My friend Don wrote in an email today that he had “seen JB so many times on TV (the Ed Sullivan show, for example), but never in person.” He was speaking of James Brown, the incredible soul singer/shouter who died on Christmas Day, 2006.
Remembering my brother’s comment that if you’ve only seen a film on home video you haven’t really seen the film, I’m here to say that Don never really saw James Brown. Whatever dynamic power came across the airwaves, in person it was far more -- almost unbelievably -- intense. His energy level was incredible; if Sam and Dave didn’t put on the best ever live show -- which, according to Rob Bowman in his liner notes to The Stax/Volt Revue: Live in Norway 1967, they did -- then it was James Brown. I saw him at least twice in Richmond, VA, and one memorable time in South Bend, IN – more on that in a moment. Each time I left the show wet with sweat, and I wasn’t the one on stage.
"So now ladies and gentlemen it is star time; are you ready for star time? Thank you and thank you very kindly. It is indeed a great pleasure to present to you at this particular time, nationally and internationally known as the hardest-working man in show business, the man who sings "I'll Go Crazy" ... "Try Me" ... "You've Got the Power" ... "Think" ... "If You Want Me" ... "I Don't Mind" ... "Bewildered" ...the million dollar seller, "Lost Someone" ... the very latest release, "Night Train" ... let's everybody "Shout and Shimmy" ... Mr. Dynamite, the amazing Mr. Please Please himself, the star of the show, James Brown and the Famous Flames!"
The South Bend show was the second of two performances that night. It was supposed to start at 11:00pm. I was perhaps 18, so just the thought of going to an 11pm soul show was thrilling, and a little bit scary. I didn’t know what to expect. The first show ran late and we didn’t even get into the theatre til past 11:30. The show started at perhaps midnight. James Brown didn’t hit the stage for a couple of hours. I wish I could tell you who else was on the tour, but I’d be guessing.
Eventually the announcer introduced Brown, very much like Gonder did at the Apollo.
At that moment his band and his vocal group, the Famous
By the time we left the auditorium the sun was rising, the street lights were winking off and we were ecstatic. We walked all the way back to campus – it was too early for the busses. It was a night I’ll never forget.
The first time I heard Brown was in 1966. I had a summer job with the City of Richmond, reading gas and water meters. One day I was assigned to Church Hill, a predominantly Afro-American section of town. It was my favorite neighborhood to work because I was often able to swing by the Church Hill Record Shop and browse bin after bin of music that simply wasn’t available at the stores in the white part of town.
Near the record store was a dry cleaner and since in the car I had a sport coat that needed cleaning, I dropped in. After the guy asked me when I wanted the coat back I vaguely said, “Saturday?” He looked me right in the eye and said, “Saturday? We won’t be here Saturday. JAMES is comin’ to town Saturday.”
It was that weekend that I saw the hardest-working man in show business for the first time.
(If you have no idea what the fuss is all about, check out The T.A.M.I. Show, available at Netflix. This weird and wonderful concert features an 18 minute set by Brown and will give you at least a taste of what you missed. It's also a concert worth seeing in its own right, although weird is what I call a show that features Chuck Berry AND Lesley Gore, Marvin Gaye AND the Rolling Stones, all hosted by Jan and Dean. Check it out.)
A record I bought -- and probably heard for the first time -- at the Church Hill Record Shop
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