Dab solver - James Brown

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;Complete singles reissue
In 2006, [[Hip-O Select Records]] began a multi-volume [[reissue]] of James Brown's complete singles (both [[A-side and B-side|A-sides and B-sides]]) on CD. Eleven volumes have been released, covering the periods 1956–60, 1960–63, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–69, 1969–70, 1970–72, 1972–73, 1973–75, 1975–79, and 1979–81.

== Filmography ==

* [[The T.A.M.I. Show]] (1964) (concert film)
* [[Ski Party]] (1965)
* [[James Brown: Man to Man]] (1968) (concert film)
* [[The Phynx]] (1970)
* [[Black Caesar (film)|]] (1973) (soundtrack only)
* Slaughter's Big Ripoff (1974) (soundtrack only)
* [[The Blues Brothers (film)|]] (1980)
* [[Doctor Detroit]] (1983)
* [[Rocky IV]] (1985)
* [[James Brown: Live in East Berlin]] (1989)
* [[When We Were Kings]] (1996) (documentary)
* Soulmates (1997)
* [[Blues Brothers 2000]] (1998)
* portrayed by Carlton Smith in [[Liberty Heights]] (1999)
* [[Holy Man]] (1998)
* [[Undercover Brother]] (2002)
* [[The Tuxedo]] (2002)
* [[The Hire: Beat The Devil]] (2002) (short film)
* Paper Chasers (2003) (documentary)
*  (2003) (documentary)
* [[Sid Bernstein Presents|Sid Bernstein Presents...]] (2005) (documentary)
* [[Glastonbury (film)|]] (2006) (documentary)
* Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (2007) (documentary; release pending)
* [[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]] (2008) (concert film)
* I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s, three-DVD set featuring [[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]], [[Live at the Apollo '68]], and the documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston
* [[Soul Power (film)|]] (2009) (documentary)

[[Mick Jagger]] and [[Brian Grazer]] are producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. The film has been in the planning stages for many years, but was revived when Jagger read the script by [[Jez Butterworth|Jez]] and John-Henry Butterworth.^ref

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{{other people|James Brown}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|background = solo_singer
|image = Jamesbrown3-2.jpg
|caption = James Brown performing on June 27, 2005
|birth_name = James Joseph Brown, Jr.<ref name=jbbirthname/>
|birth_date = {{birth date|1933|5|3|}}
|birth_place = [[Barnwell, South Carolina|Barnwell]], [[South Carolina]], United States
|origin = [[Toccoa, Georgia|Toccoa]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2006|12|25|1933|5|3}}}}
|death_place = [[Atlanta, Georgia]]
|genre = [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[soul music|soul]], [[funk]], [[doo-wop]], [[rock 'n' roll]], [[blues music|blues]]
|occupation = Musician, Songwriter, Dancer, Choreographer, [[Bandleader]], Record Producer, Actor
|instrument = Vocals, Drums, Percussion, Piano, Keyboards, Organ
|years_active = 1954–2006
|label = [[Federal Records|Federal]], [[King Records (USA)|King]], Dade, [[Try Me Records|Try Me]], [[Smash Records|Smash]], [[People Records|People]], [[Polydor Records|Polydor]], [[Scotti Brothers Records|Scotti Bros.]]
|associated_acts = [[The Famous Flames]], [[The J.B.'s]], [[The Dapps]], [[Bobby Byrd]], The Soul Generals, [[Lyn Collins]], [[Bobby Bennett (The Famous Flames)|Bobby Bennett]], [[Bootsy Collins]]
|website =
}}

'''James Joseph Brown, Jr.''' (May 3, 1933&nbsp;– December 25, 2006) was an American [[recording artist]] and [[musician]]. One of the founding fathers of [[funk]] music and a major figure of [[20th century music|20th century]] [[popular music]] and dance, he is often referred to as "The Godfather of Soul". In a career that spanned six decades, Brown profoundly influenced the development of many different musical genres.<ref>Wiegand, D. (December 26, 2006). [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/26/MNGO7N5RK51.DTL&type=music James Brown: 1928–2006 – Godfather of soul changed music at frenetic pace]. ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Retrieved January 10, 2007.</ref>

Born in [[Barnwell, South Carolina]], Brown moved to [[Augusta, Georgia]], to live with relatives at the age of four. After a stint in prison for robbery, Brown began his career as a gospel singer in [[Toccoa, Georgia]]. Joining an R&B vocal group called the Avons that later evolved to become [[The Famous Flames]], Brown served as the group's lead singer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-famous-flames/bio/ |title=The Famous Flames Biography &#124; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |date= |accessdate=2013-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/james-brown/bio/ |title=James Brown Biography &#124; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |date= |accessdate=2013-02-16}}</ref> Coming to national public attention with the late [[1950s in music|1950s]] ballads "[[Please, Please, Please]]" and "[[Try Me (song)|Try Me]]", Brown built a reputation as a tireless [[live music|live performer]] with The Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. Brown's success peaked in the [[1960s in music|1960s]] with the [[live album]], ''[[Live at the Apollo (1963 album)|Live at the Apollo]]'', and hit singles such as "[[Papa's Got a Brand New Bag]]", "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]" and "[[It's a Man's Man's Man's World]]". During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "[[Music of Africa|Africanized]]" approach to music making that influenced the development of funk music.<ref name=jbmusicstyle>Collins, W. (January 29, 2002). [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200141 James Brown.] ''St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture''. Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> By the early [[1970s in music|1970s]], Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of [[The JB's]] with records such as "[[(Get Up I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine]]" and "[[The Payback]]". Brown also became notable for songs of [[social commentary]] including the 1968 hit, "[[Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]". Brown continued to perform and record for the duration of his life and died in 2006 from congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

Brown holds the record as the artist to have charted the most singles on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] without ever hitting number-one on that chart.<ref name=rsfunk/><ref>Whitburn, J. (2000). ''Top Pop Singles: 1955–1999'', 900. Menonite Falls, WI: Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-140-3.</ref> In spite of this, however, Brown recorded seventeen number-one singles on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B charts]]. Brown was honored by many institutions including inductions into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] and [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/materials/recordings/C150 |title=Songwriters Hall of Fame – James Brown Recordings |accessdate=July 19, 2012}}</ref> Brown is ranked seventh on the [[music magazine]] ''[[Rolling Stone]]'''s list of its 100 greatest artists of all time.<ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/james-brown-20110420 "100 Greatest Artists Of All Time"-7. James Brown"]</ref>
{{toclimit|3}}

==Early life==
James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in [[Barnwell, South Carolina]], to 22-year-old Joseph "Joe" James and 16-year-old Susie Brown, in a small wooden [[shack]].<ref name="jbancestry">{{cite web |url=http://genealogy.about.com/od/aframertrees/p/james_brown.htm |title=Ancestry of James Brown |accessdate=July 19, 2012}}</ref> Brown's name was supposed to have been Joseph James Brown, Jr., however his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his [[birth certificate]].<ref name=jbbirthname>James Brown. (1998). ''Notable Black American Men''. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale (Document no. K1622000047). Retrieved January 12, 2007 from the Biography Resource Center database.</ref> Brown later legally changed his name to remove the "Jr." designation.  Brown was of African, Chinese and Native American ([[Apache]]) ancestry.<ref>Brown, J. & Eliot, M. (introduction). (2005). ''I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life Soul''. New York: New American Library. ISBN 0-451-21393-9.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DCARead?standardNo=1560253886&standardNoType=1&excerpt=true |title=Not_Available |publisher=Worldcat.org |date= |accessdate=2013-02-16}}</ref>  The Brown family lived in extreme poverty in nearby [[Elko, South Carolina|Elko]], South Carolina, which was an impoverished town at the time.<ref name=rsfunk>Hirshey, G. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/james_brown_funks_founding_father Funk's founding father.] (January 10, 2007). ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved January 27, 2007.</ref> They later relocated to [[Augusta, Georgia]] when Brown was four or five.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=8}} Brown's family first settled at one of Brown's aunts' [[brothels]] and later moved into a house shared with another aunt.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=8}} Brown's mother later left the family after a contentious marriage and moved to New York.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=9}} Brown spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out in the streets and [[hustling]] to get by. Brown managed to stay in school until seventh grade.

Brown began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long".{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=11}} While in Augusta, Brown performed [[clogging|buck dances]] for change to entertain troops from [[Camp Gordon]] at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge from near his aunt's home.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=11}} Brown learned how to play piano, guitar and harmonica during this period. Brown became inspired to become an entertainer after seeing footage of [[Louis Jordan]] and his [[Tympany Five]] performing "[[Caldonia]]" in a short film.<ref name=voa>Kowalski, E. (December 25, 2006). [http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-12-25-voa1.cfm "Godfather of soul, James Brown, dead at 73"], Voice of America. Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> During his teen years, Brown briefly had a career as a boxer.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=13}} At sixteen, Brown was convicted of [[armed robbery]] and was sent to a [[youth detention center|juvenile detention center]] in [[Toccoa, Georgia|Toccoa]].{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=15}} Brown formed a gospel quartet with four fellow cellmates including Johnny Terry. Stories differed into how Brown was eventually [[parole]]d, including a story that [[Bobby Byrd]]'s family had helped to secure an early release while another stated that Brown got his parole after a car and motor manufacturing company owner, S.C. Lawson, agreed to be a sponsor after Brown had promised to look for a job guaranteed for two years.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=16}} Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=16}} Upon his release, Brown joined a gospel group and worked at several jobs, including the Lawson Motor Company and as a janitor at a local school.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=18}} Brown and Bobby Byrd reportedly met following his release from prison and the two became friends.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=17}}

