68-years-young James Brown keeps energy high

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

James Brown 10:45 p.m. Monday Doors open at 9 p.m. Coral Ballroom, Hilton Hawaiian Village $85-$150 949-4321

Fortunately, Brown's amazing collection of recorded work and memories of his inspired stage presence have always been there to preserve the integrity of his legend.

Along with a sorely under-recognized klatch of talented sidemen, Brown is the architect of an innovative catalog of music that continues to inspire musicians across a multitude of genres, defying simple admiration in the vacuum of a time capsule. He is also, at 68, still an athletic and energetic live performer, making up with a continued affection for live performing what age has taken away from him in gravity-defying spins, splits and on-stage workouts.

With Brown in town for a pricey New Year's Eve concert at the Hilton Hawaiian Village — his first concert here in 16 years — we thought it was a good time to review a career that still makes us want to break out in a cold sweat.

VITALS

• Age: 68
• Birthdate: May 3, 1933 (though some sources report 1928)
• Birthplace: Barnswell, S.C., but raised in Augusta, Ga.
• Zodiac sign: Sun in Taurus. Moon in Leo.
• Parents: Joe Brown, collected sap from trees and sold it to turpentine manufacturers; Susie (Behlings) Brown, left when Brown was 4 years old.
• Birth name: James Joe Brown Jr.
• Nicknames: The Godfather of Soul, Soul Brother Number One, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Mr. Dynamite, The Original Disco Man, The Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk.

CHILDHOOD

• Born into poverty, as a child Brown picked cotton, shined shoes and danced for spare change at a nearby camp for soldiers to entice them into visiting his Aunt Honey's brothel, where he also lived from age 6.
• Brown dropped out of school after the seventh grade, having already formed his first band, the Cremona Trio, and teaching himself drums, piano, guitar and singing.
• After release from reform school, briefly tried his hand at semipro boxing and baseball.

MARRIED LIFE AND CHILDREN

• 1952-1969, Velma Warren. Three sons: Teddy (who died in an auto accident in 1973), Daryl and Yamma.
• 1969-1978, Deidre Jenkins. Two daughters: Deanna, Venisha.
• 1984-1994, Adrienne Rodriguez. Died in 1996 of complications following cosmetic surgery.
• On June 11, 2001, James Joseph Brown II was born to Brown and companion Tomi Rae Hynie.

BOYS IN THE BAND

• First professional musical group was the Gospel Starlighters (later The Avons), led by longtime friend and sideman Bobby Byrd, who Brown joined in 1953.
• Switching to R&B in 1955, Brown led the renamed Famous Flames and then the James Brown Revue through memberships that included saxophonists Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis, guitarist Jimmy Nolen and drummer Clyde Stubblefield. The group was signed to King/Federal records that same year.
• By 1969, most of the original Flames walked out on Brown, who subsequently replaced them with the heavier funk backing of The JBs. A pre-Parliament/Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins became part of The JBs lineup. In the 1970s, most of original Flames returned as JBs.

ON STAGE

• Brown earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man In Show Business" after performing 350 nights a year early in his career.
• Brown's famous "Please Please Please" stage routine of having band members drape him with a cape as he staggered, emotionally drained, off stage, followed by the singer doffing it to wail a final chorus, was taken in the mid-1960s from a similar routine by flamboyant wrestler Gorgeous George.
• As bandleader, Brown was a rigid disciplinarian, issuing fines to himself and others for lateness, drunkenness, wrinkled uniforms and messing up dance moves.

ESSENTIAL JAMES BROWN

• Singles

  "Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Proud" (1968, No. 1 R&B, No. 10 Pop), "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (1965, No. 1 R&B, No. 3 Pop), "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine)" (1970, No. 2 R&B, No. 15 Pop), "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (1965, No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop), "Please Please Please" (1956, No. 6 R&B), "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" (1966, No. 1 R&B, No. 8 Pop)

• Albums

  "Live At The Apollo, Vol. 1" (1963), "Cold Sweat" (1967), "Love Power Peace: Live At The Olympia" (1971), "Sex Machine" (1970), "Star Time" (1991)

ON THE CHARTS

• Brown has charted 94 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 114 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. He has charted more singles on the R&B chart than any other artist, and is second to Elvis Presley in charted Hot 100 pop hits.
• In 1958, "Try Me" becomes Brown's first of 17 No. 1 R&B singles. Only Stevie Wonder and Louis Jordan have had more.
• In 1963, "I Got You (I Feel Good)" hits No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Brown's highest charting pop hit. In second place? "Living In America," No. 4 in 1986, and Brown's last Hot 100 entry to date.

SAMPLE THIS!

• Brown is one of the most heavily sampled artists in music history, with 12 of Brown's recordings accounting for more than 650 individual samples.
• Brown's most sampled recording, by far, is "Funky Drummer" (1970, No. 20 R&B, No.51 Pop). Its drum line (the creation of Stubblefield) has been used on more than 150 songs by a diverse list of musicians that includes the Beastie Boys, De La Soul and Enigma.

AWARDS

• Brown was among the first group of musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
• Grammy Awards for Best R&B Recording, 1965, for "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"; Best Male R&B Performance, 1986, for "Living In America"; and in 1992, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
• In 1993, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards, and had a street named after him in Augusta.
• In 2000, inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

JAMES AND THE LAW

• Busted for stealing at age 16, Brown was tossed into reform school for three years, where he met Bobby Byrd.
• In 1978, spent three days in a Baltimore, Md., jail for violating a court order to stay in the country while several radio stations he owned were being investigated for payola.
• Charged four times by wife, Adrienne, for felony assault through the couple's 12-year marriage.
• In December 1988, Brown received a six-year prison term for aggravated assault, drug possession and an 80 mph interstate vehicle chase. He was paroled in February 1991 and his performance fee jumped from $12,500 to $50,000 per concert.
• In 1998, ordered into a 90-day drug rehabilitation program for possession of marijuana and illegally firing a rifle.
• In 2000, sued for sexual harassment and wrongful termination by Lisa Agbalaya, a James Brown Enterprises employee. Among other things, Agbalaya said the singer tried to make her wear a pair of zebra-print underwear and massage him with oil.

SAINT JAMES

• For the last seven years, Brown has donated turkeys to homeless shelters and — dressed as a red leather Santa in cowboy boots — doled out gifts to children in his Augusta, Ga., hometown.

REALLY?

• Stillborn, Brown was resuscitated by his great-Aunt Minnie when others had given him up for dead.
• Brown endorsed Hubert Humphrey's and Richard Nixon's presidential campaigns.
• At the peak of his onstage prowess, Brown reportedly sweated off an average seven pounds per concert.
• Brown has written more than 800 songs.
• Released from prison in 1991, one of Brown's first destinations was Los Angeles for plastic surgery, reported Entertainment Weekly. Among the procedures: permanent eyeliner tattooed under Brown's lower lids and a new set of eyebrows.

THE GODFATHER OF SOUL IN HAWAI'I

• Brown has visited Hawai'i for concerts several times. He performed at the Sheraton Waikiki's Hawaii Ballroom Oct. 25, 1985. At a career and financial low point in 1978, Brown performed in Hilo and Schofield Barracks. Tickets were $5, the crowd was sparse, but Brown, said a reviewer, "gave it his best shot and was rewarded."