obligatory james brown post

So James Brown passed away. It sucks because the man will probably be more known for his legacy of beating up women, live fast lifestyle and being chased by the cops with guns in his trunk. Also, he did that really shitty song for one of the "Rocky" movies.

Somewhere in his long career, he wrote and recorded a bunch of really awesome songs that have been sampled to death. Though he's probably best known for "I Feel Good" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," he's also had a string of instrumental hits and lesser known tunes (at least lesser known to the general public but well known to Public Enemy and Eric B. and Rakim fans) that were more-or-less the starting point for hip-hop in the 80's and 90's.

I think the best way to describe Brown's career is summed up by my Uncle George who saw him a number of times, but specifically references two shows:

"I saw him once when I was an usher at the Paramount (Theatre in Seattle) and he was great. Dancing around, just an incredible showman. Then I saw him a few years ago (probably about '97 or '98), and he was just tired. It was a little sad."