One : The Life and Music of James Brown (9781101561102) (58 page)

“A violent struggle in which black people would stand up on our feet and die like men.” Steve Estes,
I Am a Man!: Race, Manhood and the Civil Rights Movement
(University of North Carolina Press, 2005).

On self-identifying as “black”: “
Jet
Opinion Survey Reveals What Names That Readers Want to be Called,”
Jet
, Jan. 11, 1968; “Thurman: The Word ‘Black’ has Changed its Meaning,”
Muhammad Speaks
, June 21, 1968.

“After I heard the words to it, it kind of frightened me.”
Wax Poetics
, Summer 2003.

Ben Bart’s passing: Jack Bart, interview.

Black promoters trying to keep a hold on Southern turf: “James Brown Cancels, Not Due to ‘Soul Power’,”
Jet
, July 18, 1968.

Fair Play Committee in Philadelphia:
Philadelphia Tribune
, December 14 and 21, 1968.

Brown plays Nixon’s inauguration: “James Brown, Lionel Hamp Headline Inaugural Gala,”
Jet
, Jan. 23, 1969; “P.S.,”
New York Amsterdam News
, Jan. 25, 1969; “Hamp’s Harlem, Brown’s Soul Score!,”
Jet
, Feb. 6, 1969.

The most important black man in America?:
Look
, Feb. 18, 1969.

Chapter Fifteen:
COLOR TVS AND DASHIKIS

Nixon, Black Power, and black capitalism: Manning Marable,
Dispatches From the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience
(Columbia University Press, 2000); “Nixon on Racial Accommodation,”
Time
, May 3, 1968; Alex Poinsett, “The Economics of Liberation,”
Ebony
, Aug. 1969; Robert Weems Jr., and Lewis A. Randolph, “The Ideological Origins of Richard M. Nixon’s ‘Black Capitalism’ Initiative,”
The Review of Black Political Economy
, vol. 29, 2001; Earl Ofari, “The Dilemma of the Black Middle Class,”
Ebony
, Aug. 1973.

Carl Stokes onstage with Brown in Cleveland: “People Are Talking About,”
Jet
, April 17, 1969.

Nixon secret meetings with black activists: Robert Weems,
Business in Black and White: American Presidents and Black Entrepreneurs in the Twentieth Century
(NYU Press, 2009).

“I learned to do[…] what Mr. Brown called ‘on the one.’” Marva Whitney interview with DJ Peri, posted at
www.wefunkradio.com/extra/marva
.

Brown’s concept of the One deepens: Brenda Danielsen,
Presence and Pleasure: The Funk Grooves of James Brown and Parliament
(Wesleyan, 2006);
Soul of the Funky Drummers
DVD, in which Jabo Starks shows Brown expanding on the concept—now it could be felt even in its absence. “Even though you may play a
silent
one,” said Starks, “he always had you hit it on the one, make sure you hit it. Always had to be dominant.”

The Popcorn: Douglas Wolk, “Popcorn Unlimited,” an essay posted at
wfmu.org/LCD/25/popcorn.html
, is a thing of beauty. For “popcorn” being Brown’s way of referring to a female’s backside, I draw on remarks made by Pee Wee Ellis at “Ain’t That a Groove: the Genius of James Brown” symposium, Princeton, Nov. 29-30, 2007; Payne, in
Give the Drummers Some!,
feels that Stubblefield basically came up with a whole new beat on “Mother Popcorn.”

Mayor Yorty proclaims James Brown Day in Los Angeles: “Singer James Brown in ‘Mixup’ at City Hall,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 12, 1969; “Hear This: Brown Won’t Accept Citations From Aides,”
Jet
, July 31, 1969. Yorty staffers expressed perplexity, saying it had been Brown who requested the day in his honor.

Black & Brown stamps:
Los Angeles Times
, March 23, 1969;
Los Angeles Sentinel
, July 24, 1969;
Atlanta Daily World
, May 10, 1970; ad in
Jet
, March 25, 1971; Al-Mansour interview.

Gold Platter: “Singer Has Food for Thought,”
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 10, 1969; “Inside Story,”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, Jan. 16, 1969; “Soul King in Restaurant Venture,”
Chicago Defender
, Feb. 24, 1969; “Retailing: Soul Stamps,”
Time
, July 11, 1969; Gold Platter scrapbook, exhibited in “Preserving the Legacy,” Stanback Museum and Planetarium, South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, Feb. – Sept. 2009.

“This is pioneer, like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.”
Philadelphia Tribune
, Sept. 2, 1969.

“It’s a little like the black capitalism Mr. Nixon is stressing.”
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 10, 1969.

Nixon and the Southern Strategy: Rick Perlstein,
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
(Scribner, 2008); Garry Wills,
Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man
(Cherokee Publishing Company, 1990).

