One : The Life and Music of James Brown (9781101561102) (60 page)

Disco as “a cottonfield”: Brown, interviewed on
Detroit Black Journal
, 1978, available online at abj.matrix.msu.edu/videofull.php?id=29-DF-22.

“James Brown is being left out and he feels it.” Vernon Gibbs, “Is James Brown Obsolete?,”
Village Voice
, July 28, 1975.

“Get Up Offa That Thing”:
James Brown, The Singles Volume Ten: 1975-1979
(Hip-O Select, 2011); Hollie Farris interview.

Copying other records: Wesley at Princeton symposium; Wesley,
Hit Me Fred
; Siddhartha Mitter, “Capturing the Cameroon Sound,”
Boston Globe
, June 26, 2009.

“He was stumbling through the dark.” Byrd, AAAMC.

“If I had to go to work today, I would have
no
job.” Brown,
Detroit Black Journal
.

Sweet Charles hijacks Brown’s band:
Wax Poetics
5, Summer 2003.

Problems arise with Polydor: Brown,
The Life of James Brown
; Daviss, Leeds, Stone interviews.

“The Jews wanted me to make it and the Germans didn’t.” Brown interview, Tucker files.

Jimmy Carter and Brown: Brown’s 1977 letter to the president was part of an exhibition devoted to Brown’s life at the Stanback Museum and Planetarium, South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, in 2009. Correspondence records in the Carter Library indicate Carter did not respond to Brown’s letters, but instead forwarded Brown’s appeal to his legal staff. Brown also sent a telegram to Carter offering to help
with unrest in Africa, and reached out to Senator Sam Nunn for help making a connection with Carter; Daviss interview.

Frankie Crocker: Dannen,
Hit Men
;
Amsterdam News
, July 31, 1976, and March 5, 1977; “Brown in Court: ‘No Crocker Pay,’”
Billboard
, Dec. 25, 1976; “N.Y. DJ Frankie Crocker Found Guilty of Perjury,”
Jet
, Jan. 13, 1977; Cynthia Kirk, “Payola vs. the Power of ‘Trust’: Frankie Crocker,”
Soul
, Dec. 19, 1977; Sharpton interview.

Problems at Brown’s radio stations: For J.B. Broadcasting taken to court for failing to air commercials, see
Augusta Chronicle
, April 15, 1972. Regarding the IRS lien filed against Brown’s stations for $94,000 in unpaid payroll taxes,
Chronicle
, Dec. 14, 1973.

For the FCC giving evidence in Circuit Court that WEBB had more than 100 rules violations,
Baltimore Afro-American
, Jan. 19, 1974. In the wake of the ASCAP suit, WEBB is revealed to lack even the proper license to play copyrighted music: See
Baltimore Afro-American
, July 5, 1975 and
Amsterdam News
, July 16, 1975. Action against WEBB slows, due to the station’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings:
Baltimore Sun
, May 6, 1978. Regarding the station’s sale in 1980 in order to pay off debts, see
Atlanta Daily World
, Jan. 31, 1980. For sale of the Augusta station at public auction, after owners defaulted on a $268,000 loan, see
Baltimore Afro-American
, April 12, 1980.

“I don’t know that Mr. Brown ever paid any money on that station.” Percy Sutton in Artbeat,
Village Voice
, Nov. 13, 1979.

“Now Mr. Brown, dumb you’re not.”
Baltimore Afro-American
, Oct. 21, 1978.

William Kunstler teaming up with Brown: David Hershkovits, “James Brown: I Was Robbed,”
Soho Weekly News
, Nov. 15 1979; “Art Beat,”
Village Voice
, Nov. 13, 1979;
Augusta Herald
, Nov. 2, 1979;
Augusta Chronicle
, Nov. 2, 1979; Sharpton interview.

Webb Pierce’s guitar-shaped swimming pool: “Row’s Guitar Pool Strums Swan Song,”
Nashville Banner
, March 2, 1979.

Porter Waggoner goes Disco: “He’s the Same Porter But With a Disco Beat,”
Banner
, February 1, 1979.

Brown conquers Music City: “Fiddle Before Politics Senator’s Preference,”
Nashville Tennessean
, March 3, 1979; “‘Soul’ Spot Angers Opry Regulars,”
Banner
, March 5, 1979; “James Brown Subject of Protest by Some at Grand Ole Opry,”
Atlanta Daily World
, March 8, 1979; “Opry Discord Has a Familiar Note,”
Banner
, March 9, 1979; letter, “‘Soul’ Music Doesn’t Belong With ‘Country’,”
Banner
, March 9, 1979; “James
Brown at the Opry,”
Tennessean
, March 10, 1979; “Brown Fails to Stir Audience,”
Banner
, March 12, 1979; Daviss, Farris interviews.

