Look up track in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Track or Tracks may refer to:

• Trail, an informal road or pathway
• Animal tracks, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walk across
• A Conference track is a group of talks on a certain topic that are usually made in parallel with others
• Trackway, an ancient route of travel or track used by animals

In electronics and computing[link]

• Track (CD), consecutive set of sectors on the disc containing a block of data
• Track (disk drive), a circular path on the surface of a disk or diskette on which information is recorded and read

In entertainment[link]

• Separate audio signals recorded in a recording studio
• Tracks (film), a 1976 film starring Dennis Hopper
• Tracks (Oscar Peterson album), 1970
• Tracks (Liverpool Express album), 1976
• Tracks (Bruce Springsteen album), 1998
• Tracks (Bomb The Bass & Jack Dangers album), 1998
• Tracks (Collin Raye album), 2000
• "Tracks", a song by Gary Numan on his album The Pleasure Principle
• Track Records, a record label founded in 1966 in London, England
• Tracks (magazine), monthly Australian surf
• Tracks (novel), written by Native American author Louise Erdrich
• Tracks (Transformers), a Transformers character
• Tracks Inc (Tracks Dance Theatre), based in Darwin, Australia

In music[link]

• Audio channel
• Song
• Track (CD), consecutive set of sectors on the disc containing a block of data

In sports[link]

• All-weather running track, a rubberized surface for track and field competitions
• Cinder track, generally a refined dirt running track for track and field competitions
• List of bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks
• Long track speed skating
• Race track
• Tartan track, a brand of all-weather running track that has become genericized
• Track and field athletics
• Track cycling
• Velodrome, a track for bicycles, track cycling competitions
• First tracks, in winter sports, cutting through fresh snow or ice before anyone else does (which often means making the first morning run when the course first opens)

In transportation[link]

• Axle track, the distance between centres of roadwheels on an axle of a motor vehicle
• Continuous track, a belt providing motive traction for a tracked vehicle such as a tank or a bulldozer
• Course (navigation), the path a vessel or aircraft plots over the surface of the Earth
  • Ground track, the path on the surface of the Earth directly below an aircraft or satellite
  • Ocean track, in flight planning, the path of an aircraft as determined by heading, slip, and wind effects
• Rail tracks, metal tracks on which trains ride
  • Track gauge, the distance between rails

See also[link]

• Tracker (disambiguation)
• Tracking (disambiguation)
• TRAC (disambiguation)
• Track & Trace
• Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Flux Pavilion
Birth name	Joshua Steele
Born	(1989-01-15) January 15, 1989 (age 23) Towcester, UK
Genres	Electronic, Dubstep
Occupations	Producer, DJ
Years active	2008-Present
Labels	Circus
Associated acts	Doctor P, Example, SKisM, Foreign Beggars
Website	facebook.com/fluxpavilion

Joshua Steele, known professionally as Flux Pavilion, is an English dubstep producer and DJ.^[1] He is the co-founder of Circus Records, along with Doctor P, DJ Swan-E and Dyspro.^[2] He is best known for his 2011 single "Bass Cannon", which peaked at number 56 on the UK Singles Chart,^[3] and was placed on the Radio 1 A-List. Along with Doctor P, Flux Pavilion presented the 2011 compilation album Circus One, to which he contributed four tracks. In August 2011 his track "I Can't Stop" was sampled by producer Shama “Sak Pase” Joseph for hip-hop album, Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West.^[4] In December 2011, Flux Pavilion was nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll, as one of only two independent artists on the longlist.^[5] On 5 March 2012, his track "I Can't Stop" was used in the viral Kony 2012 campaign, and was previously featured in SSX.

