MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01507_25.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.8 KB | 253 lines

@
Born in 1928 at
the end of the
Depression years,
James Brown
grew up in
poverty in
Augusta, Georgia.
After a spell in
jail  he emerged
onto the music
scene in the late
Fifties. His first
single Please,
Please, Please, a
fusion of gospel
and rhythm-and-
blues music, went
on to sell over a
million copies
#
Brown's dancing has inspired generations of other singers, and is
central to the  whole performance. The sexually-charged routines of
Prince, the twist-and-jerk of Michael Jackson, as well as the
tortured writhings of Madonna, all owe something to Brown's lead
#
Brown
consolidated his
reputation as
"Soul Brother
No.1" with a
string of massive
hits. He redefined
dance music with
his distinctive
funky style,and
was soon out-
selling every
other black artist
#
The essence of
James Brown
always came
through most
strongly in his
concerts.
Employing
talented young
musicians such as
Pee Wee Ellis
(sax), Maceo
Parker (drums)
and later Bootsy
Collins (bass),
Brown's act
provided a launch
pad for many
distinguished solo
careers
@
"The Hardest
Working Man in
Show Business"
was another of
Brown's self-
conferred titles,
and remained
appropriate even
30 years after his
debut. He became
 a little heavier
on his feet, but
he was no less
spectacular
#
Brown had a right
to call himself
the "Godfather
of Soul". His
pioneering
funk style
reverberates
through nearly all
present forms of
dance music
#
After stardom
in the Sixties,
Brown's stage
shows became
increasingly
lavish and the
element of
musical
innovation somehow
diminished. Brown
projected a
super-ego stage
persona which
shifted the focus
from the music
to the man
#
Brown
maintained his
high gloss big
funk sound
despite the
popularity of
disco but by the
mid-Seventies
sales were
slowing. His 1986
hit Living in
America
catapulted him
back into the
charts and a new
generation of fans
applauded the
explosive "Mr
Dynamite"
#
Brown has had
his ups and
downs. His career
suffered when he
was jailed for
firearms and
narcotics offences
(this after he had
fronted an anti
drugs campaign),
but he has never
lost the charisma
and the sheer
showmanship
which made
him No.1 black
entertainer of
all time


@
The Beatles split
was blamed by
many on Yoko
Ono. John doted
on her, and Paul
was deeply
distrustful of her,
But the two
songwriters'
paths had already
diverged, and the
worst that can be
said of Yoko is
that she hastened
the group's
demise
#
The once happy
and fruitful
Beatles
partnership slid
after the break-
up into personal
sniping and legal
bickering. Lennon
released a very
poor song, How
Do You Sleep,
which was a
bitter and vicious
attack on Paul
#
After the Beatles
fell apart the
members moved
on to other
projects. Lennon
moved to New
York, Ringo Starr
got interested in
film, Harrison
made some
respectable
albums in Britain
, and McCartney,
after a period of
peace and quiet,
re-emerged with
what he called a
working skiffle
band - Wings
#
John Lennon was
killed outside his
home in New
York. He had
done little in the
previous five
years, but had
just re-emerged
with a new
album. His death
put paid to the
perennial
rumours that the
Beatles were
about to get back
together
#
If prophetic
photographs are
anything to go by,
it seems Lennon
knew he would
be the first Beatle
to die. Sales in
Beatles records
naturally
rocketed after his
death, and with
his corpus of
work now
complete, the
appraisal of his
legacy, with the
Beatles and
without them,
could begin
#
Paul McCartney's
solo output has
remained
impressive, but
as with Lennon,
the quality
varied. Though
both men strived
to create a
separate musical
identity for
themselves after
the Beatles,
neither could
quite ever escape
the shadow of
their youthful
moptopped selves