“My understanding of black power is of a man owning his own.” Kessler, “The Political Impact of James Brown, 1967-1972.”

“Once upon a time if a Negro got out of line, they either put him in jail or made him a Judge.”
Philadelphia Tribune
, Feb. 15, 1969.

African American business: Robert C. Kenzer,
Enterprising Southerners: Black Economic Success in North Carolina, 1865-1915
(University of Virginia Press, 1997); A’Lelia Bundles,
On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker
(Scribner, 2002); Weems,
Business in Black and White
; Bayard Rustin, “The Myth of Black Capitalism,”
Ebony Special Edition
, 1970; Linda Horton, “Pilgrim’s Progress,”
Black Enterprise
, June 1983.

Mary Florence Brown’s suit: “Lawyers Will Bring Baby to Court in Brown Paternity Hearing,”
Sacramento Bee
, Sept. 13, 1969; “Paternity Case Hearing is Told of $25,000 Payment,”
Sacramento Bee
, Sept. 15, 1969; “James Brown’s Accuser Tells of Tryst in Motel,”
Baltimore Afro-American
, Sept. 20, 1969; “Senator Negotiates Paternity Settlement for Brown,”
Jet
, Oct. 16, 1969.

Problems with Black and Brown stamps: “Black Stamp Firm Seeks $10.4 Billion in Suit Against 21 White Companies,”
Jet
, Aug. 5, 1971;
Los Angeles Times
, June 27, 1972.

Gold Platter flounders: “Jim Brown’s Chain Fading,”
Baltimore Afro-American
, Feb. 21 1970; “It Takes More Than a Star to Sell Goods,”
The New York Times
, Oct. 25, 1970.

The Philadelphia show: David Matthews interview.

Chapter Sixteen:
THE OTHER FURTHER

Bud Hobgood’s death: “Record Exec Hopgood Dies of Cerebral Hemorrhage,”
Jet
, August 13, 1970; Dennis Wholey, “Thinking About Bud Hobgood,”
Cincinnati Enquirer
, August 9, 1970. Rumors persist to this day that he met foul play in Kentucky; his death certificate indicates a cerebral hemorrhage.

King sells to Starday: Blase,
King Records: The Story
; Fox,
King of the Queen City
; Colonel Jim Wilson interview, Country Music Hall of Fame; Hal Neely interview.

The Pacesetters: Dave Marsh ed.,
George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History
(Avon Books, 1998); Bootsy Collins, Frankie Waddy interviews.

Brown’s band falls apart in 1970: “Maceo & All The King’s Men,”
Blues & Soul
78, Feb. 1972; Maceo Parker BBC interview available at time of writing at
YouTube.com/watch?v=nvY5ZYzQOqw&feature=related
; Starks interview in Payne,
Give the Drummer Some!
; Stubblefield, Wesley interviews.

“He opposed us trying to solve the problems as a group, I suppose, because as a group we were stronger.” Maceo Parker, BBC interview.

The Cincinnati crew arrives: Waddy, Bootsy Collins, Wesley, Patton interviews; Byrd, AAAMC; Starks in Payne,
Give the Drummer Some!
; “Bootsy Tells Life Story to TV’s ‘Unsung,”
Cincinnati Enquirer
, Nov. 5, 2009.

“That’s when the funk moved.” Melvin Parker interviewed in Payne,
Give the Drummers Some!

The JBs: “The Life and Soul,”
Evening Herald
(Ireland), June 26, 2008; “Inside the World of a P-Funk Time Lord,” Kash Waddy interview, posted online at
www.hollywoodfiveo.com/exclusive/funk/kash_waddy.shtml
; Catfish Collins, interview; Terri Gross,
All I Did Was Ask: Conversations With Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists
(Hyperion, 2004); Craig Charles, “Funk & Soul Show,” BBC, aired April 23, 2011; “James Brown’s Bassists,”
Bass Player
, March 2005.

Sex Machine:
James Brown, The Singles Volume Seven: 1970-1972
(Hip-O Select, 2009); Byrd, AAAMC.

“Combining the free expression of the oldest ‘Shouts’…the sound of the other further!” From “What You Mean, Du Wop?,” Amiri Baraka, in
Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music
(University of California Press, 2009).

Augusta riot, May 10, 1970: News program on the riot, prepared by WJBF, videotape at Augusta State University, special collections; two scrapbooks of riot related news clippings, Augusta State University; John M. Smith, “The Riot of May 1970: A Humanistic Perspective,”
Richmond County History
, Summer 1975; Steven Tuck,
Beyond Atlanta: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Georgia, 1940-1980
(University of Georgia Press, 2003); Lester Maddox oral history, interviewer John Allen, Georgia Governors Series, Georgia State University.

