
‘Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine’James Brown (King single, 1970) ...
Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, August 1998
"How do you stop... before it’s too late?" ...
Herbie Hancock, Bootsy Collins, James Brown: The Barbican, London
Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, MOJO, September 1998
DIGNITY OR DESPAIR: How are these funk giants confronting the present day? ...
Eyewitness: The Black Woodstock — 22-23 September 1974
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, June 2000
As Muhammad Ali and George Foreman waited to go toe-to-toe in Zaire, Don King persuaded James Brown and BB King to headline a music festival. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Martin Herron, unpublished, 2001
'SEX MACHINE'; 'Superbad'; 'One Nation Under A Groove'; 'Tear The Roof Of Tha Sucker' – Bootsy Collins' bass is the foundation stone of the House ...
James Brown: Live At The Apollo Volume II (Deluxe Edition) (Universal)****
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 2001
UNEDITED REISSUE of legendary 1967 double album. ...
James Brown: Hackney Ocean, London
Live Review by James Maycock, MOJO, October 2001
After reports in this magazine (Mojo issue 88) of eccentric antics preceding a New Year's Eve concert in Las Vegas, will James Brown behave himself ...
The Making Of James Brown Live At The Apollo
Retrospective by James Maycock, Daily Telegraph, February 2003
"ARE YOU READY for Star Time?" exclaimed MC Lucas "Fats" Gonder from the stage of Harlem’s Apollo on 24th October, 1962. The eager crowd ...
Death Or Glory: James Brown In Vietnam
Retrospective by James Maycock, MOJO, July 2003
JUNE, 1968. Seven US Army lieutenant colonels - six Afro-Americans and one Caucasian - are collected from Tan Son Nhut, Saigon’s international airport, and ...
James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 19 July 2003
THE LOVED CHILD, they say, has many names. Make what you will of the fact that most of James Brown's epithets – The World's Greatest ...
Beat The Devil: James Brown's Demons
Profile by James Maycock, Observer Music Monthly, February 2004
DAMN! LIFE WAS sweet and dandy for the Godfather of Soul in the last few years. But James Brown's slippin' and slidin' once again – ...
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, March 2004
JAMES BROWN’S road manager Charles Bobbitt takes me to one side and places a friendly paw on my forearm. ...
Interview by Ian Watson, The Evening Standard, June 2004
At 71, James Brown shows no signs of slowing down musically — or in his capacity for getting into trouble. Ian Watson meets the Godfather ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers/James Brown: Hyde Park, London, 20th June
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004
JUST HOW SERIOUSLY can you take the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Or am I missing the point? ...
Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, Los Angeles Times, 29 October 2004
THE ROLLING Stones were there, along with James Brown, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye and more, filmed live before their screaming ...
Ten Commandments: The Gospel According To James Brown
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Q, May 2006
Soul Brother Number One, 72 ...
Caught in The Act: James Brown's Soul on Top
Live Review by Kirk Silsbee, Downbeat, December 2006
WHEN SOUL shouter James Brown released his big band album – Soul on Top – in 1970, it was received as neither fish nor fowl ...
Black and Proud: James Brown, 1933-2006
Obituary by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 26 December 2006
GODFATHER OF SOUL James Brown, who died of heart failure yesterday aged 73, was a member of a very select group of performers who truly ...
Obituary by James Maycock, The Independent, 26 December 2006
JAMES BROWN was one of the most extraordinary Afro-Americans of the 2nd half of the 20th century. A raw, emotional singer, electric performer and tough ...
Memoir by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 26 December 2006
LATE LAST NIGHT, or more accurately early this morning doing my final email check, I noticed the headline: "James Brown hospitalized with pneumonia." I immediately ...
The Last Soul Brother: James Brown (1933-2006)
Retrospective by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 2 January 2007
JAMES BROWN was of a generation of black men—mythological in many ways—who helped define the contours of freedom and possibility for black folk in the ...
Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 9 October 2007
James Brown's right-hand man for 20 years ...
James Brown: I Got The Feelin': James Brown In The '60s (Shout! Factory)
Review by Jeffrey Morgan, unpublished, 2008
NOTE: previously unpublished; banned after having "been labeled 'offensive' by most of the editorial department here" at Detroit Metro Times. ...
Memoir by Chris Welch, Rock's Backpages, 25 July 2009
LIFE BACKSTAGE AT pop shows in the Swinging '60s was always a hoot. Looking back, it's fun to recall how casual and relaxed it all was ...
The Greatest (Pop TV) Show on Earth: The T.A.M.I. Show, October 1964
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages, March 2010
ON 28 OCTOBER, 1964, the T.A.M.I. Show was recorded at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. T.A.M.I. stood for Television Audience Measurement Index, though ...
The T.A.M.I. Show: Rock's Greatest Concert Movie Ever?
Retrospective and Interview by Richie Unterberger, Record Collector, May 2010
Richie Unterberger celebrates a legendary who's who of rock and soul royalty caught live in their prime, and now finally available on DVD. ...
Report by Kirk Silsbee, Los Angeles Downtown News, 17 October 2011
JAMES BROWN HAD a signature piece of stagecraft that he honed over the years, beginning in the 1950s when he worked his way up through ...
Comment by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 24 July 2013
MICHAEL A. GONZALES REFLECTS ON P-FUNK, THE OHIO PLAYERS, EARTH WIND & FIRE, ETC. AND WONDERS WHERE THE FUNK HAVE ALL THE FUNK GROUPS GONE? ...
Celebrating the "Godfather of Soul" the best way they know how
Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 16 July 2015
LAST SUMMER, when the James Brown biopic Get on Up opened on movie screens, jazz bassist Christian McBride organized an all-star concert at the Hollywood ...
Take The Power Back: Black Artist-Owned Labels
Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 25 January 2016
At the height of their careers, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, George Clinton and Prince all formed their own imprints. Michael Gonzales tells the ...
Why the early '70s was the greatest period for live soul albums
Guide by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, December 2016
JAMES BROWN invented the modern live soul album with the release of Live at the Apollo in 1963, and Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Etta ...
Obituary by Paul Sexton, Music Week, 30 January 2018
CLIFF WHITE, one of the UK's leading journalistic authorities on soul music and a Grammy winner for his work on James Brown's Star Time box ...
The 30 best live concert albums of all time
Guide by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 22 April 2020
LAST WEEK, A STORY appeared in the New York Times that predicted that live music would not return to the world's stages until the autumn ...
see also J.B.'s, The
see also Maceo Parker
see also Fred Wesley
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