name	Roy Head
background	solo_singer
birth date	January 09, 1943
origin	Three Rivers, Texas
instrument	Guitar
genre	Country
occupation	Singer-songwriter
years active	1965–1985
website	}}

Roy Head (born January 9, 1943 Three Rivers, Texas) is an American singer, best known for his hit "Treat Her Right."

Career

Head achieved fame as a member of a musical group out from San Marcos, Texas known as The Traits. The group's sponsor landed their first recording contract in 1958 with TNT Music in San Antonio, Texas while they were still in high school. The Traits performed and recorded in the rockabilly, rock n roll and rhythm and blues musical styles from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. Though landing several regional hits between 1959 and 1963 on both the TNT and Renner Record labels, Head is best known for the 1965 blue-eyed soul international hit, "Treat Her Right" released by Roy Head and the Traits. After going solo Head landed several hits on the Country and Western charts between 1975 and 1985. During his career of some 50 years, he has performed in several different musical genres and used a somewhat confusing array of record labels, some too small to provide for national marketing and distribution. Roy Head and the Traits held reunions in 2001 and 2007 and were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2007. One of the most gifted performers of his era, Head's extraordinary dancing and acrobatic showmanship are legendary, often compared to the likes of Elvis Presley or James Brown.

After moving to San Marcos in 1955 Head, along with San Marcos native Tommy Bolton, would form a musical group in 1957 known as The Traits/aka Roy Head and The Traits who would record and perform for the next 9 years. The original group consisted of fellow high school students Head (vocals), Tommy Bolton (rhythm guitar) (1941–2003), Gerry Gibson (drums), Dan Buie (piano), Clyde Causey (lead guitar), and Bill Pennington (bass). When Causey joined the military he was replaced by George Frazier (1941–1996) just before the band started their recording career at Tanner N Texas (TNT) Recording Company, owned by Bob Tanner and located in San Antonio, Texas. The Traits had several regional hits at TNT with songs such as "One More Time", "Live It Up", both released in 1959, and "Summertime Love" (1960), establishing themselves in the late 1950s and the early 1960s as one of the premier teenage Texas-based rock and roll bands while playing the concert, sock hop, college and university and dance hall circuits throughout Texas. It was during this period that the parents of The Traits turned down Dick Clark's invitation for the boys to appear on American Bandstand, which ABC had started broadcasting nationwide from Philadelphia in 1957. At the time, all of the Traits were "minors," and some were still in high school.

In 1961 and 1962 The Traits added saxophonists David McCumber and Danny Gomez to the lineup and produced additional Texas/regional hits from Renner Records, a label owned by Jessie Schneider of San Antonio, Texas. Renner label #221 and Ascot #2108, a subsiderary of United Artists Records, distributed The Traits version of Ray Sharpe's 1959 classic "Linda Lu,” with "Little Mama" by Dan Buie and Head on the B-side. Renner Records also released The Traits "Got My Mojo Working" and WO WO on label #229. By the time the 1962 recordings were taped and mastered at Jeff Smith's Texas Sound Studio in San Antonio for the Renner label, Johnny Clark and Frank Miller had replaced Frazier and Bolton at lead and rhythm guitars, respectively.

After attending SWTSTC (TSU) for two years, Buie, who played guitar and harmonica as well as keyboards, taught for several years before settling into public health administration after receiving his baccalaureate degree and doing post graduate studies at The University of Texas. Tommy Bolton organized and played with other Central Texas musical groups while both he and Clyde Causey launched careers with the Department Of The Treasury. Danny Gomez would graduate from SWTSTC (TSU) and later earn his doctorate at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Little is known of the career path of David McCumber, but George Frazier would pursue real estate investment interests, and Bill Pennington would follow in his Mother's footsteps and become a successful owner of Pennington Funeral Home in San Marcos, Texas. Only Head and Gibson would continue with careers in music. The songwriting talents and subsequent recording successes of The (original) Traits during their first 5 years on a regional level under the watchful eyes of Ms. Edra Pennington (1913–2005) and Dr. T.R. Buie(1909–2000), would lay the groundwork for what would happen in the group's last 4 years.

Roy Head and the Traits signed with Scepter Records in 1964. Scepter had developed a nationwide network of independent distributors while working with The Shirelles. By this time Gene Kurtz had replaced Pennington at bass, Kenny Williams had replaced Clark at lead guitar, Ronnie Barton's trumpet was added to the mix and backup singer Sarah Fulcher started performing with the group. Roy Head and the Traits even released a vinyl 45 featuring the vocals of Roy and Sarah on the Lori label #9551: Get Back (later released on Scepter #12124) and Never Make Me Blue.

In 1965 the band signed with producer Huey Meaux of Houston, Texas, who maintained a stable of record labels. "Treat Her Right" was recorded at Gold Star Studios (later known as SugarHill Recording Studios) in Houston. Issued on Don Robey's (Nov. 1, 1903 - June 16, 1975) Back Beat label, it reached #2 on both the U.S. Pop and R&B; charts in 1965, behind The Beatles' "Yesterday. "Treat Her Right", with its blazing horns and punchy rhythm, credited to Head and bass man Gene Kurtz, established Head as a prime exponent of blue-eyed soul. The fact that this was accomplished during the high point of the British Invasion makes it all the more impressive. By 1995 "Treat Her Right" had been covered by as many as 20 nationally known recording artists including the Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sawyer Brown, Bon Jovi and both Mae West and Barbara Mandrell under the title of "Treat Him Right". Even Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones covered it "live." Roy Head and the Traits "Just a Little Bit" and the bluesy-rockabilly hybrid, "Apple Of My Eye" also cracked the Top 40 in 1965. However, those were tiny hits in the wake of "Treat Her Right", which is estimated to have sold over four million copies worldwide, and was a featured song, along with Wilson Pickett's Mustang Sally (song) and Steve Cropper's In the Midnight Hour, in the successful 1991 motion picture, ''The Commitments''.

In 1965 TNT released the group's first album consisting of their music recorded for TNT and Renner Records, TLP #101 entitled ''Roy Head and the Traits,'' which was also distributed by the New York based Scepter Records. Goldmine Album Price Guide offers a 'counterfeit caution' when buying this album. The original from TNT did not include the song "Treat Her Right," though it is included in the more widely distributed Sceptor pressing. The 'counterfeit' album is also attributed to TNT, but with blue lettering on the label rather than the TNT red. A CD offering 30 tracks today and containing the original red, black and yellow graphics on its cover is considered an off-shoot of the 'counterfeit' vinyl version of the album.

Video clips from this time period show Head to have been a dynamic and versatile eccentric dancer; there are at least three extant clips of him performing "Treat Her Right" and each one is different than the others in terms of choreography. Modern viewers have compared his jumps and slides to those of James Brown or even the Nicholas Brothers; because he was white but his footwork included moves popular among African American gymnastic dancers, he was sometimes said to be a practitioner of "blue-eyed soul."

The chart-makers recorded and released on the Back Beat and Scepter labels spelled the end of Head's association with what has come to be thought of as the “second group” of Traits. See "Doubled Edged Sword" in The Story of Roy Head and The Traits

Later releases by Head on Dunhill and Elektra contained elements of rockabilly and psychedelic rock, but by the mid 1970s his solo career had led him to country. He signed first with Mega Records and then with Shannon Records and later on with ABC Records and Elektra Records. After releasing the 1970 cult classic "Same People That You Meet Going Up You Meet Coming Down" on Dunhill Records, Head's music reached the U.S. country music Top 100 24 times by the mid 1980s while landing 3 Top 20 hits: "The Most Wanted Woman In Town," (1975) "Come To Me" and "Now You See Em, Now Your Don't" both in 1977 and recorded on the ABC/Dot label reaching #16 and #19, respectively.

Even the earliest blues-laced, rockabilly styled recordings of The Traits, primarily written in a collaboration between Bolton, Buie, Gibson and Head, have demonstrated lasting power with "One More Time," "Live It Up" and "Summertime Love" making periodic surges into the Top 100 in various parts of Europe. Joe "King" Carrasco had a hit covering The Traits "One More Time" and releasing it on Hannibal Records and Stiff Records (UK) in 1981-1982. Two Tons of Steel covered "One More Time" again on both CD and DVD in 2000, Palo Duro Records entitled "Two Tons Of Steel-Live At Gruene Hall." Discographies reveal that much of the music originally written, composed and recorded by the Traits at TNT and Renner Records between 1958 and 1962 has been re-released over the past four decades numerous times by as many as 20 different record labels both in the U.S. and abroad.

During 1966 and 1967, when Head was working with the Roy Head Trio, The Traits independently recorded using Dean Scott on lead vocals. Scott had previously been the stand-in vocalist while Head had been away in the military. In 1967 The Traits recorded with pre-fame Johnny Winter featuring Winter's vocals and blistering guitar leads, producing a vinyl 45; "Parchman Farm" and "Tramp" on Universal 30496. No one knew that Johnny Winter was just months away from bursting upon the national scene with his appearance at Woodstock. Johnny Winter would later re-release the track of "Tramp" he recorded with The Traits in his 1988 compilation album, "Birds Can't Row Boats."

After the 1967 disbanding of the Roy Head Trio consisting of Head, Gibson, Kurtz and guitarist David "Hawk" Koon, Head started pursuing his solo career, and Gerry Gibson, the drummer for the original Traits, would relocate to Los Angeles and go on to play with several other popular artists and groups including Linda Ronstadt, Bobby Womack, Canned Heat and a stay with Sly and The Family Stone. While working with Sly, Gibson developed and recorded the drum part for "You Caught Me Smilin'" and made other notable contributions to the album ''There's a Riot Goin' On''. The album went to #1 in 1971, helped define the musical term funkadelic, and is ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 100 albums ever recorded.

Roy Head and The Traits are listed among "The 200 Greatest Rock N Roll Artists Of The 1960s" worldwide. Most lists of the "Top Rock Songs" recorded include "Treat Her Right". Head is a member of the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame, the Texas Country and Western Music Hall of Fame and the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame. Roy Head and The Traits held reunions in 2001 and 2007. Both reunions involved performances at Kent Finley's Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos, Texas an early musical hangout of George Strait. During their October 2007 sold-out Golden Anniversary Concert appropriately billed as 'Roy Head and The Tratis - For The Last Time', at Texas State University, Roy Head and The (original) Traits were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame by the Hall's Curator, Bob Timmers. Tommy Bolton and George Frazier were inducted posthumously. Musicians for the performance were Traits Head, Gerry Gibson, Dan Buie, Clyde Causey, Bill Pennington and Gene Kurtz, with special guests Bill York, Don Hutchko, Don Head (1933–2009) and Sundance Head.

In 2008, Head performed in Cleveland, Ohio for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As observed by the Austin Music Awards organization, 'if someone ever starts a Hall of Fame for blue-eyed soul artist, “Roy Head and the Traits” should be the first name chiseled in granite.' Billboard has observed that Head's versatility actually worked against him since he did not fit into any specific marketing niche. His use of many small record labels also prevented his recordings from achieving national distribution.

Head continues to be active in recording and performing music.

