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James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century popular music. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style.

As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer, Brown was a pivotal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, disco, dance and electronic music, reggae and hip hop.[5] Brown's music also left its mark on the rhythms of African popular music, such as afrobeat, jùjú and mbalax, and provided a template for go-go music.

Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame during the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to score hits in every decade through to the 1980s. In addition to his acclaim in music, Brown was a presence in American political affairs during the 1960s and 1970s, noted especially for his activism on behalf of fellow African Americans and the poor. During the early 1980s, Brown's music helped to shape the rhythms of early hip hop music, with many groups looping or sampling his funk grooves and turning them into what became hip hop classics and the foundations of this music genre.

Brown was recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please, The Boss, and the best-known, the Godfather of Soul.

In 1955, Brown and Bobby Byrd's sister Sarah performed in a group called "The Gospel Starlighters." Eventually, Brown joined Bobby Byrd's vocal group, the Avons, and Byrd turned the group's sound towards secular rhythm and blues. After the group's name was changed to The Flames, Brown and Byrd's group toured the Southern "chitlin' circuit," and the group eventually signed a deal with the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, a sister label of King Records.

The group's first recording was the single "Please, Please, Please" (1956). The single was a #5 R&B hit, selling over a million copies. Nine subsequent singles released by The Flames failed to live up to the success of their debut, and group was in danger of being dropped by King Records until the group returned to the charts in 1958 with the #1 R&B hit "Try Me." This hit record was the best-selling R&B single of the year, becoming the first of 17 chart-topping R&B singles by Brown over the next two decades.[19] By the time "Try Me" was released on record, the group's billing was changed to James Brown and The Famous Flames. "The Famous Flames" was a vocal group, rather than a backing band contrary to popular belief.

Cover of the landmark Live at the Apollo LP from 1963 Brown's early recordings were fairly straightforward gospel-inspired R&B compositions, heavily influenced by the work of contemporary musicians such as Ray Charles and Little Richard. Richard's relations with Brown were particularly significant in Brown's development as a musician and showman. Brown once called Richard his idol, and credited Richard's saxophone-studded mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, with being the first group to put the funk in the rock and roll beat.[20] When Richard bolted from pop music in 1957 to become a preacher, Brown filled out Richard's remaining tour dates in his place. Several former members of Little Richard's backup band joined Brown's group as a consequence of Richard's exit from the pop music scene.

In 1959, Brown and The Famous Flames moved from Federal Records to King Records. Brown began to have recurring conflicts with King Records president Syd Nathan over repertoire and other matters. In one notable instance, Brown recorded the 1960 Top Ten R&B hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, under the pseudonym Nat Kendrick & The Swans (Kendrick was Brown's drummer at that time). Brown recorded the record under a pseudonym for the Dade Records label because Nathan refused to allow him to record it for King Records.

Brown scored on the charts in the early 1960s with recordings such as his 1962 cover of "Night Train." While Brown's early singles were major hits across the southern United States and then regular R&B Top Ten hits, he and the Famous Flames were not successful nationally until his self-financed live show was captured on the 1963 LP Live at the Apollo. Brown financed the recording of the album himself, and it was released on King Records over the objections of label owner Syd Nathan, who saw no commercial potential in a live album containing no new songs. Defying Nathan's expectations, the album stayed on the pop charts for fourteen months, peaking at #2.[22] In addition, Brown recorded a hit version of the ballad "Prisoner of Love" in 1963 and founded (under King auspices) the fledgling Try Me Records, Brown's first attempt at running a record label.

Brown followed the success of Live at the Apollo with a string of singles that, along with the work of Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, essentially defined the foundation of funk music. Driven by the success of Live at the Apollo and the failure of King Records to expand record promotion beyond the "black" market, James Brown and Bobby Byrd formed a production company, Fair Deal, to promote sales of Brown's record releases to white audiences. In this arrangement, Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records, was used as a vehicle to distribute Brown's music. Smash released his 1964 hit "Out of Sight," which reached #24 on the pop charts and pointed the way to his later funk hits.[23] Its release also triggered a legal battle between Smash and King that resulted in a one year ban on the release of Brown's vocal recordings.

01. Think
02. Good Good Lovin'
03. Wonder When You're Coming Home
04. I'll Go Crazy
05. This Old Heart
06. I Know It's True
07. Bewildered
08. I'll Never, Never Let You Go
09. You've Got the Power
10. If You Want Me
11. Baby, You're Right
12. So Long