Nickname: The Godfather of Soul
Genre: R&B / Funk / Soul / Rock
Most Memorable Recording: "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
Followers: J.J. Grey, Prakash John, The Aggrolites, Max Mutzke, Toni Tornado, Diplomatics, Quantic Soul Orchestra, The Shreep, Westbound Train, Kokolo, Carleen & the Groovers, Ferroblues, Earthtone III, Cee Knowledge, Roosevelt Nettles, Breakestra, Aristocrats, Dirty Walt & The Columbus Sanitation, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Swampadelica, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Moon Boot Lover, African Music Machine, The Mighty Imperials, The BellRays, Slum Village, The Neptunes, The Wha?, Kool DJ Herc, T-Mix, Kleeer, Little Royal, Ron Baker, Galactic, Peter Stone Brown, Trenchmouth, James Hunter, Guaco, The Delta 72, The Make-Up, Ectomorph, Jackie Shane, The Undertakers, Suga Free, T.J. Kirk, Karl Denson, Tim Duffy, Bobby Sichran, Earl Young, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart, Vernon Reid, Organized Noize, Vince Montana, Anthony Kiedis, Charlie Hunter, Norman Harris, Corey Glover, De La Soul, Terence Trent D'Arby, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Steve Conn, George Clinton, Eric B. & Rakim, Afrika Bambaataa, Freekbass, Wayne Kramer, Jimmy Castor, Baby Huey, Mellow Fellows, Acosta/Russell, Xavier, Hamilton Bohannon, Charles Wright, Khalèd, Walter "Junie" Morrison, Domenic Troiano, Mandala, Eddie Hazel, The Fatback Band, Dyke & the Blazers, Con Funk Shun, Brick, Archie Bell, ESG, Full Force, The Brand New Heavies, Pleasure, Defunkt, Jan Hammer, Richie Beirach, The Who, Talking Heads, Slave, Doug Sahm, Mitch Ryder, Prince, Parliament, The Ohio Players, Mother's Finest, Maze, Living Colour, L.T.D., Kool & the Gang, Rick James, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, The Isley Brothers, The Gap Band, Funkadelic, The Fantastic Four, Electric Flag, Earth, Wind & Fire, Morris Day, Joe Cocker, James Carr, Big Audio Dynamite, Aerosmith, Junior Wells, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Public Enemy, Paris, Kool Moe Dee, Kid 'N Play, Jungle Brothers, MC Hammer, EPMD, Digital Underground, Def Jef, Beastie Boys, Rob Base
"Soul Brother Number One," "the Godfather of Soul," "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other African-American musicians were so influential over the course of popular music. And no other musician, pop or otherwise, put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show: Brown's performances were marvels of athletic stamina and split-second timing.
Through the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats, Brown was a crucial midwife in not just one, but two revolutions in black American music. He was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul and he was, most would agree, the figure most responsible for turning soul music into the funk of the late '60s and early '70s. After the mid-'70s, he did little more than tread water artistically; his financial and drug problems eventually got him a controversial prison sentence. Yet in a sense, his music is now more influential than ever, as his voice and rhythms have been sampled on innumerable hip-hop recordings, and critics have belatedly hailed his innovations as among the most important in all of rock or soul.
