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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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"Canlt."
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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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00:04:11,919 --> 00:04:14,714
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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00:08:01,357 --> 00:08:03,275
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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00:08:05,819 --> 00:08:07,099
the fact that he was doing music
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that was a hybrid of blues,
swing music, bebop.
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00:08:12,576 --> 00:08:14,787
That music was
the R&B to rock and roll,
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the hip-hop of its time.
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00:08:18,582 --> 00:08:21,835
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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00:09:00,791 --> 00:09:06,213
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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00:09:25,899 --> 00:09:29,445
And a lot of days I sang
and we got 25 cents.
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00:09:33,449 --> 00:09:35,009
But I knew it was something
I had to do.
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00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,454
Every time I got the opportunity
I did everything I could.
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00:09:38,662 --> 00:09:41,582
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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00:10:07,649 --> 00:10:11,945
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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00:10:18,994 --> 00:10:21,622
They didn't like black folks,
I'll put it that way.
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00:10:21,872 --> 00:10:24,208
They didn't like black folks.
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00:10:28,295 --> 00:10:30,672
Boy, what we went through.
What we went through.
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You played what you called
the chit/in' circuit.
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All of the gigs that you'd play
were for black audiences.
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00:10:45,687 --> 00:10:47,773
A lot of down-home
southern places
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00:10:47,981 --> 00:10:49,691
that were kind of rough,
you know.
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00:10:49,900 --> 00:10:52,402
I remember being
in Mr. Brown's dressing room...
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00:10:52,945 --> 00:10:56,782
And something happened with
the promoter didn't want to pay,
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00:10:56,990 --> 00:10:59,743
and everybody started pulling
out their guns and everything.
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00:10:59,952 --> 00:11:01,552
And, you know,
I was frightened to death.
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00:11:02,704 --> 00:11:05,499
That was definitely the
chit/in' circuit at that time.
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00:11:09,378 --> 00:11:11,272
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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00:11:14,258 --> 00:11:17,970
light-skinned, long wavy hair
like Jackie or smokey Robinson."
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00:11:19,054 --> 00:11:22,141
And I was short,
had African features
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00:11:22,349 --> 00:11:23,600
and I didn't have any
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00:11:23,809 --> 00:11:27,896
of what was considered beautiful
at that time.
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00:11:28,105 --> 00:11:32,442
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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00:11:34,361 --> 00:11:35,612
James actually said,
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00:11:35,821 --> 00:11:38,991
little Richard and Hank Ballard
and the midnighters were
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00:11:39,199 --> 00:11:41,326
probably the two
greatest influences
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00:11:41,535 --> 00:11:43,412
on him and really
that whole generation,
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00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:45,455
moving out of gospel into doing
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00:11:45,664 --> 00:11:48,083
what was called rock 'n' roll
or R&B.
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00:12:02,347 --> 00:12:03,724
I was in toccoa, Georgia
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00:12:04,016 --> 00:12:06,560
and little Richard came down
from macon and saw me,
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00:12:06,810 --> 00:12:09,897
and told his manager about me
and I went back to macon.
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00:12:10,105 --> 00:12:12,107
I got to give little Richard
that credit, you know.
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00:12:15,068 --> 00:12:17,988
Little Richard got a big
contract to record in
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00:12:18,197 --> 00:12:20,949
Los Angeles and he left behind
about 30 dates
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00:12:21,158 --> 00:12:22,826
that the management
was committed to,
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00:12:23,035 --> 00:12:25,621
so they had the bright idea
to have James brown go out
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00:12:25,829 --> 00:12:27,664
and impersonate little Richard.
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00:12:30,292 --> 00:12:32,628
And so they let him do
a little bit of little Richard
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00:12:32,836 --> 00:12:34,314
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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00:12:36,506 --> 00:12:38,759
being little Richard
for about two weeks.
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It was before television,
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00:12:45,390 --> 00:12:47,434
so nobody knew
what Richard really looked like.
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00:12:47,643 --> 00:12:48,977
He said, "and my goal was,
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I was going to be bigger
than Richard."
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00:13:20,968 --> 00:13:24,805
The word is that when Syd
Nathan, who ran king records,
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heard them rehearsing the song,
he fired the a&r guy.
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00:13:28,976 --> 00:13:30,560
Could not hear it being a hit.
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00:13:30,769 --> 00:13:32,104
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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00:13:35,274 --> 00:13:36,441
Mr. Brown snuck it out,
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got it to the radio stations
and it became a hit,
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00:13:38,527 --> 00:13:41,363
and Syd Nathan just had to
swallow his disdain.
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00:13:57,713 --> 00:13:59,923
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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00:14:03,802 --> 00:14:05,554
Yeah.
It gave me that extra meal.
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00:14:05,762 --> 00:14:08,015
You think you wanted success
so badly at the time
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00:14:08,223 --> 00:14:10,343
that you were really singing
"please, please, please."
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00:14:10,475 --> 00:14:11,852
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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00:14:36,543 --> 00:14:39,463
You got to come on,
my heart is shattered"...
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00:14:40,213 --> 00:14:41,590
And the women would go:
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00:14:41,798 --> 00:14:45,385
"Somebody really hurt that man,
oh, they hurt him so badly,
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00:14:45,635 --> 00:14:47,304
I feel so sorry for him."
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00:14:47,679 --> 00:14:49,222
It worked all over the world.
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00:15:01,777 --> 00:15:04,321
For some reason I grew up
with a passion for black music.
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00:15:07,074 --> 00:15:09,910
I was a disc jockey at a black
radio station in Richmond.
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00:15:11,787 --> 00:15:13,307
I loved James brown
like everybody else
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00:15:13,372 --> 00:15:15,092
that was into black music
in the early '60s.
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00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:17,203
At some point you discover
James brown and it's like,
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00:15:17,250 --> 00:15:19,002
"oh, my god,
this is the gold standard."
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00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:30,764
The first time I saw James brown
perform live
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00:15:30,972 --> 00:15:33,683
was in the fall of 1963,
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00:15:33,892 --> 00:15:36,853
and I had never experienced
anything like it.
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00:15:38,021 --> 00:15:40,607
The energy that was in the room,
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00:15:40,816 --> 00:15:43,527
it was like going
into another dimension.
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00:15:45,153 --> 00:15:46,530
In the '50s and '60s,
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00:15:46,738 --> 00:15:49,783
black music
and pop mainstream music,
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00:15:49,991 --> 00:15:53,453
the segregation was even more
rigid than it is today.
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00:15:53,662 --> 00:15:57,374
The black music industry
was entirely dependent
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00:15:57,582 --> 00:15:58,583
on black radio,
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00:15:58,792 --> 00:16:00,502
and the whole goal became,
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00:16:00,710 --> 00:16:02,712
how do we cross
these records over?
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00:16:02,921 --> 00:16:04,798
Because a hit on pop radio
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00:16:05,006 --> 00:16:06,842
represented
as much as a million,
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00:16:07,050 --> 00:16:08,844
a million-and-a-half more sales.
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00:16:29,906 --> 00:16:31,050
After I got "please, please,"
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00:16:31,074 --> 00:16:32,742
it took me three years
to get another hit.
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00:16:32,951 --> 00:16:33,952
But I wouldn't give up,
209
00:16:34,161 --> 00:16:37,706
and my next hit was a tune
entitled "try me."