==Music career==
===The Famous Flames===
{{main|The Famous Flames}}
Brown joined Byrd's group, which highlighted under two names, as an acapella gospel group called the Gospel Starlighters, and an R&B band known as the Avons.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=17}} Brown had allegedly joined the band after one of the group's members, Troy Collins, was killed.<ref name="birthoffunk">{{cite web |url=http://www.goldminemag.com/article/trace-the-birth-of-funk-back-to-james-brown |title=Trace the birth of funk back to James Brown |work=Goldmine Magazine |accessdate=July 19, 2012}}</ref> With Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as [[Hank Ballard]] and [[The Midnighters]], [[The Orioles]] and [[Billy Ward and His Dominoes]], the group changed their name, first to the Toccoa Band, and then to the Flames.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=18}}<ref name="birthoffunk" /> Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined the group on [[bass guitar]] and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined while Pulliam and Oglesby had long left.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=24}}

Berry Trimier became the group's initial manager booking them at parties near college campuses in the Georgia and South Carolina areas.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=19}} The group had already gained a reputation for being a live act when they renamed themselves the "Famous Flames".{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=21}} By 1955, the group had gotten in contact with [[Little Richard]], who Brown idolized, while performing in [[Macon, Georgia|Macon]].{{sfn|White|2003|pp=228}} Richard convinced the group to get in contact with Richard's manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=22}} Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition for them.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=25}} Brantley then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition "[[Please, Please, Please]]", which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=25}}{{sfn|Merlis|2002|p=foreword}} The Famous Flames eventually signed with [[King Records (USA)|King Records]]' [[Federal Records|Federal]] subsidiary and issued a re-recorded version of "Please, Please, Please" that March. The song became the group's first R&B hit, selling over a million copies.<ref>White, Cliff (1991). Discography. In ''Star Time'' (p. 55) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.</ref> Despite that success, none of their follow-ups became a success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of the [[Universal Attractions Agency]]. That year, the original Flames broke up after Bart changed the name of the group to "James Brown and The Famous Flames".{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=29}}

In October 1958, Brown released the ballad, "[[Try Me (song)|Try Me]]", which hit number-one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits.<ref name=jbinductee>{{cite web| url=http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=56 |title=Inductees: James Brown, performer |work=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum |accessdate=January 9, 2007}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, Brown recruited his first band, led by [[J. C. Davis]] and reunited with Bobby Byrd, who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene "Baby" Lloyd Stallworth and [[Bobby Bennett (The Famous Flames)|Bobby Bennett]], with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the "fifth Flame". Brown and his entire band debuted at the [[Apollo Theater]] on April 24, 1959, opening for [[Little Willie John]].<ref name="birthoffunk" />{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=33}} Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames. By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, the Famous Flames and his band, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year, the band recorded the top ten R&B hit, "[[(Do the) Mashed Potatoes]]" on Dade Records, owned by [[Henry Stone]], under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & The Swans", due to label issues.<ref name=jbHStone>{{cite web |url=http://www.henrystonemusic.com/store/kendrick.htm |title=Nat Kendrick & The Swans. |publisher=Henry Stone Music, Inc |accessdate=January 28, 2007.}}</ref> As a result of its success, King president [[Syd Nathan]] shifted Brown's contract from Federal to King. While under King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the album, ''Think!'' and the following year, released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sung lead on several more hits including "[[I'll Go Crazy (James Brown song)|I'll Go Crazy]]" and "[[Think (The "5" Royales song)|Think]]", songs that hinted at his emerging style.<ref name="birthoffunk" />

===Mr. Dynamite===
By 1962, Brown scored a hit with his band with their cover of the instrumental, "[[Night Train (composition)|Night Train]]", becoming not only a top five R&B single but also Brown's first top 40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, the ballads, "[[Lost Someone]]" and "[[Baby You're Right]]", the latter a [[Joe Tex]] composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's beliefs that no one bought live albums due to the fact that Brown's singles were already bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers. ''[[Live at the Apollo (1963 album)|Live at the Apollo]]'' was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the [[Billboard 200|Top LPs chart]] and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months.<ref>Guralnick, P. (1986). ''Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom'', 235. New York: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-452-26697-1.</ref> In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the [[standard (song)|standard]], "[[Prisoner of Love (1931 song)|Prisoner of Love]]". He also launched his first label, [[Try Me Records]], which included recordings by the likes of [[Tammi Terrell|Tammy Montgomery]], Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown's backing band.<ref name="birthoffunk" />

[[File:James Brown and Flames.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Brown (middle) & [[The Famous Flames]] (far left to right, [[Bobby Bennett (The Famous Flames)|Bobby Bennett]], [[Baby Lloyd Stallworth|Lloyd Stallworth]], and [[Bobby Byrd]]), performing live at the [[Apollo Theater]] in New York City, 1964]]

In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the [[Mercury Records|Mercury]] imprint, [[Smash Records]].<ref name="birthoffunk" /><ref>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p3779|pure_url=yes}} James Brown: Biography.] (2006). All Media Guide. Retrieved November 22, 2006.</ref> King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an [[injunction]] preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit, "[[Out of Sight]]", which further indicated the direction his music was going to take.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.history-of-rock.com/james_brown.htm |title=The History of Rock 'n' Roll: The Golden Decade 1954–1963 |accessdate=February 25, 2007}}</ref> Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving a high-octave performance on the live concert film, ''[[The T.A.M.I. Show]]''. The Flames' polished choreography and timing as well as Brown's energetic dance moves and high-octave vocals upstaged the show from proposed closing act, the [[Rolling Stones]]. With a new deal with King, Brown released his composition, "[[Papa's Got a Brand New Bag]]", which became his first top ten pop hit and won Brown his first [[Grammy Award]].<ref name=pc51/> Later in 1965, Brown issued "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]", which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad, "[[It's a Man's Man's Man's World]]" which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.<ref name=pc51/>

===Soul Brother No. 1===
By 1967, Brown's emerging sound had begun to be defined as [[funk]] music. That year, he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, "[[Cold Sweat]]", which hit number-one on the R&B chart and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum [[Break (music)|break]] and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single [[chord progression|chord]].<ref>George, N. (1988). ''The Death of Rhythm & Blues'', 101. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-55238-5.</ref><ref>Vincent, R. & Clinton, G. (1996). ''Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One'', 123. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-13499-1.</ref> The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "[[Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose]]" and "[[Licking Stick-Licking Stick]]" (both recorded in 1968) and "[[Funky Drummer]]" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the [[horn section]], guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking [[riff]]s.

Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "[[I Got the Feelin']]" (1968) and "[[Mother Popcorn]]" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] or [[melody]]. This would become a major influence on the techniques of [[rapping]], which would come to maturity along with [[hip hop music]] in the coming decades. Brown's style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: funky bass lines, drum patterns, and iconic guitar riffs.<ref>Slutsky, Allan, Chuck Silverman (1997). ''The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections''. ISBN 1576234436</ref> The main guitar ostinatos for "[[Ain't It Funky]]" and "[[Give It Up or Turn It Loose]]" (both 1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches. It's as if the guitar is an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s."<ref>Stewart, Alexander (2000: 306). "Funky Drummer: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music." Popular Music, v. 19, n. 3. Oct. 2000, p. 293-318.</ref> Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most [[sampling (music)|sampled]] recording artist,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whosampled.com/artist/James%20Brown/ |title=James Brown's Sample-Based Music and Cover Songs |publisher=WhoSampled |accessdate=September 19, 2009}}</ref> with "Funky Drummer" itself becoming the most sampled individual piece of music.<ref>[http://www.the-breaks.com/perl/stats.pl Most sampled songs and Most sampled artists.] The-Breaks.com. Retrieved December 30, 2006.</ref>
[[File:Aint it funky.jpg|thumb|center|480px|Guitar part for "Ain't it Funky" by James Brown]]

[[File:Give it up.jpg|thumb|center|480px|Guitar part for "Give it Up or Turn it Loose" by James Brown (1969)]]

"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban [[guajeo]]-like structure. In fact, on a 1976 version, Cuban bongos are used. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a [[bell pattern|time line]] (such as [[clave (rhythm)|clave]] and [[tresillo (rhythm)|tresillo]]) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."<ref>Stewart (2000: 306).</ref>

[[File:Bring it Up.tiff|thumb|center|450px|Guitar part for "Bring it Up" by James Brown (1967)]]

It was around this time as the musician's popularity increased that he acquired the nickname, "Soul Brother No. 1", after failing to win the title "King of Soul" from [[Solomon Burke]] during a Chicago gig two years prior.<ref name="a1984">Peter Guralnick, "Song of Solomon", ''The Boston Phoenix'' (March 6, 1984), Section 3:3.</ref> Brown's recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as [[Sly and the Family Stone]], [[Funkadelic]], [[Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band]], [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]] as well as vocalists such as [[Edwin Starr]], [[David Ruffin]] and [[Dennis Edwards]] from [[The Temptations]], and [[Michael Jackson]], who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news/jackson-attends-browns-public-funeral_1017673 |title=James Brown – Jackson Attends Brown's Public Funeral | accessdate=July 20, 2012}}</ref>

Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a [[bandleader]] and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of [[jazz]]. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist [[Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis]] (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist [[Jimmy Nolen]] provided percussive, deceptively simple [[riff]]s for each song, and [[Maceo Parker]]'s prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, drummers [[John "Jabo" Starks]], [[Clyde Stubblefield]] and [[Melvin Parker]], saxophonist [[St. Clair Pinckney]], trombonist [[Fred Wesley]], guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist [[Bernard Odum]].

In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown's output during this period included two more successful live albums, ''[[Live at the Garden (James Brown album)|Live at the Garden]]'' (1967) and ''[[Live at the Apollo, Volume II]]'' (1968), and a 1968 [[television special]], ''[[James Brown: Man to Man]]''. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including [[WCHZ (AM)|WRDW]] in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy.<ref name=pc51>{{Pop Chronicles|51|5}}</ref> In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]] for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 ''[[Record World]]'' magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968 and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". Brown also bought [[WQLL|WEBB]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] in 1970.

Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white [[adult contemporary]] audience, Brown recorded ''Gettin' Down To It'' (1969) and ''[[Soul on Top]]'' (1970)--two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the [[Louie Bellson]] Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with [[The Dapps]], a white [[Cincinnati]] band, including the hit "[[I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)]]". He also released three albums of [[Christmas music]] with his own band.

===Godfather of Soul===
{{main|The J.B.'s}}
[[File:James Brown Tampa.jpg|thumb|Brown after a concert in [[Tampa]] on January 29, 1972]]
In March 1970, most of the members of Brown's mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes. Additionally, The Famous Flames singing group disbanded for the same reason, with only original and founding member Bobby Byrd electing to remain with Brown. Brown and Byrd subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based [[The Pacemakers (funk band)|The Pacemakers]], which included [[Bootsy Collins]] and his brother [[Catfish Collins|Phelps "Catfish" Collins]]; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown's outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of [[The J.B.'s]], Brown's new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, "[[Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine]]"; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further concretize Brown's influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.'s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release ''[[Love Power Peace]]'') due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins' use of [[LSD]]; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members of [[Parliament-Funkadelic]], while a new lineup of the J.B.'s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney, and drummer John Starks.

In 1971, Brown began recording for [[Polydor Records]] which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s, [[Bobby Byrd]], [[Lyn Collins]], [[Vicki Anderson]] and former rival [[Hank Ballard]], released records on the [[People Records|People]] label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified his "house style". Songs such as "[[I Know You Got Soul (Bobby Byrd song)|I Know You Got Soul]]" by Bobby Byrd, "[[Think (About It)]]" by Lyn Collins and "[[Doing It to Death]]" by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the [[United States presidential election, 1972|1972 presidential election]], James Brown openly proclaimed his support of [[Richard Nixon]] for reelection of the presidency over Democratic candidate [[George McGovern]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/james-brown/soul-survivor/532/ |title=James Brown – Soul Survivor &#124; American Masters |publisher=PBS |date=October 29, 2003 |accessdate=October 28, 2011}}</ref> The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience.<ref>Brown, James, with Bruce Tucker. James Brown: The Godfather of Soul (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,1986), 233</ref> As a result Brown's record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and [[Lausanne, Switzerland|Lausanne]]. That year, Brown also faced problems with the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] for failure to pay [[back taxes]], charging he hadn't paid upwards of $4.5 million, five years earlier, the IRS claimed he owed nearly $2 million.<ref name="jbencyclopedia" />

In 1973, Brown provided the score for the [[blaxploitation]] film ''[[Black Caesar (film)|Black Caesar]]''. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, ''[[Slaughter's Big Rip-Off]]''. Following the release of these soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, "The Godfather of Soul", which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974, he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with "[[The Payback (song)|The Payback]]", with the [[The Payback|parent album]] reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974 including "[[My Thang]]" and "[[Papa Don't Take No Mess]]". Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in [[Kinshasa]] as part of the buildup to [[The Rumble in the Jungle]] fight between [[Muhammad Ali]] and [[George Foreman]]. Admirers of Brown's music, including [[Miles Davis]] and other jazz musicians, began to cite Brown as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single "[[Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved)|Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)]]" (R&B #31) used the main [[riff]] from "[[Fame (David Bowie song)|Fame]]" by [[David Bowie]], not the other way around as was often believed. The riff was provided to "Fame" co-writers [[John Lennon]] and Bowie by guitarist [[Carlos Alomar]], who had briefly been a member of Brown's band in the late 1960s.<ref>[http://www.allmovieguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=61:P The Whole Note: Under the Radar in '06.] (2006). All Media Guide. Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref>

Brown's "Papa Don't Take No Mess" would be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though Brown continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included "[[Funky President (People It's Bad)]]" and "[[Get Up Offa That Thing]]", the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as [[Barry White]], [[The Ohio Players]] and [[K.C. and the Sunshine Band]]. Brown credited his then-second wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted ''[[Future Shock (TV series)|Future Shock]]'', an Atlanta-based television [[variety show]] which ran for three years.

===Decline and resurgence===
[[File:James-Brown 1973.jpg|thumb|left|James Brown 1973, Hamburg]]
By 1977, Brown was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After "Get Up Offa That Thing", thirteen of Brown's late 1970s recordings for Polydor, failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only "[[Bodyheat]]" in 1976 and the disco-oriented "[[It's Too Funky in Here]]" in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad "[[Kiss in '77]]" reaching the Top 20. After 1976's "Bodyheat", he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown's concert attendance began dropping and reported disputes with the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] caused Brown's empire to collapse. In addition, Brown's former band mates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of [[George Clinton (musician)|George Clinton]]'s [[Parliament-Funkadelic]] collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown's success on the R&B charts as its slicker commercial style had superseded his rawer funk productions. Brown recorded disco material on his albums starting with 1975's ''Sex Machine Today'', producing less than favorable results.

By the release of 1979's ''The Original Disco Man'', Brown wasn't providing much production or writing, leading most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song "It's Too Funky in Here" becoming Brown's most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.'s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G's). This band's name remained that way until his death. Despite a fallout from record sales, Brown enjoyed something of a resurgence in this period starting with appearances in the feature films ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'', ''[[Doctor Detroit]]'' and ''[[Rocky IV]]'', as well as guest starring in the ''[[Miami Vice]]'' episode "Missing Hours" (1988). In 1984, Brown teamed with rap musician [[Afrika Bambaattaa]] on the song "[[Unity (song)|Unity]]". A year later he signed with [[Scotti Brothers Records|Scotti Brothers]] Records and issued the moderately successful album, ''[[Gravity (James Brown album)|Gravity]]'', in 1986. It included Brown's final Top 10 pop hit, "[[Living in America (song)|Living in America]]", marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by [[Dan Hartman]], it was also featured prominently on the ''[[Rocky IV]]'' film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the [[MGM Grand Las Vegas|MGM Grand]] in [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul." 1986 also saw the publication of Brown's [[autobiography]], ''James Brown: The Godfather of Soul'', co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Living in America".

In 1988, Brown worked with the production team [[Full Force]] on the [[new jack swing]]-influenced album ''[[I'm Real (James Brown album)|I'm Real]]''. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, "[[I'm Real (James Brown song)|I'm Real]]" and "[[Static (song)|Static]]", which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the [[Break (music)#Break beat (element of music)|drum break]] from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album ''[[In the Jungle Groove]]'') became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for [[break dancing|breakdance]]) during the late 1970s and early 1980s that hip hop founding father [[Kurtis Blow]] called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".<ref>[http://www.rhino.com/Features/liners/72851lin.html Liner notes – Kurtis Blow presents: The History of Rap, Vol. 1.] Rhino Records. Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref>

===Final years===
[[File:JamesBrown.jpg|thumb|James Brown in [[Belgrade]] in 1993]]
After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown returned with the album ''Love Over-Due'' in 1991. It included the single "[[(So Tired Of Standing Still We Got To) Move On]]", which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set, ''[[Star Time]]'', spanning Brown's career to date. Brown's release from prison also prompted his former record labels to [[reissue]] his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper [[MC Hammer]]'s video for "[[Too Legit to Quit (song)|Too Legit to Quit]]". Hammer had been noted, alongside [[Big Daddy Kane]], for bringing Brown's unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation, with both Hammer and Kane listing Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled Brown's work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from "[[Super Bad (song)|Super Bad]]" for his song, "Here Comes the Hammer", from his best-selling album, ''[[Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em]]''. Before the year was over, Brown, who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release, organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles' [[Wiltern Theatre]], that was well received.

Brown continued making recordings. In 1993, his album ''Universal James'' was released. It included his final ''Billboard'' charting single, "[[Can't Get Any Harder]]", which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of "I Feel Good" featuring [[Dakeyne]]. Brown also released the singles, "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart. In 1995 Brown returned to the [[Apollo Theater|Apollo]] and recorded ''[[Live at the Apollo 1995]]''. It included a studio track titled "Respect Me", which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown's final studio albums, ''I'm Back'' and ''The Next Step'', were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. ''I'm Back'' featured the song "[[Funk on Ah Roll]]", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but didn't chart in his native America. ''The Next Step'' included Brown's final single, "[[Killing Is Out, School Is In]]". Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown's concert success, however, remained unabated and Brown kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the [[PBS]] ''[[American Masters]]'' television documentary ''James Brown: Soul Survivor'', which was directed by [[Jeremy Marre]].

Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]] pay-per-view event, ''[[SuperBrawl#SuperBrawl X|SuperBrawl X]]'', where he danced alongside wrestler [[Ernest Miller|Ernest "The Cat" Miller]], who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with [[Robert Kellum|The Maestro]]. Brown was then featured in [[Tony Scott]]'s short film, ''[[The Hire: Beat the Devil|Beat the Devil]]'', in 2001. Brown was featured alongside [[Clive Owen]], [[Gary Oldman]], [[Danny Trejo]] and [[Marilyn Manson]].<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338768 ''Beat the Devil''.] (2002). Internet Movie Database Inc. (IMDb). Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref> Brown also made a [[cameo appearance]] in the 2002 [[Jackie Chan]] film ''[[The Tuxedo]]'', in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after Brown was accidentally knocked out by Chan.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290095/fullcredits Full cast and crew for ''The Tuxedo''.] (2002). Internet Movie Database Inc. (IMDb). Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref> In 2002, Brown appeared in ''[[Undercover Brother]]'', playing himself.

The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown's second book, ''I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul'', written with Marc Eliot. He appeared at [[Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push]], the final [[Live 8]] concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star [[Will Young]] on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". He also performed a duet with another British pop star, [[Joss Stone]], a week earlier on the United Kingdom chat show ''[[Friday Night with Jonathan Ross]]''. Before his death, Brown was scheduled to perform a duet with singer [[Annie Lennox]] on the song "Vengeance" for her new album ''Venus'', which was released in 2007. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades Of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish [[Oxegen#2006 Festival|Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006]] was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the [[UK Music Hall of Fame]] in November 2006, before his death the following month.