His son, Jason "Sundance" Head, was a contestant on Season 6 of ''American Idol'' and signed a recording contract in 2007 with Universal Motown Records.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions		Label
		! style="width:50px;"	! style="width:50px;"
	''Roy Head and the Traits''			TNT
''Treat Her Right''			Scepter
1970	''Same People''			Dunhill
1972	''Dismal Prisoner''			TMT
	''Head First''
''A Head of His Time''
1978	''Tonight's the Night''
1979	''In Our Room''
1980	''The Many Sides of Roy Head''
1985	''Living For A Song''

Compilation albums

''Roy Head and The Traits: Singin' Texas Rhythm & Blues (1988 Blues Interactions, Inc., Tokyo, Japan)

''Slip Away: His Best Recordings'' (1993, Collectables)

''Treat Her Right: The Best of Roy Head'' (1995, Varese Sarande)

''Don't Be Blue: The Traits'' (1995 Collectables, Roy C. Ames Homecooking)

''The Texas Soul and Country Man: The Crazy Cajun Recordings'' (1999, Edsel, UK)

''Country Crooner: The Crazy Cajun Recordings'' (1999, Edsel, UK)

''White Texas Soul Shouter: The Crazy Cajun Recordings (1999 Edsel, UK)

''Roy Head and The Traits: Treat Her Right (1999 Dynamite 101)

''The Best of Roy Head and The Traits: Teeny Weeny Bit'' (2000, AIM, Australia)

''Head On!'' (2001, Music Club)

''An Introduction to Roy Head'' (2006, Fuel 2000)

''Treat Him Right: The Best of Roy Head (2007, Fuel 2000 & Varese Sarande)

''Roy Head and The Traits: Golden Anniversary (1957–2007) - Rockabilly Hall of Fame Album'' (2007 Re-Master, D & R Sales and Service, L.C., PVI)

''Voices of Americana: Roy Head (2009 Edsel, UK)

''Live It Up: Roy Head and The Traits (2010 Norton, US)

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions				Album
		! style="width:45px;"	! style="width:45px;"	CAN Country	CAN
"Apple of My Eye"
	"Get Back"
"My Babe"
"To Make a Big Man Cry"
	"Nobody But Me"
"Got Down on Saturday (Sunday in the Rain)"
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
	"Broadway Walk"
"Ain't Goin' Down Right"
1971	"Puff of Smoke"
1974	"Baby's Not Home"
	"The Most Wanted Woman in Town"					''Head First''
"Help Yourself to Me"					single only
"I'll Take It"
	"The Door I Used to Close"
"Bridge for Crawling Back"
"One Night"
	"Angel with a Broken Wing"
"Julianne"					single only
"Come to Me"
	"Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't"
"Tonight's the Night (It's Gonna Be Alright)"
"Love Survived"
	"Kiss You and Make It Better"					single only
"In Our Room"
	"The Fire of Two Old Flames"
"Long Drop"					single only
"Drinkin' Them Long Necks"
"I've Never Gone to Bed with an Ugly Woman"
1981	"After Texas"
	"Play Another Gettin' Drunk andTake Somebody Home Song"
"The Trouble with Hearts"
	"Your Mama Don't Dance"
"Where Did He Go Right"
1985	"Break Out the Good Stuff"

References

External links

The Story of Roy Head and The Traits

Roy Head Podcast

AOL Music biography

Yahoo Music biography

Oldies.com biography

Treat Her Right video on YouTube

Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Category:1943 births Category:American country singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Dot Records artists Category:Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees

name	Ted Cassidy
birth date	July 31, 1932
birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death date	January 16, 1979
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
yearsactive	1952–79
occupation	Actor
birth name	Theodore Crawford Cassidy
height
website	}}

Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979), known as Ted Cassidy, was an American actor who performed in television and films. At in height, he tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of Jeannie''. He is best known for playing the part of Lurch, the butler on the 1960s television series ''The Addams Family'' and performing the opening narration of the 1970s TV series ''The Incredible Hulk''.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cassidy was raised in Philippi, West Virginia, 120 miles south of Pittsburgh. He played basketball (center) and football (tackle) for Philippi High School. At that time, he was an imposing figure in both venues, being the tallest player in the conference.

Early in his academic career, Cassidy attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, in nearby Buckhannon, West Virginia, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. He later attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, as a Speech major. Active in student government, he also played basketball for the Hatters, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in his only season as a player.

After graduating with a degree in speech and drama, he married Margaret Helen in 1956, and they moved to Dallas, Texas. His acting business took off when he worked as a mid-day disc jockey on WFAA-AM in Dallas. He also occasionally appeared on WFAA-TV Channel 8, playing "Creech", an outer space creature on the "Dialing for Dollars" segments on Ed Hogan's afternoon movies. An accomplished musician, Cassidy moonlighted at Luby's Cafeteria in the Lochwood shopping center in Dallas, playing the organ to entertain patrons. In 1957, Margaret gave birth to their son, Sean; in 1960, daughter Cameron was born.

The move to television

''The Addams Family''

Cassidy's unusual height gave him an advantage in auditioning for unusual character roles. He is probably best known for playing the butler, Lurch (in which, despite being an accomplished organist, he feigned playing the harpsichord), and the "helpful hand in a box" character named Thing, on the 1960s American television series ''The Addams Family''. (A crew member would take over the "Thing" role in scenes with both characters.) It was Cassidy who came up with the "You rang?" line, which was so funny that it was incorporated in the show.

''The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''

Cassidy had a regular role on NBC's ''The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' as Injun Joe, the blood-foe of Tom Sawyer and Huck.

''Star Trek''

Cassidy portrayed the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the ''Star Trek'' episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", and he played the role of the android Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". He also voiced the Gorn in the ''Star Trek'' episode "Arena".

Cassidy did more work with ''Star Trek'' creator Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah in the pilots of the post-apocalyptic dramas ''Genesis II'' and ''Planet Earth''.

''I Dream of Jeannie''

Ted appeared in several episodes of ''I Dream of Jeannie'' in 1968. Once appearing as the master to Jeannie's devious sister in part 3 of the 4-part episode "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie?", and again in the episode "Please Don't Feed the Astronauts" in which he plays Jeannie's cousin.

''Daniel Boone''

He appeared on ''Daniel Boone'' in the 1968 episode "The Scrimshaw Ivory Chart" as a pirate named Gentle Sam.

''The Six Million Dollar Man''

In the two-part ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' episode entitled "The Return of Bigfoot", Cassidy appeared as "Bigfoot" (played by André the Giant in a previous two-parter). He even provided the vocal effects for Bigfoot. He reprised the role in the episode "Bigfoot V".

''The Beverly Hillbillies''

In ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' episode "The Dahlia Feud" (April 12, 1967; season 5, episode 30) he played Mr. Ted, a large, muscular gardener who was planting Dahlias for Mrs. Drysdale.

''Lost In Space''

In the ''Lost in Space'' episode, "The Thief from Outer Space", he plays the "Slave" to the alien "Thief" (Malachi Throne) who threatens the Robinsons.

Voice acting and film work

Concurrent with his appearances on ''The Addams Family'', Cassidy began doing character voices on a recurring basis for the Hanna-Barbera Studios, culminating in the role of Frankenstein Jr. in ''Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles'' series. He was the voice of the hero in the Chuck Menville pixillated short film "Blaze Glory' (1969), in which his already-deep voice was enhanced with a deep reverb & echo to give the character an exaggerated super-hero sound. Cassidy also voiced Ben Grimm (aka "The Thing") in the 1978 animated ''Fantastic Four''. Cassidy went on to perform the roars and growls for Godzilla in the 1979 cartoon series that Hanna Barbera co-produced with Toho. His was the basis for the sinister voice of Black Manta, as well as Brainiac and several others on ''Super Friends''.

After ''The Addams Family'', Cassidy began to add more voice-over work to his résumé; in that acting field, most notably, he narrated the opening of the TV series ''The Incredible Hulk''. Cassidy also provided the Hulk's growls and roars.

In deleted scenes from the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' TV pilot movie, "Saga of a Star World" (on the DVD collection ''Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series'' [1978]), Cassidy can be heard providing temporary voice tracks of the Cylon Imperious Leader, before actor Patrick Macnee was contracted to voice the character.

Other film work included his appearances in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'', ''Mackenna's Gold'', ''Goin' Coconuts'', ''The Last Remake of Beau Geste'', ''Poor Pretty Eddie'', ''Harry and Walter Go to New York'', ''The Slams'', ''The Limit'' and ''Charcoal Black''. He also co-wrote the screenplay of 1973's ''The Harrad Experiment'', in which he made a brief appearance.

Death

Cassidy suffered from health issues as he grew older, and died at the age of 46 from complications following open-heart surgery. Fellow actor Sandra Martinez assisted and took care of him during his final years. Cassidy's remains were cremated, and later buried in the backyard of his Woodland Hills home.

References

External links

Hear The Ted Cassidy Song "The Lurch"

Watch a video of Ted Cassidy performing his song "The Lurch"

Category:1932 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American basketball players Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Actors from West Virginia Category:Basketball players from Pennsylvania Category:Basketball players from West Virginia Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Deaths from surgical complications Category:People from Barbour County, West Virginia Category:People from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Stetson Hatters men's basketball players

de:Ted Cassidy es:Ted Cassidy fr:Ted Cassidy gl:Ted Cassidy it:Ted Cassidy la:Theodorus Cassidy pt:Ted Cassidy simple:Ted Cassidy sv:Ted Cassidy

conventional long name	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China although "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and "Hong Kong" are also accepted.|groupnote}}

| native_name = 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區 | common_name = Hong Kong | image_flag = Flag of Hong Kong.svg | alt_flag = A flag with a white 5-petalled flower design on solid red background | image_coat = Hong Kong SAR Regional Emblem.svg | alt_coat = A red circular emblem, with a white 5-petalled flower design in the centre, and surrounded by the words "Hong Kong" and "中華人民共和國香港特別行政區" | symbol_type = Emblem | national_anthem = ''March of the Volunteers'' 《義勇軍進行曲》 | image_map = Hong Kong Skyline Restitch - Dec 2007.jpg | map_caption = View at night from Victoria Peak | alt_map = A panorama overlooking the skyscrapers of Hong Kong at night, with Victoria Harbour in the background | image_map2 = Hong Kong Location.svg | map2_width = 250px | alt_map2 = Hong Kong is situated on a peninsula and series of islands on the south coast of China, to the east of the Pearl River Delta and bordered to the north by Guangdong province | official_languages = Chinese, English It does not explicitly specify the standard for "Chinese". While Mandarin written in Simplified Chinese characters are the standards in mainland China, Cantonese and Traditional Chinese characters are the ''de facto'' standards in Hong Kong. ''See also: Bilingualism in Hong Kong''.|group=note}} | languages_type = Spoken languages | languages = Cantonese, English | languages_sub = yes | languages2_type = Writing systems | languages2 = Traditional Chinese, English alphabet | languages2_sub = yes | demonym = Hong Konger | leader_title1 = Chief Executive | leader_name1 = Donald Tsang | leader_title2 = ''Chief Executive-elect'' | leader_name2 = ''CY Leung'' | leader_title3 = Chief Justice | leader_name3 = Geoffrey Ma | leader_title4 = President of theLegislative Council | leader_name4 = Jasper Tsang | legislature = Legislative Council | government_type = Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | sovereignty_type = Establishment | established_event1 = Treaty of Nanking | established_date1 = 29 August 1842 | established_event2 = Japanese occupation | established_date2 = 25 December 1941 –15 August 1945 | established_event3 = Conveyance from British sovereignty to Chinese sovereignty | established_date3 = 1 July 1997 | latd= 22 | latm= 16.7 | latNS = N | longd= 114 |longm= 09.533 |longEW = E | area_magnitude = 1 E9 | area_km2 = 1,104 | area_rank = 179th | area_sq_mi = 426 | percent_water = 4.58 (50 km²; 19 mi²) | population_census = 7,061,200 | population_census_year = 2010 | population_density_km2 = 6,480 | population_density_sq_mi = 16,576 | population_density_rank = 4th | GDP_PPP = $326 billion | GDP_PPP_rank = | GDP_PPP_year = 2010 | GDP_PPP_per_capita = $45,736 | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = | GDP_nominal = $225 billion | GDP_nominal_rank = | GDP_nominal_year = 2010 | GDP_nominal_per_capita = $31,590 | GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = | Gini = 43.4 | Gini_year = 2007 | HDI = 0.898 | HDI_rank = 13th | HDI_year = 2011 | HDI_category = very high | currency = Hong Kong dollar | currency_code = HKD | time_zone = HKT | utc_offset = +8 | date_format = yyyy年m月d日 (Chinese) dd-mm-yyyy (English) | drives_on = left | cctld = .hk and .香港 | calling_code = +852 | nicknames = HK, The 852 }}

pic	Hong Kong in Chinese 2.svg
picsize	120px
c	香港
l	Fragrant harbour
Ci
j	Hoeng1gong2
y	Hēunggóng
p	Xiānggǎng
w	Hsiang1-kang3
mi
wuu	shian平kaon上
poj	Hiong-kang
h	Hiông-kóng
showflag	jyp
altname	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
t2	香港特別行政區 (or 香港特區)
s2	香港特别行政区 (or 香港特区)
j2	Hoeng1gong2 Dak6bit6 Hang4zing3 Keoi1
p2	Xiānggǎng Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū
wuu2	shian平kaon上 deh入bih入 ghan平tsen去chiu平
poj2	Hiong-kang Te̍k-pia̍t Hêng-chèng-khu
h2	Hiông-kóng Thi̍t-phe̍t Hàng-tsṳn-khî }}

Hong Kong (}}) is one of two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Originally confined to Hong Kong Island, the colony's boundaries were extended in stages to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War, after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009.

Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong's independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. The Basic Law of Hong Kong, its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign relations and military defence, governs its political system. Although it has a burgeoning multi-party system, a small-circle electorate controls half of its legislature. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, the head of government, is selected by a Selection Committee / Election Committee with 400 to 1200 members, during the first 20 years.