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00:16:46,423 --> 00:16:50,010
Somebody like Elvis, one record
would sell ten or 15 million,
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00:16:50,218 --> 00:16:52,762
and see, I would have to come
through the race era,
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00:16:52,971 --> 00:16:55,891
when my records were classed
as R&B and race music.
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00:17:02,647 --> 00:17:05,650
I'm just trying to figure out
the market like a stock man,
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00:17:05,859 --> 00:17:07,652
trying to see
what the people will go for.
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00:17:07,861 --> 00:17:09,237
I always worked hard
on the stage,
216
00:17:09,446 --> 00:17:12,365
but you still need that record
as a performer, you know.
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00:17:12,574 --> 00:17:14,034
Everyone needs a hit record.
218
00:17:14,784 --> 00:17:17,078
James brown was an anomaly
in the industry,
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00:17:17,287 --> 00:17:19,039
not just in his ambition,
220
00:17:19,247 --> 00:17:20,749
but he also had a situation
221
00:17:20,957 --> 00:17:23,251
that was pretty much
unlike any other artist.
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00:17:23,668 --> 00:17:25,170
He had a manager
who embraced him
223
00:17:25,378 --> 00:17:27,172
and became a mentor
father figure,
224
00:17:27,380 --> 00:17:28,965
who was Ben Bart.
225
00:17:29,174 --> 00:17:32,177
Ben taught James
a lot of the music business
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00:17:32,385 --> 00:17:33,845
and how to handle things.
227
00:17:34,387 --> 00:17:37,390
And Ben really loved him,
and James loved him.
228
00:17:37,974 --> 00:17:41,686
It was kind of a
father-son thing going on there.
229
00:17:41,895 --> 00:17:45,190
Ben was doing everything
he could to move the act,
230
00:17:45,398 --> 00:17:48,068
but James had his own idea
about things.
231
00:17:49,444 --> 00:17:51,404
So now, ladies and gentlemen,
it is star time.
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00:17:51,613 --> 00:17:53,156
Are you ready for star time?
233
00:17:55,492 --> 00:17:57,410
Thank you,
and thank you very kindly.
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00:17:57,619 --> 00:17:58,779
It is indeed a great pleasure
235
00:17:58,954 --> 00:18:00,956
to present to you
at this particular time,
236
00:18:01,164 --> 00:18:03,625
national and international known
237
00:18:03,833 --> 00:18:06,127
as "the hardest-working man
in show business."
238
00:18:06,336 --> 00:18:08,129
Here to sing "I'll go crazy,"
239
00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:11,967
"try me,"
240
00:18:13,510 --> 00:18:16,805
"Mr. Dynamite, " the amazing
"Mr. Please, please " himself,
241
00:18:17,013 --> 00:18:18,013
the star of the show,
242
00:18:18,181 --> 00:18:20,725
James brown
and the famous flames.
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00:18:31,570 --> 00:18:33,613
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
00:18:36,157 --> 00:18:37,284
for the next show
246
00:18:37,492 --> 00:18:40,161
and that'd be around
from one end of the Apollo
247
00:18:40,453 --> 00:18:43,248
around to the other end.
And that's around the block.
248
00:18:44,624 --> 00:18:46,310
And they'd be standing there
for the next one.
249
00:18:46,334 --> 00:18:48,374
That next show let out,
and they let them people in,
250
00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:51,298
and then another line is there,
waiting to get in.
251
00:18:51,506 --> 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
00:19:10,191 --> 00:19:13,820
in terms of a standard that
was set, in the '60s onward.
255
00:19:14,029 --> 00:19:16,114
It was the peak
of the chit/in' circuit,
256
00:19:16,323 --> 00:19:17,675
so the bands would be
touring around
257
00:19:17,699 --> 00:19:19,659
and they would arrive
in New York City
258
00:19:19,868 --> 00:19:23,246
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
00:19:26,791 --> 00:19:29,961
each show is about two hours,
and that's a lot.
261
00:19:31,504 --> 00:19:34,215
I remember going there,
and I sat in the balcony.
262
00:19:35,133 --> 00:19:37,333
And there was this sort of
older lady sitting next to me
263
00:19:37,469 --> 00:19:38,803
smoking a big joint.
264
00:19:39,763 --> 00:19:41,598
And I didn't know
that older ladies smoked,
265
00:19:41,806 --> 00:19:43,433
you know, I was a kid.
266
00:19:44,351 --> 00:19:46,853
The James brown show,
it was like a revue show.
267
00:19:47,896 --> 00:19:49,397
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
00:19:53,943 --> 00:19:56,905
"TV mama",
they said she was five by five.
271
00:19:57,113 --> 00:20:00,825
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
00:20:03,578 --> 00:20:05,705
"All of me,
why not take all of me?"
274
00:20:05,914 --> 00:20:09,125
Then he would come on eventually
and do, you know, his show.
275
00:20:18,218 --> 00:20:20,887
Apart from the fact
that it was very entertaining,
276
00:20:21,096 --> 00:20:23,556
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
00:20:45,203 --> 00:20:48,164
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
00:20:52,919 --> 00:20:55,964
where he's,
he's teasing them to do,
282
00:20:56,172 --> 00:20:59,175
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
00:21:40,508 --> 00:21:42,677
He was the guy
during "please, please, please"
285
00:21:42,886 --> 00:21:45,513
that would drape that cape
over brown.
286
00:21:47,223 --> 00:21:48,516
James told me that
287
00:21:48,725 --> 00:21:51,436
he was watching gorgeous George
the wrestler one day,
288
00:21:51,644 --> 00:21:53,480
after the match
they'd throw a cape on him
289
00:21:53,688 --> 00:21:55,106
and he said he liked that.
290
00:22:10,288 --> 00:22:13,374
Between that period of "please,
please, please" and "try me,"
291
00:22:13,583 --> 00:22:15,835
there were a gazillion singles
released,
292
00:22:16,044 --> 00:22:17,644
and none of them
were really catching on.
293
00:22:17,837 --> 00:22:19,506
He felt like,
"man, if people knew...
294
00:22:19,714 --> 00:22:22,008
What I was offering
on the stage,
295
00:22:22,217 --> 00:22:23,297
they would come in droves."
296
00:22:29,557 --> 00:22:31,476
Syd Nathan,
who ran king records,
297
00:22:31,684 --> 00:22:32,936
didn't want to back it.
298
00:22:33,561 --> 00:22:35,897
Mr. Brown says,
"no, this has got to happen."
299
00:22:36,105 --> 00:22:37,482
"I know better than this guy,
300
00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:39,530
you know, about my audience
about my business."
301
00:22:39,692 --> 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
00:22:57,418 --> 00:23:00,630
Screams and stuff all over it,
cymbals falling,
304
00:23:01,422 --> 00:23:04,133
and they put that out,
just like that.
305
00:23:22,610 --> 00:23:28,575
Every black household had
"live at the Apollo volume one".
306
00:23:29,325 --> 00:23:31,536
Mine included.
Like that album was so powerful,
307
00:23:31,744 --> 00:23:34,914
DJs would love to play
the entire side.
308
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,218
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
00:23:54,934 --> 00:23:56,453
For an R&B record
to be released in england
311
00:23:56,477 --> 00:23:57,477
it had to be quite big.
