Fifty Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul
May 1, 2008
The legendary Soul Brother #1 is celebrated, analyzed, and placed within the context of American popular music in this collection of pieces by pop-music critics and assorted informed observers and commentators, including the likes of Peter Guralnick, Albert Goldman, Robert Palmer, Timothy White, and Ben Fong-Torres. Former Public Enemy headman Chuck Ds liner notes from Browns 1996 album Funk Power also appear, testifying to Browns seminal role in music history and recalling that on the school bus you sang Stax and Motown songs . . . but you couldnt sing James Brown because it automatically meant you had to get UP, which was not allowed by the driver and the law. And that is the crux of the James Brown story. At one point, he was a highly recognized musical hero in the African American community and a disruptive influence in the eyes of the mainstream. Now his nearly 50-year career is recognized as one of the most influential in pop music. Editors George and Leeds yeomanly gathering explains that phenomenons hows and whys.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)