As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city. Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita income in the world. The dense space also led to a highly developed transportation network with public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent, the highest in the world. Hong Kong has numerous high international rankings in various aspects. For instance, its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness, quality of life, corruption perception, Human Development Index, etc., are all ranked highly. According to both UN and WHO estimates, Hong Kong has the second longest life expectancy of any country in the world.

Etymology

The name "Hong Kong" is an approximate phonetic rendering of the pronunciation of the spoken Cantonese or Hakka name "香港", meaning "fragrant harbour". Before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet – now Aberdeen Harbour or Little Hong Kong – between the Aberdeen Island and the south side of Hong Kong Island, which was one of the first points of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.

The reference to fragrance may refer to the harbour waters sweetened by the fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River, or to the incense from factories lining the coast to the north of Kowloon, which was stored around Aberdeen Harbour for export before the development of Victoria Harbour. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was signed, and the name Hong Kong was first recorded on official documents to encompass the entirety of the island.

History

Pre-colonial

Archaeological studies support a human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago, and in Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago. Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the two earliest sites of human habitation in the Palaeolithic period. It is believed the Three Fathom Cove was a river valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggest cultural differences from the Longshan culture in northern China and settlement by the Che people prior to the migration of the Baiyue. Eight petroglyphs were discovered on surrounding islands, which dated to the Shang Dynasty in China.

In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern Liangguang region) and incorporated the territory into imperial China for the first time. Modern Hong Kong is located in Nanhai commandery (modern Nanhai District) and near the ancient capital city Pun Yue. The area was consolidated under the kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC after the Qin Dynasty collapsed. When the kingdom was conquered by Emperor Wu of Han in 111 BC, the land was assigned to the Jiaozhi commandery under the Han Dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates the population increased and early salt production flourished in this time period. Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb in the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built during the Han Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty period, the Guangdong region flourished as a regional trading center. In 736, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military town in Tuen Mun to defend the coastal area in the region. The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 in the New Territories under the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Mongol invasion in 1276, the Southern Song Dynasty court moved to Fujian, then to Lantau Island and later to Sung Wong Toi (modern Kowloon City), but the child Emperor Huaizong of Song committed suicide by drowning with his officials after being defeated in the Battle of Yamen. Hau Wong, an official of the emperor is still worshipped in Hong Kong today.

The earliest recorded European visitor was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer who arrived in 1513. After establishing settlements in the region, Portuguese merchants began trading in southern China. At the same time, they invaded and built up military fortifications in Tuen Mun. Military clashes between China and Portugal led to the expulsion of the Portuguese. In the mid-16th century, the Haijin order banned maritime activities and prevented contact with foreigners; it also restricted local sea activity. In 1661–69, the territory was affected by the Great Clearance ordered by Kangxi Emperor, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong. It is recorded that about 16,000 persons from Xin'an County were driven inland, and 1,648 of those who left are said to have returned when the evacuation was rescinded in 1669. What is now the territory of Hong Kong became largely wasteland during the ban. In 1685, Kangxi became the first emperor to open limited trading with foreigners, which started with the Canton territory. He also imposed strict terms for trades such as requiring foreign traders to live in restricted areas, staying only for the trading seasons, banning firearms, and trading with silver only. The East India Company made the first sea venture to China in 1699, and the region's trade with British merchants developed rapidly soon after. In 1711, the company established its first trading post in Canton. By 1773, the British reached a landmark 1,000 chests of opium in Canton with China consuming 2,000 chests annually by 1799.

British colonial era

In 1839, the refusal by Qing Dynasty authorities to import opium resulted in the First Opium War between China and Britain. Hong Kong Island was occupied by British forces on 20 January 1841 and was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpee as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan, but the agreement was never ratified due to a dispute between high ranking officials in both governments. It was not until 29 August 1842 that the island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under the Treaty of Nanking. The British established a crown colony with the founding of Victoria City the following year.

Under British rule, the population of Hong Kong island had increased from 7,450 Chinese residents, mostly fishermen, in 1841 to over 115,000 Chinese and 8,754 Europeans in Hong Kong (including Kowloon) in 1870.

In 1860, after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island were ceded in perpetuity to Britain under the Convention of Peking.

In 1894, the deadly Third Pandemic of bubonic plague spread from China to Hong Kong, causing 50,000–100,000 deaths.

In 1898, under the terms of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Britain obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island and the adjacent northern lands, which became known as the New Territories. Hong Kong's territory has remained unchanged to the present.

During the first half of the 20th century, Hong Kong was a free port, serving as an entrepôt of the British Empire. The British introduced an education system based on their own model, while the local Chinese population had little contact with the European community of wealthy ''tai-pans'' settled near Victoria Peak.

Japanese invasion

In conjunction with its military campaign, the Empire of Japan invaded Hong Kong on 8 December 1941. The Battle of Hong Kong ended with British and Canadian defenders surrendering control of the colony to Japan on 25 December. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, civilians suffered widespread food shortages, rationing, and hyper-inflation due to forced exchange of currency for military notes. Through a policy of enforced repatriation of the unemployed to the mainland throughout the period, because of the scarcity of food, the population of Hong Kong had dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony.

Cold war era

Hong Kong's population recovered quickly as a wave of migrants from China arrived for refuge from the ongoing Chinese Civil War. When the PRC was proclaimed in 1949, more migrants fled to Hong Kong for fear of persecution by the Communist Party. Many corporations in Shanghai and Guangzhou shifted their operations to Hong Kong.

In the 1950s, Hong Kong's rapid industrialization was driven by textile exports and other expanded manufacturing industries. As the population grew and labour costs remained low, living standards rose steadily. The construction of Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 followed a massive slum fire, and marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme designed to cope with the huge influx of immigrants. Trade in Hong Kong accelerated even further when Shenzhen, immediately north of Hong Kong, became a special economic zone of the PRC, and Hong Kong was established as the main source of foreign investment in China. The manufacturing competitiveness gradually declined in Hong Kong due to the development of the manufacturing industry in southern China beginning in the early 1980s. By contrast, the service industry in Hong Kong experienced high rates of growth in the 1980s and 1990s after absorbing workers released from the manufacturing industry. Throughout the British colonial era, Hong Kong was industrialized and improved in all aspects from its economy to its health care system. Many health facilities were build for its citizens, for example the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, the Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, the Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong and the Prince of Wales Hospital. Many changes happened during this era shaped the future of Hong Kong. In the year 1983, when the United Kingdom reclassified Hong Kong from a British crown colony to a dependent territory, the governments of the United Kingdom and China were already discussing the issue of Hong Kong's sovereignty due to the impending expiry (within two decades) of the lease of the New Territories. In 1984, the Sino-British Joint Declaration – an agreement to transfer sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997 – was signed. It stipulated that Hong Kong would be governed as a special administrative region, retaining its laws and a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer. The Hong Kong Basic Law, which would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer, was ratified in 1990.

Since 1997

On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty from United Kingdom to the PRC occurred, officially ending 156 years of British colonial rule. Hong Kong became China's first special administrative region, and Tung Chee Hwa took office as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong. That same year, Hong Kong suffered an economic double blow from the Asian financial crisis and the H5N1 avian influenza. In 2003, Hong Kong was gravely affected by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The World Health Organization reported 1,755 infected and 299 deaths in Hong Kong. An estimated 380 million Hong Kong dollars (US$48.9 million) in contracts were lost as a result of the epidemic.

On 10 March 2005, Tung Chee Hwa announced his resignation as Chief Executive due to "health problems". Donald Tsang, the Chief Secretary for Administration at the time, entered the 2005 election unopposed and became the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong on 21 June 2005. In 2007, Tsang won the Chief Executive election and continued his second term in office.

In 2009, Hong Kong hosted the fifth East Asian Games, in which nine national teams competed. It was the first and largest international multi-sport event ever held in the territory. Today, Hong Kong continues to serve as an important global financial centre, but faces uncertainty over its future due to the growing mainland China economy, and its relationship with the PRC government in areas such as democratic reform and universal suffrage.

Governance

In accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and the underlying principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong has a "high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region in all areas except defence and foreign affairs." The declaration stipulates that the region maintain its capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of its people for at least 50 years beyond the 1997 handover. The guarantees over the territory's autonomy and the individual rights and freedoms are enshrined in a constitution, the Hong Kong Basic Law, which outlines the system of governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, but which is subject to the interpretation of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).

The primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, the civil service, the Legislative Council, and the Judiciary. The Executive Council is headed by the Chief Executive who is elected by the Election Committee and then appointed by the Central People's Government. The civil service is a politically neutral body that implements policies and provides government services, where public servants are appointed based on meritocracy. The Legislative Council has 60 members, half of which are directly elected by universal suffrage by permanent residents of Hong Kong according to five geographical constituencies. The other half, known as functional constituencies, are directly elected by a smaller electorate, which consists of corporate bodies and persons from various stipulated functional sectors. The entire council is headed by the President of the Legislative Council who serves as the speaker. Judges are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission.

The implementation of the Basic Law, including how and when the universal suffrage promised therein is to be achieved, has been a major issue of political debate since the transfer of sovereignty. In 2002, the government's proposed anti-subversion bill pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law, which required the enactment of laws prohibiting acts of treason and subversion against the Chinese government, was met with fierce opposition, and eventually shelved. Debate between pro-Beijing groups, which tend to support the Executive branch, and the Pan-democracy camp characterises Hong Kong's political scene, with the latter supporting a faster pace of democratisation, and the principle of one man, one vote.

In 2004, the government failed to gain pan-democrat support to pass its so-called "district council model" for political reform. In 2009, the government reissued the proposals as the "''Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012''". The document proposed the enlargement of the Election Committee, Hong Kong's electoral college, from 800 members to 1,200 in 2012 and expansion of the legislature from 60 to 70 seats. The 10 new legislative seats would consist of five geographical constituency seats and five functional constituency seats, to be voted in by elected district council members from among themselves. The proposals were destined for rejection by pan-democrats once again, but a significant breakthrough occurred after the Central People's Government accepted a counter-proposal by the Democratic Party. In particular, the Pan-democracy camp was split when the proposal to directly elect five newly created functional seats was not acceptable to two constituent parties. The Democratic Party sided with the government for the first time since the handover and passed the proposals with a vote of 46–12.

Legal system and judiciary

Hong Kong's legal system is completely independent from the legal system of Mainland China. In contrast to mainland China's civil law system, Hong Kong continues to follow the English Common Law tradition established under British rule. Hong Kong's courts may refer to decisions rendered by courts of other common law jurisdictions as precedents, and judges from other common law jurisdictions are allowed to sit as non-permanent judges of the Court of Final Appeal.

Structurally, the court system consists of the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, which is made up of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, and the District Court, which includes the Family Court. Other adjudicative bodies include the Lands Tribunal, the Magistrates' Courts, the Juvenile Court, the Coroner's Court, the Labour Tribunal, the Small Claims Tribunal, and the Obscene Articles Tribunal. Justices of the Court of Final Appeal are appointed by Hong Kong's Chief Executive.

The Department of Justice is responsible for handling legal matters for the government. Its responsibilities include providing legal advice, criminal prosecution, civil representation, legal and policy drafting and reform, and international legal cooperation between different jurisdictions. Apart from prosecuting criminal cases, lawyers of the Department of Justice act on behalf of the government in all civil and administrative lawsuits against the government. As protector of the public interest, the department may apply for judicial reviews and may intervene in any cases involving the greater public interest. The Basic Law protects the Department of Justice from any interference by the government when exercising its control over criminal prosecution.

Human rights

In general, Hong Kong is perceived to enjoy a high level of civil liberties. The Hong Kong government generally respect the human rights of the citizens, although core issues remain. There are concerns over the freedom of assembly which is restricted by the Public Order Ordinance. The police has been occasionally accused of using heavy-handed tactics towards protestors and questions are asked towards the extensive powers of the police. As to the right of privacy, covert surveillance remains the major concern. There is a lack of protection for homosexuals due to the absence of a sexual orientation discrimination law, though there are currently no laws against homosexuality. There are also comments regarding a lack of protection for labour rights.

Internet access in Hong Kong is not under the censorship, surveillance, and control of the Great Firewall of China.

Administrative districts

Hong Kong has a unitary system of government; no local government has existed since the two municipal councils were abolished in 2000. As such there is no formal definition for its cities and towns. Administratively, Hong Kong is subdivided into 18 geographic districts, each represented by a district council which advises the government on local matters such as public facilities, community programmes, cultural activities, and environmental improvements.

There are a total of 534 district council seats, 405 of which are elected; the rest are appointed by the Chief Executive and 27 ''ex officio'' chairmen of rural committees. The Home Affairs Department communicates government policies and plans to the public through the district offices.

