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The Godfather Of Soul: An Autobiography
by
James Brown
,
Bruce Tucker
,
Dave Marsh
,
Al Sharpton
(Goodreads Author)
A man of many names: The hardest working man in show business, King of the one nighters, Soul Brother #1, the sex machine ... but everyone knows who they mean. James Brown: The Godfather of Soul. Since his first chart-topper in 1956, he's outlived, outlasted, and outperformed all rivals. He is the funk-and-soul innovator and rap's driving spirit. His dazzling stage shows a
...more
Paperback
,
384 pages
Published
January 10th 2003
by Da Capo Press
(first published November 1986)
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Community Reviews
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James Brown is a master showman and a great storyteller too. But the problem with this autobiography is that he's only interested in telling stories that make him look heroic, generous, courageous, and unselfish. I don't doubt he was a good man, but he had plenty of failings and flaws and this book doesn't even hint at them. It's a lot less soulful than his music!
Although JB was a lot of things to a lot of folks foremost being The Godfather of Soul, I also like to call him the one who made African Americans believe in themselves mostly for the first time. So I call him the Bearer of Black Pride and Self Esteem too. This book details his life as a preemie who was given up for dead if the midwife didn't keep trying to get him to breathe on his own. If it wasn't for her efforts, there would be NO Godfather of Soul. His parents split when he was 4, he grew u
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I think "perfunctory" (?) maybe is the word to describe this. James is one of the 3 or 4 most important people in the history of American Music, but this just isn't the most compelling read. I'm sure there's a great bio of him somewhere. It did make me replay a lot of great JB funk.
The first 1/3 is excellent! I really enjoyed reading about his childhood and growing pains (e.g. growing up in a whore house and being forced to drink mint whisky by his dad and aunt for kicks, almost be electrocuted to death, being a 16 year old in jail and hooking up with a fellow female inmate who was also working in the hospital or laundry room where he was while a security guard/prison officer watched the door). However, the majority of the remaining 2/3s made me re-evaluate any positive fe
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James Brown being James Brown, he paints a pretty rosy picture of himself throughout. Although he does get pretty frank about his late-seventies decline, triggered by the deaths of both his son and Elvis. (Those were the only two times anyone had ever seen James Brown cry.) Also, he really really really wants history to note that he had sex with Aretha Franklin.
I especially love the part where he used to believe in the health-bestowing properties of beer, guzzling it by the gallon to replenish ...more
I especially love the part where he used to believe in the health-bestowing properties of beer, guzzling it by the gallon to replenish ...more
Informative even if extremely skewed... the Godfather goes to great lengths to put himself in the best light regardless of circumstance, and gives incredible background (which I suppose should be taken w/a grain of salt) on some of the greatest recordings of all time. Oh and some of it hilarious too. R.I.P. Soulbro #1.
Don't buy this book. It is one of those biographies where the subject is heaven sent and can do no wrong. So misunderstood! Framed by the police, never inhaled, treated his women like queens. Basically propaganda. He was interesting no denying, but he wasn't this squeaky clean.
totally worth it just hear james brown try to justify dumb behavior like not paying his taxes or cheating on his wives.
This book was published in 1986 but it is an interesting read about James Brown's life up to then.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.
James Joseph Brown, commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", was a two-time Grammy Award-winning and mutiple Grammy Award-nominated American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century po ...more
More about James Brown...
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James Joseph Brown, commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", was a two-time Grammy Award-winning and mutiple Grammy Award-nominated American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century po ...more