Chapter Twenty-two:
I CAN SEE THE LIGHT!

Beech Island:
Augusta Chronicle
, May 30, 1988; photographs in “Preserving the Legacy,” Stanback Museum, 2009; Sharpton interview.

Studying the Koran: Hermon Hitson interview.

“You can trust a Southern white man, you are always gonna know where he’s coming from.” Daviss interview.

Blues Brothers:
Blues Brothers
(Universal Studios, 1980; DVD 2009); Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller,
Live From New York: An Uncensored History of
Saturday Night Live,
as Told by its Stars, Writers, and Guests
(Little, Brown & Company, 2002); Pauline Kael,
Taking It All In
(Holt Rinehart and Winston); Gayle Wald, “Soul’s Revival: White Soul, Nostalgia, and the Culturally Constructed Past,” in
Soul
, Green and Guillory, eds.

Brown’s influence on hip-hop and go-go: Jeff Chang,
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation
(St. Martin’s Press, 2005); Angus Batey, “DJ Kool Herc DJs His First Block Party,” London
Guardian
, June 13, 2011; Kip Lornell and Charles C. Stephenson, Jr.,
The Beat! Go-Go Music From Washington DC
(University Press of Mississippi, 2009); Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck Brown interviews.

“The man looks great. He could still act if he wanted to.” Brown on Reagan, in
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 31, 1982.

Nov. 4, 1981 letter from Reagan: “Preserving the Legacy,” 2009 exhibition at South Carolina State University.

“Rabble-soother.” Garry Wills,
Reagan’s America
(Doubleday, 1986).

“Singer James Brown has found he can no longer perform those wild athletic leaps he did as of yore.”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, April 23, 1981.

“He really did give
more
, unleashing a series of inspired moves.”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 2, 1982.

PCP: Brown,
The Life of James Brown
; Barney Hoskyns,
Ragged Glories: City Lights, Country Funk, American Music
(Pimlico, 2003); Michael Goldberg, “Wrestling With the Devil: The Struggle for the Soul of James Brown,”
Rolling Stone
, April 6, 1989; Clayton Fillyau Jr., McRae, Rasbury interviews.

Adrienne: Thomas Brown, Sharpton, Daviss, Love interviews.

“Our souls met a long time ago.” Brown, Tucker files.

Jimmy Nolen: Lunetha Nolen, Ronald Laster, Keith Jenkins interviews.

Island Records Deal: Leeds and George, eds.,
James Brown Reader
; Sly Dunbar and Wally Badarou interviews, Red Bull Music Academy (
redbullmusicacademy.com
).

Afrika Bambaataa and “Unity”: Gavin Martin, “James Brown (and Afrika Bambaataa): Sex Machine Today,”
NME
, September 1, 1984; Bambaataa interview.

Rocky IV
and “Living in America”:
Rocky IV
(MGM 1985; 2004 DVD); Ethlie Ann Vare, “Brown’s Career Has Punch Thanks to Stallone,”
Billboard
, Nov. 8, 1986.

Dan Hartman: Robert Hilburn, “James Brown’s Godson of Soul,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 19, 1986; Linda Kelly, “License to Chill,”
Spin
, November 1989; Larry Flick, “Dan Hartman Dies at 43,”
Billboard
, April 9, 1994.

“James Brown has made a lot of good records, but it was that purist James Brown thing.” Hartman in
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 19, 1986.

Playing “Living in America” to big, new crowds: “James Brown: The Godfather’s Back, With a Bullet!,” Ben Fong-Torres,
Not Fade Away: A Backstage Pass to Twenty Years of Rock & Roll
(Backbeat Books, 1999);
Chicago Sun Times,
March 30, 1986;
Chicago Tribune
, Nov. 20, 1986; Laster interview.

Chapter Twenty-three:
AN UPROAR ALL THE TIME

“We met visually on Solid Gold. But we was already really together because we’re Third World people.” Brown interview, Tucker files.

Jealous of Dan Hartman watching his wife: “Full Force discuss James Brown on angel dust,”
YouTube.com/watch?v=E8C_TytrtRc
.

Domestic violence and other encounters with the law: “James Brown: Troubled Times in Augusta,”
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
, April 11, 1988; Steve Dougherty and Victoria Balfour, “After Allegedly Beating His Wife and Shooting Her Car, James Brown May Have to Face the Music,”
People
, April 25, 1988; “James Brown Arrested on Drug and Assault Charges,”
Jet
, June 6, 1988; Ivan Solotaroff, “Pleas, Pleas, Pleas: The Tribulations and Trials of James Brown,”
Village Voice
, Feb. 21, 1989; “Wrestling With the Devil,”
Rolling Stone
, April 6, 1989.