312
00:23:59,939 --> 00:24:02,066
Everyone had that record
and they played it to death.
313
00:24:05,987 --> 00:24:08,948
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
00:24:13,244 --> 00:24:17,248
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
00:24:40,146 --> 00:24:43,274
We 're nonviolent with people
who are nonviolent with us.
320
00:24:47,695 --> 00:24:51,532
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
00:24:54,994 --> 00:24:58,164
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
00:25:07,590 --> 00:25:12,637
The James brown tour
was able to do hundreds of shows
326
00:25:12,887 --> 00:25:14,847
all over black america,
327
00:25:15,098 --> 00:25:18,184
grossing about a million dollars
a year.
328
00:25:20,937 --> 00:25:23,356
We're talking about '63, '64,
329
00:25:23,564 --> 00:25:25,358
he became a millionaire quietly,
330
00:25:25,566 --> 00:25:29,195
so a lot of what the civil
rights movement was trying to do
331
00:25:29,404 --> 00:25:31,739
in terms of the hope
of economic justice,
332
00:25:31,948 --> 00:25:34,283
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
00:25:42,458 --> 00:25:44,127
that's maceo in the back.
336
00:25:44,794 --> 00:25:47,338
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
00:25:50,591 --> 00:25:52,176
playing those drums
the way you play,
339
00:25:52,385 --> 00:25:53,678
you have a job with me."
340
00:25:53,928 --> 00:25:55,388
I said, "oh, by the way..."
341
00:25:55,596 --> 00:25:57,181
"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 --> 00:26:01,519
He needs a job, too."
344
00:26:01,728 --> 00:26:04,063
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
00:26:08,776 --> 00:26:11,654
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
00:26:13,781 --> 00:26:15,381
My baritone player left
the other night."
349
00:26:15,533 --> 00:26:17,535
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
00:26:20,329 --> 00:26:21,789
but I answer like this, "uhhh,"
352
00:26:21,998 --> 00:26:25,168
with along "uhhh",
yes, sir, yes, yes I do."
353
00:26:25,376 --> 00:26:26,586
I can't say no.
354
00:26:26,919 --> 00:26:27,962
He said, "I tell you what,
355
00:26:28,171 --> 00:26:30,173
you can meet us,
along with your brother,
356
00:26:30,548 --> 00:26:32,717
two nights following.
357
00:26:33,551 --> 00:26:34,594
How about that?"
358
00:26:34,802 --> 00:26:37,597
And we would go,
"wow, this is great."
359
00:26:37,805 --> 00:26:39,766
And then we got the tam! Show,
360
00:26:39,974 --> 00:26:41,142
now that was fun.
361
00:26:49,233 --> 00:26:52,987
I have been in the
black community ever since '56,
362
00:26:53,196 --> 00:26:56,407
but it really started happening
for me in 1964.
363
00:26:56,741 --> 00:26:58,367
I had the pleasure
of doing the tam! Show
364
00:26:58,576 --> 00:27:01,287
with the rolling stones,
Gerry and the pacemakers,
365
00:27:01,496 --> 00:27:04,540
the supremes,
all the major acts, you know.
366
00:27:05,958 --> 00:27:08,961
It made the white america
familiar with James brown,
367
00:27:09,170 --> 00:27:10,254
and what he was doing.
368
00:27:26,354 --> 00:27:28,147
The tam! Show was
a major breakthrough.
369
00:27:28,356 --> 00:27:29,816
It pitted brown,
370
00:27:30,024 --> 00:27:32,985
who had largely been confined
to the chit/in' circuit,
371
00:27:33,194 --> 00:27:34,320
against all these artists
372
00:27:34,529 --> 00:27:36,739
who were tearing the country up
at that time.
373
00:27:49,752 --> 00:27:51,963
The tam! Show
is not really a show.
374
00:27:52,171 --> 00:27:53,422
It was shot like a movie.
375
00:27:53,631 --> 00:27:55,133
You break for an hour,
376
00:27:55,341 --> 00:27:57,361
and then the other act comes on
and then they break for an hour,
377
00:27:57,385 --> 00:27:58,946
then they re-light
and they change the audience,
378
00:27:58,970 --> 00:28:00,263
and another act comes on.
379
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,899
The story goes
that James brown is annoyed
380
00:28:12,108 --> 00:28:13,734
that he is not closing the show,
381
00:28:14,235 --> 00:28:17,488
and so I was asked
by the producers of the show
382
00:28:17,697 --> 00:28:19,365
to go and talk to him
because I knew him.
383
00:28:19,574 --> 00:28:21,742
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
00:28:24,328 --> 00:28:25,788
"Yeah, don't worry it's a movie,
386
00:28:25,997 --> 00:28:27,808
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
00:28:29,333 --> 00:28:31,502
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
00:28:34,338 --> 00:28:35,738
as far as James brown
was concerned.
391
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,675
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
00:28:48,060 --> 00:28:49,562
He apparently said
something like,
395
00:28:49,770 --> 00:28:51,314
"well, I'm going to kill."
396
00:28:51,522 --> 00:28:54,317
Well, fine,
but that, that's good.
397
00:28:55,526 --> 00:28:56,569
He did.
398
00:30:19,318 --> 00:30:22,446
It was definitely an apotheosis.
399
00:30:22,738 --> 00:30:26,575
You were distraught to
where you'd collapse in begging.
400
00:30:26,784 --> 00:30:28,911
But somehow
the strength sweeps you up,
401
00:30:29,704 --> 00:30:31,747
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
00:30:41,590 --> 00:30:42,758
would go through this,
404
00:30:43,134 --> 00:30:45,177
probably reliving
their own lives.
405
00:31:15,541 --> 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
00:31:36,645 --> 00:31:38,522
The people would say,
"oh, don't take him.
409
00:31:38,731 --> 00:31:40,024
He must be looked after."
410
00:31:40,232 --> 00:31:42,443
You know, "I want to be the one
to look after him."
411
00:31:45,112 --> 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
00:31:51,994 --> 00:31:53,430
Sam, the bass player,
whispered in my ear.
414
00:31:53,454 --> 00:31:54,789
He said, "Melvin.
415
00:31:54,997 --> 00:31:57,416
Let's see if those guys
can keep up with us."
416
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,294
Night! Night!
417
00:32:00,503 --> 00:32:03,964
He said, "night! Night! Train!"
418
00:32:08,386 --> 00:32:10,304
It was off to the races...
419
00:32:28,906 --> 00:32:31,283
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
00:32:34,036 --> 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
00:33:08,195 --> 00:33:10,281
And, like,
they re-lit the whole thing.
424
00:33:21,959 --> 00:33:26,088
Now it went to another audience
and screaming teenage girls.
425
00:33:26,797 --> 00:33:28,841
I don't think
they'd even seen James brown.
426
00:33:29,049 --> 00:33:30,676
And it was hours later.
427
00:33:44,273 --> 00:33:47,318
So, what I said to him
was actually true.
428
00:33:47,526 --> 00:33:52,072
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
00:34:00,831 --> 00:34:02,191
Then you go,
like, "well, you know,
431
00:34:02,374 --> 00:34:04,374
they're not quite as good
as James brown for real."
432
00:34:04,543 --> 00:34:07,796
But, you know, whatever.
433
00:34:13,552 --> 00:34:15,179
We were performing
at the Howard theater.