Military

When Hong Kong was a British colony and later, a dependent territory, defence was provided by the British military under the command of the Governor of Hong Kong who was ''ex officio'' Commander-in-chief. When the PRC assumed sovereignty in 1997, the British barracks were replaced by a garrison of the People's Liberation Army, comprising ground, naval, and air forces, and under the command of the Chinese Central Military Commission.

The Basic Law protects local civil affairs against interference by the garrison, and members of the garrison are subject to Hong Kong laws. The Hong Kong Government remains responsible for the maintenance of public order; however, it may ask the PRC government for help from the garrison in maintaining public order and in disaster relief. The PRC government is responsible for the costs of maintaining the garrison.

Geography and climate

Hong Kong is located on China's south coast, east of Macau on the opposite side of the Pearl River Delta. It is surrounded by the South China Sea on the east, south, and west, and borders the Guangdong city of Shenzhen to the north over the Shenzhen River. The territory's area consists of Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories, and over 200 offshore islands, of which the largest is Lantau Island. Of the total area, is land and is inland water. Hong Kong claims territorial waters to a distance of . Its land area makes Hong Kong the 179th largest inhabited territory in the world.

As much of Hong Kong's terrain is hilly to mountainous with steep slopes, less than 25% of the territory's landmass is developed, and about 40% of the remaining land area is reserved as country parks and nature reserves. Most of the territory's urban development exists on Kowloon peninsula, along the northern edge of Hong Kong Island, and in scattered settlements throughout the New Territories. The highest elevation in the territory is at Tai Mo Shan, above sea level. Hong Kong's long and irregular coast provides it with many bays, rivers and beaches.

Despite Hong Kong's reputation of being intensely urbanised, the territory has tried to promote a green environment, and recent growing public concern has prompted the severe restriction of further land reclamation from Victoria Harbour. Awareness of the environment is growing as Hong Kong suffers from increasing pollution compounded by its geography and tall buildings. Approximately 80% of the city's smog originates from other parts of the Pearl River Delta.

Though it is situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer, Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cwa''). Summer is hot and humid with occasional showers and thunderstorms, and warm air coming from the southwest. Summer is when typhoons are most likely, sometimes resulting in flooding or landslides. Winters are mild and usually start sunny, becoming cloudier towards February; the occasional cold front brings strong, cooling winds from the north. The most temperate seasons are spring, which can be changeable, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. Hong Kong averages 1,948 hours of sunshine per year, while the highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures at the Hong Kong Observatory are and , respectively.

Economy

As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade. The currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world as of 2010. Hong Kong was once described by Milton Friedman as the world’s greatest experiment in laissez-faire capitalism. It maintains a highly developed capitalist economy, ranked the freest in the world by the Index of Economic Freedom for 15 consecutive years. It is an important centre for international finance and trade, with one of the greatest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region, and is known as one of the Four Asian Tigers for its high growth rates and rapid development from the 1960s to the 1990s. Between 1961 and 1997 Hong Kong's gross domestic product grew 180 times while per-capita GDP increased 87 times over.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the seventh largest in the world, with a market capitalisation of US$2.3 trillion as of December 2009. In that year, Hong Kong raised 22 percent of worldwide initial public offering (IPO) capital, making it the largest centre of IPOs in the world and the easiest place to raise capital. Hong Kong's currency is the Hong Kong dollar, which has been pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1983.

The Hong Kong Government has traditionally played a mostly passive role in the economy, with little by way of industrial policy and almost no import or export controls. Market forces and the private sector were allowed to determine practical development. Under the official policy of "positive non-interventionism", Hong Kong is often cited as an example of laissez-faire capitalism. Following the Second World War, Hong Kong industrialised rapidly as a manufacturing centre driven by exports, and then underwent a rapid transition to a service-based economy in the 1980s. Since then, it has grown to become a leading center for management, financial, IT, business consultation and professional services.

Hong Kong matured to become a financial centre in the 1990s, but was greatly affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1998, and again in 2003 by the SARS outbreak. A revival of external and domestic demand has led to a strong recovery, as cost decreases strengthened the competitiveness of Hong Kong exports and a long deflationary period ended. Government intervention, initiated by the later colonial governments and continued since 1997, has steadily increased, with the introduction of export credit guarantees, a compulsory pension scheme, a minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws, and a state mortgage backer.

The territory has little arable land and few natural resources, so it imports most of its food and raw materials. Agricultural activity—relatively unimportant to Hong Kong’s economy and contributing just 0.1% of its GDP—primarily consists of growing premium food and flower varieties. Hong Kong is the world's eleventh largest trading entity, with the total value of imports and exports exceeding its gross domestic product. It is the world's largest re-export centre. Much of Hong Kong's exports consist of re-exports, which are products made outside of the territory, especially in mainland China, and distributed via Hong Kong. Its physical location has allowed the city to establish a transportation and logistics infrastructure that includes the world’s second busiest container port and the world’s busiest airport for international cargo. Even before the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong had established extensive trade and investment ties with the mainland, which now enable it to serve as a point of entry for investment flowing into the mainland. At the end of 2007, there were 3.46 million people employed full-time, with the unemployment rate averaging 4.1% for the fourth straight year of decline. Hong Kong's economy is dominated by the service sector, which accounts for over 90% of its GDP, while industry constitutes 9%. Inflation was at 2.5% in 2007. Hong Kong's largest export markets are mainland China, the United States, and Japan.

As of 2010, Hong Kong is the eighth most expensive city for expatriates, falling from fifth position in the previous year. In 2011, Hong Kong was ranked second in the Ease of Doing Business Index, behind Singapore. General principle No. 5 of the Basic Law of the SAR suggests that the CPC expects that it shall have brought the economic system of the Mainland and Hong Kong into harmony by 2047, by which time the Chinese economy is predicted by Businessweek to have been the largest by any measure of GDP for decades.

Demographics

The territory's population is 7.03 million. In 2009, Hong Kong had a birth rate of 11.7 per 1,000 population and a fertility rate of 1,032 children per 1,000 women. Residents from mainland China do not have the right of abode in Hong Kong, nor are they allowed to enter the territory freely. However, the influx of immigrants from mainland China, approximating 45,000 per year, is a significant contributor to its population growth – a daily quota of 150 Mainland Chinese with family ties in Hong Kong are granted a "one way permit". Life expectancy in Hong Kong is 79.16 years for males and 84.79 years for females as of 2009, making it one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

About 95% of the people of Hong Kong are of Chinese descent, the majority of whom are Taishanese, Chiu Chow, other Cantonese people, and Hakka. Hong Kong's Han majority originate mainly from the Guangzhou and Taishan regions in Guangdong province. The remaining 5% of the population is composed of non-ethnic Chinese. There is a South Asian population of Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalese; some Vietnamese refugees have become permanent residents of Hong Kong. There are also Europeans (mostly British), Americans, Canadians, Japanese, and Koreans working in the city's commercial and financial sector.|group=note}} In 2008, there were an estimate of 252,500 foreign domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines working in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's ''de facto'' official language is Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong province to the north of Hong Kong. English is also an official language, and according to a 1996 by-census is spoken by 3.1 percent of the population as an everyday language and by 34.9 percent of the population as a second language. Signs displaying both Chinese and English are common throughout the territory. Since the 1997 handover, an increase in immigrants from mainland China and greater integration with the mainland economy have brought an increasing number of Mandarin speakers to Hong Kong.

A majority of residents of Hong Kong would claim no religious affiliation, professing a form of agnosticism or atheism. According to the U.S Department of State only 43 percent of the population practices some form of religion. Some figures put it higher, according to a Gallup poll, 64% of Hong Kong residents do not believe in any religion, and possibly 80% of Hong Kong claim no religion. In Hong Kong teaching evolution won out in curriculum dispute about whether to teach other explanations, and that creationism and intelligent design will form no part of the senior secondary biology curriculum

Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of religious freedom, guaranteed by the Basic Law. Hong Kong's main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; a local religious scholar in contact with major denominations estimates there are approximately 1.5 million Buddhists and Taoists. A Christian community of around 600,000 forms about 8% of the total population; it is nearly equally divided between Catholics and Protestants, although smaller Christian communities exist, including the Latter-Day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses. The Anglican and Roman Catholic churches each freely appoint their own bishops, unlike in mainland China. There are also Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Bahá'í communities. The practice of Falun Gong is tolerated.

Statistically Hong Kong's income gap is the greatest in Asia Pacific. According to a report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 2008, Hong Kong's Gini coefficient, at 0.53, was the highest in Asia and "relatively high by international standards". However, the government has stressed that income disparity does not equate to worsening of the poverty situation, and that the Gini coefficient is not strictly comparable between regions. The government has named economic restructuring, changes in household sizes, and the increase of high-income jobs as factors that have skewed the Gini coefficient.

Education

Hong Kong's education system used to roughly follow the system in England, although international systems exist. The government maintains a policy of "mother tongue instruction" () in which the medium of instruction is Cantonese, with written Chinese and English. In secondary schools, 'biliterate and trilingual' proficiency is emphasised, and Mandarin-language education has been increasing. The Programme for International Student Assessment ranked Hong Kong's education system as the second best in the world. Hong Kong's public schools are operated by the Education Bureau. The system features a non-compulsory three-year kindergarten, followed by a compulsory six-year primary education, a three-year junior secondary education, a non-compulsory two-year senior secondary education leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations and a two-year matriculation course leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examinations. The New Senior Secondary academic structure and curriculum was implemented in September 2009, which provides for all students to receive three years of compulsory junior and three years of compulsory senior secondary education. Under the new curriculum, there is only public examination, namely the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

Most comprehensive schools in Hong Kong fall under three categories: the rarer public schools; the more common subsidised schools, including government aids-and-grant schools; and private schools, often run by Christian organisations and having admissions based on academic merit rather than on financial resources. Outside this system are the schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme and private international schools.

There are nine public universities in Hong Kong, and a number of private higher institutions, offering various bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, other higher diplomas, and associate degree courses.The University of Hong Kong, the oldest institution of tertiary education in the territory, was described by Quacquarelli Symonds as a "world-class comprehensive research university" and was ranked 24th on the 2009 THES - QS World University Rankings, making it first in Asia. The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology was ranked 35th in the world in 2009 and ranked second in Asia for 2010. The Chinese University of Hong Kong was ranked 46th in the world in 2009 and ranked fourth in Asia for 2010. Based on the 2011 rankings published by career and education network QS, three of the top five Asian universities are in Hong Kong. They are the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong kong as first, second and fifth rank, respectively.

Healthcare

There are 13 private hospitals and more than 50 public hospitals in Hong Kong. Among the widest range of healthcare services throughout the globe are on offer, and some of the SAR's private hospitals are rightly considered to be among the very best of their type in the world.

There are two medical schools in the SAR, one based at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the other at Hong Kong University. Both have strong links with public sector hospitals.

With respect to postgraduate education, traditionally many doctors in Hong Kong have looked overseas for further training, and many took British Royal College exams such as the MRCP(UK) and the MRCS(UK). However, Hong Kong has been developing its own postgraduate medical institutions, in particular the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and this is gradually taking over the responsibility for all postgraduate medical training in the SAR.

There are also strong public health systems in Hong Kong, and the Centre for Health Protection, founded after the SARS outbreak of 2003, is particularly worthy of mention.

By 2011, however, there have been growing concerns that mothers-to-be from Mainland China, in a bid to obtain the right of abode in Hong Kong and the benefits that come with it, have saturated the neonatal wards of the city's hospitals, both public and private sectors, which has led to outcries and protests from local pregnant women for the government to remedy the issue, as they have found difficulty securing a bed space for giving birth and arrange routine check-ups. Other concerns in the decade of 2001-2010 relate to the workload medical staff experience; and medical errors and mishaps, which are frequently highlighted in local news.

Culture

Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where "East meets West", reflecting the culture's mix of the territory's Chinese roots with influences from its time as a British colony. Hong Kong balances a modernised way of life with traditional Chinese practices. Concepts like ''feng shui'' are taken very seriously, with expensive construction projects often hiring expert consultants, and are often believed to make or break a business. Other objects like Ba gua mirrors are still regularly used to deflect evil spirits, and buildings often lack any floor number that has a 4 in it, due to its similarity to the word for "die" in Cantonese. The fusion of east and west also characterises Hong Kong's cuisine, where dim sum, hot pot, and fast food restaurants coexist with haute cuisine.

