Gettin' Down with James Brown
by Live Music Head
Incredibly grateful am I
to have seen him in concert not once,
but twice:
in 1992 on the revolving stage of Toronto’s Ontario Place
Forum
where my outstretched arms tried to reach him
in a crowd that surged forward in a crush,
when he came running along the boards.
I paid a mere twenty bucks for that.
And my friend got to high-five him!
Then again at the same location some ten years later,
but after Molson claimed to be “what music’s all about”
and the name was changed to the Amphitheatre.
I was on the lawn for that one which sucked,
but not really because even from a distance,
seeing even three seconds of even just one
of the man’s
shaky legs
was worth the whopping ten whole dollars I paid.
My god!
Ya know, today, right now,
there’s a big name rock and roll band about to head out on tour
and they’re having trouble selling their $250-$600 tickets
apparently.
Imagine that.
I won’t be helping them out,
but ya know,
I’da paid handsomely to have been there in person
for even five of the thirteen minutes
of The Godfather of Soul’s performance on
Late Night with David
Letterman.
Uh no, I wouldn’t have had any problem whatsoever
whipping out the ol’ credit card
and booking a flight to New York for that.
After all, this is the Sex Machine who
blew that same $250-$600 ticket-priced
rock and roll headlining
band
off the T.A.M.I. stage back in 1964.
But wait,
tickets for the Letterman show are free.
So imagine being in the NBC studio, at no cost,
when the one-and-only James Brown bumped another guest
to take over for a quarter of a one-hour talk show.
Of all the great musical guests Dave’s had on over the
years,
this one rests at the very top of the Top 5.
For it’s James Brown.
Jaaaaammmmmmes Brown!!!
James Brown makes your bladder splatter.
He makes your liver quiver.
And from the second he took the stage,
it only got more exciting with each passing minute.
Paul Shaffer said in his book:
“I won’t wash my hands for a week!”
after Brown played a keyboard solo beside him during the
show
and then slapped him ten.
In his Swingin’ Showbiz Saga,
Shaffer also said:
“It’s the singing, yes: the pitch perfect screams
“It’s the singing, yes: the pitch perfect screams
that penetrate your heart and freeze your blood.
It’s the dancing, of course:
the spins, the splits, the grace, and the grit.
It’s the band:
tighter and righter than any orchestra
in the proud history
of soul.
It’s the songs:
the social messages, the sexual subtexts,
the self-assertive anthems of a free black man
in a white
world.
It’s everything.
James Brown is everything I love about music.”
The credits were rolling and Brown was still gettin’ down.
What’s even more amazing is
this Letterman taping took place
in 1982,
when The Hardest Working Man in Show Business
was just shy of fifty years old.
But Brown’s got more soul in his baby toe
than most people have in their whole body and then some,
times ten.
Jesus.
Times a hundred!
Born in Barnwell, South Carolina on May 3, 1933,
and raised in Augusta, Georgia,
James Brown woulda been turning 80 as I write this,
had not congestive heart failure taken him on Christmas Day 2006.
Thank god for Youtube!
For ladies and gentleman,
it’s time to watch the clip!
And I bet you can’t stay seated.
For it’s Mr Dynamite and he’s outta sight!
The Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk!
Mister Soul Brother Number One!
Jaaaaaaaaaammmmmmees Brown!
Jaaaaaaaaaammmmmmees Brown!!
Jaaaaaaaaaammmmmmees Brown!!!
Get down!
James
Brown's outstanding performance on
Late Night with David
Letterman...