Sept. 1987 chase through an IHOP parking lot:
Augusta Chronicle
, September 13, 1987.

Alfie pulled over in a Lincoln Town car:
People
, April 25, 1988.

Careening through Todd’s Shop N Go:
Augusta Chronicle
, Nov. 9, 1987.

A bloody Easter weekend, 1988:
Augusta Chronicle
, April 8, 1988.

Alfie arrested at Bush Field: “James Brown’s Wife Arrested On Drug Charge Third Time,”
Jet
, June 6, 1988.

Alfie arrested for setting his clothes on fire in New Hampshire hotel room:
Augusta Chronicle
, May 10, 1988.

“Everybody loves the Godfather of Soul…America is the Godfather of Soul.”
Augusta Chronicle
, May 14, 1988.

Brown spends a night in jail, and wants a divorce:
Augusta Chronicle
, May 20, 1988.

“Diplomatic immunity”: “Lawyer Seeks ‘immunity’ For James Brown’s Wife,”
Jet
, June 20, 1988.

“My nose, my ears, my eyes, my rectum, my privates, those are parts of my body that I don’t want to fool with. And my arm.” Brown interview, Tucker files.

The bathroom incident and penultimate chase: Michael Vitez, “James Brown, Up and Down,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Feb. 9, 1989; Rhodes,
Say It Loud!
; Solotaroff,
Village Voice
.

“I’ve been in slavery all my life, ain’t nothing new.”
Rhythm and Business
, May 1989.

“He thinks his fans would have seen it as a greater weakness to admit he has a drug problem.”
Rhythm and Business
, May 1989.

“God said, ‘boy, go home.’” Solotaroff,
Village Voice

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s bust: “‘I Can’t Believe It,’ She Says: Zsa Zsa Gabor Convicted of Slapping Police,”
Los Angeles Times
, Sept. 30, 1989; “Judge Sentences Gabor to Three Days in Jail,”
The New York Times
, Oct. 25, 1989.

Columbia judge displays Brown in his chamber: “Judge Summons James Brown to Court to Sign Autographs,”
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
, April 28, 1989.

FAMU marching 100 represents America: Jacqui Malone,
Steppin’ on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance
(University of Illinois Press, 1996)
has a transcendent chapter on this band, at home and abroad.

Cash and checks found in Brown’s cell: “James Brown Sent to Another Prison for Having $48,000 in Checks in His Possession,”
Jet
, Aug. 14, 1989; Renee D. Turner, “The Ordeal of James Brown,”
Ebony
, July 1991.

Brown’s presidential gold card: Herb Kent and David Smallwood,
The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent
(Lawrence Hill Books, 2009).

“They went way back with this, before civil rights, before Martin Luther King.” Tucker’s notes, Tucker files.

Photographs of Adrienne’s bruises passed on to the
National Enquirer
: “Singer James Brown’s Battered Wife Tells Her Own Shocking Story: How He Tried to Kill Me,”
National Enquirer
, April 26, 1988.

Adrienne called the FBI, demanding they investigate the racially motivated arrest of her husband: FBI files, released shortly after James Brown’s death. There are
many
more files, from the FBI and other government agencies, in the National Archives, awaiting declassification.

“Where are his friends? They’re as far away as they can get.” Bobby Byrd, quoted by Michael Vitez, “James Brown, Up and Down,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Feb. 9, 1989.

One rare visitor was Lee Atwater: Eric Alterman, “G.O.P. Chairman Lee Atwater: Playing Hardball,”
The New York Times
, April 30, 1989; Sharpton interview.

“You start out in 1954 by saying ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’—that hurts you.” Atwater quoted in Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson,
Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond
(PublicAffairs, 2005).

Atwater, Brown, and South Carolina politics: John Brady,
Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater
(Da Capo Press, 1996); Jerry Shriver, “Lee Atwater: A Blues Bash is Republican Leader’s Ideal Grand Old Party,”
USA Today
, March 13, 1989; In Roxanne Roberts’s “The Very Senior Senator,”
Washington Post
, March 10, 1993, Brown sings “Happy Birthday” at Strom Thurmond’s 90th birthday celebration; “Generational Change Coming to South Carolina in Graham,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, Nov. 4, 2001, describes Brown singing “God Bless America”at an event where the 98-year-old Thurmond gave his senatorial blessing to Lindsey Graham.

A
furlough to sing for the troops: “James Brown Gets Release From Work Center to Entertain Troops in S.C.,”
Jet
, Jan. 14, 1991.

Brown’s 1991 parole: Rhodes,
Say It Loud!