Hong Kong is a recognised global centre of trade, and calls itself an "entertainment hub". Its martial arts film genre gained a high level of popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. Several Hollywood performers, notable actors and martial artists have originated from Hong Kong cinema, notably Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Jet Li. A number of Hong Kong film-makers have achieved widespread fame in Hollywood, such as John Woo, Wong Kar-wai, and Stephen Chow.

The Hong Kong government supports cultural institutions such as the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department subsidises and sponsors international performers brought to Hong Kong. Many international cultural activities are organised by the government, consulates, and privately.

Hong Kong has two licensed terrestrial broadcasters – ATV and TVB. There are three local and a number of foreign suppliers of cable and satellite services. The production of Hong Kong's soap dramas, comedy series, and variety shows reach audiences throughout the Chinese-speaking world. Magazine and newspaper publishers in Hong Kong distribute and print in both Chinese and English, with a focus on sensationalism and celebrity gossip. The media in Hong Kong is relatively free from official interference compared to mainland China, although the ''Far Eastern Economic Review'' points to signs of self-censorship by journals whose owners have close ties to or business interests in the People's Republic of China and states that even Western media outlets are not immune to growing Chinese economic power.

Hong Kong offers wide recreational and competitive sport opportunities despite its limited land area. It sends delegates to international competitions such as the Olympic Games and Asian Games, and played host to the equestrian events during the 2008 Summer Olympics. There are major multipurpose venues like Hong Kong Coliseum and MacPherson Stadium. Hong Kong's steep terrain and extensive trail network with expansive views attracts hikers, and its rugged coastline provides many beaches for swimming.

Cityscape

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Architecture

According to Emporis, there are 7,650 skyscrapers in Hong Kong, which puts the city at the top of world rankings. It has more buildings higher than 35m (or 100m, or 150m) than any other city. The high density and tall skyline of Hong Kong's urban area is due to a lack of available sprawl space, with the average distance from the harbour front to the steep hills of Hong Kong Island at , much of it reclaimed land. This lack of space causes demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing. Thirty-six of the world's 100 tallest residential buildings are in Hong Kong. More people in Hong Kong live or work above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world's most vertical city.

As a result of the lack of space and demand for construction, few older buildings remain, and the city is becoming a centre for modern architecture. The International Commerce Centre (ICC), at high, is the tallest building in Hong Kong and the third tallest in the world, by height to roof measurement. The tallest building prior to the ICC is Two International Finance Centre, at high. Other recognisable skyline features include the HSBC Headquarters Building, the triangular-topped Central Plaza with its pyramid-shaped spire, The Center with its night-time multi-coloured neon light show; A Symphony of Lights and I. M. Pei's Bank of China Tower with its sharp, angular façade. According to the Emporis website, the city skyline has the biggest visual impact of all world cities. Also, Hong Kong's skyline is often regarded to be the best in the world, with the surrounding mountains and Victoria Harbour complementing the skyscrapers. Most of the oldest remaining historic structures, including the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, the Central Police Station, and the remains of Kowloon Walled City were constructed during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

There are many development plans in place, including the construction of new government buildings, waterfront redevelopment in Central, and a series of projects in West Kowloon. More high-rise development is set to take place on the other side of Victoria Harbour in Kowloon, as the 1998 closure of the nearby Kai Tak Airport lifted strict height restrictions.

Transport

Hong Kong's transportation network is highly developed. Over 90% of daily travels (11 million) are on public transport, the highest such percentage in the world. Payment can be made using the Octopus card, a stored value system introduced by the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which is widely accepted on railways, buses and ferries, and accepted like cash at other outlets.

The city's main railway company (KCRC) was merged with the urban mass transit operator (MTR) in 2007, creating a comprehensive rail network for the whole territory (also called MTR). This MTR rapid transit system has 152 stations, which serve 3.4 million people a day. Hong Kong Tramways, which has served the territory since 1904, covers the northern parts of Hong Kong Island.

{| |- | |} Hong Kong's bus service is franchised and run by private operators. Five privately owned companies provide franchised bus service across the territory, together operating more than 700 routes. The two largest, Kowloon Motor Bus provides 402 routes in Kowloon and New Territories; Citybus operates 154 routes on Hong Kong Island; both run cross-harbour services. Double-decker buses were introduced to Hong Kong in 1949, and are now almost exclusively used; single-decker buses remain in use for routes with lower demand or roads with lower load capacity. Public light buses serve most parts of Hong Kong, particularly areas where standard bus lines cannot reach or do not reach as frequently, quickly, or directly.

The Star Ferry service, founded in 1888, operates four lines across Victoria Harbour and provides scenic views of Hong Kong's skyline for its 53,000 daily passengers. It acquired iconic status following its use as a setting on ''The World of Suzie Wong''. Travel writer Ryan Levitt considered the main Tsim Sha Tsui to Central crossing one of the most picturesque in the world. Other ferry services are provided by operators serving outlying islands, new towns, Macau, and cities in mainland China. Hong Kong is famous for its junks traversing the harbour, and small kai-to ferries that serve remote coastal settlements. The Port of Hong Kong is a busy deepwater port, specialising in container shipping.

Hong Kong Island's steep, hilly terrain was initially served by sedan chairs. The Peak Tram, the first public transport system in Hong Kong, has provided vertical rail transport between Central and Victoria Peak since 1888. In Central and Western district, there is an extensive system of escalators and moving pavements, including the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, the Mid-Levels escalator.

Hong Kong International Airport is a leading air passenger gateway and logistics hub in Asia and one of the world's busiest airports in terms of international passenger and cargo movement, serving more than 47 million passengers and handling 3.74 million tonnes (4.12 million tons) of cargo in 2007. It replaced the overcrowded Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon in 1998, and has been rated as the world's best airport in a number of surveys. Over 85 airlines operate at the two-terminal airport and it is the primary hub of Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Air Hong Kong, Hong Kong Airlines, and Hong Kong Express.

See also

List of cities with most skyscrapers

Public holidays in Hong Kong

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links

; Government

Discover Hong Kong – Official site of the Hong Kong Tourism Board

; Other

Hong Kong at Encyclopædia Britannica

HongKong at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

WikiSatellite view of Hong Kong at WikiMapia

Category:States and territories established in 1997 Category:Chinese-speaking countries and territories Category:English-speaking countries and territories Category:Former British colonies Category:Independent cities Category:Metropolitan areas of China Category:Pearl River Delta Category:Populated places established in 1842 Category:Port cities and towns in China Category:South China Sea Category:Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China

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Background	solo_singer
Birth name	James Joseph Brown, Jr.
Birth date	May 03, 1933
Birth place	Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.
Origin	Augusta, Georgia, United States
Death date	December 25, 2006
Death place	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genre	Rhythm and blues, funk, soul
Occupation	Singer, musician, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, record producer
Instrument	Vocal, guitar, harmonica, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion instruments
Years active	1956–2006
Label	Federal, King, Try Me, Smash, People, Polydor, Scotti Bros., Dade Records
Associated acts	The Famous Flames, The J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd , The Soul Generals, Lyn Collins
Website	}}

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. Eventually referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", Brown started singing in gospel groups and worked his way on up. He has been recognized as one of the most iconic figures in the 20th century popular music and was renowned for his vocals and feverish dancing. He was also called "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business" and "Mr. Dynamite". He was also noted as the lead singer of the famed Rhythm & Blues vocal group, The Famous Flames.

Early life

James Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina on May 3, 1933 to Susie Brown and Joseph ("Joe") Gardner (who changed his surname to Brown after Mattie Brown who raised him). Although Brown was to be named after his father Joseph, his first and middle names were mistakenly reversed on his birth certificate. He therefore became James Joseph Brown, Jr. As a young child, Brown was called ''Junior''. When he later lived with his aunt and cousin, he was called ''Little Junior'' since his cousin's nickname was also ''Junior''. He was of African American, Native American (Apache), through his father, and had Asian ancestry.

As a young child, the family lived in extreme poverty in nearby Elko, South Carolina, which at the time was an impoverished town in Barnwell County. When Brown was two years old, his parents separated after his mother left his father for another man. After his mother abandoned the family, Brown continued to live with his father and his father's live-in girlfriends until he was six years old. After that time, Brown and his father moved to Augusta, Georgia.

His father sent him to live with an aunt, who ran a house of prostitution. Even though Brown lived with relatives, he spent long stretches of time on his own, hanging out on the streets and hustling to get by. Brown managed to stay in school until he dropped out in the seventh grade.

During his childhood, Brown earned money shining shoes, sweeping out stores, selling and trading in old stamps, washing cars and dishes and singing in talent contests. Brown also performed buck dances for change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon at the start of World War II as their convoys traveled over a canal bridge near his aunt's home. Between earning money from these adventures, Brown taught himself to play a harmonica given to him by his father. He learned to play some guitar from Tampa Red, in addition to learning to play piano and drums from others he met during this time. Brown was inspired to become an entertainer after watching Louis Jordan, a popular jazz and R&B; performer during the 1940s, and Jordan's Tympany Five performing "Caldonia" in a short film.

As an adult, Brown legally changed his name to remove the "Jr." designation. In his spare time, Brown spent time practicing his various skills in Augusta-area stalls and committing petty crimes. At the age of sixteen, he was convicted of armed robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center upstate in Toccoa in 1949.

In 1952, while Brown was still in reform school, he met future R&B; legend Bobby Byrd, who was there playing baseball against the reform school team. Byrd saw Brown perform there and admired his singing and performing talent. As a result of this friendship, Byrd's family helped Brown secure an early release after serving three years of his sentence. The authorities agreed to release Brown on the condition that he would get a job and not return to Augusta or Richmond County. After stints as a boxer and baseball pitcher in semi-professional baseball (a career move ended by a leg injury), Brown turned his energy toward music.

Career

Brown's career spanned decades, and profoundly influenced the development of many different musical genres. Brown moves on a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly Africanised approach to music making. Brown performed in concerts, first making his rounds across the "chitlin' circuit", and then across the country and later around the world, along with appearing in shows on television and in movies. Although he contributed much to the music world through his hitmaking, Brown holds the record as the artist who charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever hitting number one on that chart.

1955: The Famous Flames

In 1955, Brown and Bobby Byrd's sister Sarah performed in a group called "The Gospel Starlighters". Eventually, Brown joined Bobby Byrd's vocal group, the Avons, and Byrd turned the group's sound towards secular rhythm and blues. After the group's name was changed to The Flames, Brown and Byrd's group toured the Southern "chitlin' circuit". The group eventually signed a deal with the Cincinnati, Ohio-based label Federal Records, a sister label of King Records. Brown's early recordings were fairly straightforward gospel-inspired R&B; compositions, heavily influenced by the work of contemporary musicians such as Ray Charles, Little Willie John, Clyde McPhatter and Little Richard.

Little Richard's relations with Brown were particularly significant in Brown's development as a musician and showman. Brown once called Richard his idol, and credited Richard's saxophone-studded mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, with being the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat. Etta James recalled her first meeting with James Brown, in Macon, Georgia, where Brown had befriended Little Richard. She said Brown "used to carry around an old tattered napkin with him, because Little Richard had written the words, 'please, please, please' on it and James was determined to make a song out of it...". The resulting track "Please, Please, Please" ended up becoming The Flames first R&B; hit in 1956, selling over a million copies. However, nine subsequent singles released by The Flames failed to live up to the success of their debut, and the group was in danger of being dropped by Federal Records. When Little Richard left pop music in October 1957 to become a preacher, Brown filled out Little Richard's remaining tour dates in his place. Further, several former members of Little Richard's backup band joined Brown's group after Richard's exit from the pop music scene. Brown's group returned to the charts, hitting #1 R&B; in February 1959 with "Try Me". This hit record was the best-selling R&B; single of the year, becoming the first of 17 chart-topping R&B; singles by Brown over the next two decades. By the time "Try Me" was released on record, the group's billing was changed to James Brown and The Famous Flames. "The Famous Flames" was a vocal group, not a backing band.

In 1959, Brown and The Famous Flames moved from the Federal Records subsidiary to King Records, the parent label. Brown began to have recurring conflicts with King Records president Syd Nathan over repertoire and other matters. In one notable instance, Brown recorded the 1960 Top Ten R&B; hit "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, under the pseudonym "Nat Kendrick & The Swans" because Nathan refused to allow him to record it for King.