434
00:34:15,387 --> 00:34:16,387
We were on stage,
435
00:34:16,555 --> 00:34:19,225
it was such a big ruckus
in the audience.
436
00:34:19,433 --> 00:34:21,310
You know, and I said,
we must be getting down.
437
00:34:21,519 --> 00:34:23,519
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
00:34:26,148 --> 00:34:28,234
Of course,
James brown in the audience.
440
00:34:28,442 --> 00:34:34,073
You know, so, it was so exciting
to meet James brown, 1965.
441
00:34:34,281 --> 00:34:35,616
He was at his peak.
442
00:34:37,201 --> 00:34:40,287
He asked us,
would we travel with him.
443
00:34:40,496 --> 00:34:42,122
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
00:34:49,838 --> 00:34:52,967
But he said to me one day,
"Martha harvin,
447
00:34:54,301 --> 00:34:56,095
that's not a name for the stage.
448
00:34:57,012 --> 00:34:58,847
I got to come up
with a name for you.
449
00:34:59,598 --> 00:35:02,101
Let me see.
What should I call you?
450
00:35:02,309 --> 00:35:03,435
I know.
451
00:35:04,353 --> 00:35:07,314
I'm going to call you
"Martha high."
452
00:35:08,148 --> 00:35:09,525
And I said, Martha high?
453
00:35:09,733 --> 00:35:10,943
"How you like that?"
454
00:35:11,443 --> 00:35:13,696
And I said, oh, okay.
455
00:35:15,447 --> 00:35:17,283
"Martha high,
that's what it's going to be."
456
00:35:18,158 --> 00:35:20,661
He wanted everything.
He wanted your all.
457
00:35:20,869 --> 00:35:22,288
And he gave his all.
458
00:35:45,102 --> 00:35:49,106
Up until "papa's got
a brand new bag" in 1965,
459
00:35:49,315 --> 00:35:51,418
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
00:35:55,946 --> 00:36:00,159
That, coupled with his love for
jazz and embracing the unknown,
462
00:36:00,534 --> 00:36:05,039
it came as the early ingredients
of what we call funk.
463
00:36:29,730 --> 00:36:32,232
"Papa's got a brand new bag"
had the guitar sound.
464
00:36:32,816 --> 00:36:35,027
James heard it.
"Jimmy, give me this."
465
00:36:39,073 --> 00:36:41,158
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
00:36:57,257 --> 00:37:01,011
Vamps were only used
mostly in live performances.
468
00:37:01,303 --> 00:37:04,598
The vocalist wanted to talk
to the audience and jive around.
469
00:37:14,608 --> 00:37:17,236
Now of course, in his live
shows, he vamped all the time.
470
00:37:17,444 --> 00:37:19,655
But nobody would ever think
to go in the studio
471
00:37:19,863 --> 00:37:20,863
and record the vamp.
472
00:37:21,031 --> 00:37:25,411
You don't take a two bar phrase
and repeat it ad nauseam
473
00:37:25,619 --> 00:37:26,954
and call that a song.
474
00:37:27,162 --> 00:37:29,289
That's exactly what James brown
475
00:37:29,540 --> 00:37:31,375
wound up doing
through that period.
476
00:38:08,620 --> 00:38:10,038
It was James brown.
477
00:38:54,792 --> 00:38:56,335
I think, without question,
478
00:38:56,543 --> 00:39:02,382
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
00:39:13,393 --> 00:39:17,606
Pee wee's seriousness
and his sense of jazz
481
00:39:17,815 --> 00:39:20,442
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 --> 00:39:31,745
I got drafted.
484
00:39:32,454 --> 00:39:34,248
James mentioned to me
485
00:39:34,456 --> 00:39:37,668
that he was thinking about
getting Bobby bland's drummer,
486
00:39:37,876 --> 00:39:39,294
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
00:39:46,468 --> 00:39:49,221
and he sent one of his people
490
00:39:49,429 --> 00:39:52,182
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 --> 00:39:58,021
I will double that."
493
00:39:58,939 --> 00:40:01,441
But then you have to understand
when I joined that band,
494
00:40:01,650 --> 00:40:03,777
what was going on
when I first got there, too.
495
00:40:05,779 --> 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
00:40:16,164 --> 00:40:19,668
He took me out on stage
and there was five drum sets.
498
00:40:21,128 --> 00:40:24,506
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
00:40:30,095 --> 00:40:31,415
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
00:40:34,349 --> 00:40:37,185
And I was scared, number one.
I was totally scared.
503
00:40:37,394 --> 00:40:39,271
I was going,
god, what am I doing?
504
00:40:41,189 --> 00:40:43,209
And I left out of there
and went to the dressing room
505
00:40:43,233 --> 00:40:44,693
where the band was dressing.
506
00:40:44,902 --> 00:40:47,070
And there was jab'o
sitting in there.
507
00:40:47,362 --> 00:40:49,781
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
00:40:53,785 --> 00:40:55,329
That was one of my favorites.
511
00:40:55,537 --> 00:40:57,849
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
00:41:00,083 --> 00:41:02,210
Igo, yeah, man.
We got to get rid of them.
514
00:41:02,586 --> 00:41:04,504
So we started knocking them off
515
00:41:04,796 --> 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
00:41:10,552 --> 00:41:11,553
Like...
518
00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:19,144
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
00:41:28,236 --> 00:41:30,405
We took it over. We had it.
521
00:41:32,658 --> 00:41:33,659
Attention, everyone.
522
00:41:33,867 --> 00:41:36,244
James brown is coming
to your area.
523
00:41:36,453 --> 00:41:38,093
The show everyone
has been waiting to see.
524
00:41:38,163 --> 00:41:39,915
The dynamic king
of rock and roll.
525
00:41:40,123 --> 00:41:42,668
Star of stage, screen
and television, James brown!
526
00:41:42,876 --> 00:41:45,295
And his big variety show for '66
527
00:41:45,504 --> 00:41:47,714
featuring Bobby byrd,
the famous flames,
528
00:41:47,923 --> 00:41:50,133
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
00:41:56,598 --> 00:41:59,309
Three hundred sixty two days,
probably.
532
00:42:47,149 --> 00:42:48,589
Thank you,
greetings and salutations,
533
00:42:48,775 --> 00:42:49,901
ladies and gentlemen.
534
00:42:50,110 --> 00:42:51,445
I'm your emcee, Danny ray.
535
00:42:51,987 --> 00:42:54,387
I would like to name a few tunes
of the past and the present.
536
00:42:54,531 --> 00:42:57,993
Such tunes as "try me",
"signed, sealed and delivered",
537
00:42:58,201 --> 00:43:00,996
"out of sight",
"papa's got a brand new bag",
538
00:43:01,204 --> 00:43:02,414
"oh, I feel good".
539
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:05,000
Introducing the king of soul,
540
00:43:05,208 --> 00:43:07,377
recently has been crowned
as one of the hardest working
541
00:43:07,586 --> 00:43:09,004
entertainers in the world.
542
00:43:09,629 --> 00:43:12,132
The living legend,
the fantastic, Mr. Dynamite,
543
00:43:12,340 --> 00:43:13,550
James brown!
544
00:43:20,057 --> 00:43:22,267
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
00:43:27,272 --> 00:43:29,357
You never took your eye
off of him.
