Goodbye, Soul Brother James Brown

Edition #89 — January 2007

My first rock concert was Bachmann Turner Overdrive at Toronto's CNE Grandstand in 1975. In the ensuing years I saw almost every major rock band for that period in musical history. Even the crappy ones.

My personal bragging rights list includes having seen: Aerosmith(4X), Rush(5X), Kiss(2X), Queen, Van Halen (1982 & 1986), Black Sabbath (2X), Prince (3X) Motley Crue, Deep Purple, Nazareth (2X), Ted Nugent, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Humble Pie, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Guess Who, Triumph, and yes, even Loverboy and The Bay City Rollers. Oh, and Goddo, my favorite local Toronto band (10X). I've seen a lot of lights, weed and long hair. It's one reason why today's rock music bores me. But there was one more show I should mention.

It was a chilly evening in June, 1992, as my bassist friend, Rob and I sat on the lawn at the old Ontario Place Forum here in Toronto, waiting for the band to start. Before the night was over I had decided that James Brown was the best concert performer I'd ever seen. His performance left me in such an elevated state of emotion that everything before and since has paled in comparison. He delivered on the promise that music can be so much more than catchy songs and narcissistic posturing.

Three days before dying at age 73, James Brown was still performing. And even though he is now dead, his dedication as a performer leads me to believe that he may still keep his engagement this Friday and Saturday at Casino Rama, here in Ontario, Canada. He won't be there, obviously, but whoever takes his place won't deliver near as exciting, envigorating and as spiritually uplifting a show as James Brown delivered here on Earth, and now in another more enlightened venue.

And there is the irony. For everyone knows that the Godfather of Soul was also a jailbird who had numerous arrests and convictions behind him. He also had a troubled past with drug use, inluding PCP, and speeding down highways toting a shotgun while evading police. For all the peace, love and unity that James Brown's music professed, his personal issues made him look more like a hood than a holy man.

And yet, he was the only musician who had me feeling that I was walking on air after his show (even without the aid of non-pharmaceuticals!). Seeing and experiencing James Brown was transcendental. Rob, an old friend and former bassist in my RDI band, felt exactly as I did and was stomping and clapping along like everyone else there. No one in that crowd at the Ontario Place Forum was sitting down; they were dancing non-stop and I know that they too were moved by what was an earth-shattering show.

If we throw the baby out with the bath water when judging others, we may also lose the gifts they have to offer. Personality is only one facet of a person's being. There have been great painters, poets and musicians with tremendous gifts and who brought others much joy, yet their personal lives were a mess. I don't think that James Brown was nearly as bad as the news media may have made him out to be. As a musician, I know how difficult it is to keep a band together even in good times. James Brown had a huge band, some of whom were grandfathers and obviously old and trusted friends. I'm certain that they knew the man better than anyone around and yet there they were, sharing the stage with him night after night. That says something.

When I saw him, James had a nineteen piece band with him. Yes, I counted. And man, were they tight. I didn't hear one bad note and everything that was played fit like a glove into a seamless, high energy show.

And the songs? Oddly enough, I only knew three of them: Living In America, Doctor Detroit (yes, from the movie) and Mother Popcorn, which Aerosmith covered in their bar band days. But somehow every song was like a long-awaited huge hit when he was performing it. Talk about bass and drums! It's no wonder why hip hop artists went first to James Brown's music to build their sample libraries. But I saw the real thing and it was divine.

And that's how I want to remember it. From the depths of my soul, thank you, James Brown. I feel good.


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