Discography[link]

Extended plays[link]

Compilations[link]

• Doctor P and Flux Pavilion - Circus One^[8]

Singles[link]

Other releases[link]

Remixes[link]

As producer[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Flux Pavilion on Facebook
• Flux Pavilion on Myspace

This article about an English musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Rick Ross (often stylized as RICK RO$$), is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group, on which he released his studio albums Deeper Than Rap and Teflon Don, Ross was also the first artist signed to Diddy's management company Ciroc Entertainment. In early 2012, MTV named Ross as the Hottest MC In The Game.^[3]

Early life[link]

William Leonard Roberts II was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi.^[1] and raised in Carol City, Florida, near Miami.^[2] After graduating from Carol City Senior High School, he later attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship.^[4]

Music career[link]

After being signed to Suave House Records, former label for rap duo 8Ball & MJG, he eventually signed a deal with Slip-n-Slide Records, which has been under the Def Jam umbrella since 2006. While signed to Slip-n-Slide, Ross toured with fellow rapper Trick Daddy and made guest performances on other Slip-n-Slide albums.^[2]

[edit] Port of Miami (2006)

His debut album Port of Miami was released in August 2006 and debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, with sales at 187,000 units after its first week.^[5][6] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine predicted that it would be "the summer's biggest rap record".^[7] The second single was "Push It", which samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)", the theme song off the gangster film Scarface.^[8] The music video for "Push It" was modeled after the film.^[9] During that time, Ross made guest performances on two singles from DJ Khaled's debut Listennn... the Album: "Born-N-Raised" and "Holla at Me". Port of Miami received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on November 8, 2006.

[edit] Trilla (2008)

In March 2008, his second album Trilla was released and, as its predecessor Port of Miami had, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.^[10] Its lead single "Speedin'" featuring R. Kelly peaked at #121 on the Billboard Hot 100; the next one, "The Boss" featuring T-Pain peaked at #17 on the Hot 100. The third single "Here I Am" featured Nelly and Avery Storm.^[11] MTV News ranked Ross on the fourth spot in its 2008 "Hottest MCs In The Game" list among ten rappers.^[12] The fourth single "This Is The Life" featured Trey Songz and was released in July.

[edit] Deeper Than Rap (2009)

"I look at the game and the business and all different aspects, it's a lot of great lyricists on the corner that will never properly understand the business and know how to market themselves and get in a position where they can gain capital. I look at all the strategies people use and what made them successful. What made Birdman just as relevant today after selling 50 million records? That intrigues me. To see the class of Jay-Z, his accomplishments and see how he sits backs and accurately makes his moves."^[13]

A track from the album called "Valley of Death" was what stood out to MTV reporters. In the song, Ross speaks briefly on his controversial stint as a prison guard. "Keep it trilla, nigga, never had a gun and badge," which he stresses, leaving the word that he was indeed an officer of the law. "Kept a nice watch, smoking on a hundred sack/ Back in the day I sold crack for some nice kicks/ Skippin' school, I saw my friend stabbed with an ice pick/ Can't criticize niggas trying to get jobs/ Better get smart, young brother, live yours." Later, he implies that while he was working as a corrections officer, he was on the streets. "Only lived once and I got two kids/ And for me to feed them, I'll get two gigs," he raps. "I'll shovel shit, I'll C.O./ So we can bow our heads and pray over the meatloaf." Although, he still provided no explanation for lying about being a C.O. to begin with, nor did he explain why he failed to pay child support for his children.^[14][15]

The cover of the May 2009 issue of XXL magazine, titled "Rick Ross Up in Smoke", featured Ross wearing a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses. After publication, a spokesperson for the luxury-goods maker contacted XXL to inform them that Ross was sporting fake sunglasses in the cover image.^[16] It was later revealed that the rapper was wearing authentic Louis Vuitton sunglasses which were altered by Jacob Bernstein, known as "The Sunglass Pimp". Bernstein defended his customizations despite Louis Vuitton's insistence that such modification and resale of trademarked property is not legal.^[17]

[edit] Teflon Don and other works (2010)

Rick Ross released his fourth studio album entitled Teflon Don, which was released on July 6, 2010. The lead is "Super High" featuring Ne-Yo. Actress Stacey Dash made an appearance in the music video. A second official single was released titled "Live Fast, Die Young" which features and is produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 176,000 copies in its first week.

