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James Brown, the �Godfather of Soul,� Dies at 73 (JON PARELES - The New York Times)
December 26, 2006 6:17 PM
Copyright The New York Times
Published: December 26, 2006
James Brown, the singer, songwriter, bandleader and dancer who indelibly transformed 20th-century music, died early yesterday in Atlanta. He was 73 and lived in Beech Island, S.C., across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga.
Mr. Brown died of congestive heart failure after being hospitalized for pneumonia, said his agent, Frank Copsidas.
Mr. Brown sold millions of records in a career that lasted half a century. In the 1960s and 1970s he regularly topped the rhythm-and-blues charts, although he never had a No. 1 pop hit. Yet his music proved far more durable and influential than countless chart-toppers. His funk provides the sophisticated rhythms that are the basis of hip-hop and a wide swath of current pop.
Mr. Copsidas said that Mr. Brown had participated in an annual Christmas toy giveaway in Atlanta on Friday but had been hospitalized on Saturday. After canceling performances planned for midweek, Mr. Brown on Sunday night got his doctors approval to perform on Saturday in New Jersey and on New Years Eve at B.B. Kings nightclub in New York.
Mr. Copsidas said Mr. Brown used one of his best-known slogans to convey his dedication to his fans: Im the hardest working man in show business, and Im not going to let them down.
Through the years, Mr. Brown did not only call himself the hardest working man in show business. He also went by Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother No. 1, the Minister of Super Heavy Funk and the Godfather of Soul, and he was all of those and more.
His music was sweaty and complex, disciplined and wild, lusty and socially conscious. Beyond his dozens of hits, Mr. Brown forged an entire musical idiom that is now a foundation of pop worldwide.
I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know, he wrote in an autobiography.
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Posted at 6:17 PM