== James Brown Revue ==
For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16396332/ James Brown band to resume touring soon.] (December 29, 2006). MSNBC. Retrieved January 13, 2007.</ref> The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during ballads.<ref>White, C. & Weinger, H. Are You Ready for Star Time? ''Star Time'', J. Brown. (1991) Liner notes, 31. Polydor.</ref> Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.<ref>George, N. (1988). ''The Death of Rhythm and Blues'', 101. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-452-26697-1.</ref><ref>Guralnick, P. (1986). ''Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom'', 240. New York: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-452-26697-1.</ref>

===Concert introduction===
Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal [[Master of ceremonies|MC]] gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1962 album ''[[Live at the Apollo (1963 album)|Live at the Apollo]]'' album, is a representative example:

{| border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" style="margin:auto; width:85%; background:#eee;"
|-
| 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, national and international[ly] known as the hardest working man in show business, the man that sings "[[I'll Go Crazy (James Brown song)|I'll Go Crazy]]" ... "[[Try Me (song)|Try Me]]" ... "[[You've Got the Power (James Brown song)|You've Got the Power]]" ... "[[Think ("5" Royales song)|Think]]" ... "If You Want Me" ... "[[I Don't Mind (James Brown song)|I Don't Mind]]" ... "[[Bewildered]]" ...the million dollar seller, "[[Lost Someone]]" ... the very latest release, "[[Night Train (composition)|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]]!!<ref name=jbstarTime>Gross, T. (February 22, 2005). [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6676984 James Brown (Fresh Air WHYY-FM audio interview).] National Public Radio. Retrieved January 22, 2007.</ref>
|}

Among the MCs who worked with Brown and his revue through the years, Brown's most famous MC was Danny Ray, who appeared on stage with him for over 30 years.

===Concert repertoire and format===
[[File:James Brown.jpg|thumb|143px|right|Brown and MC Danny Ray during cape routine, BBC Electric Proms '06 concert]]

James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for&nbsp;— make them tired, 'cause ''that's'' what they came for.'"<ref>Guralnick, 231.</ref> Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B [[Cover version|covers]] mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the [[Mashed Potato]] into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and backup singers (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear [[Tuxedo (clothing)|tuxedoes]] and [[cummerbund]]s long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate [[Conk|processed hairdo]] completed the visual impression. A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or [[Marva Whitney]], and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show.

===Cape routine===
A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to [[exhaustion]] during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, [[The Famous Flames]], continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh-oh".<ref>Page, C. (January 2, 2007). [http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070102/A_OPINION0603/701020304 Godfather's soul transcended racial, musical barriers.] ''The Record''. Retrieved June 17, 2007.</ref> Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an [[encore (concert)|encore]]. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the [[Professional wrestling|professional wrestler]] [[George Wagner|Gorgeous George]].<ref name=jbstarTime/><ref>Loverro, T. (December 28, 2006). [http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20061228-123845-5230r.htm Soul Brother had sports roots.] ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved January 13, 2007.</ref>

Brown performs a version of the cape routine over the [[closing credits]] of the film ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]''.

The best place to view the "cape routine" is in Brown's performance during the "T.A.M.I. Show" available on DVD.

===As band leader===
Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers&nbsp;— right down to when performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals all the way to whether members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances.<ref name=tangari>Tangari, J. (January 3, 2007). [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40233/James_Brown_19282006 James Brown, 1928–2006.] Pitchforkmedia, Inc. Retrieved January 21, 2007.</ref> During an interview conducted by [[Terri Gross]] during the [[NPR]] segment "[[Fresh Air]]" with [[Maceo Parker]], a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:

{{quote|You gotta be on time. You gotta have your uniform. Your stuff's got to be intact. You gotta have the bow tie. ''You got to have it''. You can't come up without the bow tie. You cannot come up without a cummerbund ... [The] patent leather shoes we were wearing at the time gotta be greased. You just gotta have this stuff. This is what [Brown expected] ... [Brown] bought the costumes. He bought the shoes. And if for some reason [the band member decided] to leave the group, [Brown told the person to] please leave my uniforms ....|Maceo Parker<ref name=fa_maceo>Gross, T. (1989). [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6676990 Musician Maceo Parker (Fresh Air WHYY-FM audio interview).] National Public Radio. Retrieved January 22, 2007.</ref>}}

Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage.<ref name=jbfine>Burnett, B. (December 21, 2006). [http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=11069 James Brown: Audience with the Godfather] (interview). [[Hour (magazine)|The Hour]]. Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref> During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.<ref>Gottschild, B.D. (August 2000). James Brown: Godfather of dance. ''Dance Magazine'', 74(8), p. 54 (Document no. A63735725). Retrieved January 11, 2007 from the Biography Resource Center database.</ref>

Brown's demands of his support acts were, however, quite the reverse. As [[Fred Wesley]] recalled of his time as MD of the JBs, if Brown felt intimidated by a support act he would try "To undermine their performances by shortening their sets without notice, demanding that they not do certain showstopping songs, and even insisting on doing the unthinkable, playing drums on some of their songs. A sure set killer."<ref>Fred Wesley's sleevenotes to Honey & the Bees "Dynamite!" (Jamie4009) 1999</ref>

==Social activism==
[[File:Jamesetgroover.jpg|thumb|Brown shakes the hand of the painter Groover, who gave him a picture during his tour in Guadeloupe in the 1980s]]

===Education advocacy and humanitarianism===
Brown's main social activism was in preserving the need for [[education]] among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his forced dropping out of the seventh grade for wearing "insufficient clothes". Due to heavy [[dropping out|dropout]] rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, "[[Don't Be a Drop-Out]]". Royalties of the song were donated to charity used for dropout prevention programs. The success of this led to Brown meeting and shaking heads with then-President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], who cited Brown for being a positive role model to the youth. Throughout the remainder of his life, Brown made public speeches in schools and continued to advocate the importance of education in school. Upon filing his will in 2002, Brown advised that most of the money in his estate go into creating the I Feel Good, Inc. Trust to benefit disadvantaged children and provide scholarships for his grandchildren. His final single, "Killing Is Out, School Is In", advocated against murders of young children in the streets. Brown often gave out money and other items to children while traveling to his childhood hometown of Augusta. A week before his death, while looking gravely ill, Brown gave out toys and turkeys to kids at an Atlanta orphanage, something he had done several times over the years.

===Civil rights and self-reliance===
Though Brown performed at benefit rallies for [[civil rights]] organizations in the mid-1960s, Brown often shied away from discussing civil rights in his songs. In 1968, in response to a growing urge of [[Opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war advocacy during the Vietnam War]], Brown recorded the song, "[[America Is My Home]]". In the song, Brown performed a [[rapping|rap]], advocating [[patriotism]] and exhorting listeners to "stop pitying yoursel[ves] and get up and fight." At the time of the song's release, Brown had been participating in performing for troops stationed in Vietnam. A day after the [[assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.]], Brown gave out a televised concert at the [[Boston Garden]] to calm concerned Boston relatives.<ref name=pc51/> The show was later released on DVD as ''[[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]]''. According to the documentary, ''The Night James Brown Saved Boston'', then-mayor [[Kevin White (mayor)|Kevin White]] had strongly restrained the Boston police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination and religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring.<ref name=vh1nightjbsavedbos>[http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/vh1_rock_docs/134183/episode_about.jhtml The Night James Brown Saved Boston.] ''VH1 rockDocs''.</ref> White arranged to have Brown's performance broadcasted multiple times on Boston's public television station, [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]], thus keeping potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free.<ref name=vh1nightjbsavedbos/> Angered by not being told of this, Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free) and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up afterwards, news of which would have been a political death blow to White and spark riots of its own.<ref name=vh1nightjbsavedbos/> White eventually lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs, contributing $100,000. Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White also persuaded management at the Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the differences.<ref name=vh1nightjbsavedbos/> Following this successful performance, Brown was cautioned by President Johnson to visit cities ravaged from riots following King's assassination to not resort to violence, telling them to "cool it, there's another way".{{sfn|Jet|1971|pp=54}}

Responding to pressure from black activists, including [[H. Rap Brown]], to take a bigger stance on their issues and from footage of [[black on black crime]] committed in inner cities, Brown wrote lyrics to the song, "[[Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]", which his bandleader, [[Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis]] accompanied with a musical composition. Released late that summer, the song's lyrics helped to make it an anthem to the civil rights movement. Brown would only perform the song sporadically following its initial success, later stating in his autobiography:

<blockquote>
The song is obsolete now... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.”<ref>Brown, James, with Bruce Tucker. ''James Brown: The Godfather of Soul'' (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company,1986), 200.</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1969, Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary including "[[World (James Brown song)|World]]" and "[[I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing]]", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement. In 1970, in response to some black leaders for not being outspoken enough, Brown recorded "[[Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved]]" and "[[Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing]]". In 1971, Brown began touring Africa and was made "freeman of the city" in [[Lagos, Nigeria]] by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world."{{sfn|Jet|1971|pp=59}} With his company, James Brown Enterprises, Brown helped to provide jobs for blacks in business in the communities.{{sfn|Jet|1971|pp=60}} As the 1970s continued, Brown continued to record songs of social commentary, much prominently, 1972's "[[King Heroin]]" and the two-part ballad "Public Enemy", which dealt with [[drug addiction]].