In November 2010, rapper and frequent collabourator, Diddy, who in 2009 signed Ross to a management deal with his Ciroc Entertainment, announced from his YouTube account, that him and Ross are working on an EP together, which is going to be released in 2011.^{[dated info]} A single has been released for the project, called "Another One".^[18]

[edit] God Forgives, I Don't (2011 - present)

Rick Ross had also announced the release of his next album, "God Forgives, I Don't", for December 13, 2011, however it was confirmed on November 17, 2011 it has been pushed back for release in 2012.^[19][20]

Rick Ross premiered two songs from his new album "God Forgives, I Don't", titled "You The Boss" and "I Love My Bitches".^[21]

Along with his music projects, Rick Ross was nominated by The Source as its "Man of the Year".^[22]

Rick Ross performed at BET Awards 2011, which aired on June 26, 2011.^[23] He also received a nomination for Best Male Hip Hop Artist.^[24] In early 2012, Ross was named the Hottest MC In The Game.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Correctional officer photos[link]

In July 2008, The Smoking Gun produced details linking Ross' social security number to an eighteen month stint as a correctional officer at the South Florida Reception Center, along with a photograph purporting to be Ross in his correctional officer uniform.^[25] Ross initially denied that the photograph was of him;^[26] after overwhelming evidence of his past came into the public's eye, Ross later admitted that he did work as a correctional officer in Florida during the early 1990s.^[27] In a 2008 interview with AllHipHop.com,^[28] "Freeway" Ricky Ross, claimed offense that Roberts used his name and identity when he learned that The Smoking Gun posted documents revealing Roberts' previous employment as a Florida correctional officer.^[29]

Legal issues[link]

Mugshot of Rick Ross taken in 2008.

In January 2008, Ross was arrested on gun and marijuana charges. During a deposition of Officer Rey Hernandez, a Miami Beach cop who arrested Ross, Ross's lawyer, Allan Zamren, asked Hernandez why Ross’s case was assigned to the gang task force. The officer stated that it was because Ross claimed affiliation with Carol City Cartel and other known gang members. Zamren then pressed Hernandez for a personal link between Ross and the gang members, but ultimately one could not be established.^[30]

In August 2008, YouTube entertainer DJ Vlad filed a lawsuit against Ross for assault and battery. Vlad claimed Ross organized an ambush on him at the 2008 Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas for asking questions about his past as a correctional officer.^[31]

On June 18, 2010, Freeway Ricky Ross sued Rick Ross for using his name,^[32] filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in a California Federal Court.^[32] Jay-Z had been called to testify in the lawsuit, as he was CEO of Def Jam when Ross/Roberts was signed.^[32] The reformed drug kingpin was looking for 10 million dollars in the lawsuit.^[32] Also, the release of his album, Teflon Don, was threatened to be blocked by Freeway Ricky Ross. A week after the filing of the lawsuit, Rick Ross responded to the charges: "It’s like owning a restaurant, you’re gonna have a few slip and falls. You get lawsuits, you deal with them, and get them out your way…sometimes you lose."^[33] He then denied rumors that he would change his name to "Ricky Rozay" as a consequence of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was thrown out of court on July 3, 2010^[34] and his album, Teflon Don, was released on July 20 as scheduled.

On March 26, 2011, Ross was arrested in Shreveport for possession of marijuana. According to the police records, a strong odor of marijuana was detected from his room at the Hilton in Downtown Shreveport.^[35]

Religion[link]

Rick Ross is a Christian,^[36] and in an interview with Corey "Coco Brother" Condrey on Lift Every Voice, he indicated that "I had told myself at one point no matter what I go through, I never question God."^[37] In addition, Ross indicated that he prays every time he goes on stage to perform.^[38]

Seizures[link]

On October 14, 2011 Rick Ross suffered two seizures in the same day, once in the morning and once again early evening. Following the morning seizure, he was unconscious and CPR was being performed. He did, however, post a video to his Twitter account later in the day saying that he was OK.^{[citation needed]} Ross boarded another plane later in the day and suffered another seizure. On October 14, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital confirmed that Ross had been admitted to the emergency room. TMZ, who first reported the seizure, updated their story originally posted at 4:45 PST, stating that Ross was in stable condition.^{[citation needed]}

Feud with 50 Cent[link]

In January 2009, Ross started a feud with rapper 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. 50 Cent told news sources that he did not remember seeing Ross there.^[39] In late January, "Mafia Music", by Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seemed to diss 50 Cent. Days later, 50 Cent released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song.

