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James Brown,
ladies and gentlemen.
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The hottest record man
in the world!
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James! James!
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James! James! James!
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James! James! James!
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A lot of people have tried
to define
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exactly what soul music is.
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How would you define it?
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It's the word "can't"
that makes you a soul singer.
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"Can't"
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I think one thing
that made a black man
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is more heavier for soul
coming from the States
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is because of the fact
that he had extra hard knocks
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and he lived with
the word "can't" for so long.
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So, every time
he can sing about it,
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it kind of...
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...comes out
a little bit stronger.
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I want to tell you a little story.
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This is a thing that
they don't write in newspapers,
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or hear on a record, because
I am sure it wouldn't sell.
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My father being a very,
very poor man, undereducated,
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he only got a chance
to finish grade two.
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There just was no way for me
to dream of becoming anything,
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but trying to be a...
just a laborer,
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trying to work, you know,
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because that's all
I could see around me.
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My father was a laborer.
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I dreamed then of eating.
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When I was a kid, we would
go out and hustle the men
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for the women that was
practicing prostitution.
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And I had to buck dance
for the soldiers.
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They would throw quarters
and nickels to see me dance.
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And I used to sing a lot.
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I'd make up songs.
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The story of it
touched me so deeply.
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- You were a shoe shine boy...
- In Augusta, Georgia.
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In Augusta, Georgia.
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And you carried the shoe shine
box around with you,
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and one thing I was reading
not too long ago,
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you held it up
as an example to kids.
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Would you tell that story?
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I said, with all of the success
and everything that you said
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it still don't get away the fact
that I come from the ghetto
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and that I got my shoeshine box
on my mind.
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And it broke the people up
because they were very glad
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that I still remembered.
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It was Bobby Byrd's family that
took young James Brown in...
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...when he got paroled
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and really kind of helped him
find his feet.
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And then they went on
to create music together
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with the Famous Flames
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and Bobby Byrd had to be
humble enough to understand
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this used to be my group,
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but now I got this young guy
coming in here
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just kind of taking over.
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Well, he's got that thing,
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so I'm going to let him have it.
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After he got out of prison
and at my home,
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I asked him to join the group.
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Had a lot of dissension
in the group
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because they didn't know
what type of person he was,
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they know that
he was kind of rowdy,
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but when he started
doing some songs that he knew,
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gospel songs of course
during that time,
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something about it
was different.
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The rowdy type of thing,
the up-tempo, gutsy stuff.
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And the reason we know it was
good because we start rehearsing
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and we had the porch
would be full of people
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and everybody peeping through
windows and that kind of thing.
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They didn't do that for no other
groups.
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I knew we had something.
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At that time "Soul" was more
or less church slang, you know.
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They found that most rhythm
and blues sounds
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came out of the church, so
they named them "soul singers."
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When James Brown
and Bobby Byrd decided
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to put together the version
of the Famous Flames,
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they took great care to not let
the people in the church know
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that they were doing the
secular music on Saturday night
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and coming in and singing
in church on Sunday night,
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because that was taboo.
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A lot of people I liked
in the past, Louis Jordan...
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Mr. Brown says, "Louis Jordan
was my biggest hero"
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"because he could sing,
he could dance,"
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"he could act, he could play."
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"And he had good hair
and good teeth."
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It's the longevity
of Louis Jordan's career
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that had an impact, the way
he handled his own business,
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the fact that he was doing music
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that was a hybrid of blues,
swing music, bebop.
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That music was
the RandB to rock and roll,
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the hip-hop of its time.
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And James actually considered
himself a jazzman at heart.
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It's a pleasure
to present to you
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the one and only Duke Ellington.
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James Brown, he liked big bands,
he liked a big horn section
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and he liked instrumentals,
he liked arranging.
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He liked to be a bandleader.
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He carried some of that past,
of the swing era in a funny way.
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It's always been soul with me,
ever since I've been singing.
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It was my opportunity,
it was my knock on the door.
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THE JAMES BROWN SHOW
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Soul is survival.
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And a lot of days I sang
and we got 25 cents.
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But I knew it was something
I had to do.
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Every time I got the opportunity
I did everything I could.
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The hardest part was being black
and being allowed to perform.
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Not even black at that time.
Colored.
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That's what you call
the segregated years.
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I came up through those years
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and I never will forget
some things
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that happened with us.
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It's behind me
but I won't forget them.
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You've got to keep the white
and the black separate!
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James Brown, he was a father
I never had in many ways.
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He said, "You didn't know about
sitting at the back of the bus."
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I used to have to perform
in clubs
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that I'd have to get dressed
in the bus
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because I wasn't allowed
to use the dressing room.
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They didn't like black folks,
I'll put it that way.
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They didn't like black folks.
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Boy, what we went through.
What we went through.
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You played what you called
the chitlin' circuit.
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All of the gigs that you'd play
were for black audiences.
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A lot of down-home
Southern places
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that were kind of rough,
you know.
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I remember being
in Mr. Brown's dressing room...
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and something happened with
the promoter didn't want to pay,
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and everybody started pulling
out their guns and everything.
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And, you know,
I was frightened to death.
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That was definitely the
chitlin' circuit at that time.
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James Brown said,
"You have to remember, Reverend,"
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"when I was coming up,
you had to be tall,"
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"light-skinned, long wavy hair
like Jackie or Smokey Robinson."
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And I was short,
had African features
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and I didn't have any
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of what was considered beautiful
at that time.
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I was determined to out dance
and out sing everybody out there
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and I was going to work
every night.
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James actually said,
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Little Richard and Hank Ballard
and the Midnighters were
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probably the two
greatest influences
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on him and really
that whole generation,
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moving out of gospel into doing
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what was called rock 'n' roll
or RandB.
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I was in Toccoa, Georgia
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and Little Richard came down
from Macon and saw me,
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and told his manager about me
and I went back to Macon.
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I got to give Little Richard
that credit, you know.
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Little Richard got a big
contract to record in
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Los Angeles and he left behind
about 30 dates
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that the management
was committed to,
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so they had the bright idea
to have James Brown go out
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and impersonate Little Richard.
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And so they let him do
a little bit of Little Richard
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and he would do
a little bit of James Brown.
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That's where James Brown
really learned to scream,
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being Little Richard
for about two weeks.
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It was before television,
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so nobody knew
what Richard really looked like.
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He said, "And my goal was,"
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"I was going to be bigger
than Richard."
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The word is that when Syd
Nathan, who ran King Records,
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heard them rehearsing the song,
he fired the AandR guy.
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Could not hear it being a hit.
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He said, all this guy does is
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say "please, please, please"
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like, 17 times.
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Mr. Brown snuck it out,
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got it to the radio stations
and it became a hit,
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and Syd Nathan just had to
swallow his disdain.
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I guess my all time
favorite tune would be,
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"Please, Please, Please" now,
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- because that's the tune...
- That's the one that did it.
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Yeah.
It gave me that extra meal.
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You think you wanted success
so badly at the time
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that you were really singing
"please, please, please."
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I wanted to eat, period, man.
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That's Why I did it.
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He's begging, "I got to have you,
I need you in my life."
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"You got to come on,
my heart is shattered..."
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...and the women would go:
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"Somebody really hurt that man,
oh, they hurt him so badly,
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I feel so sorry for him."
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It worked all over the world.
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For some reason I grew up
with a passion for black music.
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I was a disc jockey at a black
radio station in Richmond.
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I loved James Brown
like everybody else
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that was into black music
in the early '60s.
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At some point you discover
James Brown and it's like,
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"Oh, my god,
this is the gold standard."
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The first time I saw James Brown
perform live
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was in the fall of 1963,
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and I had never experienced
anything like it.
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The energy that was in the room,
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it was like going
into another dimension.
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In the '50s and '60s,
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00:15:46,739 --> 00:15:49,783
black music
and pop mainstream music,
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the segregation was even more
rigid than it is today.
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The black music industry
was entirely dependent
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on black radio,
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and the whole goal became,
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how do we cross
these records over?
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Because a hit on pop radio
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represented
as much as a million,
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a million-and-a-half more sales.
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After I got "Please, Please,"
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it took me three years
to get another hit.
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But I wouldn't give up,
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and my next hit was a tune
entitled "Try Me."
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Somebody like Elvis, one record
would sell ten or 15 million,
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and see, I would have to come
through the race era,
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when my records were classed
as RandB and race music.
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I'm just trying to figure out
the market like a stock man,
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trying to see
what the people will go for.
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I always worked hard
on the stage,
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00:17:09,446 --> 00:17:12,366
but you still need that record
as a performer, you know.
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Everyone needs a hit record.
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James Brown was an anomaly
in the industry,
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not just in his ambition,
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but he also had a situation
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that was pretty much
unlike any other artist.
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He had a manager
who embraced him
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and became a mentor
father figure,
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who was Ben Bart.
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Ben taught James
a lot of the music business
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and how to handle things.
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And Ben really loved him,
and James loved him.
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It was kind of a
father-son thing going on there.
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Ben was doing everything
he could to move the act,
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but James had his own idea
about things.
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So now, ladies and gentlemen,
it is Star Time.
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Are you ready for Star Time?
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Thank you,
and thank you very kindly.
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It is indeed a great pleasure
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00:17:58,954 --> 00:18:00,956
to present to you
at this particular time,
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00:18:01,165 --> 00:18:03,625
national and international known
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00:18:03,834 --> 00:18:06,128
as "The Hardest-Working Man
In Show Business."
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00:18:06,336 --> 00:18:08,130
Here to sing "I'll Go Crazy,"
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"Try Me,"
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00:18:13,510 --> 00:18:16,805
"Mr. Dynamite," the amazing
"Mr. Please, Please" himself,
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00:18:17,014 --> 00:18:18,014
the star of the show,
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00:18:18,182 --> 00:18:20,726
James Brown
and the Famous Flames.
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00:18:31,570 --> 00:18:33,614
He would go up
to the Apollo Theater
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00:18:33,822 --> 00:18:35,949
and they'd be standing
around the Apollo Theater
245
00:18:36,158 --> 00:18:37,284
for the next show
246
00:18:37,493 --> 00:18:40,162
and that'd be around
from one end of the Apollo
247
00:18:40,454 --> 00:18:43,248
around to the other end.
And that's around the block.
248
00:18:44,625 --> 00:18:46,126
And they'd be standing there
for the next one.
249
00:18:46,335 --> 00:18:48,375
That next show let out,
and they let them people in,
250
00:18:48,462 --> 00:18:51,298
and then another line is there,
waiting to get in.
251
00:18:51,507 --> 00:18:54,968
Unbelievable!
And those blocks are not short.
252
00:18:56,261 --> 00:18:57,721
They made money.
253
00:19:06,980 --> 00:19:09,983
James Brown is just so linked
with the Apollo
254
00:19:10,192 --> 00:19:13,821
in terms of a standard that
was set, in the '60s onward.
255
00:19:14,029 --> 00:19:16,115
It was the peak
of the chitlin' circuit,
256
00:19:16,323 --> 00:19:17,491
so the bands would be
touring around
257
00:19:17,699 --> 00:19:19,660
and they would arrive
in New York City
258
00:19:19,868 --> 00:19:23,247
to show off what they had been
honing on the road.
259
00:19:23,455 --> 00:19:25,874
You'd play about six shows
a day,
260
00:19:26,792 --> 00:19:29,962
each show is about two hours,
and that's a lot.
261
00:19:31,505 --> 00:19:34,216
I remember going there,
and I sat in the balcony.
262
00:19:35,134 --> 00:19:37,334
And there was this sort of
older lady sitting next to me
263
00:19:37,469 --> 00:19:38,804
smoking a big joint.
264
00:19:39,763 --> 00:19:41,598
And I didn't know
that older ladies smoked,
265
00:19:41,807 --> 00:19:43,433
you know, I was a kid.
266
00:19:44,351 --> 00:19:46,854
The James Brown show,
it was like a Revue show.
267
00:19:47,896 --> 00:19:49,398
The band would play
instrumentals,
268
00:19:49,606 --> 00:19:51,441
a female singer would come on,
269
00:19:51,650 --> 00:19:53,735
then Bobby Byrd would come on
and sing.
270
00:19:53,944 --> 00:19:56,905
"TV Mama",
they said she was five by five.
271
00:19:57,114 --> 00:20:00,826
She was five feet tall
and very wide,
272
00:20:01,034 --> 00:20:03,370
and she would sing
the song "All Of Me".
273
00:20:03,579 --> 00:20:05,706
"All of me,
why not take all of me?"
274
00:20:05,914 --> 00:20:09,126
Then he would come on eventually
and do, you know, his show.
275
00:20:18,218 --> 00:20:20,888
Apart from the fact
that it was very entertaining,
276
00:20:21,096 --> 00:20:23,557
I was obviously learning
from him, you know,
277
00:20:23,765 --> 00:20:26,101
trying to steal everything
I could possibly do.
278
00:20:31,398 --> 00:20:35,068
Seeing him dancing
and doing the audience rapport.
279
00:20:45,204 --> 00:20:48,165
Especially very young girls
would go to the front
280
00:20:48,373 --> 00:20:52,711
and be screaming and carrying on
in all these places
281
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,964
where he's,
he's teasing them to do,
282
00:20:56,173 --> 00:20:59,176
you know, he's like,
in total control of them.
283
00:21:38,465 --> 00:21:40,300
Danny Ray was the
so-called "Cape Man."
284
00:21:40,509 --> 00:21:42,678
He was the guy
during "Please, Please, Please"
285
00:21:42,886 --> 00:21:45,514
that would drape that cape
over Brown.
286
00:21:47,224 --> 00:21:48,517
James told me that
287
00:21:48,725 --> 00:21:51,436
he was watching Gorgeous George
the wrestler one day,
288
00:21:51,645 --> 00:21:53,480
after the match
they'd throw a cape on him
289
00:21:53,689 --> 00:21:55,107
and he said he liked that.
290
00:22:10,289 --> 00:22:13,375
Between that period of "Please,
Please, Please" and "Try Me,"
291
00:22:13,583 --> 00:22:15,836
there were a gazillion singles
released,
292
00:22:16,044 --> 00:22:17,645
and none of them
were really catching on.
293
00:22:17,838 --> 00:22:19,506
He felt like,
"Man, if people knew..."
294
00:22:19,715 --> 00:22:22,009
"...what I was offering
on the stage,"
295
00:22:22,217 --> 00:22:23,338
"they would come in droves."
296
00:22:29,558 --> 00:22:31,476
Syd Nathan,
who ran King Records,
297
00:22:31,685 --> 00:22:32,936
didn't want to back it.
298
00:22:33,562 --> 00:22:35,897
Mr. Brown says,
"No, this has got to happen."
299
00:22:36,106 --> 00:22:37,482
"I know better than this guy,
300
00:22:37,691 --> 00:22:39,531
you know, about my audience
about my business."
301
00:22:39,693 --> 00:22:42,779
Mr. Brown paid
for the recording himself.
302
00:22:52,372 --> 00:22:57,210
That was a huge album,
and it was the worst album.
303
00:22:57,419 --> 00:23:00,630
Screams and stuff all over it,
cymbals falling,
304
00:23:01,423 --> 00:23:04,134
and they put that out,
just like that.
305
00:23:22,611 --> 00:23:28,575
Every black household had
"Live at the Apollo Volume One".
306
00:23:29,326 --> 00:23:31,536
Mine included.
Like that album was so powerful,
307
00:23:31,745 --> 00:23:34,915
DJs would love to play
the entire side.
308
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,219
His first million seller was the
"Live at the Apollo Volume One."
309
00:23:47,427 --> 00:23:50,847
It really just kind of blows up
on the national marketplace.
310
00:23:54,935 --> 00:23:56,269
For an RandB record
to be released in England
311
00:23:56,478 --> 00:23:57,478
it had to be quite big.
312
00:23:59,940 --> 00:24:02,067
Everyone had that record
and they played it to death.
313
00:24:05,987 --> 00:24:08,949
He did want the benefits
of crossing over.
314
00:24:09,157 --> 00:24:13,036
He resented being pigeonholed
as a "race artist,"
315
00:24:13,245 --> 00:24:17,249
but he embraced what that meant
emotionally and culturally,
316
00:24:17,457 --> 00:24:20,585
so it was a very, very thin line
he was walking.
317
00:24:29,928 --> 00:24:33,890
Again and again, we must rise
to the majestic heights
318
00:24:34,766 --> 00:24:37,602
of meeting physical force
with soul force.
319
00:24:40,147 --> 00:24:43,275
We're nonviolent with people
who are nonviolent with us.
320
00:24:47,696 --> 00:24:51,533
My fellow Americans,
I am about to sign into law
321
00:24:51,741 --> 00:24:54,077
the civil rights act of 1964.
322
00:24:54,995 --> 00:24:58,165
This civil rights act
is a challenge to all of us,
323
00:24:58,373 --> 00:24:59,666
to eliminate the
324
00:24:59,916 --> 00:25:03,962
last vestiges of injustice
in our beloved country.