547
00:43:29,566 --> 00:43:32,694
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 --> 00:43:48,585
but ready at any time
to accent his moves.
550
00:43:51,004 --> 00:43:52,756
Hits,
that's what we would call hits.
551
00:43:55,050 --> 00:43:57,469
He 'ii make the hits.
We loved to do that, you know.
552
00:43:57,677 --> 00:43:58,678
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
00:44:06,978 --> 00:44:09,022
If he would see
that you're not watching him,
555
00:44:09,231 --> 00:44:12,442
he would change the song
just like that.
556
00:44:12,651 --> 00:44:15,445
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
00:44:18,281 --> 00:44:20,283
That would be like five, ten,
fifteen, twenty.
559
00:44:20,492 --> 00:44:21,701
He would look at a guy,
560
00:44:21,910 --> 00:44:24,287
and fine them five, fifteen,
twenty dollars like that.
561
00:44:31,461 --> 00:44:33,004
Oh, god, yeah.
562
00:44:33,713 --> 00:44:36,049
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 --> 00:44:51,314
maybe because he fought so hard
to learn what he was doing
567
00:44:51,523 --> 00:44:53,441
and learn every aspect
of his business.
568
00:44:53,650 --> 00:44:55,193
He set the bar very, very high.
569
00:45:28,268 --> 00:45:31,521
There was nobody
in the business, period,
570
00:45:32,147 --> 00:45:34,816
that dressed no better
than the James brown band.
571
00:45:36,526 --> 00:45:37,527
Oh, man.
572
00:45:51,833 --> 00:45:53,877
He would play seven days a week,
573
00:45:54,085 --> 00:45:56,087
tailor your uniforms
twice a gig,
574
00:45:56,296 --> 00:45:59,925
show up every gig,
pressed, clean.
575
00:46:00,258 --> 00:46:01,338
I don't know how we did it.
576
00:46:01,426 --> 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
00:46:07,390 --> 00:46:08,767
"miss high...
579
00:46:09,684 --> 00:46:11,561
That dress has gotten tight."
580
00:46:11,770 --> 00:46:13,772
He was very particular
about what you wore
581
00:46:13,980 --> 00:46:15,273
or how you look.
582
00:46:16,399 --> 00:46:18,944
We had fines if you didn't
have creases in your clothes.
583
00:46:19,152 --> 00:46:21,738
Fines if your shoes
weren't together.
584
00:46:21,947 --> 00:46:24,824
And then it got to where
you had to ride on the bus
585
00:46:25,033 --> 00:46:26,159
in a suit and tie.
586
00:46:27,827 --> 00:46:28,827
As he always said,
587
00:46:28,995 --> 00:46:31,122
"well, you can't never tell
what might happen.
588
00:46:31,331 --> 00:46:34,584
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 --> 00:46:40,590
Pu nctuality.
591
00:46:40,799 --> 00:46:43,093
Mister this, mister that. Pride.
592
00:46:43,635 --> 00:46:45,011
It was all positive.
593
00:46:46,888 --> 00:46:48,306
As the years went on, I said,
594
00:46:48,515 --> 00:46:50,725
the mister thing,
where did that come from?
595
00:46:50,934 --> 00:46:53,603
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
00:46:56,606 --> 00:46:57,857
I was always Jimmy.
598
00:46:59,150 --> 00:47:00,735
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 --> 00:47:08,743
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
00:47:13,915 --> 00:47:17,335
And the only way to do that
is set the example."
605
00:47:18,253 --> 00:47:21,923
I realized how that really
had contributed
606
00:47:22,132 --> 00:47:24,968
to his relationships
with white people.
607
00:47:25,176 --> 00:47:26,456
Again,
particularly in the south,
608
00:47:26,553 --> 00:47:28,638
who controlled
a lot of the venues.
609
00:47:29,180 --> 00:47:31,140
Business is a part
you've got to adapt yourself to
610
00:47:31,224 --> 00:47:34,102
so you can be prepared
for whatever might come up.
611
00:47:34,686 --> 00:47:37,188
I work with the artists,
and I've...
612
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:39,524
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
00:47:52,954 --> 00:47:54,539
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
00:48:03,214 --> 00:48:04,799
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 --> 00:48:10,805
Because everything
had to come through him.
620
00:48:11,890 --> 00:48:15,393
He saw people like Berry gordy
and what they were accomplishing
621
00:48:15,602 --> 00:48:17,103
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
00:48:20,648 --> 00:48:22,650
But then
there was the ed Sullivan show.
624
00:48:24,444 --> 00:48:26,988
I was talking
to young Jim brown,
625
00:48:27,197 --> 00:48:29,199
he was born in Augusta, Georgia.
626
00:48:29,407 --> 00:48:32,160
Where he worked on a farm,
picked cotton
627
00:48:32,369 --> 00:48:36,289
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
00:48:39,959 --> 00:48:41,086
on our stage on this show.
630
00:48:41,294 --> 00:48:44,464
So let's have a fine welcome
for a very fine talent.
631
00:49:05,276 --> 00:49:06,611
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
00:49:09,864 --> 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 --> 00:49:30,760
they would usually come on
636
00:49:30,969 --> 00:49:34,097
and perform
with ed Sullivan's house band,
637
00:49:34,889 --> 00:49:36,049
who were excellent musicians.
638
00:49:36,182 --> 00:49:38,393
But you got no soul
out of them at all.
639
00:49:43,648 --> 00:49:44,732
James brown made it clear
640
00:49:44,941 --> 00:49:47,819
he was coming on one way
and one way only,
641
00:49:48,027 --> 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 --> 00:50:22,888
Sullivan was the kind of show
644
00:50:23,021 --> 00:50:25,398
where the whole family sat
in front of the TV on Sunday
645
00:50:25,607 --> 00:50:26,649
and watched together.
646
00:50:26,858 --> 00:50:28,067
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 --> 00:50:40,079
It was like watching something
from outer space for them.
649
00:50:44,292 --> 00:50:47,378
And I imagine white america,
probably their jaws dropped.
650
00:50:57,388 --> 00:50:58,668
The ed Sullivan show
was the peak
651
00:50:58,765 --> 00:51:01,351
of American musical
entertainment at that time.
652
00:51:08,107 --> 00:51:09,817
The black community
was very proud
653
00:51:10,026 --> 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 --> 00:51:17,575
and that catapulted him
to a whole new level.
656
00:51:25,208 --> 00:51:27,710
My act was so revolutionary,
they couldn't believe it.
657
00:51:28,211 --> 00:51:30,838
I got so many applause
at the dress rehearsal,
658
00:51:31,047 --> 00:51:33,247
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
00:51:38,596 --> 00:51:42,141
I was sure of myself,
I knew what I had.
661
00:51:45,144 --> 00:51:47,021
Fine. Thank you very, very much.
662
00:51:47,230 --> 00:51:50,316
Singing was the first step to
the real things I wanted to do.
663
00:51:53,486 --> 00:51:55,196
Programs normally seen
at this time
664
00:51:55,405 --> 00:51:56,656
will not be broadcast
665
00:51:56,864 --> 00:52:00,118
in order to bring you
this CBS news special report:
666
00:52:00,326 --> 00:52:01,703
The march in Mississippi.
