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Soul Brother Number One has departed to that great
terpsichorean extravaganza in the sky, where the groove
is sweet and strong and pounds out of the ears; his
rasping vocals combined with the original crotch grab,
and that oh so wicked twinkle twirl, would be melting
the dance floor, right now.
James Brown is no longer with us.
For those of us, who think that today’s dance
meisters are the last word in grooving, wake up! They
are no more. Check out the James Brown
singles –
C than dorks who have endlessly sampled the work of
the Godfather of Soul for inspiration old Sweat, Get
up (I feel like being like a) Sex Machine, Payback,
Super Bad – the strident vocals, the fluid groove,
the sleek horns!
Do see the Blues Brothers, a film by John Landis and
starring Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi, where the Soul
Father plays Reverend Cleophus James who leads the
congregation in a rousing spiritual. Sex Machine becomes
a character in Roberto Rodriguez’s wacky gothic
vampire story “ From Dusk till Dawn”.
Brown also performed at the famous Rumble in the Jungle
between Mohammed Ali and George Foreman, in Zaire.
(those interested, do get hold of the soundtrack of
“When we were Kings”). In Rocky IV, he
roared through “Living in America”, and
resuscitated himself on the charts.
His was the manic energy of the street and his heated
dancing embodied the hard work that he put into his
shows. Rap, hiphop, disco, soul, and funk: have all
been influenced by his singular style.
Let
us hope the music keeps on running through his rock
and roll soul:
“Eye
to eye, station to station, Hand to hand, across the
nation, Got to have a celebration”!!
Andy |