325
00:25:07,591 --> 00:25:12,637
The James Brown tour
was able to do hundreds of shows
326
00:25:12,888 --> 00:25:14,848
all over black America,
327
00:25:15,098 --> 00:25:18,185
grossing about a million dollars
a year.
328
00:25:20,937 --> 00:25:23,356
We're talking about '63, '64,
329
00:25:23,565 --> 00:25:25,358
he became a millionaire quietly,
330
00:25:25,567 --> 00:25:29,196
so a lot of what the civil
rights movement was trying to do
331
00:25:29,404 --> 00:25:31,740
in terms of the hope
of economic justice,
332
00:25:31,948 --> 00:25:34,284
he's already been to the top
of that mountaintop.
333
00:25:34,701 --> 00:25:36,953
He's a civil rights movement
of one.
334
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,250
This is the group that was there
in 1964,
335
00:25:42,459 --> 00:25:44,127
that's Maceo in the back.
336
00:25:44,794 --> 00:25:47,339
That's Melvin Parker,
19 years old.
337
00:25:47,547 --> 00:25:50,383
James told me,
"If you ever need a job,"
338
00:25:50,592 --> 00:25:52,177
"playing those drums
the way you play,"
339
00:25:52,385 --> 00:25:53,678
"you have a job with me."
340
00:25:53,929 --> 00:25:55,388
I said, "Oh, by the way..."
341
00:25:55,597 --> 00:25:57,182
"This is my brother,
my brother Maceo,"
342
00:25:57,390 --> 00:25:59,100
"he's a saxophone player."
343
00:25:59,684 --> 00:26:01,520
"He needs a job, too."
344
00:26:01,728 --> 00:26:04,064
He said, "Well, I don't need
a saxophone player."
345
00:26:05,023 --> 00:26:06,566
And I gave him that look.
346
00:26:08,777 --> 00:26:11,655
He said, "Oh, just a minute,
wait a minute, wait a minute,"
347
00:26:11,863 --> 00:26:13,573
"we had,
we need a baritone player."
348
00:26:13,782 --> 00:26:15,422
"My baritone player left
the other night."
349
00:26:15,534 --> 00:26:17,536
He said, "Can you
play baritone?" to Maceo.
350
00:26:17,744 --> 00:26:20,121
My major instrument at the time
was the tenor saxophone,
351
00:26:20,330 --> 00:26:21,790
but I answer like this, "Uhhh,"
352
00:26:21,998 --> 00:26:25,168
with a long "Uhhh",
yes, sir, yes, yes I do."
353
00:26:25,377 --> 00:26:26,586
I can't say no.
354
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,001
He said, "I tell you what,"
355
00:26:28,171 --> 00:26:30,173
"you can meet us,
along with your brother,"
356
00:26:30,549 --> 00:26:32,717
"two nights following."
357
00:26:33,552 --> 00:26:34,594
"How about that?"
358
00:26:34,803 --> 00:26:37,597
And we would go,
"wow, this is great."
359
00:26:37,806 --> 00:26:39,766
And then we got
The T.A.M.I. Show,
360
00:26:39,975 --> 00:26:41,142
now that was fun.
361
00:26:49,234 --> 00:26:52,988
I have been in the
black community ever since '56,
362
00:26:53,196 --> 00:26:56,408
but it really started happening
for me in 1964.
363
00:26:56,741 --> 00:26:58,502
I had the pleasure
of doing The T.A.M.I. Show
364
00:26:58,577 --> 00:27:01,288
with the Rolling Stones,
Gerry and the Pacemakers,
365
00:27:01,496 --> 00:27:04,541
the Supremes,
all the major acts, you know.
366
00:27:05,959 --> 00:27:08,962
It made the white America
familiar with James Brown,
367
00:27:09,170 --> 00:27:10,255
and what he was doing.
368
00:27:26,354 --> 00:27:28,147
The T.A.M.I. Show was
a major breakthrough.
369
00:27:28,356 --> 00:27:29,816
It pitted Brown,
370
00:27:30,025 --> 00:27:32,986
who had largely been confined
to the chitlin' circuit,
371
00:27:33,194 --> 00:27:34,321
against all these artists
372
00:27:34,529 --> 00:27:36,740
who were tearing the country up
at that time.
373
00:27:49,753 --> 00:27:51,964
The T.A.M.I. Show
is not really a show.
374
00:27:52,172 --> 00:27:53,423
It was shot like a movie.
375
00:27:53,632 --> 00:27:55,133
You break for an hour,
376
00:27:55,342 --> 00:27:57,177
and then the other act comes on
and then they break for an hour,
377
00:27:57,385 --> 00:27:58,762
then they re-light
and they change the audience,
378
00:27:58,970 --> 00:28:00,263
and another act comes on.
379
00:28:09,481 --> 00:28:11,900
The story goes
that James Brown is annoyed
380
00:28:12,108 --> 00:28:13,735
that he is not closing the show,
381
00:28:14,235 --> 00:28:17,489
and so I was asked
by the producers of the show
382
00:28:17,697 --> 00:28:19,366
to go and talk to him
because I knew him.
383
00:28:19,574 --> 00:28:21,743
I said, "sure," you know,
I was, what, 20 years old.
384
00:28:21,951 --> 00:28:23,953
I was supposed to talk him down
and say:
385
00:28:24,329 --> 00:28:25,789
"Yeah, don't worry it's a movie,"
386
00:28:25,997 --> 00:28:27,624
"you don't know what's
going to happen in the movie."
387
00:28:27,832 --> 00:28:29,125
"They may, you know, cut it..."
388
00:28:29,334 --> 00:28:31,503
which, which ever,
which is all true,
389
00:28:31,711 --> 00:28:34,130
but I mean,
that wasn't really the point
390
00:28:34,339 --> 00:28:35,740
as far as James Brown
was concerned.
391
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,676
He wasn't really that mad,
392
00:28:37,884 --> 00:28:40,136
but he was a bit pissed off,
I think.
393
00:28:45,850 --> 00:28:47,852
Well, wait a second,
wait a second...
394
00:28:48,061 --> 00:28:49,562
He apparently said
something like,
395
00:28:49,771 --> 00:28:51,314
"Well, I'm going to kill."
396
00:28:51,523 --> 00:28:54,317
Well, fine,
but that, that's good.
397
00:28:55,527 --> 00:28:56,569
He did.
398
00:30:19,319 --> 00:30:22,447
It was definitely an apotheosis.
399
00:30:22,739 --> 00:30:26,576
You were distraught to
where you'd collapse in begging.
400
00:30:26,785 --> 00:30:28,912
But somehow
the strength sweeps you up,
401
00:30:29,704 --> 00:30:31,748
and then you rise
like a phoenix again.
402
00:30:38,421 --> 00:30:41,382
And people you could watch
in the audience
403
00:30:41,591 --> 00:30:42,759
would go through this,
404
00:30:43,134 --> 00:30:45,178
probably reliving
their own lives.
405
00:31:15,542 --> 00:31:19,587
The idea is that he's got to be
taken away against his own will.
406
00:31:20,046 --> 00:31:21,714
It's just not good for him
to do anymore.
407
00:31:28,429 --> 00:31:31,766
It's obviously an act,
but you worry about him.
408
00:31:36,646 --> 00:31:38,523
The people would say,
"Oh, don't take him.
409
00:31:38,731 --> 00:31:40,024
He must be looked after."
410
00:31:40,233 --> 00:31:42,443
You know, "I want to be the one
to look after him."
411
00:31:45,113 --> 00:31:47,740
Are you ready
for the "Night Train"?
412
00:31:49,784 --> 00:31:51,786
When we got to "Night Train",
413
00:31:51,995 --> 00:31:53,246
Sam, the bass player,
whispered in my ear.
414
00:31:53,454 --> 00:31:54,789
He said, "Melvin."
415
00:31:54,998 --> 00:31:57,417
"Let's see if those guys
can keep up with us."
416
00:31:58,001 --> 00:32:00,295
Night! Night!
417
00:32:00,503 --> 00:32:03,965
He said, "Night! Night! Train!"
418
00:32:08,386 --> 00:32:10,305
It was off to the races...
419
00:32:28,907 --> 00:32:31,284
There's that famous story
of Mick Jagger
420
00:32:31,534 --> 00:32:33,828
standing off the side of the
stage watching Brown,
421
00:32:34,037 --> 00:32:36,831
and just being devastated
and traumatized.
422
00:33:05,693 --> 00:33:07,987
No, that's bullshit, because
the whole place was cleared.
423
00:33:08,196 --> 00:33:10,281
And, like,
they re-lit the whole thing.
424
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:26,089
Now it went to another audience
and screaming teenage girls.
425
00:33:26,798 --> 00:33:28,841
I don't think
they'd even seen James Brown.
426
00:33:29,050 --> 00:33:30,677
And it was hours later.
427
00:33:44,273 --> 00:33:47,318
So, what I said to him
was actually true.
428
00:33:47,527 --> 00:33:52,073
But if you watch the film,
then you see us up against him.
429
00:33:52,281 --> 00:33:53,491
So it's a bit...
430
00:34:00,832 --> 00:34:02,232
Then you go,
like, "Well, you know,"
431
00:34:02,375 --> 00:34:04,415
"they're not quite as good
as James Brown for real."
432
00:34:04,544 --> 00:34:07,797
But, you know, whatever.
433
00:34:13,553 --> 00:34:15,179
We were performing
at the Howard Theater.
434
00:34:15,388 --> 00:34:16,388
We were on stage,
435
00:34:16,556 --> 00:34:19,225
it was such a big ruckus
in the audience.
436
00:34:19,434 --> 00:34:21,310
You know, and I said,
we must be getting down.
437
00:34:21,519 --> 00:34:23,520
The people getting crazy
out there in the audience,
438
00:34:23,646 --> 00:34:25,940
making all that noise,
jumping up and down.
439
00:34:26,149 --> 00:34:28,234
Of course,
James Brown in the audience.
440
00:34:28,443 --> 00:34:34,073
You know, so, it was so exciting
to meet James Brown, 1965.
441
00:34:34,282 --> 00:34:35,616
He was at his peak.
442
00:34:37,201 --> 00:34:40,288
He asked us,
would we travel with him.
443
00:34:40,496 --> 00:34:42,123
It was like, oh, my God.
444
00:34:43,207 --> 00:34:44,959
And he gave me the name High.
445
00:34:45,793 --> 00:34:48,379
My name is Martha Harvin.
446
00:34:49,839 --> 00:34:52,967
But he said to me one day,
"Martha Harvin,"
447
00:34:54,302 --> 00:34:56,095
"that's not a name for the stage."
448
00:34:57,013 --> 00:34:58,848
"I got to come up
with a name for you."
449
00:34:59,599 --> 00:35:02,101
"Let me see.
What should I call you?"
450
00:35:02,310 --> 00:35:03,436
"I know."
451
00:35:04,353 --> 00:35:07,315
"I'm going to call you
'Martha High.' "
452
00:35:08,149 --> 00:35:09,525
And I said, Martha High?
453
00:35:09,734 --> 00:35:10,943
"How you like that?"
454
00:35:11,444 --> 00:35:13,696
And I said, oh, okay.
455
00:35:15,448 --> 00:35:17,283
"Martha High,
that's what it's going to be."
456
00:35:18,159 --> 00:35:20,661
He wanted everything.
He wanted your all.
457
00:35:20,870 --> 00:35:22,288
And he gave his all.
458
00:35:45,103 --> 00:35:49,107
Up until "Papa's Got
A Brand New Bag" in 1965,
459
00:35:49,315 --> 00:35:51,234
all of the James Brown stuff
seemed pretty traditional.
460
00:35:51,442 --> 00:35:54,445
It was like kind of coming out
of this blues gospel feel.
461
00:35:55,947 --> 00:36:00,159
That, coupled with his love for
jazz and embracing the unknown,
462
00:36:00,535 --> 00:36:05,039
it came as the early ingredients
of what we call funk.
463
00:36:29,730 --> 00:36:32,233
"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"
had the guitar sound.
464
00:36:32,817 --> 00:36:35,027
James heard it.
"Jimmy, give me this."
465
00:36:39,073 --> 00:36:41,159
I mean, the funk was just there.
466
00:36:54,755 --> 00:36:57,049
Now what you had
was called a vamp.
467
00:36:57,258 --> 00:37:01,012
Vamps were only used
mostly in live performances.
468
00:37:01,304 --> 00:37:04,599
The vocalist wanted to talk
to the audience and jive around.
469
00:37:14,609 --> 00:37:17,236
Now of course, in his live
shows, he vamped all the time.
470
00:37:17,445 --> 00:37:19,655
But nobody would ever think
to go in the studio
471
00:37:19,864 --> 00:37:20,864
and record the vamp.
472
00:37:21,032 --> 00:37:25,411
You don't take a two bar phrase
and repeat it ad nauseam
473
00:37:25,620 --> 00:37:26,954
and call that a song.
474
00:37:27,163 --> 00:37:29,290
That's exactly what James Brown
475
00:37:29,540 --> 00:37:31,375
wound up doing
through that period.
476
00:38:08,621 --> 00:38:10,039
It was James Brown.
477
00:38:54,792 --> 00:38:56,335
I think, without question,
478
00:38:56,544 --> 00:39:02,383
Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis is one
of the most important co-pilots
479
00:39:02,591 --> 00:39:04,218
of the James Brown sound.
480
00:39:13,394 --> 00:39:17,606
Pee Wee's seriousness
and his sense of jazz
481
00:39:17,815 --> 00:39:20,443
and understanding
what Mr. Brown was going for.
482
00:39:20,651 --> 00:39:24,780
I think the two of them really
were a quite a formidable team.
483
00:39:30,619 --> 00:39:31,746
I got drafted.
484
00:39:32,455 --> 00:39:34,248
James mentioned to me
485
00:39:34,457 --> 00:39:37,668
that he was thinking about
getting Bobby Bland's drummer,
486
00:39:37,877 --> 00:39:39,295
Jab'o, to join the group.
487
00:39:39,503 --> 00:39:41,839
I said, yes, that's what you do.
488
00:39:42,548 --> 00:39:46,260
James Brown had been listening
to Bobby
489
00:39:46,469 --> 00:39:49,221
and he sent one of his people
490
00:39:49,430 --> 00:39:52,183
to ask me
if I wanted to join his band.
491
00:39:52,808 --> 00:39:55,936
He said "Whatever they're paying
you over there with Bobby,"
492
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,022
"I will double that."
493
00:39:58,939 --> 00:40:01,442
But then you have to understand
when I joined that band,
494
00:40:01,650 --> 00:40:03,778
what was going on
when I first got there, too.
495
00:40:05,780 --> 00:40:07,865
Five drummers on stage.
496
00:40:11,243 --> 00:40:14,246
Maybe two weeks after that,
he hired Clyde.
497
00:40:16,165 --> 00:40:19,668
He took me out on stage
and there was five drum sets.
498
00:40:21,128 --> 00:40:24,507
Five drummers on his show,
I went, oh, my God!
499
00:40:25,299 --> 00:40:28,010
You know? All these drummers.
What do he want me for?
500
00:40:30,096 --> 00:40:31,416
He says,
"Pick out a set of drums.
501
00:40:31,555 --> 00:40:33,891
We going to do a little jam.
See what you do."
502
00:40:34,350 --> 00:40:37,186
And I was scared, number one.
I was totally scared.
503
00:40:37,395 --> 00:40:39,271
I was going,
God, what am I doing?
504
00:40:41,190 --> 00:40:43,025
And I left out of there
and went to the dressing room
505
00:40:43,234 --> 00:40:44,693
where the band was dressing.
506
00:40:44,902 --> 00:40:47,071
And there was Jab'o
sitting in there.
507
00:40:47,363 --> 00:40:49,782
I said, who you used to play for
before you came here?
508
00:40:49,990 --> 00:40:50,990
He says, "Bobby Bland."
509
00:40:51,158 --> 00:40:53,577
I said, you played
with Bobby Bland?
510
00:40:53,786 --> 00:40:55,329
That was one of my favorites.
511
00:40:55,538 --> 00:40:57,665
And that's when Jab'o and I said,
man, we're not playing enough.
512
00:40:57,873 --> 00:40:59,708
We got to get rid
of some of these drummers.
513
00:41:00,084 --> 00:41:02,211
I go, yeah, man.
We got to get rid of them.
514
00:41:02,586 --> 00:41:04,505
So we started knocking them off
515
00:41:04,797 --> 00:41:06,715
until it got down
to Jab'o and I.
516
00:41:06,924 --> 00:41:10,344
Jabo's style
is more of a blues shuffle.
517
00:41:10,553 --> 00:41:11,554
Like...
518
00:41:17,101 --> 00:41:19,145
My style is...
519
00:41:24,024 --> 00:41:28,028
He plays jazz and blues more,
and I played funk and soul.
520
00:41:28,237 --> 00:41:30,406
We took it over. We had it.
521
00:41:32,658 --> 00:41:33,659
Attention, everyone.