Before going to Venezuela, 50 Cent uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot," wherein he stated: "Rick Ross- I'mma fuck your life up for fun." In addition, 50 Cent released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early in February, 50 Cent once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube in which he interviewed "Tia", the mother of one of Ross's children. She verifies that he was a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent.^[40] On Thursday, February 5, 2009, Game, who 50 Cent has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle R&B station KUBE. When asked about the beef between 50 Cent and Ross, Game sided with 50 Cent and said that things are not looking good for Ross. He offered to help, stating, "Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man," and, "50 eating you, boy."^[41] On his album Deeper Than Rap, Ross references 50 Cent in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed 50 Cent's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended 50 Cent's career.^[42] That same day Ross released a new diss track called "Push 'Em Over The Edge". The next day 50 Cent released the controversial video "A Psychic Told Me", dissing DJ Khaled. On February 12, 50 Cent responded with "Tia Told Me", along with Lloyd Banks' response "Officer Down" and Tony Yayo's "Somebody Snitched".

In an interview, 50 Cent said Ross is "Albert From CB4. You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective."^[43]

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• 2006: Port of Miami
• 2008: Trilla
• 2009: Deeper Than Rap
• 2010: Teflon Don
• 2012: God Forgives, I Don't ^[20]

Maybach Music Group Albums[link]

• 2011: Self Made Vol. 1 (with Maybach Music Group)
• 2012: Self Made Vol. 2 (with Maybach Music Group)^[44]

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2009: Custom Cars & Cycles (with Triple C's)
• TBA: Bugatti Boyz (with Diddy)^[45][46]

Compilation albums[link]

• 2007: Rise to Power

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rick Ross

• Rick Ross Official Def Jam Website
• Rick Ross at the Internet Movie Database

James Brown
James Brown performing on June 27, 2005
Background information
Birth name	James Joseph Brown, Jr.[1]
Also known as	"The Godfather of Soul"[2][3][4]
Born	(1933-05-03)May 3, 1933 Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.
Origin	Augusta, Georgia, United States
Died	December 25, 2006(2006-12-25) (aged 73) Atlanta, Georgia[5][6]
Genres	R&B, funk, soul, rock and roll
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocal, guitar, harmonica, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion
Years active	1956–2006
Labels	Federal, King, Try Me, Smash, People, Polydor, Scotti Bros., Dade
Associated acts	The Famous Flames, The J.B.'s, Bobby Byrd, The Soul Generals, Lyn Collins

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of funk music and is a major figure of 20th century popular music and dance.

In a career that spanned decades, Brown profoundly influenced the development of many different musical genres.^[7] Brown moved on a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music making.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13][14] In 1986, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1990 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 from heart failure after becoming ill on December 23 and being hospitalized for hours. James Brown is buried in Beech Island, South Carolina.

Early life[link]

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.^[1] 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.^[1] He was of African American and Native American (Apache) descent through his father, and had Asian ancestry.^[15][16]

As a young child, Brown and his family lived in extreme poverty^[9] 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.^[17] 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.

His father sent him to live with an aunt, who ran a house of prostitution.^[18] 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.^[9] Brown managed to stay in school until he dropped out in the seventh grade.^[19]

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.^[9] 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.^[17][18] Between earning money from these adventures, Brown taught himself to play a harmonica given to him by his father.^[17] 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.^[17] 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.^[20]

As an adult, Brown legally changed his name to remove the "Jr." designation.^[21] 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.^[8]

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.^[17] 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^[22] and baseball pitcher in semi-professional baseball (a career move ended by a leg injury), Brown turned his energy toward music.^[23]

Career[link]

1955: The Formation of The Famous Flames[link]

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,^[24] 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.^[25] 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...".^[26] The resulting track "Please, Please, Please" ended up becoming The Flames first R&B hit in 1956,^[27] 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".^[28] 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.^[29] 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 the original group, the members were Brown, Byrd, Brown's old cellmate Johnny Terry, Sylvester Keels, Nash Knox, and NaFloyd Scott.