===Political views===
Brown was a staunch [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]].<ref name="jamesrepublican">{{cite web|url=http://rightinaleftworld.blogspot.com/2006/12/james-brown-godfather-of-soul-and.html|title=Right in a Left World: James Brown, Godfather of Soul and Republican, dead at 73|accessdate=September 4, 2012}}</ref> Brown had initially endorsed [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Hubert Humphrey]] and appeared with Humphrey at political rallies. Brown began supporting [[Richard Nixon]] after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969. Brown's endorsement of Nixon during the [[United States presidential election, 1972|1972 presidential election]] negatively impacted his career during that period with several boycotting his records and [[protest]]ing at his concert shows. In 1999, when being interviewed by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', the magazine asked him to name a [[hero]] in the 20th century, Brown mentioned Republican Senator [[Strom Thurmond]], stating "when the young whippersnappers get out of line, whether Democratic or Republican, an old man can walk up and say 'Wait a minute, son, it goes this way.' And that's great for our country. He's like a grandfather to me."<ref name="jamesrepublican"/> Thurmond and his son eventually helped to get Brown be released on [[parole]] from his six-year prison sentence in 1991. In 2003, Brown was the featured attraction of a D.C. fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.<ref name="jamesrepublican" /> Following the deaths of [[Ronald Reagan]] and his friend and fellow Republican [[Ray Charles]], Brown said to [[CNN]], "I'm kind of in an uproar. I love the country and I got – you know I've been around a long time, through many [[presidents]] and everything. So after losing Mr. Reagan, who I knew very well, then Mr. Ray Charles, who I worked with and lived with like, all our life, we had a show together in [[Oakland]] many, many years ago and it's like you found the placard."<ref name="jamesrepublican" />

==Personal life==
At the end of his life, James Brown lived in a riverfront home in [[Beech Island, South Carolina]], directly across the [[Savannah River]] from [[Augusta, Georgia]]. Brown had [[diabetes]] that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit.{{sfn|Jet|2003|p=54}} In 2004 Brown was successfully treated for [[prostate cancer]].<ref name=jbmed>[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=17912 "Singer James Brown prostate cancer surgery successful".] (December 16, 2004). ''Medical News Today''. Retrieved January 10, 2007.</ref> Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.

===Marriages and children===
Brown was married three times during his lifetime. He married his first wife, Velma Warren, in 1953. Over a decade later, the couple had separated, with their divorce finalized by 1969. Despite this, Brown and Warren maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown married his second wife, Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. The couple were separated by 1979 and their divorce was finalized less than a year later on January 10, 1981. His third and final marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 - January 6, 1996). Brown married her in 1984. After a contentious marriage that made headlines due to domestic abuse complaints, Rodriguez died in January 1996. Less than a year after her death, Brown hired [[Tomi Rae Hynie]] to be a background singer for his band. Brown and Hynie began dating shortly afterwards.

On December 23, 2002, Brown and Hynie held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage, with Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reporting that the marriage wasn't valid because Hynie was married to Javed Ahmed, a Bangladeshi whom Hynie claimed married her for a [[United States Permanent Resident Card|Green Card]] in an immigration fraud. Though Hynie contended the marriage was annulled, the annulment didn't occur until April 2004.<ref name=jbmarry>Martin, J. (January 4, 2007). [http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5091311.html Tomi Rae defends her relationship with James Brown.] WRDW-TV (Augusta, Georgia). Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref><ref>Gardner,L. (December 26, 2006). [http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5018766.html Tomi Rae Hynie: "It's a blatant lie".] WRDW-TV (Augusta, Georgia). Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, Hynie produced a 2001 [[Marriage license#Marriage licenses in the Americas|marriage certificate]] as proof of her marriage to Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed.<ref name=annulment>Anderson, V. (January 5, 2007). [http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/01/04/0105hynie.html Probate hearing may determine whether Hynie is James Brown's widow.] ''The Atlanta-Journal Constitution''. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie.<ref>Singer James Brown files for annulment. ''Jet Magazine'', '''105'''(8), p. 18. Retrieved January 11, 2007 from the Biography Resource Center database.</ref> Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown-Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment.<ref name=annulment/><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/26/james.brown.widow.ap/index.html Brown widow: I've been locked out.] (2006). CNN Entertainment News. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at [[Disney World]] to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jabrown1.html Public announcement of annulment in ''Variety Magazine''.] (July 22, 2003). The Smoking Gun. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref><ref>Stritof, S. & Stritof, B. (2007). [http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown_3.htm James Brown and Tomi Rae Hynie timeline: The puzzle of a complicated marriage relationship.] About.com: Marriage. Retrieved January 14, 2002.</ref>

Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them including five sons - Teddy (1954-1973), Terry, Larry, Daryl and James Joseph Brown II and four daughters - Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown.<ref>{{cite news|last=Goodman |first=Brenda |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/keeping-track-of-james-brown-and-the-big-payback/ |title="Keeping Track of James Brown and The Big Payback" Brenda Goodman, Nov. 8, 2007 |work=The New York Times |date=November 8, 2007 |accessdate=July 31, 2009}}</ref> Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973.<ref name=marriage>Stritof, S. & Stritof, B. (2006). [http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown.htm The marriages of James Brown.] About.com: Marriage. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> According to an August 22, 2007 article published in the British newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The only one of them who has been identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired air stewardess and teacher who lives in Houston.<ref>Elsworth, C. (August 22, 2007) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/22/wbrown122.xml James Brown's secret children emerge]. ''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved July 5, 2009.</ref> During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, [[Debra Opri]] revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a [[DNA]] test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown II&nbsp;— not for Brown's sake but for the sake of the other family members.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21026466-5006024,00.html |title=Brown wanted paternity test |date=January 8, 2007 |work=The Herald Sun (Australia) |accessdate=January 8, 2007 }}</ref> In April 2007, Hynie selected a [[guardian ad litem]] whom she wants appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown II, in the paternity proceedings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040400490.html |title=James Brown's partner selects guardian |date=April 4, 2007 |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=April 11, 2007 }}</ref>

===Drug abuse===
For the majority of his career, Brown carried around a strict drug and alcohol-free policy with any member in his entourage, including band members, firing people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs and alcohol. Some members of Brown's vocal group the Famous Flames were fired due to alcohol use. Noting of the policy, some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, [[The J.B.'s]] including [[Catfish Collins|Catfish]] and [[Bootsy Collins]], intentionally got high on [[acid]] during a concert gig in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them to be on drugs all along.<ref>''[[Unsung (TV series)|Unsung]]'': Bootsy Collins'', [[TV One (US TV network)|TV One]], 2011</ref>

However, by the mid-1980s, it was alleged that Brown himself was using drugs. After meeting and later marrying Adrienne Rodriguez, Brown and her began using [[Phencyclidine|PCP]] or "angel dust". The drug resulted in domestically violent outbursts from Brown and he would be arrested several times for [[domestic violence]] against Rodriguez while high on the drug.<ref name=rjsmith>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=R. J.|title=The One: The Life and Music of James Brown|year=2012|publisher=Penguin Group|location=New York City|isbn=9781592407422|pages=341–344}}</ref> After a May 1988 arrest from allegedly hitting his wife with a lead pipe and shooting at her in their car during an argument, Brown went on TV with a local [[Los Angeles]] reporter via [[satellite]] from Atlanta and appeared to be behaving erratically in response to some of the interviewer's questions, refusing to discuss the domestic issue with Rodriguez, instead wanting to bring more focus on his professional life. At one point during the interview, Brown began shouting out his song titles to one of the reporter's questions. The interview later went [[viral video|viral]] and led some to assume that Brown was either drunk or doped up.

One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in an [[GQ (magazine)|''GQ'' magazine]] article on Brown some years after his death that Brown would smoke PCP "until that got hard to find", and [[cocaine]], mixed with [[tobacco]] in [[Kool (cigarette)|Kools cigarettes]].<ref name="Papa">{{cite web |url=http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/200903/james-brown-legacy-money-millions?currentPage=12 |title=Papa: Music: GQ |accessdate=July 19, 2012}}</ref> In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to prescription [[painkillers]]; a week following his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of [[marijuana]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-01-29/living/25751368_1_weapons-charges-marijuana-soul-singer-james-brown |title=James Brown Facing Marijuana, Weapons Charges |work=Philadelphia Daily News | date=January 29, 1998 |accessdate=July 19, 2012}}</ref>

===Legal issues===
Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, he was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison. In 1978, while in concert at the [[Apollo Theater|Apollo]], Brown was arrested onstage for failing to comply with a government order to leave the country during a [[payola]] investigation of his radio stations.<ref name="jbencyclopedia">{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/James_Brown.aspx |title=James Brown Facts, information, pictures Encyclopedia.com articles about James Brown |accessdate=July 24, 2012}}</ref> In 1988, Brown was arrested twice, first for drugs and weapons charges in May, and later in September of that year following an alleged high-speed car chase on [[Interstate 20]] near the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]-[[South Carolina]] state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released in 1991 after serving only three years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to ''The Washington Post'' in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act,<ref name=fbirpt>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/2007/jamesbrown.pdf In the Matter of James Joseph Brown, File No. SV-44B-3846.] (1989). Criminal Investigative Division, Civil Rights Unit. U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved June 3, 2007 (Abobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing).</ref> related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest.<ref name=SC-chase>Stephens, J. (April 3, 2007). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201614.html FBI file recounts James Brown's side Of '88 police chase.] ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved June 4, 2007.</ref> Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.