522
00:41:33,868 --> 00:41:36,245
James Brown is coming
to your area.
523
00:41:36,454 --> 00:41:38,094
The show everyone
has been waiting to see.
524
00:41:38,164 --> 00:41:39,915
The dynamic king
of rock and roll.
525
00:41:40,124 --> 00:41:42,668
Star of stage, screen
and television, James Brown!
526
00:41:42,877 --> 00:41:45,296
And his big variety show for '66
527
00:41:45,504 --> 00:41:47,715
featuring Bobby Byrd,
the Famous Flames,
528
00:41:47,923 --> 00:41:50,134
James Crawford,
"TV Mama" Elsie Mae,
529
00:41:50,342 --> 00:41:51,342
The Jewels.
530
00:41:51,510 --> 00:41:55,514
In the early '60s,
he worked almost constantly.
531
00:41:56,599 --> 00:41:59,310
Three hundred sixty two days,
probably.
532
00:42:47,149 --> 00:42:48,589
Thank you,
greetings and Salutations,
533
00:42:48,776 --> 00:42:49,902
ladies and gentlemen.
534
00:42:50,110 --> 00:42:51,445
I'm your emcee, Danny Ray.
535
00:42:51,987 --> 00:42:54,388
I would like to name a few tunes
of the past and the present.
536
00:42:54,532 --> 00:42:57,993
Such tunes as "Try Me",
"Signed, Sealed and Delivered",
537
00:42:58,202 --> 00:43:00,996
"Out Of Sight",
"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag",
538
00:43:01,205 --> 00:43:02,414
"Oh, I Feel Good".
539
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:05,000
Introducing the King of Soul,
540
00:43:05,209 --> 00:43:07,378
recently has been crowned
as one of the hardest working
541
00:43:07,586 --> 00:43:09,004
entertainers in the world.
542
00:43:09,630 --> 00:43:12,132
The living legend,
the fantastic, Mr. Dynamite,
543
00:43:12,341 --> 00:43:13,551
James Brown!
544
00:43:20,057 --> 00:43:22,268
Once he walked on stage,
the band,
545
00:43:22,476 --> 00:43:25,729
we pay attention to James Brown,
nobody else but him.
546
00:43:27,273 --> 00:43:29,358
You never took your eye
off of him.
547
00:43:29,567 --> 00:43:32,695
Because, see, he had things
that he was doing.
548
00:43:41,453 --> 00:43:44,164
I had to keep the time going
to the music,
549
00:43:44,623 --> 00:43:48,586
but ready at any time
to accent his moves.
550
00:43:51,005 --> 00:43:52,756
Hits,
that's what we would call hits.
551
00:43:55,050 --> 00:43:57,469
He'll make the hits.
We loved to do that, you know.
552
00:43:57,678 --> 00:43:58,679
We would hit with him.
553
00:43:58,929 --> 00:44:02,224
And he would try to trick us,
and we would get him.
554
00:44:06,979 --> 00:44:09,023
If he would see
that you're not watching him,
555
00:44:09,231 --> 00:44:12,443
he would change the song
just like that.
556
00:44:12,651 --> 00:44:15,446
To throw you off,
and then he'll fine you.
557
00:44:16,780 --> 00:44:18,073
He would go like this, you know.
558
00:44:18,282 --> 00:44:20,284
That would be like five, ten,
fifteen, twenty.
559
00:44:20,492 --> 00:44:21,702
He would look at a guy,
560
00:44:21,910 --> 00:44:24,288
and fine them five, fifteen,
twenty dollars like that.
561
00:44:31,462 --> 00:44:33,005
Oh, God, yeah.
562
00:44:33,714 --> 00:44:36,050
That's $30
coming out of your pay.
563
00:44:36,258 --> 00:44:37,676
For what, you don't know.
564
00:44:38,844 --> 00:44:40,724
There's one more thing
I want to say right here.
565
00:44:45,517 --> 00:44:47,936
I guess you can say
James Brown was a tyrant,
566
00:44:48,145 --> 00:44:51,315
maybe because he fought so hard
to learn what he was doing
567
00:44:51,523 --> 00:44:53,442
and learn every aspect
of his business.
568
00:44:53,651 --> 00:44:55,194
He set the bar very, very high.
569
00:45:28,268 --> 00:45:31,522
There was nobody
in the business, period,
570
00:45:32,147 --> 00:45:34,817
that dressed no better
than the James Brown Band.
571
00:45:36,527 --> 00:45:37,528
Oh, man.
572
00:45:51,834 --> 00:45:53,877
He would play seven days a week,
573
00:45:54,086 --> 00:45:56,088
tailor your uniforms
twice a gig,
574
00:45:56,296 --> 00:45:59,925
show up every gig,
pressed, clean.
575
00:46:00,259 --> 00:46:01,339
I don't know how we did it.
576
00:46:01,427 --> 00:46:02,886
I can't even remember
how we did it.
577
00:46:05,013 --> 00:46:07,182
He would look me up and down
and say,
578
00:46:07,391 --> 00:46:08,767
"Miss High...
579
00:46:09,685 --> 00:46:11,562
...that dress has gotten tight."
580
00:46:11,770 --> 00:46:13,772
He was very particular
about what you wore
581
00:46:13,981 --> 00:46:15,274
or how you look.
582
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:18,944
We had fines if you didn't
have creases in your clothes.
583
00:46:19,153 --> 00:46:21,739
Fines if your shoes
weren't together.
584
00:46:21,947 --> 00:46:24,825
And then it got to where
you had to ride on the bus
585
00:46:25,033 --> 00:46:26,160
in a suit and tie.
586
00:46:27,828 --> 00:46:28,828
As he always said,
587
00:46:28,996 --> 00:46:31,123
"Well, you can't never tell
what might happen.
588
00:46:31,331 --> 00:46:34,585
Somebody might be there,
and you'd be already dressed."
589
00:46:36,628 --> 00:46:38,672
He preached stage decorum.
590
00:46:39,506 --> 00:46:40,591
Punctuality.
591
00:46:40,799 --> 00:46:43,093
Mister this, Mister that. Pride.
592
00:46:43,635 --> 00:46:45,012
It was all positive.
593
00:46:46,889 --> 00:46:48,307
As the years went on, I said,
594
00:46:48,515 --> 00:46:50,726
the Mister thing,
where did that come from?
595
00:46:50,934 --> 00:46:53,604
He said, "Alan,
you got to understand something."
596
00:46:53,812 --> 00:46:55,814
"Where I grew up, when I grew up,"
597
00:46:56,607 --> 00:46:57,858
"I was always Jimmy."
598
00:46:59,151 --> 00:47:00,736
"My name ain't never been Jimmy."
599
00:47:00,944 --> 00:47:02,696
"If they wouldn't call me James,"
600
00:47:03,989 --> 00:47:06,241
"you know they really
weren't going to call me mister."
601
00:47:07,242 --> 00:47:08,744
"But I reached a point"
602
00:47:08,952 --> 00:47:11,246
"where if you were willing
to do business with me,"
603
00:47:12,289 --> 00:47:13,707
"you had to call me mister."
604
00:47:13,916 --> 00:47:17,336
"And the only way to do that
is set the example."
605
00:47:18,253 --> 00:47:21,924
I realized how that really
had contributed
606
00:47:22,132 --> 00:47:24,968
to his relationships
with white people.
607
00:47:25,177 --> 00:47:26,458
Again,
particularly in the South,
608
00:47:26,553 --> 00:47:28,639
who controlled
a lot of the venues.
609
00:47:29,181 --> 00:47:31,141
Business is a part
you've got to adapt yourself to
610
00:47:31,225 --> 00:47:34,102
so you can be prepared
for whatever might come up.
611
00:47:34,686 --> 00:47:37,189
I work with the artists,
and I've...
612
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:39,525
Forever and ever talking
613
00:47:39,733 --> 00:47:43,320
and trying to get the fellows
to get their business together.
614
00:47:52,955 --> 00:47:54,540
James was in charge
615
00:47:54,748 --> 00:47:57,000
of whatever happened
with his organization.
616
00:48:00,337 --> 00:48:03,006
The manager that he had,
Ben Bart,
617
00:48:03,215 --> 00:48:04,800
it's still was James
618
00:48:05,008 --> 00:48:06,728
that made the decisions
as to what happened.
619
00:48:08,428 --> 00:48:10,806
Because everything
had to come through him.
620
00:48:11,890 --> 00:48:15,394
He saw people like Berry Gordy
and what they were accomplishing
621
00:48:15,602 --> 00:48:17,104
and he wanted to be
a part of that.
622
00:48:17,312 --> 00:48:20,440
He didn't want to just be
that guy who sings and dances.
623
00:48:20,649 --> 00:48:22,651
But then
there was The Ed Sullivan Show.
624
00:48:24,444 --> 00:48:26,989
I was talking
to young Jim Brown,
625
00:48:27,197 --> 00:48:29,199
he was born in Augusta, Georgia.
626
00:48:29,408 --> 00:48:32,160
Where he worked on a farm,
picked cotton
627
00:48:32,369 --> 00:48:36,290
and worked in a coal yard,
and always sang his songs.
628
00:48:36,498 --> 00:48:39,751
So we are delighted
to present James Brown
629
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:41,086
on our stage on this show.
630
00:48:41,295 --> 00:48:44,464
So let's have a fine welcome
for a very fine talent.
631
00:49:05,277 --> 00:49:06,612
I remember when James Brown
632
00:49:06,820 --> 00:49:09,239
was booked to play Ed Sullivan
for the first time,
633
00:49:09,865 --> 00:49:12,242
black radio was promoting it
like a major event.
634
00:49:26,214 --> 00:49:29,217
Understand when black artists
would come on Ed Sullivan,
635
00:49:29,426 --> 00:49:30,761
they would usually come on
636
00:49:30,969 --> 00:49:34,097
and perform
with Ed Sullivan's house band,
637
00:49:34,890 --> 00:49:36,050
who were excellent musicians.
638
00:49:36,183 --> 00:49:38,393
But you got no soul
out of them at all.
639
00:49:43,649 --> 00:49:44,733
James Brown made it clear
640
00:49:44,942 --> 00:49:47,819
he was coming on one way
and one way only,
641
00:49:48,028 --> 00:49:49,696
and that was with his full band.
642
00:49:50,238 --> 00:49:52,407
So you were going to see
the James Brown Show.
643
00:50:21,728 --> 00:50:22,889
Sullivan was the kind of show
644
00:50:23,021 --> 00:50:25,399
where the whole family sat
in front of the TV on Sunday
645
00:50:25,607 --> 00:50:26,650
and watched together.
646
00:50:26,858 --> 00:50:28,068
So my mom and dad, it's like,
647
00:50:28,276 --> 00:50:30,195
"Oh, that James Brown
you always talk about."
648
00:50:37,285 --> 00:50:40,080
It was like watching something
from outer space for them.
649
00:50:44,292 --> 00:50:47,379
And I imagine white America,
probably their jaws dropped.
650
00:50:57,389 --> 00:50:58,670
The Ed Sullivan Show
was the peak
651
00:50:58,765 --> 00:51:01,351
of American musical
entertainment at that time.
652
00:51:08,108 --> 00:51:09,818
The black community
was very proud
653
00:51:10,027 --> 00:51:12,320
that he would be
on the same show
654
00:51:12,529 --> 00:51:14,531
that presented Elvis
and the Beatles,
655
00:51:14,781 --> 00:51:17,576
and that catapulted him
to a whole new level.
656
00:51:25,208 --> 00:51:27,711
My act was so revolutionary,
they couldn't believe it.
657
00:51:28,211 --> 00:51:30,839
I got so many applause
at the dress rehearsal,
658
00:51:31,048 --> 00:51:33,248
they didn't know if they should
keep the dress rehearsal
659
00:51:33,341 --> 00:51:34,551
or film it again.
660
00:51:38,597 --> 00:51:42,142
I was sure of myself,
I knew what I had.
661
00:51:45,145 --> 00:51:47,022
Fine. Thank you very,
very much.
662
00:51:47,230 --> 00:51:50,317
Singing was the first step to
the real things I wanted to do.
663
00:51:53,487 --> 00:51:55,197
Programs normally seen
at this time
664
00:51:55,405 --> 00:51:56,656
will not be broadcast
665
00:51:56,865 --> 00:52:00,118
in order to bring you
this CBS News Special Report:
666
00:52:00,327 --> 00:52:01,703
The March in Mississippi.
667
00:52:02,204 --> 00:52:04,790
I plan to begin my voter
registration march
668
00:52:05,207 --> 00:52:09,377
into Mississippi on Sunday,
June 5th, 1966,
669
00:52:10,212 --> 00:52:12,881
from the downtown
Memphis Peabody Hotel.
670
00:52:13,090 --> 00:52:14,890
They call it the place
where the Delta begins,
671
00:52:15,050 --> 00:52:17,594
the Mississippi Delta
of rich soil and big plantations
672
00:52:17,803 --> 00:52:20,138
and a population
that is predominantly Negro.
673
00:52:20,347 --> 00:52:22,516
"If I can walk through
Mississippi without harm,"
674
00:52:22,724 --> 00:52:23,975
Meredith told reporters,
675
00:52:24,184 --> 00:52:26,269
"other Negroes
will see that they can, too."
676
00:52:26,728 --> 00:52:28,313
Not everyone
was glad to see him.
677
00:52:28,814 --> 00:52:29,981
Two miles further on,
678
00:52:30,190 --> 00:52:32,651
Meredith was felled
by three shotgun blasts.
679
00:52:45,997 --> 00:52:47,557
From the moment
the civil rights leaders
680
00:52:47,624 --> 00:52:49,501
rushed in to continue
James Meredith's march,
681
00:52:49,709 --> 00:52:50,710
there's been a struggle
682
00:52:50,919 --> 00:52:53,046
to see whose philosophy
would guide the steps.
683
00:52:53,755 --> 00:52:55,257
The moderates or the militants.
684
00:52:56,716 --> 00:52:59,052
- What do you want?
- Freedom!
685
00:52:59,261 --> 00:53:01,304
- When do want it?
- Now!
686
00:53:01,513 --> 00:53:03,807
- How much of it do you want?
- All of it!
687
00:53:04,141 --> 00:53:06,393
- We want Black Power!
- Black Power!
688
00:53:06,601 --> 00:53:08,228
We want Black Power!
What do you want?
689
00:53:08,436 --> 00:53:09,729
Black Power!
690
00:53:14,609 --> 00:53:17,195
As we went down the highway,
691
00:53:17,404 --> 00:53:19,865
we recognized that
we had to overcome our fears.
692
00:53:20,407 --> 00:53:23,702
And we also knew
that we had to challenge
693
00:53:23,910 --> 00:53:26,997
the old tactics and strategies
of the civil rights movement.
694
00:53:27,205 --> 00:53:29,791
It was just too slow
for the younger generation.
695
00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:32,502
We wanted our freedom
and we wanted it then.
696
00:53:33,378 --> 00:53:34,588
Black Power!
697
00:53:34,796 --> 00:53:38,175
- What do you want?
- Black Power!
698
00:53:43,555 --> 00:53:44,931
We had some situations
699
00:53:45,140 --> 00:53:48,685
where they used tear gas
and beat the hell out of people.
700
00:53:48,894 --> 00:53:50,187
But we began to recognize
701
00:53:50,395 --> 00:53:53,064
that we gonna actually make it
to the state capitol
702
00:53:53,273 --> 00:53:55,567
and we said that we needed
a major event.
703
00:53:55,775 --> 00:53:57,194
And who was the better person
704
00:53:57,402 --> 00:54:00,155
to carry the message
we're trying to carry in,
705
00:54:00,363 --> 00:54:03,283
but a soul singer
like James Brown.
706
00:54:16,213 --> 00:54:18,340
Like a lot
of black entertainers,
707
00:54:18,548 --> 00:54:22,093
as the civil rights movement
really begins to pick up steam,
708
00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:24,679
they had to kind of pick a side.
709
00:54:26,223 --> 00:54:29,309
He said, "You got to understand,
I don't believe in non-violence."
710
00:54:29,517 --> 00:54:31,019
"You grew up admiring Dr. King."
711
00:54:31,228 --> 00:54:32,562
"I respected him,"
712
00:54:32,771 --> 00:54:35,440
"but I carried two or three guns
all the time."
713
00:54:35,649 --> 00:54:40,528
"But I wanted to reflect
the fervor of what's going on."
714
00:54:46,284 --> 00:54:49,996
When we flew into Jackson,
they met us out there
715
00:54:50,205 --> 00:54:51,623
and they had the dogs
and the guns.
716
00:54:51,831 --> 00:54:56,628
They surrounded his plane while
we went in to do the concert.
717
00:54:58,546 --> 00:55:02,092
I don't know if I had enough
time to be afraid.
718
00:55:02,300 --> 00:55:03,468
It was touchy.
