"I should not be James at all. I also should not be Brown at all. I wasn't supposed to be alive at all". With these words begins the autobiography of James Brown. Today, the U.S. musician, who was born 75 years ago, is considered the "King of Soul". Even two years after his death, the enthusiasm Unbroken.
The Augusta Museum in Georgia plans to celebrate the birthday on 3. May a festival, and quite a few fans will make a pilgrimage to the tombstone or the legendary Apollo Theater in New York, where his career began.James Joe Brown Jr. was born in 1933 in Barnwell in the US state of South Carolina. He grew up in poor circumstances, stole and cheated, until he finally ended up in prison. Music helped him survive: "Gospel is the epitome of contentment," he later recalled. His first band was called "Flames," and "Please, Please, Please" became his first million-selling hit in 1957.From then on, the star of the African-American musician rose unstoppable.In the mid-60s, James Brown brought in teenage bassist William "Bootsy" Collins. This shaped the new sound of the band: the music became duller and more rhythmic, a beat of its own emerged: "The One" made the masses dance and shaped generations of musicians.
"Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." Glitter suits and go-go girls made James Brown the perfect showman, without him forgetting his roots: With the hit "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," he became a cultural idol of the black civil rights movement. After the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King in 1968, live broadcasts of the concerts on television helped prevent riots in some American cities.James Brown's musical style changed in the 1970s. From soul to funk. Now Brown squeezed into tight bell-bottoms and made the girls scream with his "Sex Machine" or donned a purple robe to play a freaky preacher in the cult movie "The Blues Brothers". Along the way, he founded a recording studio, a publishing house and his own beer brand.
Michael Jackson: He taught me everything For musicians of all stripes, Brown was both an inspiration and a source of hostility. "He taught me everything" Michael Jackson once declared, and in fact the latter's "Moonwalk" dance was only a sad imitation of James Brown's "Night Train Dance".Brown repeatedly ran afoul of the law, among other things for drug trafficking. He went on trial for mistreating his wife. In 1986 he succeeded in making a comeback with "Living In America. He has long been courted in newspapers and television shows as the "Godfather of Soul" or "Dr. Feelgood. Feelgood". In 1992, Brown received the Grammy for his life's work, and he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.James Brown died of heart failure in Atlanta on Christmas 2006.After his death, fans made a pilgrimage to New York's Apollo Theater.There lay the musician laid out in a blue silk suit and silver shoes, behind him a floral arrangement with the term "Godfather" written on it. Hundreds of thousands took leave of him. James Brown left behind six children from four marriages – and his music.