Early and mid-1960s

In 1962, the singer Tammi Terrell came to the attention of James Brown and the seventeen-year-old found herself in Brown's popular Revue becoming one of Brown's first female headliners. In 1963, Terrell recorded for Brown's Try Me Records, releasing the ballad, "I Cried", which gave her some chart success. Terrell and Brown also had a personal relationship, which was hampered by Brown's physical abuse towards her. After a horrific incident backstage after a show, Terrell asked singer Gene Chandler (the "Duke of Earl", who witnessed the incident first hand) to take her to the bus station so she could go home. He later called her mother to come pick her up. This ended Terrell's two-year relationship with Brown. Brown scored on the charts in the early 1960s with recordings such as his 1962 cover of "Night Train". While Brown's early singles were major hits across the southern United States and then regular R&B; Top Ten hits, he and the Famous Flames were not successful nationally until his self-financed live show was captured on the 1963 LP ''Live at the Apollo''. Brown financed the recording of the album himself, and it was released on King Records over the objections of label owner Syd Nathan, who saw no commercial potential in a live album containing no new songs. Defying Nathan's expectations, the album stayed on the pop charts for fourteen months, peaking at #2. In addition, Brown recorded a hit version of the ballad "Prisoner of Love", (his first Top 20 pop hit), in 1963 and founded (under King auspices) the fledgling Try Me Records, Brown's first attempt at running a record label.

Brown followed the success of ''Live at the Apollo'' with a string of singles that, along with the work of Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, essentially defined the foundation of Funk music. Driven by the success of ''Live at the Apollo'' and the failure of King Records to expand record promotion beyond the "black" market, James Brown and fellow Famous Flame Bobby Byrd formed a production company, Fair Deal, to promote sales of Brown's record releases to white audiences. In this arrangement, Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records, was used as a vehicle to distribute Brown's music. Smash released his 1964 hit "Out of Sight", which reached #24 on the pop charts and pointed the way to his later funk hits. Its release also triggered a legal battle between Smash and King that resulted in a one year ban on the release of Brown's vocal recordings.

During the mid-1960s, two of Brown's signature tunes "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)", both from 1965, were his first Top 10 pop hits, as well as major #1 R&B; hits, with each remaining the top-selling singles in black venues for over a month. In 1966, Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" won the Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording (an award last given in 1968). Brown's national profile was boosted further that year by appearances in the movie ''Ski Party'' and the concert film ''The T.A.M.I. Show'', in which he and The Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett and "Baby Lloyd" Stallworth) upstaged The Rolling Stones. In his concert repertoire and on record, Brown mingled his innovative rhythmic essays with Broadway show tunes and ballads, such as his hit "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (1966).

Late 1960s

As the 1960s decade neared its end, Brown continued to refine the new funk idiom. Brown's 1967 #1 R&B; hit, "Cold Sweat", sometimes cited as ''the first true funk song'', was the first of his recordings to contain a drum break and the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" and "Licking Stick-Licking Stick" (both recorded in 1968) and "Funky Drummer" (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown's mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs.

Changes in Brown's style that started with "Cold Sweat" also established the musical foundation for Brown's later hits, such as "I Got the Feelin'" (1968) and "Mother Popcorn" (1969). By this time Brown's vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades.

In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 ''Record World'' magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968 and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was "WJBE 1430 Raw Soul". At the time it was mentioned "Brown has also branched out into real estate and music publishing in recent months".

Brown's recordings influenced musicians across the industry, most notably Sly and his Family Stone, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s and soul shouters like King Curtis, Edwin Starr, Temptations David Ruffin, and Dennis Edwards. A then-prepubescent Michael Jackson took Brown's shouts and dancing into the pop mainstream as the lead singer of Motown's The Jackson 5. Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world's most sampled recording artist, with "Funky Drummer" itself becoming the most sampled individual piece of music.

Brown's band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B; with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker's prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown's band included stalwart singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, drummers John "Jabo" Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker (Maceo's brother), saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, trombonist Fred Wesley, guitarist Alphonso "Country" Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum.

During this period, Brown's music empire also expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown's music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including radio station WRDW in Augusta, Georgia where he shined shoes as a boy. Brown also branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. He recorded ''Gettin' Down To It'' (1969) and ''Soul on Top'' (1970), two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads and jazz standards, with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra respectively. He recorded a number of tracks with the Dapps, a white Cincinnati bar band, including the hit "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)". He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.

1970s and the J.B.'s

By 1970, most members of James Brown's classic 1960s band had quit his act for other opportunities, and The Famous Flames singing group had disbanded, with original member Bobby Byrd the only one remaining with Brown. Brown and Byrd employed a new band that included future funk greats, such as bassist Bootsy Collins, Collins' guitarist brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins and trombonist and musical director Fred Wesley. This new backing band was dubbed "The J.B.'s", and the band made its debut on Brown's 1970 single "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine". Although The J.B.'s went through several lineup changes, with the first change occurring in 1971, the band remained Brown's most familiar backing band.

In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, such as Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown's new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified his "house style". Songs such as "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd, "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins and "Doing It to Death" by Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s are considered as much a part of Brown's recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name.

In 1972, James Brown, when asked, openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon against the Democrat, George McGovern, and a nationwide boycott called by Black Democratic leaders damaged his status as the most successful Black entrepreneur in the country. Still, his popularity buoyed up his financial fortunes after a brief downturn, and he went on with his career, undaunted.

In 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film ''Black Caesar''. In 1974, he toured Africa and performed in Zaire as part of the buildup to the Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown's music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite Brown as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also "borrowed" from other musicians. His 1976 single "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)" (R&B; #31) used the main riff from "Fame" by David Bowie, not the other way around as was often believed. The riff was provided to "Fame" co-writers John Lennon and Bowie by guitarist Carlos Alomar, who had briefly been a member of Brown's band in the late 1960s.

Brown's Polydor recordings during the 1970s exemplified his innovations from the previous twenty years. Compositions such as "The Payback" (1973), "Papa Don't Take No Mess", "Stoned to the Bone", and "Funky President (People It's Bad)" (1974), and "Get Up Offa That Thing" (1976) were among his most noted recordings during this time.

Late 1970s and 1980s

By the mid-1970s, Brown's star-status was on the wane, and key musicians in his band such as Fred Wesley and Bootsy left to join Parliament-Funkadelic, the collective conducted by George Clinton. The onslaught of the slickly commercial style of disco caught Brown off guard, as it superseded his raw style of funk music on the dance floor. His 1976 albums ''Get Up Offa That Thing'' and ''Bodyheat'' were Brown's first flirtations with disco rhythms and its slicker production techniques. While the albums ''Mutha's Nature'' (1977) and ''Jam 1980s'' (1978) did not generate chart hits, Brown's 1979 LP ''The Original Disco Man'' was a notable late addition to his oeuvre. This album featured the song "It's Too Funky in Here", which was his last top R&B; hit of the decade. Like the rest of the songs on ''The Original Disco Man'', "It's Too Funky in Here" was not produced by Brown himself, but produced instead by Brad Shapiro.

Brown's contract with Polydor expired in 1981, and his recording and touring schedule was somewhat reduced. Despite these events, Brown experienced something of a resurgence during the 1980s, effectively crossing over to a broader, more mainstream audience. He appeared in the feature films ''The Blues Brothers'', ''Doctor Detroit'' and ''Rocky IV'', as well as guest starring in the ''Miami Vice'' episode "Missing Hours" (1988). He also recorded ''Gravity'', a modestly popular crossover album released on his new host label Scotti Bros., and the 1986 top 10 hit single "Living in America" (written by Dan Hartman), which was featured prominently in the ''Rocky IV'' film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and was credited as "The Godfather of Soul." In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance for "Living in America." Acknowledging his influence on modern hip-hop and R&B; music, Brown collaborated with hip-hop artist Afrika Bambaataa on the single "Unity."

In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the hip-hop influenced album ''I'm Real'', which spawned a #5 R&B; hit single, "Static". Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" (the recording included on the compilation album ''In the Jungle Groove'') became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the late 1970s and early 1980s that hip hop founding father Kurtis Blow called the song "the national anthem of hip hop".

1990s to the 2000s

After a stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown released the album ''Love Overdue'', with the new single "Move On". Brown also released the 1991 four-CD box set ''Star Time'', which included music spanning his four-decade career at that time. Nearly all of his earlier LPs were re-released on CD, often with additional tracks and commentary by experts on Brown's music. In 1991, Brown appeared in MC Hammer's video "Too Legit to Quit" (or "2 Legit 2 Quit"), someone Hammer idolized. In 1993, James Brown released the album ''Universal James'', which spawned the singles "Can't Get Any Harder", "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina". In 1995, the live album ''Live at the Apollo 1995'' was released, featuring the new studio track "Respect Me", which was released as a single that same year. Brown followed up this single with the megamix "Hooked on Brown" that was released as a single in 1996. Brown's later LP releases during this time included the 1998 studio album ''I'm Back'' that featured the single "Funk on ah Roll", and the 2002 album ''The Next Step'' that featured the single "Killing is Out, School is In," both produced and co-written by Derrick Monk. Brown participated in the PBS ''American Masters'' television documentary ''James Brown: Soul Survivor'', which was directed by Jeremy Marre.

Although Brown had various run-ins with the law, he continued to perform and record regularly, and he also made appearances in television shows and films, such as ''Blues Brothers 2000'', and sporting events, such as his 2000 appearance at the World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event ''SuperBrawl X''. In Brown's appearance at the SuperBrawl X event, he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, whose character was based on Brown, during his in ring skit with The Maestro. Brown was featured in Tony Scott's 2001 short film, ''Beat the Devil'', alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film ''The Tuxedo'', in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after Brown was accidentally knocked out by Chan. In 2002, Brown appeared in ''Undercover Brother'', playing the role as himself.

Brown appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". He also performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, a week earlier on the United Kingdom chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''. Before his death, Brown was scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" for her new album ''Venus'', scheduled for release in early 2007. In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades Of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performance was in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. Brown's last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month.

James Brown Revue

For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music. At the time of Brown's death, his band included three guitarists, two bass guitar players, two drummers, three horns and a percussionist. The bands that he maintained during the late 1960s and 1970s were of comparable size, and the bands also included a three-piece amplified string section that played during ballads. Brown employed between 40 and 50 people for the James Brown Revue, and members of the revue traveled with him in a bus to cities and towns all over the country, performing upwards of 330 shows a year with almost all of the shows as one-nighters.

Concert introduction

Before James Brown appeared on stage, his personal MC gave him an elaborate introduction accompanied by drumrolls, as the MC worked in Brown's various sobriquets along with the names of many of his hit songs. The introduction by Fats Gonder, captured on Brown's 1963 album ''Live at the Apollo'' album, is a representative example:

So now ladies and gentlemen it is star time, are you ready for star time? Thank you and thank you very kindly. It is indeed a great pleasure to present to you at this particular time, national and international[ly] known as the hardest working man in show business, the man that sings "I'll Go Crazy" ... "Try Me" ... "You've Got the Power" ... "Think" ... "If You Want Me" ... "I Don't Mind" ... "Bewildered" ...the million dollar seller, "Lost Someone" ... the very latest release, "Night Train" ... let's everybody "Shout and Shimmy" ... Mr. Dynamite, the amazing Mr. Please Please himself, the star of the show, James Brown and The Famous Flames!!

Among the MCs who worked with Brown and his revue through the years, Brown's most famous MC was Danny Ray, who appeared on stage with him for over 30 years.

Concert repertoire and format

James Brown's performances were famous for their intensity and length. His own stated goal was to "give people more than what they came for — make them tired, 'cause ''that's'' what they came for.'" Brown's concert repertoire consisted mostly of his own hits and recent songs, with a few R&B; covers mixed in. Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides. In addition, his horn players and backup singers (The Famous Flames) typically performed choreographed dance routines, and later incarnations of the Revue included backup dancers. Male performers in the Revue were required to wear tuxedoes and cummerbunds long after more casual concert wear became the norm among the younger musical acts. Brown's own extravagant outfits and his elaborate processed hairdo completed the visual impression.

A James Brown concert typically included a performance by a featured vocalist, such as Vicki Anderson or Marva Whitney, and an instrumental feature for the band, which sometimes served as the opening act for the show. Although Brown released many live albums, ''Say It Live & Loud: Live in Dallas 08.26.68'', released by Polydor in 1998, was one of only a few audio recordings that captured a performance of the James Brown Revue from beginning to end.

Cape routine

A trademark feature of Brown's stage shows, usually during the song "Please, Please, Please", involved Brown dropping to his knees while clutching the microphone stand in his hands, prompting the show's longtime MC, Danny Ray, to come out, drape a cape over Brown's shoulders and escort him off the stage after he had worked himself to exhaustion during his performance. As Brown was escorted off the stage by the MC, Brown's vocal group, The Famous Flames, continued singing the background vocals "Please, please don't go-oh-oh". Brown would then shake off the cape and stagger back to the microphone to perform an encore. Brown's routine was inspired by a similar one used by the professional wrestler Gorgeous George.