719
00:55:04,177 --> 00:55:05,470
At Tougaloo College,
720
00:55:05,679 --> 00:55:08,556
just eight miles
outside of Jackson, Mississippi,
721
00:55:09,182 --> 00:55:12,435
Hollywood and Broadway's salute
to the Meredith Marchers.
722
00:55:13,144 --> 00:55:14,396
The program has just started
723
00:55:14,604 --> 00:55:17,857
and on the stage right now,
James Brown.
724
00:55:18,108 --> 00:55:19,442
Let's join him there.
725
00:55:21,736 --> 00:55:24,656
Dr. King and all the other
civil rights leaders
726
00:55:24,864 --> 00:55:27,951
were working out the program
for the next day.
727
00:55:28,159 --> 00:55:30,203
And Dr. King said,
"Look here, you all."
728
00:55:30,412 --> 00:55:32,539
"You all can sit around here and
have this argument if you want to."
729
00:55:32,747 --> 00:55:34,108
"I'm going to go see James Brown."
730
00:55:40,630 --> 00:55:43,341
It was just euphoria
all over the place,
731
00:55:43,550 --> 00:55:46,344
that James Brown is here
with us, you know.
732
00:55:46,553 --> 00:55:50,348
And he said, "Hey, you all,
you marched all the way through"
733
00:55:50,557 --> 00:55:53,727
"and you have fought back
and gave a courageous fight."
734
00:55:53,935 --> 00:55:55,312
He just galvanized the crowd.
735
00:56:06,072 --> 00:56:08,867
We have Dr. Martin Luther King
right before the platform.
736
00:56:09,075 --> 00:56:11,202
Dr. King, what do you think
of this rally tonight?
737
00:56:11,411 --> 00:56:13,621
Oh, it's a marvelous turnout
738
00:56:14,581 --> 00:56:16,291
and I'm happy about the fact
739
00:56:16,499 --> 00:56:19,085
that many of our
outstanding entertainers
740
00:56:19,753 --> 00:56:23,048
have been willing to take time
out of their very busy schedules
741
00:56:23,631 --> 00:56:25,717
to be a part of this struggle.
742
00:56:29,804 --> 00:56:31,389
On that particular occasion,
743
00:56:31,598 --> 00:56:33,725
it was James Brown
that made the difference.
744
00:56:34,309 --> 00:56:37,312
He found a way to fit in
and contribute,
745
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:38,772
but also to learn a lot
746
00:56:38,980 --> 00:56:42,359
about the people who were trying
to change America.
747
00:56:42,567 --> 00:56:45,987
The James Brown you witnessed,
the rest of this show.
748
00:56:46,196 --> 00:56:48,156
This is Black Power, baby.
749
00:56:57,916 --> 00:56:59,501
"In A Cold Sweat", cut one.
750
00:57:29,823 --> 00:57:30,949
He said...
751
00:57:45,088 --> 00:57:46,423
"In a Cold Sweat", cut two.
752
00:58:58,036 --> 00:59:01,164
By 1967,
when "Cold Sweat" comes out,
753
00:59:01,372 --> 00:59:05,126
now he was officially away
from the rest of the pack.
754
00:59:07,170 --> 00:59:08,796
"Cold Sweat" is a vamp.
755
00:59:11,466 --> 00:59:13,468
But you have
all these different parts.
756
00:59:13,676 --> 00:59:17,138
It was this juxtaposition
of something being tight
757
00:59:17,347 --> 00:59:19,140
but very loose at the same time.
758
00:59:19,349 --> 00:59:21,142
And that's what jazz
really is all about.
759
00:59:27,857 --> 00:59:32,153
Maceo Parker is probably
the most recognizable sound
760
00:59:32,362 --> 00:59:34,280
of the James Brown Band.
761
00:59:44,123 --> 00:59:46,084
When he got to the point
where he start calling my name,
762
00:59:46,292 --> 00:59:48,628
telling me to come out and play,
it was like, "Wow."
763
00:59:50,463 --> 00:59:54,050
When I recognized I could hear
the funky side of stuff,
764
00:59:54,259 --> 00:59:55,760
I said, well, I got to use that
765
00:59:55,969 --> 00:59:57,970
because there is nobody
that can hear it like I do.
766
01:00:01,224 --> 01:00:02,976
And he appreciated that.
767
01:00:22,370 --> 01:00:24,289
Now give the drummer some.
768
01:00:25,790 --> 01:00:27,166
Give the drummer some.
769
01:00:27,750 --> 01:00:30,169
Give him some! Drummer, you got it!
770
01:00:30,378 --> 01:00:31,629
Now, Clyde Stubblefield,
771
01:00:31,838 --> 01:00:34,591
he was almost
like part man, part machine.
772
01:00:42,682 --> 01:00:44,767
Clyde had all these subtleties,
773
01:00:44,976 --> 01:00:47,270
this kind of bouncy left hand.
774
01:00:55,612 --> 01:00:57,697
Music, and especially with soul
and funk music,
775
01:00:57,905 --> 01:01:01,075
it's based on a very simple
emphasis of the one.
776
01:01:07,415 --> 01:01:08,499
Now, in gospel music,
777
01:01:08,708 --> 01:01:10,589
if you played direct rhythm
with the tambourine,
778
01:01:11,628 --> 01:01:13,838
adding grace notes
is those small notes.
779
01:01:18,635 --> 01:01:19,875
And that's the sound of church.
780
01:01:22,055 --> 01:01:25,516
Clyde Stubblefield had perfect
grace notes on his snare.
781
01:01:29,437 --> 01:01:31,147
I never took lessons.
782
01:01:32,190 --> 01:01:35,234
Music, to me,
looked like Chinese writing.
783
01:01:35,485 --> 01:01:38,571
So, I don't know.
I play from my heart and soul.
784
01:01:50,833 --> 01:01:52,293
That concept of the one,
785
01:01:52,502 --> 01:01:55,838
it changed the emphasis
from where it had been in jazz.
786
01:01:56,047 --> 01:01:58,091
In jazz,
it had been on the two and four.
787
01:02:00,218 --> 01:02:02,095
That's two, four.
788
01:02:04,263 --> 01:02:05,463
You move into the funk period,
789
01:02:05,473 --> 01:02:07,433
they change the emphasis
to the one and the three,
790
01:02:07,475 --> 01:02:09,236
and put it down on the bottom
with the drums,
791
01:02:09,310 --> 01:02:10,853
to pick you up,
drop you back down.
792
01:02:54,564 --> 01:02:56,232
Give the band
a big round of applause!
793
01:03:01,320 --> 01:03:05,241
When I joined the band,
he had "Cold Sweat" as a hit.
794
01:03:05,450 --> 01:03:08,494
I didn't like it, you know.
I said it's incorrect, you know.
795
01:03:08,703 --> 01:03:11,664
It's bad, bad musically.
796
01:03:11,873 --> 01:03:16,586
It had a bridge
that didn't go with the head.
797
01:03:16,961 --> 01:03:20,548
But I decided to take the job
to get out of the South,
798
01:03:20,757 --> 01:03:22,175
and go to New York
799
01:03:22,383 --> 01:03:25,386
and be discovered
as a great jazz trombone player.
800
01:03:25,595 --> 01:03:28,765
And even though I wasn't crazy
about these songs,
801
01:03:29,015 --> 01:03:30,255
I knew that they were different
802
01:03:30,433 --> 01:03:33,478
from the ordinary rhythm
and blues that was happening.
803
01:03:33,686 --> 01:03:36,105
And the band performed them
real good.
804
01:03:43,488 --> 01:03:47,408
The thing about performing live
is there's this energy going on
805
01:03:47,617 --> 01:03:50,787
between the musicians
and the audience.
806
01:03:50,995 --> 01:03:52,830
You don't get that
in a recording studio.
807
01:03:53,039 --> 01:03:55,708
That doesn't mean you can't make
great music in a studio.
808
01:03:55,917 --> 01:03:58,294
You just have to have
a different discipline.
809
01:03:58,503 --> 01:04:01,005
I think Mr. Brown's
studio recordings
810
01:04:01,214 --> 01:04:04,425
are somehow just live shows
with no audience there.
811
01:04:17,188 --> 01:04:21,984
James always had to work himself
into what you were recording.
812
01:04:22,193 --> 01:04:24,111
You used to hate to do that.
813
01:04:24,320 --> 01:04:27,990
You'd go from this time of day
till next day almost.
814
01:04:29,617 --> 01:04:31,202
He would come in and say,
"Wait a minute, Jab.
815
01:04:31,410 --> 01:04:32,954
Let me show you
how I want it to go."
816
01:04:34,497 --> 01:04:35,748
So I'm, okay.
817
01:04:35,957 --> 01:04:38,459
And he would get up, you know,
and he'd sit there
818
01:04:38,668 --> 01:04:40,711
and whatever it was
he was doing.
819
01:04:40,920 --> 01:04:43,464
And he said, "You got it?"
And I would say, yeah.
820
01:04:43,673 --> 01:04:46,717
So I would go back and play
what I already was playing.
821
01:04:46,926 --> 01:04:48,553
"That's it, you got it."
822
01:04:49,595 --> 01:04:52,181
And you just laugh to yourself
and keep going.
823
01:04:54,267 --> 01:04:55,893
James is not trained at all.
824
01:04:56,102 --> 01:04:57,728
Which makes it difficult
825
01:04:57,937 --> 01:05:00,273
to understand
what he's talking about.
826
01:05:06,737 --> 01:05:09,824
He knows that he's working
with musicians
827
01:05:10,032 --> 01:05:12,577
who are the best
at what they do.
828
01:05:12,785 --> 01:05:14,036
He doesn't care.
829
01:05:14,787 --> 01:05:17,164
He's like, "Look,
I know you can read music."
830
01:05:17,915 --> 01:05:19,250
"I can't do any of that."
831
01:05:19,458 --> 01:05:21,961
"But you still got to follow me
because I'm the man."
832
01:05:28,759 --> 01:05:30,887
Part Two of "Get it Together",
833
01:05:31,095 --> 01:05:34,765
they're having an open rehearsal
right in the middle of the song.
834
01:05:41,981 --> 01:05:43,900
I'm thinking,
he left this on the record?
835
01:05:44,108 --> 01:05:45,401
This is brilliant.
836
01:05:45,651 --> 01:05:47,528
"Engineer, I got to go.
Fade it out."
837
01:05:49,155 --> 01:05:50,781
You don't say that
on the record.
838
01:05:51,824 --> 01:05:53,409
I was like, man, this is raw.
839
01:06:03,252 --> 01:06:05,588
When he get through
in the recording studio,
840
01:06:05,796 --> 01:06:07,757
they would print up his records
right there,
841
01:06:07,965 --> 01:06:09,467
next door, in King Studio.
842
01:06:09,884 --> 01:06:11,969
So everything
was coming out in a day.
843
01:06:12,178 --> 01:06:15,139
Didn't take no week or nothing,
just right there.
844
01:06:15,348 --> 01:06:19,685
He owned King Studio,
not money-wise, but talent-wise.
845
01:06:19,894 --> 01:06:23,272
There was no other artist
who had that kind of control
846
01:06:23,481 --> 01:06:25,691
or those kinds of resources.
847
01:06:26,025 --> 01:06:29,695
At that time, his manager,
Ben Bart passed away in 1968.
848
01:06:30,321 --> 01:06:33,157
From that point on, James Brown
was essentially self-managed.
849
01:06:33,741 --> 01:06:37,662
All he talked about was,
how much money he could make
850
01:06:37,870 --> 01:06:38,996
and how big he was.
851
01:06:39,330 --> 01:06:40,915
Sometimes we'd
start a conversation
852
01:06:41,123 --> 01:06:42,708
about football or baseball,
853
01:06:42,917 --> 01:06:46,671
but he'd always get right back
to what song we were going to do
854
01:06:46,879 --> 01:06:49,298
and who messed up
and stuff like that.
855
01:06:49,507 --> 01:06:50,883
He never partied with the band.
856
01:06:51,092 --> 01:06:53,052
It was not a business with us.
857
01:06:53,260 --> 01:06:54,887
He was mainly
with his girlfriends,
858
01:06:55,096 --> 01:06:59,266
and once in a blue moon
he might ride the bus.
859
01:06:59,850 --> 01:07:02,061
He didn't have any friends,
no close friends.
860
01:07:02,269 --> 01:07:04,063
He had to force people
to be around him.
861
01:07:05,147 --> 01:07:06,565
I think he was lonely.
862
01:07:07,858 --> 01:07:09,110
He grew up with a sense
863
01:07:09,318 --> 01:07:11,529
that you really
can't trust anybody.
864
01:07:11,737 --> 01:07:15,074
This is a guy who basically
was taught at a very early age
865
01:07:15,282 --> 01:07:16,993
you can't trust your mother.
866
01:07:17,201 --> 01:07:19,495
Not to say you didn't love her,
but you can't trust her.
867
01:07:20,913 --> 01:07:22,123
Because she's gone.
868
01:07:23,374 --> 01:07:26,002
He was absolutely haunted
by that.
869
01:07:27,003 --> 01:07:29,755
I remember one night we were
riding around and I told him,
870
01:07:29,964 --> 01:07:33,134
I come out of a broken home,
my father left.
871
01:07:33,342 --> 01:07:35,469
He looked at me and said,
"Your father left?"
872
01:07:35,678 --> 01:07:37,805
"My mother and father left me."
873
01:07:38,014 --> 01:07:41,308
"My father gave me to my aunt.
I was raised in a whore house."
874
01:07:41,851 --> 01:07:44,353
He said,
"I'd watch the church women come"
875
01:07:44,562 --> 01:07:46,480
"and turn tricks all day
and leave at 4:30"
876
01:07:46,689 --> 01:07:48,569
"so they could be home
to cook for their husbands"
877
01:07:48,607 --> 01:07:50,568
"and they didn't know
that they were prostitutes."
878
01:07:51,360 --> 01:07:54,780
To grow up like that, it's hard
for you to trust anybody.
879
01:07:54,989 --> 01:07:57,241
I think it also
was why he was a loner.
880
01:07:57,450 --> 01:08:01,495
And once he came of age,
he could never shake that.
881
01:08:04,623 --> 01:08:06,667
We were in Sacramento
and we performed,
882
01:08:06,876 --> 01:08:09,378
and he left without making sure
883
01:08:09,670 --> 01:08:13,132
that the bus could get us back
to the East Coast.
884
01:08:13,340 --> 01:08:14,925
We basically quit.
885
01:08:15,134 --> 01:08:17,094
Eventually everybody
came back to him
886
01:08:17,344 --> 01:08:19,055
but he was angry about it.
887
01:08:19,263 --> 01:08:22,475
He would remind them, you know,
"You left me, you left me.
888
01:08:22,683 --> 01:08:26,437
And I don't trust you
because you left me."
889
01:08:27,313 --> 01:08:30,066
And I think
that was one of his reasons too
890
01:08:30,274 --> 01:08:34,195
of not really getting close
to anyone in the band.
891
01:08:34,528 --> 01:08:37,531
Didn't matter where I was.
I was always strapped.
892
01:08:38,115 --> 01:08:40,076
Because sometimes
James had good days,
893
01:08:40,284 --> 01:08:41,577
sometimes he had bad days.
894
01:08:42,203 --> 01:08:43,913
I didn't want to be a part
of the bad days.
895
01:08:45,039 --> 01:08:48,834
We're in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
I can't forget that.
896
01:08:49,043 --> 01:08:50,643
Gertrude Saunders,
the wardrobe mistress,
897
01:08:50,795 --> 01:08:53,130
comes down, said,
"Hey, Melvin, Maceo.
898
01:08:53,631 --> 01:08:55,758
He wants you guys up
to the dressing room right now."
899
01:08:56,425 --> 01:09:00,054
As we walked in the door,
Tony Walker, the henchman,
900
01:09:00,262 --> 01:09:03,349
is strapping on his .45.
901
01:09:04,391 --> 01:09:06,894
James is doing his hair
and looking in the mirror.
902
01:09:07,394 --> 01:09:13,984
He says, "Maceo, they tell me
you picking at me on the bus."
903
01:09:14,819 --> 01:09:15,820
He put the comb down,
904
01:09:16,028 --> 01:09:17,988
and he stood up
and turned around,
905
01:09:18,197 --> 01:09:19,907
started to walk toward us.
906
01:09:20,116 --> 01:09:24,620
He said, "When we come for you,
you better be ready."
907
01:09:24,829 --> 01:09:27,206
I could see with that left hand,
908
01:09:27,414 --> 01:09:30,334
he was getting ready
to punch Maceo in the mouth
909
01:09:30,543 --> 01:09:31,863
so that he couldn't play
his horn.
910
01:09:33,170 --> 01:09:35,172
I pushed Maceo to the side,
911
01:09:35,381 --> 01:09:39,051
went in my pocket
at the same time, pulled it out.
912
01:09:39,260 --> 01:09:40,970
When you have that automatic,
913
01:09:41,178 --> 01:09:43,347
you always keep one
in the chamber.