In another incident, the police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000 after he was accused of charging at an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jamesbrown1.html Aiken County Sheriff's Office Incident Report, Case No. 0000030719.] (July 3, 2000). The Smoking Gun. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref> In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the [[South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services]] for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.<ref name=jbpardon>South Carolina pardons James Brown for past crimes. (June 9, 2003). ''Jet Magazine'', 36. Retrieved January 14, 2007 from the Lexis-Nexis Academic database.</ref>

For the remainder of his life, Brown was repeatedly arrested for [[domestic violence]]. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between 1987 and 1995 on charges of assault. In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. Later that year in June 2004, Brown pleaded [[Nolo contendere|no contest]] to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jbrownass1.html James Brown pleads to domestic violence.] (2004). The Smoking Gun. Retrieved January 8, 2007.</ref>

In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 forcible rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract [[Graves' Disease]], a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court but nothing became of her complaint.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6520959.stm |title=James Brown rape case dismissed. |date=April 3, 2007 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=August 20, 2009}}</ref>

==Death and aftermath==
===Death===
[[File:James Brown Memorial 1.JPG|left|thumb|James Brown memorial in Augusta, Georgia]]
On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, several hours later than his appointment for [[dental implant]] work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that Brown looked "very bad ... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the dental work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.<ref name=jbdental>Smith, W. (December 26, 2006). [http://www.newyorkbeacon.com/News/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=74983&sID=4 James Brown, the undeniable ''Godfather of Soul" dead at 73.] ''The New York Beacon''. Retrieved January 10, 2007.</ref>

Brown checked in at the [[Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital]] the next day for a medical evaluation of his condition, and he was admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment.<ref name=jbillness>[http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/24/brown.ailing/index.html James Brown hospitalized with pneumonia.] (December 24, 2006). CNN Entertainment News. Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref> According to Charles Bobbit, Brown's longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been sick and suffering with a noisy cough since he returned from a November trip to Europe.<ref name=jbdental/> Bobbit also added that it was characteristic of Brown to never complain about being sick, and that he frequently performed during illness.<ref name=jbdental/> Although Brown had to cancel upcoming shows in [[Waterbury, Connecticut]] and [[Englewood, New Jersey]], Brown was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time to perform the New Year's Eve shows. For the New Year's celebrations, Brown was scheduled to perform at the [[Count Basie]] Theatre in New Jersey and at the [[B. B. King]] Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on [[CNN]] for the [[Anderson Cooper]] [[New Year's Eve Live (CNN program)|New Year's Eve special]].<ref name="jbillness"/> However, Brown remained hospitalized, and his medical condition worsened throughout that day.

On [[Christmas Day]] 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45&nbsp;am [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] (06:45 [[UTC]]) from [[congestive heart failure]] resulting from complications of [[pneumonia]], with his personal manager and longtime friend Charles Bobbit at his bedside.<ref name=jbdeath>[http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/25/james.brown.obit.ap/index.html Soul "godfather" James Brown dies.] (December 25, 2006). CNN Entertainment News. Retrieved January 9, 2007.</ref> According to Mr. Bobbit, Brown stuttered "I'm going away tonight", and then Brown took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.<ref name="cnnbio">[http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/25/obit.brown/index.html James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," dies at 73.] (December 25, 2006). CNN Entertainment News. Retrieved January 5, 2007.</ref>

===Memorial services===
[[File:JB Apollo Memorial.jpg|right|thumb|Public memorial at the Apollo Theater in Harlem]]
[[File:James Brown Funeral.jpg|thumb|Private funeral in Augusta, Georgia, with Michael Jackson attending]]
After Brown's death, Brown's relatives and friends, a host of celebrities and thousands of fans attended public memorial services at the [[Apollo Theater]] in New York on December 28, 2006 and at the [[James Brown Arena]] on December 30, 2006 in [[Augusta, Georgia]]. A separate, private memorial service was also held in [[North Augusta, South Carolina]] on December 29, 2006, which was attended by Brown's family and close friends. Celebrities who attended Brown's public and/or private memorial services included [[Michael Jackson]], [[Jimmy Cliff]], [[Joe Frazier]], [[Buddy Guy]], [[Ice Cube]], [[Ludacris]], [[Dr. Dre]], [[Little Richard]], [[Dick Gregory]], [[MC Hammer]], [[Prince (artist)|Prince]], [[Jesse Jackson]], [[Ice-T]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], [[Bootsy Collins]], [[LL Cool J]], [[Li'l Wayne]], [[Lenny Kravitz]], [[50 Cent]], [[Stevie Wonder]], and [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]], among others.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239465,00.html Old friend and original Famous Flames founder Bobby Byrd was also present. Mourners pay respects to James Brown at Apollo Theater public viewing.] (December 28, 2006). Fox News. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref><ref name="foxnews.com">[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239784,00.html Private ceremony held Friday for friends and family of James Brown.] (December 29, 2006). Fox News. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=mjj>[http://www.accesshollywood.com/michael-jackson-attends-james-brown-funeral_article_3296 Michael Jackson attends James Brown funeral.] (December 30, 2006). Access Hollywood. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref><ref>Anderson, V. (December 30, 2006). [http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2006/12/30/1230jacksonburst2.html Michael Jackson, McCartney had private viewing.] ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. Retrieved March 23, 2007.</ref> All of the public and private memorial services were officiated by [[Al Sharpton|Rev. Al Sharpton]].<ref name=jbfuneral>[http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/29/people_hot_water/main2312609.shtml James Brown eulogized for impact on word: Family and friends attend a private South Carolina ceremony for the "Godfather of Soul".] (December 29, 2006). CBS News: The Show Buzz. Retrieved March 10, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/26/people_late_great/main2299342.shtml NYC & Ga. farewell for Godfather of Soul: Funeral procession and wake in Harlem; funeral in Georgia.] (December 28, 2006). CBS News: The Show Buzz. Retrieved March 10, 2007.</ref>

Brown's public and private memorial ceremonies were elaborate, complete with costume changes for Brown and videos featuring him in concert performances. Brown's body, which was placed in a Promethean casket, which is bronze polished to a golden shine, was driven through the streets of New York to the [[Apollo Theater]] in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage.<ref>Christensen, J. (December 28, 2006). [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jamesbrown/photos/gallery/12985546/photo/3/large Picture of horse drawn carriage carrying James Brown's body in gold casket to the Apollo Theater in Harlem.] ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref><ref>Altaffer, M. (December 28, 2006). [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jamesbrown/photos/gallery/12985546/photo/4/large Picture of pallbearers carrying James Brown's casket to Apollo Theater memorial service.] ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref> In Augusta, Georgia, the procession for Brown's public memorial visited Brown's statue as the procession made its way to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial at the James Brown Arena, nachos and pretzels were served to mourners, as a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia and the [[Ray Charles]] [[Cover version|version]] of "[[Georgia on My Mind]]" played soulfully in the background.<ref name="foxnews.com"/><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239465,00.html Mourners pay respects to James Brown at Apollo Theater public viewing.] (December 28, 2006). Fox News. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240157,00.html Farewell tour to James Brown ends with hometown memorial.] (December 30, 2006). Fox News. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref> Brown's last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played the music of Brown's hits during the memorial service at the James Brown Arena. The group was joined by [[Bootsy Collins]] on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style.<ref>Barnett, R. (December 30, 2006). [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-12-30-brown-farewell_x.htm Farewell tour to James Brown ends.] ''USA Today''. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref> Former Temptations lead singer [[Ali-Ollie Woodson]] performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.<ref>Wynn, M. & Edwards, J. (December 31, 2006). [http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/123106/met_110706.shtml] Article "Hardest Work Is Done, Publication: Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved February 1, 2009.</ref>

===Last will and testament===
James Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before Strom Thurmond, Jr., an attorney for Brown's estate.<ref name=jbwill>[http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/5164202.html James Brown Jr. not included in will.] WRDW-TV News (Augusta, Georgia). Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on Brown's behalf in 2000 by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, who was named as one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. Brown's will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars and jewelry, while Brown's irrevocable trust covered the disposition of music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises and Brown's Beech Island estate in South Carolina.<ref name=jbwealth>[http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/01/06/0107metbrown.html James Brown's road to wealth was rocky: Financial turmoil part of "Godfather" legend.] ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref>

During the reading of Brown's will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the will. Hynie and James II were not mentioned in the will as parties who could inherit Brown's property.<ref name=jbwill/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6255039.stm James Brown's widow "not in will".] BBC News (UK). Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> Brown's will was signed ten months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust also did not mention Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust was established before, and had not been amended since, the birth of James II.<ref>Finn, N. (January 18, 2007). [http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=82616c16-71cd-4fed-8de9-9d0e7451473b&entry=index James Brown's estate wills more drama.] E!News. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref>

On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit against the personal representatives of Brown's estate. In their petition, Brown's children asked the court to remove the personal representatives of Brown's estate (including Brown's attorney and estate's trustee, Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets.<ref name=jbtrustees>[http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/01/26/james_brown_s_children_request_trustees_ James Brown's children request trustees be removed.] (January 26, 2007). Star Pulse. Retrieved January 28, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://images.bimedia.net/documents/jb_petition.pdf Emergency petition for termination of appointment and removal of personal representatives and for emergency order restraining all personal representatives.] In the matter of James Brown, a/k/a James Joseph Brown. Case/Estate No. 2007-ES02-0056 (S.C. Probate Ct., filed January 24, 2007). Retrieved January 28, 2007 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing).</ref> To challenge the validity of the will and irrevocable trust, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate on January 31, 2007. In her lawsuit against Brown's estate, Hynie asked the court to recognize her as Brown's widow, and she also asked the court to appoint a special administrator for the estate.<ref>[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/ent/brown13107pet.html Emergency petition for appointment of special administrator.] In re estate of James Brown a/k/a James Joseph Brown, deceased, Case No. 2007-CP-02-0122 (S.C. Cir. Ct., filed January 31, 2007). FindLaw. Retrieved March 21, 2007.</ref>

===Burial at temporary site===
After the public and private memorial services in late December 2006, James Brown's body remained in his casket for a time in a temperature-controlled room at his estate. Brown's casket was later moved to an undisclosed location, while his children and Tomi Rae Hynie became embroiled in disputes about Brown's final resting place and matters related to probating his will.<ref>[http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/20/people_late_great/main2495254.shtml Deal reached on James Brown's burial place: Judge appoints administrator to oversee "Godfather of Soul's" property and trust.] (February 20, 2007). CBS News: The Show Buzz. Retrieved March 10, 2007.</ref> More than ten weeks after Brown's death and the public and private memorial services, Brown's children and Hynie decided on a temporary burial site for James Brown. Brown was buried on March 10, 2007 in a crypt at the home of Deanna Brown Thomas, one of Brown's daughters who also held a private ceremony for the temporary burial.<ref name=jbTempBurial>Grossberg, J. (March 13, 2007). [http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=d84df93b-dad4-4dcf-8e94-4b373618a995James Brown laid to rest (finally).] E! Online. Retrieved April 14, 2007.</ref> The private ceremony for the temporary burial, officiated by [[Al Sharpton]], was attended by Brown's family and a host of friends.