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.^[30]

Early and mid-1960s[link]

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.^[31] 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.

In 1962, singer Tammi Terrell came to Brown's attention, and the seventeen-year-old found herself in Brown's popular Revue, becoming one of his first female headliners. In 1963 Terrell recorded for 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[32] 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.^[33]

Two of Brown's signature tunes, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"^[34] (which won the 1966 Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording (an award last given in 1968)) 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. 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).^[34]

Late 1960s[link]

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 continued to refine the new funk idiom. His 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.^[35][36] 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.

Brown's style of funk was based on interlocking syncopated parts: funky bass lines, drum patterns, and iconic guitar riffs.^[37] The main guitar ostinatos for "Aint" it Funky" (c. late 1960s), and "Give it Up or Turn it Lose" (1969), are examples of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk— irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On "Aint" it Funky" (c. late 1960s), and "Give it Up or Turn it Lose" (1969), the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches. It's as if the guitar is an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s."^[38]

Guitar part for "Aint" it Funky" by James Brown.

Guitar part for "Give it Up or Turn it Lose" by James Brown (1969).

"Bring it Up" has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. If fact, on a 1976 version, Cuban bongos are used. All three of these guitar riff are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."^[39]

Guitar part for "Bring it Up" by James Brown (1967).

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,^[40] with "Funky Drummer" itself becoming the most sampled individual piece of music.^[41]

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.^[34] 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[link]

Brown after a concert in Tampa on Jan. 29, 1972

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,^[42] 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.^[43]

Brown's Polydor recordings during the 1970s exemplified his innovations from the previous 20 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[link]

James Brown 1973, Hamburg

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".^[44]

1990s to the 2000s[link]

James Brown in Belgrade in 1993

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.

James Brown during the NBA All Star Game jam session in 2001.

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.^[45] 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.^[46] In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing the role as himself.

James Brown performing on October 22, 2003.

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[link]

Concert introduction[link]

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 1962 album Live at the Apollo album, is a representative example:

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[link]

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.'"^[48] 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 August 26, 1968, 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[link]

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".^[49] 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.^[47][50]

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

The best place to view the "cape routine" is in Brown's performance during the "T.A.M.I. Show" available on DVD.

As band leader[link]

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.^[51] 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:

You gotta be on time. You gotta have your uniform. Your stuff's got to be intact. You gotta have the bow tie. You got to have it. You can't come up without the bow tie. You cannot come up without a cummerbund ... [The] patent leather shoes we were wearing at the time gotta be greased. You just gotta have this stuff. This is what [Brown expected] ... [Brown] bought the costumes. He bought the shoes. And if for some reason [the band member decided] to leave the group, [Brown told the person to] please leave my uniforms ....

—Maceo Parker^[52]

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.^[23] 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.^[53]

Social activism[link]

Civil unrest and self-empowerment[link]

James Brown shakes the hand of the painter Groover, who gave him a picture during his tour in Guadeloupe in the 1980s.

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"^[34] 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.^[34] Brown is often given credit for preventing rioting with the performance.^[54] Mayor Kevin White strongly restrained the Boston Police from cracking down on minor violence and protests after the assassination,^[54] and Boston religious and community leaders worked to keep tempers from flaring.^[54] 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.^[54] 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.^[54] 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[link]

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.^{[citation needed]} In 2004 Brown was successufully treated for prostate cancer.^[55] Regardless of his health, Brown maintained his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business" by keeping up with his grueling performance schedule.

Marriages and children[link]

Brown was married three times — Velma Warren (1953–1969, divorced), Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins (October 22, 1970 – January 10, 1981, divorced) and Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (born March 9, 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.^[5][56][57] Brown also had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.^[5][56] Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973.^[58] According to a August 22, 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.^[59]

Brown-Hynie marriage controversy[link]

Much controversy surrounds Tomi Rae Hynie's marriage to James Brown on December 23, 2002, officiated by Rev. Larry Fryer.^[60] 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.^[60][61] 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.^[62]

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.^[63] 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.^[62][64] 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.^[65][66]

Paternity of James Brown II[link]

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.^[67] 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.^[68]