914
01:09:44,140 --> 01:09:45,141
Pump it.
915
01:09:46,267 --> 01:09:49,645
Let him know that it's loaded.
916
01:09:49,854 --> 01:09:52,982
When I hit it, the .32 shell
went up in the air,
917
01:09:53,190 --> 01:09:55,484
came down,
seems as if it was slow motion.
918
01:09:56,193 --> 01:09:58,863
And when it landed on the floor,
it hit, boom, boom, boom.
919
01:09:59,071 --> 01:10:03,242
I stuck it right in his nose,
and I said, "I'm ready now."
920
01:10:03,534 --> 01:10:05,655
"What do you want to do?
What do you want to do, huh?"
921
01:10:05,786 --> 01:10:06,912
"What do you want to do?"
922
01:10:07,121 --> 01:10:08,581
He put his hands up and said,
"No, no, no, no, no!
923
01:10:08,789 --> 01:10:11,458
I didn't mean that!
Not like that! Not like that!"
924
01:10:11,667 --> 01:10:15,504
I said, "you don't come for me.
You don't come for my brother."
925
01:10:16,505 --> 01:10:17,715
And that was that.
926
01:10:18,424 --> 01:10:20,259
You had to approach him
with strength.
927
01:10:20,467 --> 01:10:21,719
You had to always be a man.
928
01:10:21,927 --> 01:10:23,721
And I really loved the guy.
929
01:10:24,680 --> 01:10:27,474
But I could never say to him,
"Hey, man, I love you, man."
930
01:10:27,683 --> 01:10:30,102
Because he had a way
of taking advantage of that,
931
01:10:30,311 --> 01:10:31,937
or taking that for weakness.
932
01:10:33,606 --> 01:10:36,066
With men,
he isn't that super tough guy.
933
01:10:36,275 --> 01:10:38,194
He wants to be. He is not.
934
01:10:38,402 --> 01:10:40,196
He is with women.
935
01:10:40,613 --> 01:10:43,157
Brown would be a super tough guy
with women.
936
01:10:43,365 --> 01:10:47,036
And the women do what he want,
when he want, so...
937
01:10:47,244 --> 01:10:51,790
I do remember
the lady that he was dating
938
01:10:51,999 --> 01:10:53,751
when I first joined him.
939
01:10:53,959 --> 01:10:56,295
She only focused on him.
940
01:10:56,503 --> 01:11:00,299
She would never turn
and look at anyone.
941
01:11:00,507 --> 01:11:05,930
Not unless he said, "Baby, look.
You know, there's the Jewels."
942
01:11:06,138 --> 01:11:08,349
And then she'll turn around,
"Hello."
943
01:11:08,557 --> 01:11:12,645
He was very jealous.
He was a very jealous man.
944
01:11:12,853 --> 01:11:17,483
But I don't think that any woman
deserves to be beaten.
945
01:11:18,150 --> 01:11:21,278
I know he was arrested
for domestic violence,
946
01:11:21,487 --> 01:11:22,947
and he has told me he hit women.
947
01:11:23,155 --> 01:11:26,242
I remember he got into one fight
that I was in the hotel.
948
01:11:26,450 --> 01:11:27,993
I walked him out of the room.
949
01:11:28,202 --> 01:11:30,162
When I came in,
they obviously been fighting.
950
01:11:30,371 --> 01:11:32,206
And we went down
and sat by the pool,
951
01:11:32,414 --> 01:11:34,208
and he looked at me,
he said, "Reverend."
952
01:11:34,541 --> 01:11:36,961
He said, "Don't ever hit a
woman. Don't be like me."
953
01:11:37,169 --> 01:11:39,421
He said, "I come from
generations of that."
954
01:11:39,630 --> 01:11:40,631
"It's wrong."
955
01:12:00,901 --> 01:12:04,780
Pillage, looting,
murder and arson
956
01:12:05,364 --> 01:12:07,283
have nothing to do
with civil rights.
957
01:12:08,200 --> 01:12:10,995
They are criminal conduct
958
01:12:11,203 --> 01:12:14,039
and the federal government
has no alternative
959
01:12:14,248 --> 01:12:15,791
but to respond.
960
01:12:23,465 --> 01:12:28,012
I think we've got to see a riot
is a language of the unheard,
961
01:12:28,220 --> 01:12:31,140
and what is it that America
has failed to hear?
962
01:12:31,348 --> 01:12:32,349
It has failed to hear
963
01:12:32,558 --> 01:12:38,397
that the economic plight
of the Negro poor has worsened.
964
01:12:43,193 --> 01:12:46,947
We've got to turn our backs
on this country.
965
01:12:47,156 --> 01:12:50,284
This country has never cared
about black people.
966
01:12:53,370 --> 01:12:56,373
Soul is when a man
has to struggle all his life
967
01:12:56,582 --> 01:12:57,958
to be equal to another man.
968
01:12:58,167 --> 01:13:01,712
Soul is when a man pays taxes
and still he comes up second.
969
01:13:02,421 --> 01:13:05,507
Soul is when a man is judged
not by what they do,
970
01:13:05,716 --> 01:13:07,217
but what color they are.
971
01:13:11,847 --> 01:13:15,559
The rebellions that we see
are merely dress rehearsals
972
01:13:15,768 --> 01:13:17,088
for the revolution
that's to come.
973
01:13:19,355 --> 01:13:21,565
We've got some difficult days ahead,
974
01:13:22,191 --> 01:13:24,693
but I want you to know tonight
975
01:13:24,943 --> 01:13:28,947
that we, as a people,
will get to the Promised Land.
976
01:13:51,178 --> 01:13:52,554
At 7:10 this evening,
977
01:13:52,763 --> 01:13:55,891
Martin Luther King
was shot in Tennessee.
978
01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:59,686
Martin Luther King,
20 minutes ago, died.
979
01:14:13,992 --> 01:14:15,702
Probably the most important show
980
01:14:15,869 --> 01:14:19,498
of James Brown's career
is April 1968.
981
01:14:19,706 --> 01:14:22,459
Martin Luther King
had just been assassinated,
982
01:14:23,460 --> 01:14:26,797
and all of America
is erupting in violence.
983
01:14:33,887 --> 01:14:35,097
We were on the way to Boston
984
01:14:35,305 --> 01:14:36,849
and we didn't know
if the show was going to happen.
985
01:14:37,057 --> 01:14:40,727
We knew that Dr. King was shot.
He was dead.
986
01:14:40,936 --> 01:14:43,564
And we didn't know
what that meant for us.
987
01:14:43,772 --> 01:14:47,192
The band was kind of fearful.
988
01:14:47,401 --> 01:14:51,196
The Mayor didn't want James
to come there and do that show.
989
01:14:51,447 --> 01:14:54,867
But that city councilman
told him upfront.
990
01:14:55,242 --> 01:14:57,327
If you don't let him
do that show,
991
01:14:57,536 --> 01:15:00,831
they are going to burn this
city down, and he was serious.
992
01:15:01,039 --> 01:15:04,543
They were poised
to do just that.
993
01:15:12,843 --> 01:15:14,928
I think there's reason
for apprehension
994
01:15:15,137 --> 01:15:16,137
but not a lot.
995
01:15:16,305 --> 01:15:17,306
Boston has great hope
996
01:15:17,514 --> 01:15:20,142
and we are a mature,
patient community
997
01:15:20,350 --> 01:15:23,687
and I hope
we're going to weather this.
998
01:15:23,896 --> 01:15:28,108
Tonight you've turned the Brown
concert into a memorial service.
999
01:15:28,317 --> 01:15:29,943
We're going to broadcast that live
1000
01:15:30,152 --> 01:15:32,196
and I assume you feel that
1001
01:15:32,404 --> 01:15:36,074
that will have an effect
in the community.
1002
01:15:36,283 --> 01:15:39,411
Well, I'm hoping it's one valve
that will let off some steam
1003
01:15:39,620 --> 01:15:41,705
and I think it's
an appropriate place to have it
1004
01:15:41,914 --> 01:15:45,042
because it's
a peaceful gathering
1005
01:15:45,250 --> 01:15:47,628
and that's synonymous
with everything that King did.
1006
01:16:10,692 --> 01:16:12,402
Thank you very much,
ladies and gentlemen.
1007
01:16:14,029 --> 01:16:16,365
I want to say thanks
for coming out to see the show
1008
01:16:17,241 --> 01:16:20,160
and you've made it possible
for me
1009
01:16:20,369 --> 01:16:23,789
to be a first class man
in all respects.
1010
01:16:24,498 --> 01:16:26,083
Thank you.
1011
01:16:27,543 --> 01:16:29,503
In Augusta, Georgia,
I used to shine shoes
1012
01:16:29,711 --> 01:16:33,173
on the steps of a...
Thank you.
1013
01:16:33,382 --> 01:16:35,801
In front of a radio station
called "WRDW."
1014
01:16:36,718 --> 01:16:38,519
I used to shine shoes
in front of that station
1015
01:16:38,554 --> 01:16:39,972
and I think we started off...
1016
01:16:40,180 --> 01:16:41,890
I used to get three cents,
then up to five cents,
1017
01:16:42,099 --> 01:16:43,976
then finally,
I got to six cents.
1018
01:16:46,019 --> 01:16:48,522
But now, I own that station.
1019
01:16:51,858 --> 01:16:53,068
You know what that is?
1020
01:16:54,611 --> 01:16:55,946
That's black power.
1021
01:17:11,795 --> 01:17:14,089
When we did the show,
we were hurt
1022
01:17:14,298 --> 01:17:15,658
but you didn't think
about anything
1023
01:17:15,757 --> 01:17:17,801
but doing that show at the time.
1024
01:18:01,428 --> 01:18:02,679
Wait a minute.
1025
01:18:03,722 --> 01:18:05,932
Move off.
I'll be all right, I'll be fine.
1026
01:18:06,975 --> 01:18:08,894
I'm all right, I'm all right.
1027
01:18:10,896 --> 01:18:12,898
I'm all right, I'm all right.
1028
01:18:15,651 --> 01:18:17,444
You want to dance?
Dance.
1029
01:18:17,653 --> 01:18:22,282
People started rushing the stage
and we weren't playing no more
1030
01:18:22,491 --> 01:18:23,909
but they came on, getting ready
1031
01:18:24,117 --> 01:18:25,994
and trying to come all up
on the stage
1032
01:18:26,203 --> 01:18:29,039
and the police was pushing them,
1033
01:18:29,247 --> 01:18:31,708
the guards and everything
was pushing them off the stage
1034
01:18:31,917 --> 01:18:34,336
and Brown says,
"Hold it, hold it, hold it."
1035
01:18:34,544 --> 01:18:35,587
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
wait a minute,
1036
01:18:35,796 --> 01:18:36,797
they all right. It's all right.
1037
01:18:37,005 --> 01:18:38,715
That's all right,
that's all right.
1038
01:18:46,098 --> 01:18:47,224
Now look,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
1039
01:18:47,432 --> 01:18:48,767
Let me finish the show,
now wait a minute,
1040
01:18:48,975 --> 01:18:50,185
let me finish the show
for everybody else.
1041
01:18:50,394 --> 01:18:52,114
I didn't know what to say
about that myself.
1042
01:18:52,312 --> 01:18:53,980
I'm sitting there on the drums
still just waiting, you know,
1043
01:18:54,189 --> 01:18:55,649
like, wow, what's going on?
1044
01:18:55,857 --> 01:18:58,819
This is no way.
We are black, we are black!
1045
01:18:59,986 --> 01:19:01,071
Now wait a minute,
1046
01:19:01,279 --> 01:19:02,364
can't you all brother
get down from there
1047
01:19:02,572 --> 01:19:03,865
and let's do this show together.
1048
01:19:04,074 --> 01:19:05,675
We are black,
don't make us all look bad,
1049
01:19:05,742 --> 01:19:07,035
let me finish doing the show.
1050
01:19:07,244 --> 01:19:09,538
Get off the stage,
step down there.
1051
01:19:10,497 --> 01:19:12,624
Let's represent our own selves.
Now step down.
1052
01:19:12,833 --> 01:19:14,292
No, no, that's not right.
1053
01:19:15,001 --> 01:19:16,670
You're not being fair
to yourselves or me, either.
1054
01:19:16,878 --> 01:19:19,506
You're not being fair
to yourself or me or your race.
1055
01:19:20,966 --> 01:19:22,092
Now I asked the police
to step back
1056
01:19:22,300 --> 01:19:25,220
because I think I can get
some respect from my own people.
1057
01:19:25,846 --> 01:19:26,972
It don't make sense.
1058
01:19:27,180 --> 01:19:29,015
Now are we together or we ain't?
1059
01:19:32,185 --> 01:19:33,353
Hit the thing, man.
1060
01:19:37,357 --> 01:19:38,608
I was like, oh, my God.
1061
01:19:38,900 --> 01:19:41,278
You did not just stop the show,
1062
01:19:42,195 --> 01:19:43,822
told people off, then went like
1063
01:19:44,030 --> 01:19:46,575
"All right,
let's get it together. Hit it."
1064
01:19:50,370 --> 01:19:52,091
If I were in the band,
I would've been like,
1065
01:19:52,164 --> 01:19:54,416
Uhh, that's my cue, goodbye.
See you.
1066
01:19:55,375 --> 01:19:56,501
There's like a riot
about to break out.
1067
01:19:56,710 --> 01:19:57,878
I'm out, James.
1068
01:19:59,629 --> 01:20:03,675
Oh, God, he handled that crowd
like he was the King
1069
01:20:03,884 --> 01:20:05,302
and they respected him.
1070
01:20:08,555 --> 01:20:09,681
He cleared them up
1071
01:20:09,890 --> 01:20:12,392
and there wasn't
no more fighting or nothing.
1072
01:20:12,601 --> 01:20:14,281
It could have been
a turnout of that place.
1073
01:20:15,395 --> 01:20:17,022
He was damn good.
1074
01:20:21,318 --> 01:20:22,778
Boston was one of the few cities
1075
01:20:22,986 --> 01:20:26,865
that avoided any sort
of a fire retaliation
1076
01:20:27,073 --> 01:20:29,826
in the inner cities.
Everyone stayed calm.
1077
01:20:30,035 --> 01:20:31,787
Trouble was very minimal.
1078
01:20:39,586 --> 01:20:40,946
We'd like to announce
that the city
1079
01:20:41,046 --> 01:20:43,548
is very quiet and calm,
1080
01:20:43,757 --> 01:20:44,966
and the report also states
1081
01:20:45,175 --> 01:20:48,637
that everyone is home
watching the TV program.
1082
01:20:48,845 --> 01:20:50,430
So I think the fact
1083
01:20:50,639 --> 01:20:53,391
that we do have
the television cameras here,
1084
01:20:54,601 --> 01:20:56,812
I think it was a big success.
1085
01:20:58,939 --> 01:21:00,148
I wanted to see people
get off the streets,
1086
01:21:00,357 --> 01:21:01,566
I wanted them to calm down,
1087
01:21:01,775 --> 01:21:03,652
I didn't want to see
no more bloodshed
1088
01:21:03,860 --> 01:21:04,986
and lives lost.
1089
01:21:05,987 --> 01:21:08,740
But yet, still,
I shared in the same convictions
1090
01:21:08,949 --> 01:21:10,069
of the people on the streets
1091
01:21:10,116 --> 01:21:12,828
because I understood
what they were fighting for.
1092
01:21:15,789 --> 01:21:18,208
Around the country,
I've been doing a lot of things,
1093
01:21:18,416 --> 01:21:20,585
I guess
I'm real concerned about people.
1094
01:21:20,794 --> 01:21:22,879
Overlooking the city,
overlooking Harlem,
1095
01:21:23,088 --> 01:21:25,549
I've seen
all the torn buildings,
1096
01:21:25,757 --> 01:21:28,134
buildings that still standing
that should be removed
1097
01:21:28,343 --> 01:21:30,095
and you know who lives there?
1098
01:21:31,221 --> 01:21:32,222
The black people.
1099
01:21:33,390 --> 01:21:34,933
You know, in Washington,
1100
01:21:35,267 --> 01:21:37,936
houses that we were walking
in front of, condemned,
1101
01:21:38,144 --> 01:21:40,689
and no one can be living
in these houses.
1102
01:21:40,897 --> 01:21:42,566
I went to Watts,
1103
01:21:42,774 --> 01:21:44,415
I found a lot of people
staying in an area
1104
01:21:44,442 --> 01:21:46,695
that didn't have nothing
to offer.
1105
01:21:47,320 --> 01:21:48,864
I went from black America
1106
01:21:49,072 --> 01:21:50,713
and I started talking
to the white America
1107
01:21:50,866 --> 01:21:51,866
and I was saying,
1108
01:21:52,033 --> 01:21:53,634
these are the things
that has to be done,
1109
01:21:53,743 --> 01:21:56,371
we need education worse
than any other race.
1110
01:21:56,830 --> 01:21:59,666
We got to go to the people
that are not even surviving.
1111
01:21:59,875 --> 01:22:01,793
My fight is just starting.