According to Brown's family, Brown's body will remain buried at the temporary site while a public [[mausoleum]] is built for him and a decision has been made for Brown's final resting place.<ref name=jbTempBurial/><ref name=jbtempbury>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/10/james.brown.burial.ap/index.html James Brown laid to rest in temporary tomb.] (March 10, 2007). CNN Entertainment News. Retrieved March 10, 2007.</ref> Brown's family made plans to consult with the family of [[Elvis Presley]] for guidance about converting the estate into an attraction similar to [[Graceland]].<ref name=jbTempBurial/><ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/01/20/jamesbrown-body-moved.html Godfather of Soul's body moved from home.] CBC (Iraq). Retrieved January 21, 2007.</ref>

Dallas, Brown's long time attorney and one of the trustees for Brown's estate, did not attend the private service for the temporary burial. He expressed his disapproval and disappointment with the temporary burial arrangement with the comment "Mr. Brown's not deserving of anyone's backyard." According to Dallas, the trustees for Brown's estate "had made arrangements for Brown to be laid to rest at no cost at a 'very prominent memorial garden in Augusta.'"<ref>Goggins, K.A. (March 11, 2007). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031000979.html James Brown placed in daughter's crypt, for now.] ''The Washington Post'', p. D03. Retrieved March 14, 2007.</ref>

==Honors, awards, and dedications==
James Brown received a variety of awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. At one city, fans voted to honor Brown by naming a bridge after the entertainer. In 1993, the City Council of [[Steamboat Springs, Colorado]] conducted a poll of its residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the [[Yampa River]] on Shield Drive. The winning name with 7,717 votes was "James Brown SoulCenter of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and James Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event.<ref>Crowl, D. (June 29, 2002). [http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2002/jun/29/the_godfathers_bridge The godfather's bridge: James Brown snatched a piece of steamboat history nine years ago.] ''Steamboat Pilot & Today''. Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> Although a petition was started by a local group of ranchers to return the name of the bridge to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, the ranchers backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to [[Steamboat Springs, Colorado]] on July 4, 2002 for an outdoor music festival, performing with other bands such as [[The String Cheese Incident]].<ref name=steamboat>[http://www.steamboat.com/winter-int.aspx?CategoryId=240 The String Cheese Independence Incident returns to Steamboat: Earl Scruggs and Family and Friends, Yonder Mountain String Band, James Brown & Corey Harris round out music acts.] (June 26, 2002). Steamboat Ski Two, U.S.A. Retrieved January 29, 2007.</ref>

During his long career, James Brown received several prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983, Brown was inducted into the [[Georgia Music Hall of Fame]]. Brown was named as one of the first inductees into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. However, the members of his original vocal group, [[The Famous Flames]] ([[Bobby Byrd]], Johnny Terry, [[Bobby Bennett (The Famous Flames)|Bobby Bennett]], and [[Baby Lloyd Stallworth|Lloyd Stallworth]]) were not inducted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.futurerocklegends.com/artist.php?artist_id=The_Famous_Flames |title=The Famous Flames |publisher=Future Rock Legends |accessdate=2012-05-04}}</ref> However, on April 14, 2012 The Famous Flames were automatically and retroactively inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame alongside James Brown, without the need for nomination and voting, under the premise that they should have been inducted with him back in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-famous-flames/bio/ |title=The Famous Flames Biography &#124; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |accessdate=2012-05-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Redferns |url=http://www.cleveland.com/rockhall/index.ssf/2012/04/the_famous_flames_james_brown.html |title=The Famous Flames: James Brown was their leader, but they were R&B legends, too (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2012) |work=The Plain Dealer |accessdate=2012-05-04}}</ref> On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award|Lifetime Achievement Award]] at the 34th annual [[Grammy Awards]]. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards.<ref name=jbdedications/> A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997 to honor him with a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref name=jbdedications/>

On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee for the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On August 6, 2002, James Brown was honored as the first [[Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI]] Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards and six Pop Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233151 |title=BMI Celebrates Urban Music at 2002 Awards Ceremony|publisher=bmi.com|accessdate=September 27, 2010}}</ref> On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the [[UK Music Hall of Fame]], and he was one of several inductees who performed at the ceremony.<ref>[http://www.endemoluk.com/?q=node/285&tid=7&shownews=1 UK Music Hall of Fame 2006.] (March 11, 2006). Endemol UK Plc. Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of [[Kennedy Center Honors]] on December 7, 2003.<ref name=jbdedications/> In 2004, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine ranked James Brown as No. 7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.<ref>Rubin, R. (April 15, 2004). [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5940014/7_james_brown The Immortals: The first fifty&nbsp;– 7 James Brown.] ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' (issue 946). Retrieved January 10, 2007.</ref> In an article for ''Rolling Stone'', critic [[Robert Christgau]] cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era".<ref>Christgau, Robert. [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rs/brown-07.php The Genius: James Brown]. ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved June 17, 2010.</ref>

Brown was also honored in his hometown of [[Augusta, Georgia]] for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor.<ref name=jbdedications/> On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized [[bronze]] [[James Brown statue]] on Broad Street.<ref name=jbdedications>[http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/123006/spe_110576.shtml The James Brown review.] (December 30, 2006). ''The Augusta Chronicle''. Retrieved January 12, 2007.</ref> The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time.<ref>James Brown's legal troubles delay statue unveiling. (May 1, 2004). ''The Augusta Chronicle''. Retrieved January 14, 2007 from the Lexis-Nexis Academic database.</ref> In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received approval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterwards, Official renamed the city's civic center the [[James Brown Arena]], and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the [[namesake]] center on October 15, 2006.<ref name=jbdedications/>

On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of [[Paine College]], a [[historically black college]] in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown was scheduled originally to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.<ref>[http://www.wjbf.com/midatlantic/jbf/news_index.apx.-content-articles-JBF-2006-12-30-0001.html Remembering James Brown: Augusta memorial memorable.] WKBF-TV (Augusta, Georgia). Retrieved January 10, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_6831.shtml James Brown receives posthumous degree.] (January 2, 2007). ''Diverse: Issues In Higher Education''. Retrieved March 16, 2007.</ref>

During the 49th Annual [[Grammy Awards]] presentation held on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone by Danny Ray at the end of a [[montage sequence|montage]] in honor of notable people in the music industry who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, [[Christina Aguilera]] delivered an impassioned performance of one of Brown's hits, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while [[Chris Brown (American singer)|Chris Brown]] performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.<ref name=49grammys>Hasty, J. (February 12, 2007). [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1055083/grammy-performances-look-forward-and-back Grammy performances look forward and back.] ''Billboard''. Retrieved February 12, 2007.</ref>

==Tributes==
As a tribute to James Brown, [[the Rolling Stones]] covered the song, "[[I'll Go Crazy (James Brown song)|I'll Go Crazy]]" from Brown's ''[[Live at the Apollo (1963 album)#Track listing|Live at the Apollo]]'' album, during its 2007 European tour. On September 12, 2007, barely nine months after James Brown's death, [[Bobby Byrd]], the original leader and founder of The Famous Flames vocal group along with Brown, died of cancer at 73 years old.<ref>[http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/0822stones-CR.html Rolling Stones show they are still greatest rock band.] (August 22, 2007). ''The Arizona Republic''. Retrieved August 24, 2007.</ref> [[Jimmy Page]] has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."<ref>Ross Bennett. [http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2010/01/jimmy_page_record_10.html Jimmy Page: "The Records That Changed My Life!" #10]. ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''. Retrieved December 31, 2010.</ref>

On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in [[Covington, Kentucky|Covington]], Kentucky. The tribute, organized by [[Bootsy Collins]], featured appearances by [[Afrika Bambaataa]], [[Chuck D]] of [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]], The Soul Generals, [[Buckethead]], Freekbass, [[Triage]] and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of [[Cincinnati]] proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day.<ref>Tunis, W. (December 21, 2007). [http://www.kentucky.com/118/story/265108.html Feel good again: Show to pay tribute to the Godfather of Soul, a year after his death.] ''[[Lexington Herald-Leader]]''. Retrieved December 23, 2005.</ref>

==Discography==
{{For|an extended list of albums, compilations and charting singles|James Brown discography}}

;Notable albums
Four of James Brown's albums appeared on the ''[[Rolling Stone Magazine|Rolling Stone Magazine's]]'' 2003 list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 greatest albums of all time]]:<ref name=rs500greatalbums>[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/print The RS 500 greatest albums of all time.] (November 2003). ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved January 27, 2007.</ref>
* ''[[Live at the Apollo (1963 album)|Live at the Apollo]]'' (1963) (#25)
* ''[[In the Jungle Groove]]'' (1986) (#330)
* ''[[Star Time]]'' (1991) (#79)
* ''[[20 All-Time Greatest Hits!]]'' (1991) (#414)

In addition, Brown's 1970 double album ''[[Sex Machine (album)|Sex Machine]]'' was ranked 96th in a 2005 survey held by British television station [[Channel 4]] to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/albums/results.html The 100 greatest albums: Results.] Channel 4 (UK). Retrieved January 30, 2007.</ref> Other notable albums, originally released as double [[Gramophone record|LP records]], feature extensive playing by [[The J.B.'s]] and served as prolific sources of [[sampling (music)|samples]] for later musical artists, including:
* ''[[Get On the Good Foot (album)|Get On the Good Foot]]'' (1972)
* ''[[The Payback (album)|The Payback]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Hell (James Brown album)|Hell]]'' (1974)

The 1968 ''[[Live at the Apollo, Vol. II]]'' double LP album was notably influential on musicians at the time of its release. This classic album remains an example of Brown's energetic live performances and audience interaction, as well as providing a means of documenting the metamorphosis of his music from the R&B and soul styles into hard funk.