“Governor, I’m from Augusta, Georgia. The black people here don’t have equality.”
Atlanta Constitution
, May 13, 1970.

“You don’t
think it could happen in Augusta.” WJBF documentary footage.

WRDW’s politics and accusations of incitement:
Baltimore Afro-American
, May 23, 1970; Gordon and Carter interviews; undated
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
clipping in riot scrapbook, Augusta State University.

Chapter Seventeen:
MASTER OF TIME

Marriage to Diedre Jenkins: “Soul Brother No. 1 in Surprise Wedding,”
Jet
, Nov. 12, 1970; “James Brown Wed to Baltimore Girl,”
Washington Afro-American
, Oct. 27, 1970; Brown Thomas interview.

Moving back to Augusta:
Augusta News-Review
, Nov. 11, 1971.

The House on Walton Way: “$116,000 Mansion is James Brown’s Gift to Bride,”
Baltimore Afro-American
, Nov. 7, 1970; Rhodes,
Say it Loud!

“Augusta has gotten a little more civilized since when I was a child.” Frank Yerby,
Augusta Chronicle
, March 11, 1975.

The trip to Nigeria and Zambia: Bootsy Collins interview in Tony Bolden, ed.,
The Funk Era and Beyond: New Perspectives on Black Popular Culture
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); “James Brown Returns From Tour of Nigeria,”
Atlanta Daily World
, Dec. 25, 1970; “James Brown Tours Africa,”
Soul
, March 22, 1971; “A Soulful Welcome for Brown in Africa,”
Augusta News-Review
, Aug. 19, 1971; Matthews interview.

Fela Kuti: Jay Babcock, “Bootsy Collins on Fela Kuti,”
Arthur
, Oct. 1999; Trevor Schoonmaker, ed.,
Fela: From West Africa to West Broadway
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); Michael Veal,
Fela: The Life and Times of an African Music Icon
(Temple University Press, 2000).

“You have your pride. You possess your culture. The white man couldn’t rob you of it.” Mike Ogbeide, “James Brown Speaks to ‘Observer,’”
Nigerian Observer
, Dec. 13, 1970, in
The James Brown Reader
.

“He did that so fast and forcefully, I tell you what, he
levitated
.” Waddy interview.

The last months of the Cincinnati crew: Tiger Martin interviewed in Payne,
Give the Drummers Some!
; Waddy, Collins interviews.

The Collins crew exits: Starks interviewed in Payne; Bootsy Collins in “James Brown: Say it Proud,” 2007 CNN documentary; “Funk & Soul Show,” BBC, April 23, 2011; Bootsy and Catfish Collins, Waddy interviews.

“To put a tie on Bootsy was like to put a bridle on a wild horse.” Brown, Tucker files.

A new band is assembled: Fred Wesley,
Hit Me Fred: Recollections of a Sideman
(Duke University Press, 2002); Wesley, Red Bull Academy interview; interview with author.

Turk’s tale: Matthews interview.

“Control I must have of everything, of myself.” Brown interviewed on
Detroit Black Journal
, 1978, available online at abj.matrix.msu.edu/videofull.php?id=29-DF-22.

The Philadelphia Spectrum show: Leeds interview.

“Here was a quarterback.” Colonel Jim Wilson interview, Country Music Hall of Fame.

Leaving King, Polydor enters: Randy McNutt’s
Little Labels, Big Sound
has a good thumbnail sketch of Brown’s departure; Russell Sanjek’s
American Popular Music and its Business, Vol. 2
(Oxford University Press, 1980) and Fredric Dannen’s
Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business
(Crown, 1990) sketch Polygram’s creation of Polydor.

On the Polydor signing: “Soul Brother No. 1 Signs $910,000 Record Deal With New Disc Company,”
Jet
, Aug. 5, 1971; “Brown to Polydor in 5-Yr. Pact: Buys Pub,”
Billboard
, July 24, 1971: “James Brown Signs with Polydor Records,”
New York Amsterdam News
, Oct. 21, 1971; Tucker files; Roy Rifkin, Daviss, Leeds, Stone, Neely interviews.

“King Heroin”: liner notes to
James Brown, The Singles Volume Eight: 1972-1973
(Hip-O Select, 2009); “Brown to Give Third of Sales of Record to Fight Drug Abuse,”
Jet
, March 2, 1972.

Donated to Jimmy Carter’s drug treatment program:
Augusta Chronicle
, July 13, 1972.

Chapter Eighteen:
SOUL POWER

White radio ejects after “Say It Loud”: Rickey Vincent,
Funk: The Music, The People and the Rhythm of the One
(St. Martin’s Griffin, 1996); Charley Gillett, in
Record Mirror
(September 6, 1966), said the song was played precisely once on the BBC, then filed.