1112
01:22:02,002 --> 01:22:07,382
My fight is against the past,
the old colored man.
1113
01:22:07,591 --> 01:22:09,009
My fight now
1114
01:22:09,217 --> 01:22:13,513
is for the black America
become American.
1115
01:22:29,821 --> 01:22:30,821
Here he comes.
1116
01:22:30,989 --> 01:22:33,366
James.
Come here, James.
1117
01:22:34,951 --> 01:22:35,952
Come here.
1118
01:22:38,622 --> 01:22:40,248
He's my friend.
1119
01:22:44,461 --> 01:22:46,296
First, I would like
to say good morning.
1120
01:22:47,797 --> 01:22:48,798
I want to say this:
1121
01:22:49,007 --> 01:22:50,342
We would like to know sometimes
1122
01:22:50,550 --> 01:22:52,151
what's going to be done
for black people.
1123
01:22:52,344 --> 01:22:54,262
The black man wants ownership.
1124
01:22:55,388 --> 01:22:56,989
He wants to be able
to own his own things
1125
01:22:57,057 --> 01:22:59,017
and make up his own mind.
1126
01:22:59,351 --> 01:23:01,770
Number one
in the black community,
1127
01:23:01,978 --> 01:23:04,481
the lower income areas,
we need housing,
1128
01:23:04,689 --> 01:23:06,358
so we don't have to stay
in the dump,
1129
01:23:06,566 --> 01:23:08,193
like I've stayed in
when I was a kid.
1130
01:23:08,401 --> 01:23:09,611
We need our own banks
1131
01:23:09,819 --> 01:23:12,656
so we can get some money
to do things by ourselves.
1132
01:23:13,239 --> 01:23:14,324
We don't want nobody
to do it for us,
1133
01:23:14,532 --> 01:23:15,742
we want to do it by ourselves.
1134
01:23:15,951 --> 01:23:18,745
Now the candidate that gives me
those kind of things,
1135
01:23:18,954 --> 01:23:20,622
that's the man I endorse.
1136
01:23:21,414 --> 01:23:24,334
I don't endorse the party,
I endorse the man.
1137
01:23:38,932 --> 01:23:41,601
- So good.
- So good.
1138
01:23:53,905 --> 01:23:55,746
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to Black Dignity.
1139
01:23:55,907 --> 01:24:00,453
This Sunday afternoon will be
our most spectacular program.
1140
01:24:00,662 --> 01:24:03,999
This is not only
Soul Brother Number One,
1141
01:24:04,207 --> 01:24:05,375
and rhythm and blues
1142
01:24:05,583 --> 01:24:07,085
but there is no man in our race
1143
01:24:07,293 --> 01:24:09,170
who has gone
as far as he's gone.
1144
01:24:09,379 --> 01:24:12,882
Welcome James Brown
to Black Dignity.
1145
01:24:13,091 --> 01:24:14,426
Thank you, brother Don.
1146
01:24:16,970 --> 01:24:18,513
All right, we are ready to go
for some calls,
1147
01:24:18,722 --> 01:24:20,724
and, ask whatever you want.
1148
01:24:20,932 --> 01:24:22,559
Hello, this is Don Warden,
you are on Black Dignity.
1149
01:24:22,767 --> 01:24:24,978
- What's happening, James?
- How you feel, brother?
1150
01:24:25,186 --> 01:24:27,605
All right. Well, I just want
to ask you one question.
1151
01:24:27,814 --> 01:24:29,858
I would like to know
why you got your process cut?
1152
01:24:30,692 --> 01:24:32,235
Well, this is a black move
1153
01:24:32,444 --> 01:24:34,779
and regardless
of what you are thinking,
1154
01:24:34,988 --> 01:24:36,197
we all got to think one way
1155
01:24:36,406 --> 01:24:38,087
and when we look alike,
we can think alike.
1156
01:24:38,241 --> 01:24:39,576
You know, the way I see it,
1157
01:24:39,784 --> 01:24:41,202
it's really what's in the mind
that counts.
1158
01:24:41,411 --> 01:24:42,412
Well, the mind counts,
1159
01:24:42,620 --> 01:24:46,583
but see,
we all don't have a good image
1160
01:24:46,791 --> 01:24:48,168
and the image is like, black.
1161
01:24:48,376 --> 01:24:49,696
See,
we've never thought together.
1162
01:24:49,836 --> 01:24:51,463
You know, in Africa,
a man can do what he want to do
1163
01:24:51,671 --> 01:24:52,922
because he know who he is.
1164
01:24:53,131 --> 01:24:54,257
Over here, you don't know.
1165
01:24:54,466 --> 01:24:56,760
So first, we got to get
our image, our identity.
1166
01:25:02,557 --> 01:25:05,268
Everybody thought
when James Brown cut his hair
1167
01:25:05,477 --> 01:25:06,686
and went natural, that was it,
1168
01:25:06,895 --> 01:25:08,897
that was the height
of the black power era.
1169
01:25:14,402 --> 01:25:15,763
James Brown was known
for his hair,
1170
01:25:15,820 --> 01:25:20,492
he was absolutely fascinated
with the "Conk" as we called it.
1171
01:25:20,700 --> 01:25:22,327
And for him to give it up
1172
01:25:22,535 --> 01:25:24,537
was to show
he ultimately did feel
1173
01:25:24,746 --> 01:25:27,540
that blacks needed
to learn their natural pride.
1174
01:25:28,333 --> 01:25:30,585
Hello, this is Don Warden,
you're on Black Dignity.
1175
01:25:30,794 --> 01:25:32,212
I wanted to tell you
that I'm glad you got rid
1176
01:25:32,420 --> 01:25:33,741
of that stuff you had
in your hair
1177
01:25:33,797 --> 01:25:36,674
and I wish everybody
would wear a natural
1178
01:25:36,883 --> 01:25:38,968
and be what they are
supposed to be.
1179
01:25:39,177 --> 01:25:41,805
How are you going to get respect?
I'm black and proud.
1180
01:26:06,788 --> 01:26:08,540
He told me,
"I was in Los Angeles"
1181
01:26:08,748 --> 01:26:10,188
"and there was
all this in-fighting,"
1182
01:26:10,375 --> 01:26:11,626
"this crime and all,"
1183
01:26:11,835 --> 01:26:13,044
and he said that "I looked"
1184
01:26:13,253 --> 01:26:15,713
"and I said to myself,
we've lost our pride."
1185
01:26:15,922 --> 01:26:18,216
He said, "I went to my room"
1186
01:26:18,424 --> 01:26:20,927
"and I sat down and started
writing on a napkin."
1187
01:26:22,637 --> 01:26:25,390
On the spur of the moment,
it became a song
1188
01:26:25,598 --> 01:26:28,518
that literally changed
the social dynamics
1189
01:26:28,726 --> 01:26:29,894
of the United States.
1190
01:26:53,001 --> 01:26:56,254
Mr. Brown is Number One
Soul Brother United States.
1191
01:26:56,462 --> 01:26:58,339
He's black and he's proud.
1192
01:26:58,548 --> 01:27:01,176
- He brings out the good in me.
- He's like the preacher.
1193
01:27:05,513 --> 01:27:07,265
First thing,
a man has to be a man
1194
01:27:07,473 --> 01:27:09,142
and when we say, "Negro,"
1195
01:27:09,434 --> 01:27:11,194
this is a term that's been used
so many times
1196
01:27:11,352 --> 01:27:13,479
but I don't particularly care
for that term.
1197
01:27:13,688 --> 01:27:15,773
I'd rather be a black man
because that's identity.
1198
01:27:16,774 --> 01:27:19,194
A black man is a man
who want to pay his own way,
1199
01:27:19,402 --> 01:27:20,737
who want to earn his own keep,
1200
01:27:20,945 --> 01:27:22,447
a man that stands up among men.
1201
01:27:22,864 --> 01:27:24,199
You see, when you stand up
in the States
1202
01:27:24,407 --> 01:27:27,243
they say you're a militant
but I say you're a man.
1203
01:27:32,415 --> 01:27:33,666
As an eight-year-old
1204
01:27:33,958 --> 01:27:36,038
"Say It Loud I'm Black
And I'm Proud" was very clear.
1205
01:27:36,211 --> 01:27:39,422
I remember defining myself
as these American terms
1206
01:27:39,631 --> 01:27:42,258
of Negro to colored to black.
1207
01:27:42,467 --> 01:27:44,886
Because of that one song,
black was beautiful,
1208
01:27:45,094 --> 01:27:46,429
the beginning
of being beautiful.
1209
01:27:48,139 --> 01:27:50,808
I was 13
and it was revolutionary,
1210
01:27:51,017 --> 01:27:54,604
because not only did some whites
look down us,
1211
01:27:54,812 --> 01:27:56,213
there were many
light-skinned blacks
1212
01:27:56,397 --> 01:27:58,608
that looked down
on dark-skinned blacks.
1213
01:27:58,816 --> 01:28:00,235
And overnight,
1214
01:28:00,443 --> 01:28:02,904
dark-skinned girls
became the thing you wanted.
1215
01:28:03,154 --> 01:28:06,532
Overnight, James Brown changed
our whole teenaged life.
1216
01:28:16,668 --> 01:28:19,295
There was fear he had alienated
his white audience
1217
01:28:19,504 --> 01:28:20,865
and white people began
to be afraid
1218
01:28:21,005 --> 01:28:22,131
to come to the shows.
1219
01:28:22,340 --> 01:28:23,861
I don't think
that was his plan at all.
1220
01:28:24,008 --> 01:28:25,260
Brown's whole sound
1221
01:28:25,468 --> 01:28:28,346
is an assertion
of black beauty and black pride.
1222
01:28:31,641 --> 01:28:35,019
There is a black revolution
taking place on many campuses.
1223
01:28:35,228 --> 01:28:37,355
Now, what is your feeling
about this?
1224
01:28:37,855 --> 01:28:39,899
Well, that's very complicated.
1225
01:28:40,149 --> 01:28:41,859
The blacks on the campus
in the first place
1226
01:28:42,068 --> 01:28:44,320
are complete separatists,
the campuses I've visited.
1227
01:28:44,529 --> 01:28:46,281
They don't associate
with the whites,
1228
01:28:46,489 --> 01:28:47,782
they don't eat with the whites,
1229
01:28:47,991 --> 01:28:50,285
they advocate
their own dormitories.
1230
01:28:50,493 --> 01:28:53,788
They seem to me to be going
back in time to separatism,
1231
01:28:53,997 --> 01:28:55,581
when there was a white society
and a black society.
1232
01:28:55,790 --> 01:28:57,375
I got to disagree
with you there now.
1233
01:28:57,583 --> 01:28:59,502
I think it's wrong for blacks
to eat with blacks
1234
01:28:59,711 --> 01:29:00,911
and whites to eat with whites.
1235
01:29:01,087 --> 01:29:02,630
- Well, wait a minute...
- We have been fighting forever
1236
01:29:02,839 --> 01:29:03,881
to get together.
1237
01:29:04,090 --> 01:29:07,385
Why can't I know about me,
if you know about yourself?
1238
01:29:07,593 --> 01:29:09,012
I know more about you
than you do about me.
1239
01:29:09,220 --> 01:29:10,260
You know nothing about me.
1240
01:29:10,388 --> 01:29:11,347
That probably true, Jimmy,
but it's not-
1241
01:29:11,556 --> 01:29:13,766
But I have to know that.
Do you call yourself a man,
1242
01:29:13,975 --> 01:29:16,269
knowing that I pay taxes
same as you,
1243
01:29:16,477 --> 01:29:17,979
to stay right here
and use my sweat and blood
1244
01:29:18,187 --> 01:29:19,227
to help build this country
1245
01:29:19,397 --> 01:29:21,278
and I got to be a second
or third class citizen?
1246
01:29:21,482 --> 01:29:22,525
Do you call that a man?
1247
01:29:23,026 --> 01:29:25,403
I believe you ought to be
as good as me and do...
1248
01:29:25,611 --> 01:29:28,072
Ought to be?
I know I'm good as you!
1249
01:29:28,406 --> 01:29:29,907
What do you mean, ought to be?
1250
01:29:30,408 --> 01:29:32,660
- But the conditions...
- What conditions?
1251
01:29:32,869 --> 01:29:34,329
You haven't had
a fair crack at it.
1252
01:29:34,537 --> 01:29:36,539
A fair crack?
How long does it take, man?
1253
01:29:36,748 --> 01:29:38,207
I'm 36 years old,
when am I supposed
1254
01:29:38,416 --> 01:29:39,917
- to be a grown man?
- Now.
1255
01:29:40,126 --> 01:29:42,170
Oh, I'm supposed to be
a grown man at 21, man,
1256
01:29:42,378 --> 01:29:43,838
no, no, not 36.
1257
01:29:44,839 --> 01:29:48,051
Jimmy, I'm on your side.
What are you so mad about?
1258
01:29:48,343 --> 01:29:51,012
I'm not mad,
I'm just disappointed in you
1259
01:29:51,262 --> 01:29:52,930
being ignorant
to what's going on, man,
1260
01:29:53,139 --> 01:29:54,640
you just don't know
what's happening.
1261
01:29:54,849 --> 01:29:56,351
This is not really a joke.
1262
01:29:56,559 --> 01:29:58,999
You're laughing at something
that's going to be a big problem.
1263
01:29:59,020 --> 01:30:00,780
Because you got kids out there
that can't eat
1264
01:30:00,897 --> 01:30:01,856
and they are robbing
and stealing
1265
01:30:02,065 --> 01:30:03,566
doing what they have to do
to make it
1266
01:30:03,775 --> 01:30:04,859
and if you don't do
something about it,
1267
01:30:05,068 --> 01:30:06,549
we're going to lose the country,
not...
1268
01:30:06,569 --> 01:30:08,029
There is a new survey
out today...
1269
01:30:08,237 --> 01:30:09,237
We don't want the survey,
1270
01:30:09,405 --> 01:30:11,199
the survey is out there
on the street.
1271
01:30:13,242 --> 01:30:16,996
Wait a minute, Jimmy,
you can't do that.
1272
01:30:18,790 --> 01:30:20,208
You've got to open your ears.
1273
01:30:20,416 --> 01:30:22,627
My ears has been open,
have your eyes been open?
1274
01:30:25,254 --> 01:30:26,672
Nixon's the one.
1275
01:30:26,881 --> 01:30:29,759
His lead over Humphrey
was so close but he won it
1276
01:30:29,967 --> 01:30:33,179
and, in winning that,
he won the presidency.
1277
01:30:33,513 --> 01:30:35,223
According to present statistics,
1278
01:30:35,431 --> 01:30:38,810
only 10 percent of the black
vote was cast for Nixon.
1279
01:30:39,018 --> 01:30:40,728
The president has proposed
several plans
1280
01:30:40,937 --> 01:30:43,356
which he claims will assist
the Afro American
1281
01:30:43,564 --> 01:30:44,941
to get a piece of the action.
1282
01:30:45,149 --> 01:30:47,944
The president calls it
"Black Capitalism."
1283
01:30:50,154 --> 01:30:52,949
Richard Nixon saw
there was this great desire
1284
01:30:53,157 --> 01:30:55,535
among professional
middle class members
1285
01:30:55,743 --> 01:30:58,329
of the black community
to make it in America.
1286
01:31:02,667 --> 01:31:06,254
James Brown was privately
very politically conservative.
1287
01:31:07,922 --> 01:31:09,799
He had supported Humphrey in '68
1288
01:31:10,007 --> 01:31:13,261
but James Brown believed
in bootstrap economics,
1289
01:31:13,469 --> 01:31:14,887
lift yourself up.
1290
01:31:15,304 --> 01:31:17,723
So the appeal of Richard Nixon,
1291
01:31:18,182 --> 01:31:22,645
which was a total,
total atrocity to me
1292
01:31:22,854 --> 01:31:25,273
but to James Brown
it was black capitalism.
1293
01:31:44,167 --> 01:31:47,420
We got a food franchise getting
started called "Gold Platter."
1294
01:31:47,712 --> 01:31:49,881
It's basically set up
to get the black man
1295
01:31:50,089 --> 01:31:52,884
into being able to run
and own his own business.
1296
01:31:54,635 --> 01:31:55,678
It's geared to the ghetto
1297
01:31:55,887 --> 01:31:58,014
because I think
every man should help
1298
01:31:58,222 --> 01:32:01,225
where he understands
where it's needed most.
1299
01:32:05,188 --> 01:32:07,648
And we have
the James Brown food stamps,
1300
01:32:07,857 --> 01:32:09,192
which is very important.
1301
01:32:09,400 --> 01:32:11,235
This is the idea of us
getting together
1302
01:32:11,444 --> 01:32:14,280
an idea of getting money
into the black community.
1303
01:32:14,864 --> 01:32:16,449
If we keep the turnover going,
1304
01:32:16,824 --> 01:32:21,829
then we shall overcome,
only if we all come over.