667
00:52:02,203 --> 00:52:04,789
I plan to begin my voter
registration march
668
00:52:05,206 --> 00:52:09,377
into Mississippi on Sunday,
June 5th, 1966,
669
00:52:10,211 --> 00:52:12,880
from the downtown
Memphis peabody hotel.
670
00:52:13,089 --> 00:52:14,889
They call it the place
where the delta begins,
671
00:52:15,049 --> 00:52:17,594
the Mississippi delta
of rich soil and big plantations
672
00:52:17,802 --> 00:52:20,138
and a population
that is predominantly negro.
673
00:52:20,346 --> 00:52:22,515
"If I can walk through
Mississippi without harm,"
674
00:52:22,724 --> 00:52:23,975
Meredith told reporters,
675
00:52:24,183 --> 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
00:52:28,813 --> 00:52:29,981
Two miles further on,
678
00:52:30,189 --> 00:52:32,650
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 --> 00:52:49,500
rushed in to continue
James Meredith's march,
681
00:52:49,709 --> 00:52:50,710
there's been a struggle
682
00:52:50,918 --> 00:52:53,046
to see whose philosophy
would guide the steps.
683
00:52:53,755 --> 00:52:55,256
The moderates or the militants.
684
00:52:56,716 --> 00:52:59,052
- What do you want?
- Freedom!
685
00:52:59,260 --> 00:53:01,304
- When do want it?
- Now!
686
00:53:01,512 --> 00:53:03,806
- How much of it do you want?
- All of it!
687
00:53:04,140 --> 00:53:06,392
- We want black power!
- Black power!
688
00:53:06,601 --> 00:53:08,227
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
00:53:17,403 --> 00:53:19,864
we recognized that
we had to overcome our fears.
692
00:53:20,406 --> 00:53:23,701
And we also knew
that we had to challenge
693
00:53:23,910 --> 00:53:26,996
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
00:53:29,999 --> 00:53:32,502
We wanted our freedom
and we wanted it then.
696
00:53:33,378 --> 00:53:34,587
Black power!
697
00:53:34,796 --> 00:53:38,174
- What do you want?
- Black power!
698
00:53:43,554 --> 00:53:44,931
We had some situations
699
00:53:45,139 --> 00:53:48,685
where they used tear gas
and beat the hell out of people.
700
00:53:48,893 --> 00:53:50,186
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
00:53:53,272 --> 00:53:55,566
and we said that we needed
a major event.
703
00:53:55,775 --> 00:53:57,193
And who was the better person
704
00:53:57,402 --> 00:54:00,154
to carry the message
we 're trying to carry in,
705
00:54:00,363 --> 00:54:03,282
but a soul singer
like James brown.
706
00:54:16,212 --> 00:54:18,339
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
00:54:26,222 --> 00:54:29,308
He said, "you got to understand,
I don't believe in non-violence.
710
00:54:29,517 --> 00:54:31,018
You grew up admiring Dr. King.
711
00:54:31,227 --> 00:54:32,562
I respected him,
712
00:54:32,770 --> 00:54:35,440
but I carried two or three guns
all the time.
713
00:54:35,648 --> 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
00:54:50,204 --> 00:54:51,622
and they had the dogs
and the guns.
716
00:54:51,831 --> 00:54:56,627
They surrounded his plane while
we went in to do the concert.
717
00:54:58,546 --> 00:55:02,091
I don't know if! 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
00:55:05,678 --> 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 --> 00:55:14,395
The program has just started
723
00:55:14,604 --> 00:55:17,857
and on the stage right now,
James brown.
724
00:55:18,107 --> 00:55:19,442
Let's join him there.
725
00:55:21,736 --> 00:55:24,655
Dr. King and all the other
civil rights leaders
726
00:55:24,864 --> 00:55:27,950
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
00:55:30,411 --> 00:55:32,723
You all can sit around here and
have this argument if you want to.
729
00:55:32,747 --> 00:55:34,067
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
00:55:43,549 --> 00:55:46,344
that James brown is here
with us, you know.
732
00:55:46,552 --> 00:55:50,348
And he said, "hey, you all,
you marched all the way through
733
00:55:50,556 --> 00:55:53,726
and you have fought back
and gave a courageous fight."
734
00:55:53,935 --> 00:55:55,311
He just galvanized the crowd.
735
00:56:06,072 --> 00:56:08,866
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
00:56:11,410 --> 00:56:13,621
Oh, it's a marvelous turnout
738
00:56:14,580 --> 00:56:16,290
and I'm happy about the fact
739
00:56:16,499 --> 00:56:19,085
that many of our
outstanding entertainers
740
00:56:19,752 --> 00:56:23,047
have been willing to take time
out of their very busy schedules
741
00:56:23,631 --> 00:56:25,716
to be a part of this struggle.
742
00:56:29,804 --> 00:56:31,389
On that particular occasion,
743
00:56:31,597 --> 00:56:33,724
it was James brown
that made the difference.
744
00:56:34,308 --> 00:56:37,311
He found a way to fit in
and contribute,
745
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:38,771
but also to learn a lot
746
00:56:38,980 --> 00:56:42,358
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
00:56:46,195 --> 00:56:48,155
This is black power, baby.
749
00:56:57,915 --> 00:56:59,500
"In a cold sweat", cut one.
750
00:57:29,822 --> 00:57:30,948
He said...
751
00:57:45,087 --> 00:57:46,422
"In a cold sweat", cut two.
752
00:58:58,035 --> 00:59:01,163
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
00:59:07,169 --> 00:59:08,796
"Cold sweat" is a vamp.
755
00:59:11,465 --> 00:59:13,467
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
00:59:17,346 --> 00:59:19,140
but very loose at the same time.
758
00:59:19,348 --> 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
00:59:32,361 --> 00:59:34,280
of the James brown band.
761
00:59:44,123 --> 00:59:46,268
When he got to the point
where he start calling my name,
762
00:59:46,292 --> 00:59:48,627
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
00:59:54,258 --> 00:59:55,760
isaid, well, [got to use that
765
00:59:55,968 --> 00:59:57,968
because there is nobody
that can hear it like I do.
766
01:00:01,223 --> 01:00:02,975
And he appreciated that.
767
01:00:22,369 --> 01:00:24,288
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
01:00:30,377 --> 01:00:31,629
Now, Clyde stubblefield,
771
01:00:31,837 --> 01:00:34,590
he was almost
like part man, part machine.
772
01:00:42,681 --> 01:00:44,767
Clyde had all these subtleties,
773
01:00:44,975 --> 01:00:47,269
this kind of bouncy left hand.
774
01:00:55,611 --> 01:00:57,696
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
01:01:07,414 --> 01:01:08,499
Now, in gospel music,
777
01:01:08,707 --> 01:01:10,587
if you played direct rhythm
with the tambourine,
778
01:01:11,627 --> 01:01:13,838
adding grace notes
is those small notes.
779
01:01:18,634 --> 01:01:19,874
And that's the sound of church.
780
01:01:22,054 --> 01:01:25,516
Clyde stubblefield had perfect
grace notes on his snare.
781
01:01:29,436 --> 01:01:31,147
I never took lessons.
782
01:01:32,189 --> 01:01:35,234
Music, to me,
looked like Chinese writing.
783
01:01:35,484 --> 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
01:01:52,501 --> 01:01:55,838
it changed the emphasis
from where it had been in jazz.
786
01:01:56,046 --> 01:01:58,090
In jazz,
it had been on the two and four.
