Music legend James Brown passed away this Christmas at the age of 73. He was still going strong,even booked to sing in NYC on New Year's Eve. While I never had the pleasure of seeing the man strut his stuff in person,I did enjoy and appreciate his talent and influence on many levels of the pop culture society at large.
To many young people,James Brown was this wild man of rock with one hell of a stage show,as seen in this video for "Living in America" which was the theme song for Rocky IV and makes for a much better national anthem:
Some only knew him thru references made by other entertainers,such as John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Brown made some onscreen appearances in films like Doctor Detroit,Holy Man and in the cult classic The Blues Brothers,where he helps to inspire Jake and Elwood on their mission from God:
Comic tributes were also made to him-long before David Chapelle said"I'm Rick James,bitch!",Eddie Murphy was sending up the Godfather of Soul with style and wit.One of the best SNL skits Murphy did was this "celebrity hot tub" number and you wouldn't think that one day Eddie would be starring in a movie like Dreamgirls based on that impersonation but then again....
James Brown was one of those special people who can not be replaced;his powerful performances and ground breaking style opened up the gates for others to go thru and make their own mark. We will not see his like again yet he will always hold a place in music history as well as in the hearts and souls of those who were fortunate to know him as a friend.
My last video tribute here is a from a group who would seem to be on the opposite end of the sound that James Brown was known for. However,there is a nice shoutout to him in it and have to admit that it's been on my mental jukebox since I heard the sad news. I don't know if Brown ever heard this song but hopefully,he would've dug the props given to him:
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