Aerosmith Mention - When James Brown was King
Political Affairs Magazine, NY
December 26, 2006
A friend of mine recently told me, "Leave it to James to die on Christmas." That pretty much sums up the career of James Joseph Brown Jr. He came in with a bang, and went out in flying colors. A black Christmas if I ever saw one. Most people just limit Brown to just a Soul Music icon, little attention is made of the fact that he began his professional career back in '53 during the period when Chuck Berry, and Little Richard were still going strong, making him a rock music forerunner. He recorded his breakthrough hit "Please, Please," three years later in '56.
Back in the '70's I bought an Aerosmith bootleg LP at "Play it Again Sam's." Not unusual for me to do that back then, especially since that store housed tons of bootleg rock albums, and rare collectibles. Though a bit raw sounding, this particular recording was of pretty good quality for an illegally recorded live performance. This captured the band back during their best period, their early years. The years when two of their first five albums were among rock music's best, "Get Your Wings," and "Rocks." The bootleg had a rendition of one of Brown's old songs; "Popcorn."
Front-man Steven Tyler tried his best to imitate Brown's vocal histrionics, but to little avail. Brown simply can't be duplicated. When the song was finished Tyler waited for his small barroom audience to finish their applause, and then he said something along the lines of: "that was dedicated to the King, we know who the King is, you know who the King is." Not a bad tribute for a band of white boys from Boston, but that sums up the influence of James Brown, the hardest working man in show business. He simply was and is... the King.
Brown's kingdom was within the various black communities that he frequently visited. During the early '60's every time his tour stopped in Buffalo, I recall his convoy of limousines driving down Eagle St. and Clinton Ave., with him and his entourage waving to his fans, his kids, those of us who really mattered to him.
...Understand that by 1968 regard for Brown was so high among Blacks of all ages, that even when my big Sis bought the record, my parents (old-school medieval-southern who didn't care for Motown, Stax, or the British Invasion) didn't object. Brown caught a lot of backlash from the black community for his endorsement of Richard Nixon for President, but little attention was paid to his inspirational business initiatives. Brown would eventually own his own record label, he also owned several radio stations. Even hip-hop started out as a continuation of Brown's lyrical raps, he was always on the one. How ironic that we lose him on Christmas. "Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto." Job well done my brother.
--Chris Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Criterion
Contact him at pointblankdta@yahoo.com
December 26, 2006
A friend of mine recently told me, "Leave it to James to die on Christmas." That pretty much sums up the career of James Joseph Brown Jr. He came in with a bang, and went out in flying colors. A black Christmas if I ever saw one. Most people just limit Brown to just a Soul Music icon, little attention is made of the fact that he began his professional career back in '53 during the period when Chuck Berry, and Little Richard were still going strong, making him a rock music forerunner. He recorded his breakthrough hit "Please, Please," three years later in '56.
Back in the '70's I bought an Aerosmith bootleg LP at "Play it Again Sam's." Not unusual for me to do that back then, especially since that store housed tons of bootleg rock albums, and rare collectibles. Though a bit raw sounding, this particular recording was of pretty good quality for an illegally recorded live performance. This captured the band back during their best period, their early years. The years when two of their first five albums were among rock music's best, "Get Your Wings," and "Rocks." The bootleg had a rendition of one of Brown's old songs; "Popcorn."
Front-man Steven Tyler tried his best to imitate Brown's vocal histrionics, but to little avail. Brown simply can't be duplicated. When the song was finished Tyler waited for his small barroom audience to finish their applause, and then he said something along the lines of: "that was dedicated to the King, we know who the King is, you know who the King is." Not a bad tribute for a band of white boys from Boston, but that sums up the influence of James Brown, the hardest working man in show business. He simply was and is... the King.
Brown's kingdom was within the various black communities that he frequently visited. During the early '60's every time his tour stopped in Buffalo, I recall his convoy of limousines driving down Eagle St. and Clinton Ave., with him and his entourage waving to his fans, his kids, those of us who really mattered to him.
...Understand that by 1968 regard for Brown was so high among Blacks of all ages, that even when my big Sis bought the record, my parents (old-school medieval-southern who didn't care for Motown, Stax, or the British Invasion) didn't object. Brown caught a lot of backlash from the black community for his endorsement of Richard Nixon for President, but little attention was paid to his inspirational business initiatives. Brown would eventually own his own record label, he also owned several radio stations. Even hip-hop started out as a continuation of Brown's lyrical raps, he was always on the one. How ironic that we lose him on Christmas. "Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto." Job well done my brother.
--Chris Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Criterion
Contact him at pointblankdta@yahoo.com
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