Brown performs a version of the cape routine over the closing credits of the film ''Blues Brothers 2000''.

As band leader

Brown demanded extreme discipline, perfection and precision from his musicians and dancers — right down to when performers in his Revue showed up for rehearsals all the way to whether members wore the right "uniform" or "costume" for concert performances. During an interview conducted by Terri Gross during the NPR segment "Fresh Air" with Maceo Parker, a former saxophonist in Brown's band for most of the 1960s and part of the 1970s and 1980s, Parker offered his experience with the discipline that Brown demanded of the band:

Brown also had a practice of directing, correcting and assessing fines on members of his band who broke his rules, such as wearing unshined shoes, dancing out of sync or showing up late on stage. During some of his concert performances, Brown danced in front of his band with his back to the audience as he slid across the floor, flashing hand signals and splaying his pulsating fingers to the beat of the music. Although audiences thought Brown's dance routine was part of his act, this practice was actually his way of pointing to the offending member of his troupe who played or sang the wrong note or committed some other infraction. Brown used his splayed fingers and hand signals to alert the offending person of the fine that person must pay to him for breaking his rules.

Social activism

Civil unrest and self-empowerment

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, James Brown was renowned for his social activism. In 1966, he released the single "Don't Be a Drop-Out" as a lesson to young students who had thoughts of dropping out. He later made public speeches in front of dozens of children and advocated the importance of education in school. In 1967, he issued a patriotic single, "America is My Home", which was a "rap" about how he felt people, particularly in the African-American community, were neglecting the country that he said "could give (them) opportunities" explaining how at one time he was shining shoes and the next, he was greeting the President of the United States as he did when President Lyndon B. Johnson thanked him for donating money to school drop-out prevention programs.

In 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Brown released "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" following pressure from fans to take a stance on the civil rights movement, an issue he had avoided up until this point. It became an anthem of the civil rights movement. Brown later said of it in his 1986 autobiography “The song is obsolete now... But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people... People called "Black and Proud" militant and angry - maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children's song. That's why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride... The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don't regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.”

He performed in front of a televised audience in Boston the day after Dr. King's death. Brown is often given credit for preventing rioting with the performance. Mayor Kevin White strongly restrained the Boston Police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination, and Boston religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring. Also, White arranged to have the Brown performance broadcast multiple times on Boston's public television station, WGBH, thus keeping many potential rioters off the streets, watching the concert for free. Brown demanded $60,000 for "gate" fees (money he thought would be lost from ticket sales on account of the concert being broadcast for free), and then threatened to go public about the secret arrangement when the city balked at paying up after the concert, news of which would have been a political death-blow to White, and possibly sparked riots on its own. White successfully lobbied the behind-the-scenes power-brokering group known as "The Vault" to come up with money for Brown's gate fee and other social programs; The Vault contributed $100,000 to such programs, and Brown received $15,000 from them via the city. White persuaded management at the Boston Garden to give up their share of receipts to make up the difference. The story is documented in the PBS film "The Night James Brown Saved Boston".

Afterwards, President Johnson urged Brown to visit Washington, D.C. to greet inner-city residents there performing at a benefit concert there and expressed the notion that violence "wasn't the way to go". Many in the black community felt that Brown was speaking out to them more than some major leaders in the country, a sentiment that was strengthened with the release of his groundbreaking landmark single, "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud".

Brown continued performing benefit concerts for various civil rights organizations including Jesse Jackson's PUSH and The Black Panther Party's Breakfast program throughout the early-1970s. Brown also continued to release socially conscious singles such as "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)" (1969), "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" (1971), "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing" (1972), "King Heroin" (1972), "Funky President (People It's Bad)" (1974) and "Reality" (1975). The week before his death, Brown took time to give Christmas presents to an orphanage in Atlanta.

Personal life

At the end of his life, James Brown lived in a riverfront home in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. James Brown was diagnosed with diabetes at a very early stage of his life. Brown was once diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery. Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule. However, James Brown led as colorful a life on stage with his performances, as he had off stage with his troubles with the law and his last marriage in particular.

Marriages and children

Brown was married three times — Velma Warren (1953–1969, divorced), Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins (22 October 1970–10 January 1981, divorced) and Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (born 9 March 1950) (1984–1996, wife's death). He also had a relationship with Tomi Rae Hynie (2001–2004). From these and other relationships, James Brown had five sons — Teddy Brown (1954–1973), Terry Brown, and Larry Brown, Daryl Brown (a member of Brown's backing band) and James Joseph Brown II, in addition to four daughters — Lisa Brown, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown. Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on 14 June 1973. According to a 22 August 2007 article published in the British newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph'', DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three illegitimate children. The only one of them who has been identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired air stewardess and teacher who lives in Houston.

JB Skate Culture

There is a rollerskating art form called JB created and dedicated to James Brown in Chicago, Illinois. It is a culture that has grown over three decades that has a distinct style that is recognized by specific moves, tempo, and attitude. The music is created by local Chicago musical producers who personally love James Brown and his music, many of them roller skate themselves. The music starts with taking samples of original James Brown songs and then the producer puts his or her creative spin on it.

Brown-Hynie marriage controversy

Much controversy surrounds Tomi Rae Hynie's marriage to James Brown on December 23, 2002, officiated by Rev. Larry Fryer. Brown's longtime attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reported that the marriage between Brown and Hynie was not valid because Hynie was married at that time to Javed Ahmed, a Bangladeshi whom Hynie claimed married her for a Green Card in an immigration fraud. Although Hynie stated that her marriage to Javed Ahmed was later annulled, this annulment did not occur until April 2004. In an interview on CNN with Larry King, Hynie produced a 2001 marriage certificate as proof of her marriage to James Brown, but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to him or to Ahmed.

According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie concealed her prior marriage from him, and that Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie. Dallas added that, although Hynie's marriage to Javed Ahmed was annulled after she married James Brown, the Brown-Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment. In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in ''Variety Magazine'' featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at Disney World to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways.

Paternity of James Brown II

In a separate CNN interview, Debra Opri, another Brown family attorney, revealed to Larry King that Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown II — not for Brown's sake, but for the sake of the other family members. In April 2007, Hynie selected a guardian ad litem whom she wants appointed by the court to represent her son, James Brown II, in the paternity proceedings.

Legal issues

Brown's personal life was marred by several brushes with the law:

At the age of 16, he was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison.

In 1988, Brown was arrested following an alleged high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 along the Georgia-South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released in 1991 after serving only three years of his sentence. Brown's FBI file, released to ''The Washington Post'' in 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, related Brown's claim that the high-speed chase did not occur as claimed by the police, and that local police shot at his car several times during an incident of police harassment and assaulted him after his arrest. Local authorities found no merit to Brown's accusations.

In another incident, the police were summoned to Brown's residence on July 3, 2000 after he was accused of charging an electric company repairman with a steak knife when the repairman visited Brown's house to investigate a complaint about having no lights at the residence.

In 2003, Brown was pardoned by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Brown was repeatedly arrested for domestic violence:

Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s on charges of assault.

In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. Later that year in June 2004, Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a US$1,087 bond as punishment.

In January 2005, a woman named Jacque Hollander filed a lawsuit against James Brown, which stemmed from an alleged 1988 forcible rape. When the case was initially heard before a judge in 2002, Hollander's claims against Brown were dismissed by the court as the limitations period for filing the suit had expired. Hollander claimed that stress from the alleged assault later caused her to contract Graves' Disease, a thyroid condition. Hollander claimed that the incident took place in South Carolina while she was employed by Brown as a publicist. Hollander alleged that, during her ride in a van with Brown, Brown pulled over to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her while he threatened her with a shotgun. In her case against Brown, Hollander entered as evidence a DNA sample and a polygraph result, but the evidence was not considered due to the limitations defense. Hollander later attempted to bring her case before the Supreme Court but nothing became of her complaint.

Death and aftermath

Death

On December 23, 2006, James Brown, in ill health, showed up at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia several hours later than his appointment for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that Brown looked "very bad ... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the dental work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.

Brown checked in at the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on December 24, 2006 for a medical evaluation of his condition, and he was admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment. According to Charles Bobbit, Brown's longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been sick and suffering with a noisy cough since he returned from a November trip to Europe. Bobbit also added that it was characteristic of Brown to never tell or complain to anyone that he was sick, and that Brown frequently performed during illness. Although Brown had to cancel upcoming shows in Waterbury, Connecticut and Englewood, New Jersey, Brown was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time to perform the New Year's Eve shows.

For the New Year's celebrations, Brown was scheduled to perform at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and at the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special. However, Brown remained hospitalized, and his medical condition worsened throughout that day.

On December 25, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 AM EST (06:45 UTC) from congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia, with his agent Frank Copsidas and his friend Paul Sargent at his bedside. According to Sargent, Brown stuttered "I'm going away tonight", and then Brown took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.

Memorial services

After Brown's death on Christmas day, Brown's relatives and friends, a host of celebrities and thousands of fans attended public memorial services at the Apollo Theater in New York on December 28, 2006 and at the James Brown Arena on December 30, 2006 in Augusta, Georgia. A separate, private memorial service was also held in North Augusta, South Carolina on December 29, 2006, which was attended by Brown's family and close friends. Celebrities who attended Brown's public and/or private memorial services included Michael Jackson, Jimmy Cliff, Joe Frazier, Buddy Guy, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Little Richard, Dick Gregory, MC Hammer, Prince, Jesse Jackson, Ice-T, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, and Don King, among others. All of the public and private memorial services were officiated by Rev. Al Sharpton.

Brown's public and private memorial ceremonies were elaborate, complete with costume changes for Brown and videos featuring him in concert performances. Brown's body, which was placed in a Promethean casket, which is bronze polished to a golden shine, was driven through the streets of New York to the Apollo Theater in a white, glass-encased horse-drawn carriage. In Augusta, Georgia, the procession for Brown's public memorial visited Brown's statue as the procession made its way to the James Brown Arena. During the public memorial at the James Brown Arena, nachos and pretzels were served to mourners, as a video showed Brown's last performance in Augusta, Georgia and the Ray Charles version of "Georgia On My Mind" played soulfully in the background. Brown's last backup band, The Soul Generals, also played the music of Brown's hits during the memorial service at the James Brown Arena. The group was joined by Bootsy Collins on bass, with MC Hammer performing a dance in James Brown style. Former Temptations lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson performed "Walk Around Heaven All Day" at the memorial services.

Last will and testament

James Brown signed his last will and testament on August 1, 2000, before Strom Thurmond, Jr., an attorney for Brown's estate. The irrevocable trust, separate and apart from Brown's will, was created on Brown's behalf in 2000 by his attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, who was named as one of three personal representatives of Brown's estate. Brown's will covered the disposition of his personal assets, such as clothing, cars and jewelry, while Brown's irrevocable trust covered the disposition of music rights, business assets of James Brown Enterprises and Brown's Beech Island estate in South Carolina.

During the reading of Brown's will on January 11, 2007, Thurmond revealed that Brown's six adult living children (Terry Brown, Larry Brown, Daryl Brown, Yamma Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown) were named in the will. Hynie and James II were not mentioned in the will as parties who could inherit Brown's property. Brown's will was signed ten months before James II was born and more than a year before Brown's marriage to Tomi Rae Hynie. Like Brown's will, his irrevocable trust also did not mention Hynie and James II as recipients of Brown's property. The irrevocable trust was established before, and had not been amended since, the birth of James II.

On January 24, 2007, Brown's children filed a lawsuit against the personal representatives of Brown's estate. In their petition, Brown's children asked the court to remove the personal representatives of Brown's estate (including Brown's attorney and estate's trustee, Albert "Buddy" Dallas) and appoint a special administrator because of perceived impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown's assets. To challenge the validity of the will and irrevocable trust, Hynie also filed a lawsuit against Brown's estate on January 31, 2007. In her lawsuit against Brown's estate, Hynie asked the court to recognize her as Brown's widow, and she also asked the court to appoint a special administrator for the estate.

Burial at temporary site

After the public and private memorial services in late December 2006, James Brown's body remained in his casket for a time in a temperature-controlled room at his estate. Brown's casket was later moved to an undisclosed location, while his children and Tomi Rae Hynie became embroiled in disputes about Brown's final resting place and matters related to probating his will. More than ten weeks after Brown's death and the public and private memorial services, Brown's children and Hynie decided on a temporary burial site for James Brown. Brown was buried on March 10, 2007 in a crypt at the home of Deanna Brown Thomas, one of Brown's daughters who also held a private ceremony for the temporary burial. The private ceremony for the temporary burial, officiated by Al Sharpton, was attended by Brown's family and a host of friends.