;Notable singles
Until the early 1970s, Brown was famous mostly for his road show and singles, rather than his albums (with his live LPs as a major exception). Six of his hit singles appeared on the ''Rolling Stone Magazine's'' 2004 list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|the 500 greatest songs of all time]]:<ref name=rs500greatsongs>[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs The RS 500 greatest songs of all time.] (November 2004). ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved January 27, 2007.</ref>
* "[[Papa's Got a Brand New Bag]]" (1965) (#72)
* "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]" (1965) (#78)
* "[[It's a Man's Man's Man's World]]" (1966) (#123)
* "[[Please, Please, Please]]" (1956) (#142)
* "[[Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]" (1968) (#305)
* "[[Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine]]" (1970) (#326)

;Complete singles reissue
In 2006, [[Hip-O Select Records]] began a multi-volume [[reissue]] of James Brown's complete singles (both [[A-side and B-side|A-sides and B-sides]]) on CD. Eleven volumes have been released, covering the periods 1956–60, 1960–63, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–69, 1969–70, 1970–72, 1972–73, 1973–75, 1975–79, and 1979–81.

==Filmography==
* ''[[The T.A.M.I. Show]]'' (1964) (concert film)
* ''[[Ski Party]]'' (1965)
* ''[[James Brown: Man to Man]]'' (1968) (concert film)
* ''[[The Phynx]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Black Caesar (film)|Black Caesar]]'' (1973) (soundtrack only)
* ''Slaughter's Big Ripoff'' (1974) (soundtrack only)
* ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Doctor Detroit]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Rocky IV]]'' (1985)
* ''[[James Brown: Live in East Berlin]]'' (1989)
* ''[[When We Were Kings]]'' (1996) (documentary)
* ''Soulmates'' (1997)
* ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'' (1998)
* portrayed by Carlton Smith in ''[[Liberty Heights]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Holy Man]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Undercover Brother]]'' (2002)
* ''[[The Tuxedo]]'' (2002)
* ''[[The Hire: Beat The Devil]]'' (2002) (short film)
* ''Paper Chasers'' (2003) (documentary)
* ''<<link:0>>'' (2003) (documentary)
* ''[[Sid Bernstein Presents|Sid Bernstein Presents...]]'' (2005) (documentary)
* ''[[Glastonbury (film)|Glastonbury]]'' (2006) (documentary)
* ''Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown'' (2007) (documentary; release pending)
* ''[[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]]'' (2008) (concert film)
* ''I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s'', three-DVD set featuring ''[[Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968]]'', ''[[Live at the Apollo '68]]'', and the documentary ''The Night James Brown Saved Boston''
* ''[[Soul Power (film)|Soul Power]]'' (2009) (documentary)

[[Mick Jagger]] and [[Brian Grazer]] are producing a documentary film on Brown in 2013. The film has been in the planning stages for many years, but was revived when Jagger read the script by [[Jez Butterworth|Jez]] and John-Henry Butterworth.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Browne|first=David|title=James Brown Estate Revs Up With Biopic|journal=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 31, 2013|issue=1175|page=22}}</ref>

==In other media==
;Games
* In the video game ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the first [[Boss (video gaming)|boss character]] of the Forge of Souls level is Brohnjahm, "the Godfather of Souls". His quotes during the fight are musical references, and he has a chance of dropping an item called "Papa's Brand New Bag".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wowhead.com/npc=36497/bronjahm |title=Bronjahm – NPC – World of Warcraft |publisher=Wowhead.com |accessdate=July 6, 2011}}</ref>
* In ''[[The Godfather 2]]'' video game, Brown's "[[It's a Man's Man's Man's World]]" plays behind the end credits.
* A different version of "[[I Got You (I Feel Good)]]", recorded in 1974, is playable in the rhythm video game ''[[Rock Band 3]]''. In addition, "[[Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine]] (Pt. 1)" is available for download across the series, while "[[Super Bad (song)|Super Bad]] (Pts. 1 & 2)" was released later, only for the third game.
* In the ''Worms Armaggedon'' and ''[[Worms World Party]]'' video games, many of James Brown's song titles are used in the "Soul Man" custom voice setting like "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" or "Like a Sex Machine", clear references to James Brown.

;Television
* As himself (voice) in the 1993 ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Bart's Inner Child]]"

;Music
* The songs "[[James Brown Is Dead]]" and "James Brown Is Still Alive" are all about reports on the iconic musician James Brown, and were released in 1991. "James Brown Is Dead", in actuality, is false news about James Brown's death.

==See also==
{{Wikipedia books|James Brown}}
{{-}}

==Further reading==
* Brown, James, and Bruce Tucker (1986). ''James Brown: The Godfather of Soul''. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
* George, Nelson, and Alan Leeds, editors (2008). ''The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing about the Godfather of Soul''. New York: Plume.
* Smith, RJ (2011). ''The One: The Life and Music of James Brown''. New York: Gotham Books.
* Wesley, Fred (2002). ''Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman''. Durham: Duke University Press.

==References==
; Footnotes
{{Reflist|30em}}

; Other references
{{refbegin|2}}
* Sussman, M. (producer). (December 25, 2006). [http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/arts/20061225_BROWN_AUDIOSS/blocker.html Arts: Soul classics by James Brown] (multimedia presentation). ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
* [http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2006/12/25/obituaries/20061225_BROWN_SLIDESHOW_1.html Slide show: James Brown through the years.] (December 25, 2006). ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
* {{cite journal|title=Singer James Brown In Poor Health|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Hr4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=James+Brown+diabetes&source=bl&ots=Q1KBRHDhym&sig=gSTRWIZ13mlzfjUvuUvv_6Z5uZM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=E8kGUcHKJMrJyAG3sIHIDQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=James%20Brown%20diabetes&f=false|date=January 6, 2003|ref={{harvid|Jet|2003}}}}
* Lethem, J. (June 12, 2006). [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10533775/being_james_brown Being James Brown.] ''[[Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone Magazine]]''. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
* [http://podcast.rbn.com/rstone/rstone/download/podcast/jonathanlethem.mp3 ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' audio interview with Jonathan Lethem about James Brown and his music.] ''Rolling Stone Magazine''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
* {{cite book | last = Rhodes | first = Don | title = Say It Loud!: My Memories of James Brown, Soul Brother | publisher = Globe Pequot | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1-59921-674-4 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=wDAJ89pxE_4C&pg=PA8&dq=James+Brown%27s+mother&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wa94UY3iK4KC9gSn9YDIBg&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=James%20Brown%27s%20mother&f=false | ref = harv}}
* {{cite book | last = Sullivan | first = James | title = The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America | publisher = Gotham Books | year = 2008 | location = New York | isbn = 978-1-59240-390-5 | url= http://www.amazon.com/Hardest-Working-Man-James-America/dp/1592403905/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qisbn=1224096080&sr=1-2}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category|James Brown}}
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=2209675&GRid=17147643& James Brown at Find-a-Grave]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_2_111/ai_n17134370/ Celebrities share memories of James Brown]
* [http://www.soulevolution.co.uk/Legendoftheweek.html Profile of James Brown at Soul Evolution]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1061658.ece ''The Times'' Obituary for James Brown]
* {{IMDb name|id=0113768|name=James Brown}}
* {{MusicBrainz artist|id=20ff3303-4fe2-4a47-a1b6-291e26aa3438|name=James Brown}}
* {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p3779}}
* {{dmoz|Arts/Music/Styles/R/Rhythm_and_Blues/Funk/Bands_and_Artists/Brown,_James/}}
* [http://chronicle.augusta.com/topics/people/james-brown James Brown, 1928–2006.] News and multimedia archive from [[The Augusta Chronicle]]
* [http://www.downbeat.com/jamesbrown.asp James Brown's Musicians Reflect On His Legacy] – article from ''[[Down Beat|Down Beat Magazine]]''
* [http://www.funky-stuff.com/jamesbrown/BioPoliticMain.htm Biography: James Brown and the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s] (biography at Funky-Stuff.com).
* [http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo11/jamesbrown.htm James Brown biography and concert review in cosmopolis.ch]
* [http://rbmaradio.com/ARCHIVE.153.0.php?extID=0&showID=425 RBMA Radio On Demand – Across 135th Street – Volume 7 – Tribute to James Brown – Chairman Mao (RBMA, Egotrip)]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2006/12/29/james_brown_in_his_own_words 1980 Interview with James Brown and the Rev. Al Sharpton] by [[Jon Alpert]] on [[Democracy Now!]]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15316566 James Brown concert and interviews on NPR Music]
* [http://www.newfunkradio.com James Brown radiostream]
* [http://funeral.galileo.usg.edu/funeral/view?docId=funeral/brown20061230-001.xml James Brown funeral program] Digital Library of Georgia
* [http://supersoulsound.com/jbsuperfan/ The James Brown SuperFan Club]

{{Persondata
|NAME = Brown, James Joseph, Jr.
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Godfather of Soul
|SHORT DESCRIPTION = Singer, songwriter, record producer, dope dealer
|DATE OF BIRTH = May 3, 1933
|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Barnwell, South Carolina]], United States
|DATE OF DEATH = December 25, 2006
|PLACE OF DEATH = [[Atlanta]], Georgia, United States
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James}}
[[Category:James Brown| ]]
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