1305
01:32:34,967 --> 01:32:37,929
If I could give you
one specific James Brown song
1306
01:32:38,137 --> 01:32:43,392
where the "one" is underlined
bold and italic...
1307
01:32:44,560 --> 01:32:47,647
...I would say, "I Don't Want
Nobody To Give Me Nothing."
1308
01:32:53,486 --> 01:32:56,405
The James Brown hard beat
was the one.
1309
01:32:56,614 --> 01:33:00,034
It's the beat, but it's also
that you're the one,
1310
01:33:00,243 --> 01:33:02,954
you're setting the tone,
you're the trailblazer.
1311
01:33:05,998 --> 01:33:07,708
He told me,
"You can't be big and small
1312
01:33:07,917 --> 01:33:10,002
at the same time, Reverend,
you got to be the one."
1313
01:33:10,211 --> 01:33:11,337
"You got to be the one."
1314
01:33:29,355 --> 01:33:32,441
At that time, Nixon was
preaching self-reliance
1315
01:33:33,025 --> 01:33:34,652
and not really espousing
1316
01:33:35,027 --> 01:33:37,863
systematic structural change
in society.
1317
01:33:38,072 --> 01:33:41,033
And in a way that fed
into Brown's own illusion
1318
01:33:41,242 --> 01:33:42,660
that he had done it himself
1319
01:33:42,868 --> 01:33:45,246
and that, if he could do it,
other people could do it,
1320
01:33:45,454 --> 01:33:46,455
just by working hard.
1321
01:33:50,376 --> 01:33:51,669
But the fact of the matter is,
1322
01:33:51,877 --> 01:33:54,463
Brown was a supernaturally
talented individual.
1323
01:33:54,672 --> 01:33:56,424
Not everyone else
is that talented
1324
01:33:56,632 --> 01:33:59,010
or that ruthless,
or that driven.
1325
01:34:22,366 --> 01:34:25,453
Well, you know, he said
he was a businessman.
1326
01:34:26,078 --> 01:34:27,496
But he never took care
of business.
1327
01:34:27,705 --> 01:34:30,791
He just hung on to his money,
you know.
1328
01:34:31,626 --> 01:34:34,503
When you tried to own
a radio station, they failed,
1329
01:34:34,712 --> 01:34:36,964
a restaurant, they failed,
you know.
1330
01:34:37,173 --> 01:34:41,969
I mean, this is a man
that would pack an auditorium,
1331
01:34:42,178 --> 01:34:44,805
take boxes of money
out of that auditorium,
1332
01:34:45,014 --> 01:34:46,390
and not pay the band.
1333
01:34:46,599 --> 01:34:48,199
When you got ready to get paid,
you know,
1334
01:34:48,351 --> 01:34:51,312
"Hey, look,
we don't have all of the money."
1335
01:34:51,520 --> 01:34:52,605
"We're going to pay you this amount"
1336
01:34:52,813 --> 01:34:54,690
"and you get the rest
the next couple of days."
1337
01:34:54,899 --> 01:34:57,234
And sometimes, it would happen
and sometimes it wouldn't.
1338
01:34:57,443 --> 01:35:01,072
Actually, we didn't get nothing
from anything, just a salary.
1339
01:35:01,280 --> 01:35:04,200
The most money I made
was around $300
1340
01:35:05,034 --> 01:35:09,622
and I don't remember getting
any checks for recording.
1341
01:35:09,830 --> 01:35:11,582
It was just my regular salary.
1342
01:35:11,791 --> 01:35:15,002
I had gotten to be sort of like
a handyman, you know.
1343
01:35:15,211 --> 01:35:17,254
For whatever reasons.
1344
01:35:17,713 --> 01:35:20,091
You know, James would say,
"Oh, you're not such a big deal,
1345
01:35:20,299 --> 01:35:22,176
Maceo could do that I bet you."
1346
01:35:22,551 --> 01:35:24,472
And I hear him, you know,
from a distance saying,
1347
01:35:24,595 --> 01:35:26,847
"Oh, Lord, what is he
getting me into now?"
1348
01:35:27,056 --> 01:35:30,184
He and I got together, I said,
"Man, I'm working hard,
1349
01:35:30,393 --> 01:35:33,604
am I being, you know, funded
for all this work?"
1350
01:35:34,188 --> 01:35:35,731
And the answer to that was, no.
1351
01:35:35,940 --> 01:35:38,150
Get your James Brown programs!
1352
01:35:38,359 --> 01:35:40,444
His attitude towards politics
1353
01:35:40,653 --> 01:35:43,155
was the same attitude
that he took towards his music.
1354
01:35:47,952 --> 01:35:51,205
On stage, he was the front man
that channeled the energy
1355
01:35:51,414 --> 01:35:53,457
coming from the band
in a totally unique way.
1356
01:35:53,666 --> 01:35:56,794
But it is very easy to fall
into the illusion
1357
01:35:57,002 --> 01:35:58,796
that it's all coming from you.
1358
01:36:02,675 --> 01:36:05,553
There's no way
that the James Brown sound
1359
01:36:05,761 --> 01:36:07,482
would have come together
without the Maceos,
1360
01:36:07,596 --> 01:36:10,641
the Freds, the Pee Wees, Clyde
and on down the line.
1361
01:36:11,809 --> 01:36:13,519
If it wasn't for Pee Wee,
1362
01:36:13,728 --> 01:36:15,896
we wouldn't know
what to do, you know.
1363
01:36:26,323 --> 01:36:30,035
When I came to work for him
in November of '69,
1364
01:36:30,244 --> 01:36:31,244
the thing that I sensed,
1365
01:36:31,412 --> 01:36:33,748
once I got kind
of "behind the scenes,"
1366
01:36:34,039 --> 01:36:36,041
was the discontent in the band.
1367
01:36:36,500 --> 01:36:38,377
The band had just reached
a point
1368
01:36:38,627 --> 01:36:40,588
where they were pumping each...
"We don't need to take this."
1369
01:36:40,796 --> 01:36:43,007
And they came to James
with an ultimatum
1370
01:36:43,215 --> 01:36:45,509
with a list of their gripes
one by one,
1371
01:36:46,385 --> 01:36:49,430
and James is just not the kind
of guy to be intimidated.
1372
01:36:49,638 --> 01:36:51,015
He's like a stone.
1373
01:36:51,223 --> 01:36:52,850
You know, he's like a stone.
You know?
1374
01:36:53,058 --> 01:36:54,351
"I will not be moved."
1375
01:36:55,102 --> 01:36:57,521
What happened is he sent
Bobby Byrd to Cincinnati,
1376
01:36:57,730 --> 01:37:00,065
to round up Bootsy Collins,
his brother Catfish,
1377
01:37:00,274 --> 01:37:01,274
and their little group.
1378
01:37:01,442 --> 01:37:02,860
They had a five
or six-piece band.
1379
01:37:03,068 --> 01:37:06,071
And he had Bobby bring them down
to Georgia.
1380
01:37:06,280 --> 01:37:08,157
He came in a James Brown
Learjet...
1381
01:37:09,533 --> 01:37:11,619
...sent a limo to the club
1382
01:37:11,827 --> 01:37:14,830
over in this rat hole
where we was playing at
1383
01:37:15,039 --> 01:37:17,124
and picked us up
1384
01:37:17,333 --> 01:37:20,002
and everybody was looking at us
like, "Wow."
1385
01:37:20,211 --> 01:37:24,048
You know, and we was, like
"Yeah, James Brown," you know.
1386
01:37:24,256 --> 01:37:28,135
But we didn't find out
what he really wanted
1387
01:37:28,344 --> 01:37:30,137
until we actually got there.
1388
01:37:30,346 --> 01:37:32,973
He parades towards the stage
with this new band.
1389
01:37:33,557 --> 01:37:35,267
So the old guys
are just sitting there,
1390
01:37:35,476 --> 01:37:38,103
literally holding
their instruments and uniforms,
1391
01:37:38,312 --> 01:37:40,981
watching Bootsy
and these guys walk on stage.
1392
01:37:41,190 --> 01:37:45,861
That was the sad part
because they were our heroes
1393
01:37:46,237 --> 01:37:48,197
and we could see,
it's like, dag,
1394
01:37:48,405 --> 01:37:50,574
these cats are mad
about something.
1395
01:37:50,783 --> 01:37:52,159
We didn't know what it was.
1396
01:37:52,368 --> 01:37:55,037
Everybody got their bags
and instruments,
1397
01:37:55,246 --> 01:37:59,542
and who ever had cabs
or rented cars, everybody left.
1398
01:37:59,959 --> 01:38:02,086
And I'm the only somebody
that was left.
1399
01:38:02,294 --> 01:38:03,935
I guess he didn't want to get
into details
1400
01:38:04,004 --> 01:38:06,757
because the people
were at riot stage,
1401
01:38:06,966 --> 01:38:07,967
so he didn't have no time
1402
01:38:08,175 --> 01:38:10,386
for no explanations to us
and this and that.
1403
01:38:10,594 --> 01:38:12,513
And, plus,
we didn't need no explanation.
1404
01:38:12,721 --> 01:38:16,016
It was like, "What you want us
to do, you know? We ready."
1405
01:38:47,089 --> 01:38:48,966
I see a few new faces
in the band.
1406
01:38:49,174 --> 01:38:50,593
Yes, this is a New Breed band.
1407
01:38:50,801 --> 01:38:52,678
Kids like to see
the young kids up there.
1408
01:38:52,887 --> 01:38:54,054
That's the idea.
1409
01:38:56,724 --> 01:38:58,726
These were definitely
his peak years,
1410
01:38:58,934 --> 01:39:02,146
so to lose his band and have
that kind of a transition
1411
01:39:02,688 --> 01:39:04,148
was pretty shocking
1412
01:39:04,356 --> 01:39:06,859
and those of us in the office
were really worried about it.
1413
01:39:07,067 --> 01:39:08,527
And I'll never forget
the first show
1414
01:39:08,736 --> 01:39:09,987
that I saw with the new band,
1415
01:39:10,195 --> 01:39:13,198
which was about a week or two
into their tenure,
1416
01:39:13,407 --> 01:39:15,409
that just to me,
sounded horrible.
1417
01:39:17,703 --> 01:39:20,831
I had to be something
like around 17, 18.
1418
01:39:21,040 --> 01:39:22,400
I want to go out there
and have fun
1419
01:39:22,499 --> 01:39:24,793
I want to get girls
like my brother's getting girls.
1420
01:39:25,002 --> 01:39:27,838
James talking about,
"Nah, son, nah."
1421
01:39:28,047 --> 01:39:31,008
"Nah, can't go out there
and play tonight, nah.
1422
01:39:31,759 --> 01:39:34,094
Got to ride with me.
Ride with me, son."
1423
01:39:34,303 --> 01:39:36,555
He wanted to know
what was on my mind.
1424
01:39:36,764 --> 01:39:39,934
"Why are you laughing
at my shoes?" You know,
1425
01:39:40,142 --> 01:39:41,477
"What's wrong with my cape?"
1426
01:39:42,186 --> 01:39:45,439
You know, I'm saying, I mean,
"wouldn't you wear this?"
1427
01:39:46,357 --> 01:39:50,235
He wanted to know,
what a young kid,
1428
01:39:51,070 --> 01:39:52,154
how he thought about it.
1429
01:39:52,363 --> 01:39:55,115
I remember flying
on the jet with him.
1430
01:39:56,241 --> 01:39:57,284
He'd be telling jokes.
1431
01:39:57,493 --> 01:40:00,663
I mean,
he was the worst joke teller,
1432
01:40:00,871 --> 01:40:01,997
I mean, God.
1433
01:40:02,206 --> 01:40:03,958
But he would be cracking up
1434
01:40:04,166 --> 01:40:07,878
and then he'd act like
he'd go to sleep on you
1435
01:40:08,462 --> 01:40:11,507
and he would bow his head
a little bit,
1436
01:40:11,715 --> 01:40:13,425
then he shut one eye
1437
01:40:13,634 --> 01:40:16,220
and then he keep
the other eye on you.
1438
01:40:16,428 --> 01:40:17,972
That's what he did to me
all the time.
1439
01:40:18,180 --> 01:40:21,016
I say,
don't you go to sleep at all?
1440
01:40:21,225 --> 01:40:25,312
And he was "Nah, you know,
75 percent business,"
1441
01:40:25,521 --> 01:40:27,773
"and 25 percent music."
1442
01:40:28,691 --> 01:40:31,568
He said, "Watch me
and get yourself together."
1443
01:40:31,777 --> 01:40:33,612
"It ain't just coming out here"
1444
01:40:33,862 --> 01:40:35,572
"and lolly-gagging
and having a good time."
1445
01:40:35,781 --> 01:40:39,493
He wanted me to see
that it took hard work.
1446
01:40:39,702 --> 01:40:41,203
I'm like, 'What?
1447
01:40:53,757 --> 01:40:54,883
And James Brown,
1448
01:40:55,092 --> 01:40:58,387
he wasn't on to the new style
that was coming in.
1449
01:41:01,807 --> 01:41:03,308
It really started
1450
01:41:03,517 --> 01:41:07,021
with James Brown teaching me
about the one.
1451
01:41:07,229 --> 01:41:09,670
"Just give me the one, then you
can play all that other stuff.
1452
01:41:09,732 --> 01:41:12,401
But if you give me that one
you can play that."
1453
01:41:12,609 --> 01:41:15,738
And he would tell me that
every night.
1454
01:41:15,946 --> 01:41:18,198
"Nah. You haven't got it, son."
1455
01:41:18,407 --> 01:41:22,453
"No, son, you haven't got it."
You know?
1456
01:41:22,661 --> 01:41:26,248
And I mean, it was so cold,
it was like, dag.
1457
01:41:38,385 --> 01:41:42,681
Little did I know that the way
he was drilling us,
1458
01:41:43,390 --> 01:41:46,435
was all the encouragement
we really needed, you know,
1459
01:41:46,643 --> 01:41:49,063
because it made me
want to practice harder.
1460
01:42:10,709 --> 01:42:13,796
He always said
"Catfish understood," you know,
1461
01:42:14,046 --> 01:42:15,923
because Catfish was older
than me
1462
01:42:16,131 --> 01:42:18,467
and he wasn't wild like me.
1463
01:42:18,675 --> 01:42:22,679
He really loved my brother.
I could see the love.
1464
01:42:34,024 --> 01:42:35,692
Bootsy and Catfish,
1465
01:42:35,901 --> 01:42:38,445
they brought
a complete different rhythm.
1466
01:42:44,785 --> 01:42:47,371
I had to adjust
to playing with them,
1467
01:42:47,579 --> 01:42:48,831
playing James' stuff.
1468
01:42:55,212 --> 01:42:58,465
He took the funk from the drum
and put it in the bass.
1469
01:43:23,115 --> 01:43:25,200
It was a life-changing moment.
1470
01:43:25,534 --> 01:43:27,244
We got the rehearsals,
we got tight.
1471
01:43:38,672 --> 01:43:41,383
James started digging it,
you know, he started grooving.
1472
01:43:41,592 --> 01:43:43,468
He started opening up
after he starts
1473
01:43:43,677 --> 01:43:47,639
seeing that it was
somewhere else to go.
1474
01:43:48,140 --> 01:43:49,892
And it was on then.
1475
01:43:50,058 --> 01:43:51,058
- Fellas!
- Yeah!
1476
01:43:51,185 --> 01:43:52,185
- Fellas!
- Yeah!
1477
01:43:52,311 --> 01:43:54,478
- Fellas!
- Yeah!
1478
01:43:54,479 --> 01:43:56,523
I'm ready to get up
and do my thing.
1479
01:43:58,400 --> 01:44:00,402
I wanna to get up
and do my thing.
1480
01:44:01,570 --> 01:44:04,781
- Like a...
- What?
1481
01:44:05,365 --> 01:44:07,826
Like a sex machine.
1482
01:44:08,202 --> 01:44:10,322
- Got to got it on. Got it on.
- Got it on. Got it on.
1483
01:44:10,412 --> 01:44:11,955
1, 2, 3, 4...
1484
01:44:38,440 --> 01:44:41,109
The song "Sex Machine"
came about on the bus.
1485
01:44:45,072 --> 01:44:47,616
The lyric wasn't saying
all that much
1486
01:44:47,824 --> 01:44:49,665
but the fact that we were saying
"Sex Machine,"
1487
01:44:49,701 --> 01:44:52,246
which weren't supposed
to be said on records,
1488
01:44:52,454 --> 01:44:54,214
you know what I'm saying,
you can't say that,
1489
01:44:54,373 --> 01:44:56,083
you can't say sex, you know,
1490
01:44:56,291 --> 01:44:57,971
and that kind of thing
and they let it out,
1491
01:44:58,210 --> 01:45:02,214
and, of course, at that time,
maybe things was changing.