787
01:02:00,217 --> 01:02:02,094
That's two, four.
788
01:02:04,263 --> 01:02:05,448
You move into the funk period,
789
01:02:05,472 --> 01:02:07,432
they change the emphasis
to the one and the three,
790
01:02:07,474 --> 01:02:09,234
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
01:02:54,563 --> 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
01:03:05,449 --> 01:03:08,494
I didn't like it, you know.
I said it's incorrect, you know.
795
01:03:08,702 --> 01:03:11,664
It's bad, bad musically.
796
01:03:11,872 --> 01:03:16,585
It had a bridge
that didn't go with the head.
797
01:03:16,961 --> 01:03:20,547
But I decided to take the job
to get out of the south,
798
01:03:20,756 --> 01:03:22,174
and go to New York
799
01:03:22,383 --> 01:03:25,386
and be discovered
as a great jazz trombone player.
800
01:03:25,594 --> 01:03:28,764
And even though I wasn't crazy
about these songs,
801
01:03:29,014 --> 01:03:30,254
I knew that they were different
802
01:03:30,432 --> 01:03:33,477
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
01:03:43,487 --> 01:03:47,408
The thing about performing live
is there's this energy going on
805
01:03:47,616 --> 01:03:50,786
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
01:03:53,038 --> 01:03:55,708
That doesn't mean you can't make
great music in a studio.
808
01:03:55,916 --> 01:03:58,294
You just have to have
a different discipline.
809
01:03:58,502 --> 01:04:01,005
I think Mr. Brown's
studio recordings
810
01:04:01,213 --> 01:04:04,425
are somehow just live shows
with no audience there.
811
01:04:17,187 --> 01:04:21,984
James always had to work himself
into what you were recording.
812
01:04:22,192 --> 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
01:04:29,616 --> 01:04:31,386
He would come in and say,
"wait a minute, jab.
815
01:04:31,410 --> 01:04:32,953
Let me show you
how I want it to go."
816
01:04:34,496 --> 01:04:35,748
So I'm, okay.
817
01:04:35,956 --> 01:04:38,459
And he would get up, you know,
and he'd sit there
818
01:04:38,667 --> 01:04:40,711
and whatever it was
he was doing.
819
01:04:40,919 --> 01:04:43,464
And he said, "you got it?"
And I would say, yeah.
820
01:04:43,672 --> 01:04:46,717
So I would go back and play
what I already was playing.
821
01:04:46,925 --> 01:04:48,552
"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
01:04:54,266 --> 01:04:55,893
James is not trained at all.
824
01:04:56,101 --> 01:04:57,728
Which makes it difficult
825
01:04:57,936 --> 01:05:00,272
to understand
what he's talking about.
826
01:05:06,737 --> 01:05:09,823
He knows that he's working
with musicians
827
01:05:10,032 --> 01:05:12,576
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 --> 01:05:19,249
I can't do any of that.
831
01:05:19,458 --> 01:05:21,960
But you still got to follow me
because I'm the man."
832
01:05:28,759 --> 01:05:30,886
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
01:05:41,980 --> 01:05:43,899
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
01:05:49,154 --> 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 --> 01:06:05,587
When he get through
in the recording studio,
840
01:06:05,796 --> 01:06:07,756
they would print up his records
right there,
841
01:06:07,965 --> 01:06:09,466
next door, in king studio.
842
01:06:09,883 --> 01:06:11,969
So everything
was coming out in a day.
843
01:06:12,177 --> 01:06:15,139
Didn't take no week or nothing,
just right there.
844
01:06:15,347 --> 01:06:19,685
He owned king studio,
not money-wise, but talent-wise.
845
01:06:19,893 --> 01:06:23,272
There was no other artist
who had that kind of control
846
01:06:23,480 --> 01:06:25,691
or those kinds of resources.
847
01:06:26,024 --> 01:06:29,695
At that time, his manager,
Ben Bart passed away in 1968.
848
01:06:30,320 --> 01:06:33,157
From that point on, James brown
was essentially self-managed.
849
01:06:33,740 --> 01:06:37,661
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
01:06:39,329 --> 01:06:40,914
Sometimes we 'd
start a conversation
852
01:06:41,123 --> 01:06:42,708
about football or baseball,
853
01:06:42,916 --> 01:06:46,670
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
01:06:49,506 --> 01:06:50,883
He never partied with the band.
856
01:06:51,091 --> 01:06:53,051
It was not a business with us.
857
01:06:53,260 --> 01:06:54,887
He was mainly
with his girlfriends,
858
01:06:55,095 --> 01:06:59,266
and once in a blue moon
he might ride the bus.
859
01:06:59,850 --> 01:07:02,060
He didn't have any friends,
no close friends.
860
01:07:02,269 --> 01:07:04,062
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 --> 01:07:09,109
He grew up with a sense
863
01:07:09,318 --> 01:07:11,528
that you really
can't trust anybody.
864
01:07:11,737 --> 01:07:15,073
This is a guy who basically
was taught at a very early age
865
01:07:15,282 --> 01:07:16,992
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 --> 01:07:22,122
Because she's gone.
868
01:07:23,373 --> 01:07:26,001
He was absolutely haunted
by that.
869
01:07:27,002 --> 01:07:29,755
I remember one night we were
riding around and I told him,
870
01:07:29,963 --> 01:07:33,133
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
01:07:35,677 --> 01:07:37,804
My mother and father left me.
873
01:07:38,013 --> 01:07:41,308
My father gave me to my aunt.
I was raised in a whore house."
874
01:07:41,850 --> 01:07:44,353
He said,
"I'd watch the church women come
875
01:07:44,561 --> 01:07:46,480
and turn tricks all day
and leave at 4:30
876
01:07:46,688 --> 01:07:48,568
so they could be home
to cook for their husbands
877
01:07:48,607 --> 01:07:50,527
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
01:07:54,988 --> 01:07:57,241
I think it also
was why he was a loner.
880
01:07:57,449 --> 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
01:08:06,875 --> 01:08:09,378
and he left without making sure
883
01:08:09,670 --> 01:08:13,131
that the bus could get us back
to the east coast.
884
01:08:13,340 --> 01:08:14,925
We basically quit.
885
01:08:15,133 --> 01:08:17,094
Eventually everybody
came back to him
886
01:08:17,344 --> 01:08:19,054
but he was angry about it.
887
01:08:19,263 --> 01:08:22,474
He would remind them, you know,
"you left me, you left me.
888
01:08:22,683 --> 01:08:26,436
And I don't trust you
because you left me."
889
01:08:27,312 --> 01:08:30,065
And I think
that was one of his reasons too
890
01:08:30,274 --> 01:08:34,194
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 --> 01:08:40,075
Because sometimes
James had good days,
893
01:08:40,284 --> 01:08:41,577
sometimes he had bad days.
894
01:08:42,202 --> 01:08:43,912
I didn't want to be a part
of the bad days.
895
01:08:45,038 --> 01:08:48,834
We 're in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
I can't forget that.
896
01:08:49,042 --> 01:08:50,642
Gertrude Saunders,
the wardrobe mistress,
897
01:08:50,794 --> 01:08:53,130
comes down, said,
"hey, Melvin, maceo.
898
01:08:53,630 --> 01:08:55,757
He wants you guys up
to the dressing room right now."