According to Brown's family, Brown's body will remain buried at the temporary site while a public mausoleum is built for him and a decision has been made for Brown's final resting place. To turn Brown's estate into a visitor attraction, Brown's family plans to consult with the family of Elvis Presley for guidance about converting the estate into an attraction similar to Graceland.

Dallas, Brown's long time attorney and one of the trustees for Brown's estate, did not attend the private service for the temporary burial. He expressed his disapproval and disappointment with the temporary burial arrangement with the comment "Mr. Brown's not deserving of anyone's backyard." According to Dallas, the trustees for Brown's estate "had made arrangements for Brown to be laid to rest at no cost at a 'very prominent memorial garden in Augusta.'"

Honors, awards and dedications

James Brown received a variety of awards and honors throughout his lifetime and after his death. At one city, fans voted to honor Brown by naming a bridge after the entertainer. In 1993, the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado conducted a poll of its residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. The winning name with 7,717 votes was "James Brown SoulCenter of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and James Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event. Although a petition was started by a local group of ranchers to return the name of the bridge to "Stockbridge" for historical reasons, the ranchers backed off after citizens defeated their efforts because of the popularity of Brown's name. Brown returned to Steamboat Springs, Colorado on July 4, 2002 for an outdoor music festival, performing with other bands such as The String Cheese Incident.

During his long career, James Brown received several prestigious music industry awards and honors. In 1983, Brown was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In addition, Brown was named as one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. However, the members of his original vocal group, The Famous Flames, Bobby Byrd, Johnny Terry, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth, were not. On February 25, 1992, Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards. Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. A ceremony was held for Brown on January 10, 1997 to honor him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On June 15, 2000, Brown was honored as an inductee for the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame. On August 6, 2002, James Brown was honored as the first BMI Urban Icon at the BMI Urban Awards. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B; Awards and six Pop Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees who performed at the ceremony. In recognition of his accomplishments as an entertainer, Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors on December 7, 2003. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked James Brown as #7 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In an article for ''Rolling Stone'', critic Robert Christgau cited Brown as "the greatest musician of the rock era".

Brown was also honored in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia for his philanthropy and civic activities. On November 20, 1993, Mayor Charles DeVaney of Augusta held a ceremony to dedicate a section of 9th Street between Broad and Twiggs Streets, renamed "James Brown Boulevard", in the entertainer's honor. On May 6, 2005, as a 72nd birthday present for Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a life-sized bronze James Brown statue on Broad Street. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge that Brown faced at the time. In 2005, Charles "Champ" Walker and the We Feel Good Committee went before the County commission and received apporoval to change Augusta's slogan to "We Feel Good". Afterwards, Official renamed the city's civic center the James Brown Arena, and James Brown attended a ceremony for the unveiling of the namesake center on October 15, 2006.

On December 30, 2006, during the public memorial service at the James Brown Arena, Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, president of Paine College, a historically black college in Augusta, Georgia, bestowed posthumously upon Brown an honorary doctorate in recognition and honor of his many contributions to the school in its times of need. Brown was scheduled originally to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.

During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards presentation held on February 11, 2007, James Brown's famous cape was draped over a microphone at the end of a montage by ''Danny Ray'' (his M.C. for over 30 years), in honor of notable persons in the music industry, including Brown, who died during the previous year. Earlier that evening, Christina Aguilera delivered an impassioned performance of one of Brown's hits, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" followed by a standing ovation, while Chris Brown performed a dance routine in honor of James Brown.

Tributes

As a tribute to James Brown, the Rolling Stones covered the song, "I'll Go Crazy" from Brown's ''Live at the Apollo'' album, during its 2007 European tour. On September 12, 2007, barely nine months after James Brown's death, Bobby Byrd, the original leader and founder of The Famous Flames vocal group along with Brown, died of cancer at 73 years old. Jimmy Page has remarked, "He [James Brown] was almost a musical genre in his own right and he changed and moved forward the whole time so people were able to learn from him."

On December 22, 2007, the first annual "Tribute Fit For the King of King Records" in honor of James Brown was held at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky. The tribute, organized by Bootsy Collins, featured appearances by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D of Public Enemy, The Soul Generals, Buckethead, Freekbass, Triage and many of Brown's surviving family members. Comedian Michael Coyer was the MC for the event. During the show, the mayor of Cincinnati proclaimed December 22 as James Brown Day. It has been said that a biopic is in the works about Brown; Spike Lee has signed on to direct, with Brian Grazer producing and Jez and John-Henry Butterworth writing the script. Usher and Fergie are interested in being in the project.

In 2008, Aaron Smith (aka Shwayze), an American rapper, titled the 8th track of his self-titled album "James Brown is Dead" as a tribute to the Godfather of Soul.

Discography

Notable albums

Four of James Brown's albums appeared on the ''Rolling Stone Magazine's'' 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time:

''Live at the Apollo'' (1963) (#24)

''In the Jungle Groove'' (1986) (#330)

''Star Time'' (1991) (#79)

''20 All-Time Greatest Hits!'' (1991) (#414)

In addition, Brown's 1970 double album ''Sex Machine'' was ranked 96th in a 2005 survey held by British television station Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. Other notable albums, originally released as double LP records, feature extensive playing by The J.B.'s and served as prolific sources of samples for later musical artists, including:

''Get On the Good Foot'' (1972)

''The Payback'' (1974)

''Hell'' (1974)

The 1968 ''Live at the Apollo, Vol. II'' double LP album was notably influential on musicians at the time of its release. This classic album remains an example of Brown's energetic live performances and audience interaction, as well as providing a means of documenting the metamorphosis of his music from the R&B; and soul styles into hard funk.

Notable singles

Until the early 1970s, Brown was famous mostly for his road show and singles, rather than his albums (with his live LPs as a major exception). Six of his hit singles appeared on the ''Rolling Stone Magazine's'' 2004 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time:

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965) (#72)

"I Got You (I Feel Good)" (1965) (#78)

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (1966) (#123)

"Please, Please, Please" (1956) (#142)

"Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" (1968) (#305)

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" (1970) (#326)

Complete singles reissue

In 2006, Hip-O Select Records began a multi-volume reissue of James Brown's complete singles (both A-sides and B-sides) on CD. As of March 2011, ten volumes have been released, covering the periods 1956–1960, 1960–1963, 1964–1965, 1966–1967, 1967–1969, 1969–1970, 1970–1972, 1972–1973, 1973–1975 and 1975-1979. The liner notes included in the CD release of Volume Ten indicate that an eleventh volume is in the works.

Filmography

''The T.A.M.I. Show'' (1964) (documentary)

''Ski Party'' (1965)

''The Phynx'' (1970)

''Black Caesar'' (1973) (soundtrack only)

''Slaughter's Big Ripoff'' (1974) (soundtrack only)

''The Blues Brothers'' (1980)

''Doctor Detroit'' (1983)

''Rocky IV'' (1985)

''When We Were Kings'' (1996) (documentary)

''Soulmates'' (1997)

''Blues Brothers 2000'' (1998)

portrayed by Carlton Smith in ''Liberty Heights'' (1999)

''Holy Man'' (1998)

''Undercover Brother'' (2002)

''The Tuxedo'' (2002)

''The Hire: Beat The Devil'' (2002) (short film)

''Paper Chasers'' (2003) (documentary)

''Sid Bernstein Presents...'' (2005) (documentary)

''Glastonbury'' (2006) (documentary)

''Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown'' (2007) (documentary; release pending)

''I Got The Feelin': James Brown in the '60s'' (three-DVD set featuring the film ''The Night James Brown Saved Boston'', ''Live at the Boston Garden 1968'' and ''Live at the Apollo '68''

''Soul Power'' (2009) (documentary)

In other media

Games

In the video game ''World of Warcraft'', Bronjahm (the first boss character in the "Forge of Souls" level) contributes music to the game, refers to himself as "the Godfather of Souls", and accompanies each new music cue with a James Brown reference.

In ''The Godfather 2'' video game, Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" plays behind the end credits.

A different version of "I Got You (I Feel Good)", recorded in 1974, is playable in the rhythm video game ''Rock Band 3''. In addition, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (Pt. 1)" is available for download across the series, while "Super Bad (Pts. 1 & 2)" was released later, only for the third game.

References

; Footnotes

; Other references

Sussman, M. (producer). (2006, December 25). Arts: Soul classics by James Brown (multimedia presentation). ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.

Slide show: James Brown through the years. (2006, December 25). ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.

Lethem, J. (2006, June 12). Being James Brown. ''Rolling Stone Magazine''. Retrieved January 14, 2007.

''Rolling Stone Magazine'' audio interview with Jonathan Lethem about James Brown and his music. ''Rolling Stone Magazine''. Retrieved January 9, 2007.

External links

Profile of James Brown at Soul Evolution

''The Times'' Obituary for James Brown

James Brown, 1933-2006. News and multimedia archive from The Augusta Chronicle

James Brown's Musicians Reflect On His Legacy – article from ''Down Beat Magazine''

Biography: James Brown and the Black Arts movement of the 60s and 70s (biography at Funky-Stuff.com).

James Brown biography and concert review in cosmopolis.ch

RBMA Radio On Demand – Across 135th Street – Volume 7 – Tribute to James Brown - Chairman Mao (RBMA, Egotrip)

1980 Interview with James Brown and the Rev. Al Sharpton by Jon Alpert on Democracy Now

James Brown concert and interviews on NPR Music

James Brown radiostream

James Brown funeral program Digital Library of Georgia

The James Brown SuperFan Club

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Jimmy Clanton (born September 2, 1940, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American singer who became known as the "swamp pop R&B; teenage idol". His band recorded a hit song "Just A Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number four on the ''Billboard'' chart and sold a million copies. Clanton performed on Dick Clark's ''American Bandstand'' and toured with popular artists like Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Platters.

History

Clanton formed his first band called the Rockets in 1956 while attending Baton Rouge High School.

One of the few white singers to come out of the New Orleans R&B;/rock & roll sound, he rode the crest of the popular teen music wave in the 1950s and 1960s. His records charted in the top 40 seven times (all released on Ace); his Top 10 records were: the doo-wop song "Just a Dream," (Pop #4, R&B; #1 in August 1958, credited to 'Jimmy Clanton and His Rockets'), "Go Jimmy Go" (peaked at number five in late 1959) and "Venus in Blue Jeans" (written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller). In early 1961, Clanton was drafted and spent the next two years in the U.S. Army, continuing to have chart successes with "Don't Look at Me" and "Because I Do." His next major hit, "Venus in Blue Jeans," peaked at number seven in mid-1962.

Clanton starred in a rock and roll movie produced by Alan Freed called ''Go Johnny Go'', and later starred in ''Teenage Millionaire,'' with music arranged and produced by Dr. John and arranger/trumpeter Charlie Miller. During the late 1950s and early 1960s Clanton was managed by Cosimo Matassa, the New Orleans recording studio owner and engineer. In May 1960, Ace Records announced in ''Billboard'' that Philadelphia had proclaimed the week of May 16 to be "Jimmy Clanton Week."

Clanton became a disc jockey at WHEX in Columbia, Pennsylvania between 1972 and 1976 and performed in an oldies revue also in the 1970s, ''The Masters of Rock 'n' Roll,'' with Troy Shondell, Ray Peterson, and Ronnie Dove. He had a religious conversion in the 1980s. In the 1995 Jazz Fest in New Orleans, Clanton performed with Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and Frankie Ford.

Clanton was inducted into The Museum of the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame, which also has inducted such performers as Tex Ritter, Janis Joplin, ZZ Top and B. J. Thomas.

On April 14, 2007, at a "Legends of Louisiana Celebration & Inductions" concert in Mandeville, Louisiana, Jimmy Clanton was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

In December 2007, Clanton was voted by fans worldwide as a member of the first class of inductees to the Hit Parade Hall of Fame, joining an elite group that also included (alphabetically) Paul Anka, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, the Beach Boys, Teresa Brewer, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Chubby Checker, Nat "King" Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Fats Domino, The Four Seasons, Aretha Franklin, Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Patti Page, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Neil Sedaka, and Frank Sinatra.

Awards

Clanton's songs "Just a Dream," "A Letter to an Angel," "Ship on a Stormy Sea," and "Venus in Blue Jeans," each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.

References

External links

Official website

Prairiehillpress.com

Category:People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Category:1940 births Category:Songwriters from Louisiana Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American male singers Category:Living people Category:Swamp pop music Category:Ace Records artists Category:Baton Rouge Magnet High School alumni