1492
01:45:37,374 --> 01:45:38,750
Once "Sex Machine" came out,
1493
01:45:38,959 --> 01:45:41,586
and once he had enough time
to really rehearse that band
1494
01:45:41,795 --> 01:45:44,339
and rearrange his music
to fit that band,
1495
01:45:44,548 --> 01:45:47,217
it really did kind of reinvent
the James Brown template.
1496
01:45:51,179 --> 01:45:53,515
And reinvigorated the show
1497
01:45:53,724 --> 01:45:55,642
and, frankly,
the box office results.
1498
01:45:55,851 --> 01:45:58,895
And, you know, six months later,
we're like, okay, we're safe.
1499
01:46:19,875 --> 01:46:22,461
Just 24 hours ago,
these streets were filled
1500
01:46:22,669 --> 01:46:24,546
with rioters, looters
and burglars.
1501
01:46:25,213 --> 01:46:29,343
Six men are dead,
51 businesses have been burned,
1502
01:46:29,551 --> 01:46:31,678
and the National Guard
was called in,
1503
01:46:31,887 --> 01:46:33,555
while city officials
and black leaders
1504
01:46:33,764 --> 01:46:35,474
tried to work out
their differences.
1505
01:46:35,682 --> 01:46:38,560
Negro entertainer, James Brown,
flew into his hometown
1506
01:46:38,769 --> 01:46:41,980
and went on television to tell
black people to "cool it."
1507
01:46:42,189 --> 01:46:43,440
We're can all walk
to the bargaining table
1508
01:46:43,648 --> 01:46:45,650
and sit down and be men
and human beings
1509
01:46:45,859 --> 01:46:49,988
and find something that...
Find a medium of reasoning.
1510
01:46:50,197 --> 01:46:53,492
Brown toured the troubled area,
asking for calm.
1511
01:46:53,909 --> 01:46:55,660
Many blacks say
they listened to him
1512
01:46:55,911 --> 01:46:58,872
and would not have listened
to anyone else.
1513
01:46:59,247 --> 01:47:02,542
Jim Whipkey, WSB News, Augusta.
1514
01:47:02,834 --> 01:47:05,212
Do you feel that whites,
have they accepted you
1515
01:47:05,420 --> 01:47:08,590
because of your ability
to deal with your people?
1516
01:47:09,966 --> 01:47:11,760
I don't like the word accept,
you know.
1517
01:47:11,968 --> 01:47:13,129
You are a beautiful young man
1518
01:47:13,136 --> 01:47:15,096
but I think you're
interviewing me a little wrong.
1519
01:47:15,180 --> 01:47:16,180
How's that, sir?
1520
01:47:16,348 --> 01:47:18,266
I don't think you understand me.
1521
01:47:19,142 --> 01:47:21,812
Number one, I'm not trying
to prove nothing to the white,
1522
01:47:22,062 --> 01:47:23,814
that I can be a head nigger.
1523
01:47:24,106 --> 01:47:25,565
See, that's not my bag.
1524
01:47:25,982 --> 01:47:27,067
I'm a man.
1525
01:47:27,442 --> 01:47:29,361
I'm not trying to make
the white man accept me
1526
01:47:29,569 --> 01:47:30,862
but I would like for people
to accept me
1527
01:47:31,071 --> 01:47:33,031
whether black or white,
you know,
1528
01:47:33,240 --> 01:47:34,400
and understand what I'm doing
1529
01:47:34,408 --> 01:47:36,618
but if they don't I still got
to do what I feel like is right.
1530
01:47:36,827 --> 01:47:38,662
I'm not a cat that get up there
grinning and laughing
1531
01:47:38,870 --> 01:47:40,997
and say take me in,
please, you know.
1532
01:47:41,623 --> 01:47:42,904
I'm saying
don't give me nothing,
1533
01:47:42,999 --> 01:47:44,640
just open the door
and I'll get it myself.
1534
01:48:01,685 --> 01:48:04,271
Mr. Brown, why are you endorsing
President Nixon?
1535
01:48:04,521 --> 01:48:05,881
Well, I'm endorsing
President Nixon
1536
01:48:05,981 --> 01:48:09,109
because I believe in the future
of the country lies
1537
01:48:09,317 --> 01:48:10,861
with Mr. Nixon
1538
01:48:11,069 --> 01:48:14,614
and I feel that some
of the things he's done
1539
01:48:14,823 --> 01:48:17,784
is very close to my heart
as a minority, as a black man.
1540
01:48:21,079 --> 01:48:23,123
I think James Brown
was going to endorse
1541
01:48:23,331 --> 01:48:26,001
whoever was going
to give him an audience.
1542
01:48:26,209 --> 01:48:28,545
If a poor kid from Augusta
who's a soul singer
1543
01:48:28,753 --> 01:48:30,255
can get the White House
on the phone
1544
01:48:30,464 --> 01:48:31,882
once or twice a year,
1545
01:48:32,257 --> 01:48:33,508
that's more important
1546
01:48:33,717 --> 01:48:36,636
than having the phone numbers
of the guy who lost.
1547
01:48:37,471 --> 01:48:39,806
And that confused the hell out
of a lot of people.
1548
01:48:42,809 --> 01:48:44,978
He did not see any difference
1549
01:48:45,187 --> 01:48:49,608
between being strong black,
strong cultural,
1550
01:48:49,900 --> 01:48:51,485
authentic who you was
1551
01:48:51,693 --> 01:48:54,905
but politically being
conservative and Republican
1552
01:48:55,113 --> 01:48:57,282
and it was this paradox.
1553
01:48:57,782 --> 01:48:59,343
So are you saying
that you're Republican
1554
01:48:59,367 --> 01:49:00,367
or Democrat, sir?
1555
01:49:00,535 --> 01:49:03,413
I'm saying that I'm a countryman
and I'm endorsing the country
1556
01:49:03,622 --> 01:49:06,041
and I feel that my best way
of endorsing the country
1557
01:49:06,249 --> 01:49:07,530
is to come
and endorse Mr. Nixon.
1558
01:49:26,603 --> 01:49:28,730
James and Nixon had talked
1559
01:49:28,939 --> 01:49:30,815
and on occasions,
1560
01:49:32,984 --> 01:49:36,112
and Nixon was going
to change some things.
1561
01:50:08,353 --> 01:50:10,313
Before he got
into this Nixon thing
1562
01:50:10,522 --> 01:50:13,817
people would tell him to just be
a musician, be a singer.
1563
01:50:14,025 --> 01:50:15,527
Stay out of the eyes
of the camera
1564
01:50:15,735 --> 01:50:19,114
because that is going to cause you
a problem down the road
1565
01:50:19,322 --> 01:50:20,699
and, of course, it did.
1566
01:50:23,118 --> 01:50:26,871
The blacks turned against him,
the albums were being burned
1567
01:50:27,622 --> 01:50:30,917
and the record sales
went plummeting.
1568
01:50:32,794 --> 01:50:35,088
He knew
that he would be attacked
1569
01:50:35,297 --> 01:50:37,841
and people picketed
James Brown shows.
1570
01:50:38,049 --> 01:50:40,427
What amazed me
is he didn't care.
1571
01:50:40,635 --> 01:50:42,929
He really believed he was right.
1572
01:50:46,641 --> 01:50:48,393
A lot of promises were made,
1573
01:50:48,602 --> 01:50:51,146
a lot of things were said
that didn't never happen.
1574
01:50:53,481 --> 01:50:56,109
Then he got real bitter
about that situation
1575
01:50:56,318 --> 01:50:58,862
and he felt
that he had been let down.
1576
01:51:00,363 --> 01:51:01,781
And he had been let down.
1577
01:51:23,970 --> 01:51:25,263
We have a young man
in the studio
1578
01:51:25,472 --> 01:51:28,808
who's here to make
a presentation to James Brown
1579
01:51:29,017 --> 01:51:30,352
and his name is Al Sharpton.
1580
01:51:32,687 --> 01:51:34,814
1973, I was 18.
1581
01:51:35,023 --> 01:51:37,192
I had a met a young man
named Teddy Brown,
1582
01:51:37,400 --> 01:51:39,069
who was James Brown's son.
1583
01:51:39,277 --> 01:51:41,488
And Teddy got killed
in a car accident.
1584
01:51:41,696 --> 01:51:44,574
James Brown and I
became very close,
1585
01:51:44,783 --> 01:51:48,536
and eventually he became
the father I didn't have,
1586
01:51:48,745 --> 01:51:51,206
and I became
the replacement for Teddy.
1587
01:51:51,414 --> 01:51:52,874
Then he flew me to California
1588
01:51:53,083 --> 01:51:54,443
to give him an award
on Soul Train.
1589
01:51:54,668 --> 01:51:56,044
What do we have here?
1590
01:51:56,252 --> 01:51:58,963
Well, we feel "The Payback"
is sort of like the theme song
1591
01:51:59,172 --> 01:52:01,466
of young black America in 1974
1592
01:52:01,675 --> 01:52:02,995
because it says
many of the things
1593
01:52:03,134 --> 01:52:05,220
that young blacks
have tried to say
1594
01:52:05,428 --> 01:52:09,432
and could not musically express
in our own little way.
1595
01:52:11,142 --> 01:52:12,936
We weren't from
the "We Shall Overcome" era.
1596
01:52:13,144 --> 01:52:15,105
We grew up in the
"I'm Black and Proud"
1597
01:52:15,313 --> 01:52:16,606
and "Payback" era,
1598
01:52:16,815 --> 01:52:19,776
and it was that era
that introduced those of us
1599
01:52:19,984 --> 01:52:21,695
that grew up in the 70's,
80's, 90's.
1600
01:52:29,869 --> 01:52:31,996
By the mid 70's,
James Brown was so much
1601
01:52:32,205 --> 01:52:35,125
of the basic fabric
of American music.
1602
01:52:35,333 --> 01:52:38,128
You could definitely tell
his musical children
1603
01:52:38,336 --> 01:52:39,337
with no problem.
1604
01:52:46,010 --> 01:52:49,389
Easily Michael Jackson,
easily Prince.
1605
01:52:52,517 --> 01:52:53,517
Most people,
1606
01:52:53,685 --> 01:52:56,312
when they look at the mustache
period of James Brown,
1607
01:52:56,521 --> 01:52:58,857
see that as sort of
the beginning-of-the-end period.
1608
01:52:59,065 --> 01:53:03,194
But the true disciple of the
mustache period is Prince.
1609
01:53:03,403 --> 01:53:07,741
So even James Brown's
down period was influential.
1610
01:53:08,908 --> 01:53:10,577
In the late 1970's
when they said
1611
01:53:10,785 --> 01:53:12,829
Mr. Brown was having
all kinds of issues
1612
01:53:13,037 --> 01:53:15,331
and problems
getting a hit record,
1613
01:53:15,540 --> 01:53:17,500
he was hot in the DJ community.
1614
01:53:18,501 --> 01:53:20,170
The B-boys
and the hip hop artists
1615
01:53:20,378 --> 01:53:22,046
were playing
"Get On The Good Foot"
1616
01:53:22,255 --> 01:53:24,299
and especially
the Sex Machine album.
1617
01:53:24,507 --> 01:53:26,384
"Give It Up Or Turn it A Loose"
was the hip-hop
1618
01:53:26,593 --> 01:53:28,303
b-boy break dance anthem,
1619
01:53:28,511 --> 01:53:33,975
so it was like an obvious thing
to actually mimic Mr. Brown.
1620
01:53:34,601 --> 01:53:35,894
In the mid 80's,
1621
01:53:36,102 --> 01:53:38,104
there was a period
in which producers
1622
01:53:38,313 --> 01:53:40,148
would take
these James Brown breaks
1623
01:53:40,356 --> 01:53:42,150
and create all these new songs.
1624
01:53:45,695 --> 01:53:48,907
Funky Drummer was essential
for that classic hip-hop period.
1625
01:53:49,115 --> 01:53:51,034
Everybody used that sound.
1626
01:53:53,578 --> 01:53:54,829
I hate that song.
1627
01:53:56,456 --> 01:54:00,335
Was it the Funky Drummer?
I don't like that song.
1628
01:54:00,835 --> 01:54:03,254
We had been playing somewhere
that night before
1629
01:54:03,463 --> 01:54:06,216
and as we get to Cincinnati
going to check into the hotel
1630
01:54:06,424 --> 01:54:07,424
to go to bed,
1631
01:54:07,592 --> 01:54:10,512
Brown says,
"Go take them to the studio."
1632
01:54:10,720 --> 01:54:13,973
We all were so tired,
didn't even want to record,
1633
01:54:14,224 --> 01:54:16,893
so I started playing
just the drum pattern.
1634
01:54:22,315 --> 01:54:25,151
Brown liked it
and we recorded it
1635
01:54:25,527 --> 01:54:27,445
and it became our
"Funky Drummer."
1636
01:54:27,862 --> 01:54:30,198
They've only had
one failed single,
1637
01:54:30,406 --> 01:54:33,618
and that single's name
was "Funky Drummer."
1638
01:54:35,453 --> 01:54:36,746
Go figure.
1639
01:54:37,539 --> 01:54:39,999
It's like the song that birthed
my whole movement,
1640
01:54:40,208 --> 01:54:43,086
that magic count-off
every rapper loves to hear.
1641
01:54:43,294 --> 01:54:46,256
One, two, three, four, hit it!
1642
01:55:01,271 --> 01:55:05,942
The hip-hop act that best
utilized "Funky Drummer"
1643
01:55:06,150 --> 01:55:07,318
was Public Enemy.
1644
01:55:17,996 --> 01:55:21,165
Fight The Power also sampled
"Hot Pants Road."
1645
01:55:24,919 --> 01:55:25,962
It was just like,
"Wait a minute,
1646
01:55:26,170 --> 01:55:28,631
James Brown is like
all over hip-hop these days."
1647
01:55:33,177 --> 01:55:35,680
James Brown would go into a riff
1648
01:55:35,889 --> 01:55:37,932
and it would be a nice break.
1649
01:55:38,808 --> 01:55:40,435
But for a hip hop record,
you could say,
1650
01:55:40,643 --> 01:55:43,688
"Man, we could take this
for like, five minutes."
1651
01:55:44,105 --> 01:55:45,982
We are going to keep vamping
on the vamp.
1652
01:55:49,986 --> 01:55:52,488
"Fight The Power" comes
from James Brown
1653
01:55:52,989 --> 01:55:56,492
saying it like
it had to be in the 60's.
1654
01:55:59,120 --> 01:56:01,414
I love James Brown.
1655
01:56:01,915 --> 01:56:04,000
There would be no me
without James Brown
1656
01:56:04,208 --> 01:56:05,585
so we all owe it to James Brown.
1657
01:56:07,795 --> 01:56:09,464
My greatest inspiration
of all time,
1658
01:56:09,672 --> 01:56:10,840
musically, is James Brown.
1659
01:56:12,091 --> 01:56:14,552
If you listen to, like,
"Watch The Throne",
1660
01:56:14,761 --> 01:56:18,348
the most soulful part
of the Otis song
1661
01:56:18,556 --> 01:56:20,600
is that sort of climactic...
1662
01:56:26,606 --> 01:56:29,400
The James Brown scream,
it's gospel,
1663
01:56:29,609 --> 01:56:33,613
it's soulful, it's primitive,
sexual, angry...
1664
01:56:37,116 --> 01:56:39,285
Even now, James Brown is here,
1665
01:56:39,494 --> 01:56:41,120
whether you acknowledge it
or not.
1666
01:56:42,914 --> 01:56:45,291
He never saw himself
as a hit artist.
1667
01:56:45,833 --> 01:56:47,627
He always saw himself
as a historic figure.
1668
01:56:47,835 --> 01:56:49,837
He said, "The reason
I'm going to be historic"
1669
01:56:50,046 --> 01:56:51,464
"is I wasn't one of the boys."
1670
01:56:57,011 --> 01:56:58,304
And he would always tell me,
1671
01:56:58,513 --> 01:57:00,473
"Whatever you do in life,
be you, be different."
1672
01:57:01,474 --> 01:57:02,642
I think it was also why
1673
01:57:02,850 --> 01:57:07,063
he was off to himself
in his own way, musically...
1674
01:57:10,441 --> 01:57:12,777
...because he grew up
in the woods, by himself,
1675
01:57:12,986 --> 01:57:14,904
laid there in the whorehouse
by himself,
1676
01:57:15,113 --> 01:57:18,908
so it gave him the sense of,
"Me against the world."
1677
01:57:22,870 --> 01:57:24,080
What was his negative
1678
01:57:24,288 --> 01:57:26,290
may have ended up
being his strength.
1679
01:57:28,251 --> 01:57:29,502
When he got on that stage,
1680
01:57:29,711 --> 01:57:32,588
James Brown
personified his music
1681
01:57:32,797 --> 01:57:35,341
and he reflected
a life experience.
1682
01:57:42,515 --> 01:57:44,058
Ladies and gentlemen,
here he is,
1683
01:57:44,267 --> 01:57:46,310
the greatest entertainer
in the world,
1684
01:57:46,519 --> 01:57:51,941
Mr. Please Please himself,
hard-working James Brown!