899
01:08:56,425 --> 01:09:00,053
As we walked in the door,
Tony Walker, the henchman,
900
01:09:00,262 --> 01:09:03,348
is strapping on his .45.
901
01:09:04,391 --> 01:09:06,893
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
01:09:14,818 --> 01:09:15,819
He put the comb down,
904
01:09:16,028 --> 01:09:17,988
and he stood up
and turned around,
905
01:09:18,196 --> 01:09:19,906
started to walk toward us.
906
01:09:20,115 --> 01:09:24,620
He said, "when we come for you,
you better be ready."
907
01:09:24,828 --> 01:09:27,205
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
01:09:30,542 --> 01:09:31,862
so that he couldn't play
his horn.
910
01:09:33,170 --> 01:09:35,172
I pushed maceo to the side,
911
01:09:35,380 --> 01:09:39,051
went in my pocket
at the same time, pulled it out.
912
01:09:39,259 --> 01:09:40,969
When you have that automatic,
913
01:09:41,178 --> 01:09:43,347
you always keep one
in the chamber.
914
01:09:44,139 --> 01:09:45,140
Pump it.
915
01:09:46,266 --> 01:09:49,645
Let him know that it's loaded.
916
01:09:49,853 --> 01:09:52,981
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 --> 01:09:58,862
And when it landed on the floor,
it hit, boom, boom, boom.
919
01:09:59,071 --> 01:10:03,241
I stuck it right in his nose,
and I said, "I'm ready now.
920
01:10:03,533 --> 01:10:05,577
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
01:10:07,120 --> 01:10:08,765
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 --> 01:10:17,714
And that was that.
926
01:10:18,423 --> 01:10:20,258
You had to approach him
with strength.
927
01:10:20,467 --> 01:10:21,718
You had to always be a man.
928
01:10:21,927 --> 01:10:23,720
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
01:10:30,310 --> 01:10:31,937
or taking that for weakness.
932
01:10:33,605 --> 01:10:36,066
With men,
he isn't that super tough guy.
933
01:10:36,274 --> 01:10:38,193
He wants to be. He is not.
934
01:10:38,402 --> 01:10:40,195
He is with women.
935
01:10:40,612 --> 01:10:43,156
Brown would be a super tough guy
with women.
936
01:10:43,365 --> 01:10:47,035
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
01:10:51,998 --> 01:10:53,750
when I first joined him.
939
01:10:53,959 --> 01:10:56,294
She only focused on him.
940
01:10:56,503 --> 01:11:00,298
She would never turn
and look at anyone.
941
01:11:00,507 --> 01:11:05,929
Not unless he said, "baby, look.
You know, there's the jewels."
942
01:11:06,138 --> 01:11:08,348
And then she'll turn around,
"hello."
943
01:11:08,557 --> 01:11:12,644
He was very jealous.
He was a very jealous man.
944
01:11:12,853 --> 01:11:17,482
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
01:11:21,486 --> 01:11:22,946
and he has told me he hit women.
947
01:11:23,155 --> 01:11:26,241
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
01:11:28,201 --> 01:11:30,162
When I came in,
they obviously been fighting.
950
01:11:30,370 --> 01:11:32,205
And we went down
and sat by the pool,
951
01:11:32,414 --> 01:11:34,207
and he looked at me,
he said, "reverend."
952
01:11:34,541 --> 01:11:36,960
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
01:11:39,629 --> 01:11:40,630
It's wrong."
955
01:12:00,901 --> 01:12:04,780
Pillage, looting,
murder and arson
956
01:12:05,363 --> 01:12:07,282
have nothing to do
with civil rights.
957
01:12:08,200 --> 01:12:10,994
They are criminal conduct
958
01:12:11,203 --> 01:12:14,039
and the federal government
has no alternative
959
01:12:14,247 --> 01:12:15,791
but to respond.
960
01:12:23,465 --> 01:12:28,011
I think we've got to see a riot
is a language of the unheard,
961
01:12:28,220 --> 01:12:31,139
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
01:12:32,557 --> 01:12:38,396
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
01:12:47,155 --> 01:12:50,283
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
01:12:56,581 --> 01:12:57,958
to be equal to another man.
968
01:12:58,166 --> 01:13:01,711
Soul is when a man pays taxes
and still he comes up second.
969
01:13:02,420 --> 01:13:05,507
Soul is when a man is judged
not by what they do,
970
01:13:05,715 --> 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
01:13:15,767 --> 01:13:17,087
for the revolution
that's to come.
973
01:13:19,354 --> 01:13:21,565
We've got some difficult days ahead,
974
01:13:22,190 --> 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
01:13:51,177 --> 01:13:52,554
At 7:10 this evening,
977
01:13:52,762 --> 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 --> 01:14:19,497
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 --> 01:14:26,796
and all of america
is erupting in violence.
983
01:14:33,887 --> 01:14:35,096
We were on the way to Boston
984
01:14:35,305 --> 01:14:37,033
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 --> 01:14:43,563
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
01:14:47,400 --> 01:14:51,196
The mayor didn't want James
to come there and do that show.
989
01:14:51,446 --> 01:14:54,866
But that city councilman
told him upfront.
990
01:14:55,241 --> 01:14:57,327
If you don't let him
do that show,
991
01:14:57,535 --> 01:15:00,830
they are going to burn this
city down, and he was serious.
992
01:15:01,039 --> 01:15:04,542
They were poised
to do just that.
993
01:15:12,842 --> 01:15:14,928
I think there's reason
for apprehension
994
01:15:15,136 --> 01:15:16,136
but not a lot.
995
01:15:16,304 --> 01:15:17,305
Boston has great hope
996
01:15:17,514 --> 01:15:20,141
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
01:15:23,895 --> 01:15:28,108
Tonight you've turned the brown
concert into a memorial service.
999
01:15:28,316 --> 01:15:29,943
We're going to broadcast that live
1000
01:15:30,151 --> 01:15:32,195
and I assume you feel that
1001
01:15:32,404 --> 01:15:36,074
that will have an effect
in the community.
1002
01:15:36,282 --> 01:15:39,411
Well, I'm hoping it's one valve
that will let off some steam
1003
01:15:39,619 --> 01:15:41,705
and I think it's
an appropriate place to have it
1004
01:15:41,913 --> 01:15:45,041
because it's
a peaceful gathering
1005
01:15:45,250 --> 01:15:47,627
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 --> 01:16:16,364
I want to say thanks
for coming out to see the show
1008
01:16:17,240 --> 01:16:20,160
and you've made it possible
for me
1009
01:16:20,368 --> 01:16:23,788
to be a first class man
in all respects.
1010
01:16:24,497 --> 01:16:26,082
Thank you.
1011
01:16:27,542 --> 01:16:29,502
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
01:16:33,381 --> 01:16:35,800
In front of a radio station
called "wrdw."
1014
01:16:36,718 --> 01:16:38,518
I used to shine shoes
in front of that station
1015
01:16:38,553 --> 01:16:39,971
and I think we started off...
1016
01:16:40,180 --> 01:16:42,074
I used to get three cents,
then up to five cents,
1017
01:16:42,098 --> 01:16:43,975
then finally,
I got to six cents.
1018
01:16:46,019 --> 01:16:48,521
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 --> 01:16:55,945
That's black power.
1021
01:17:11,795 --> 01:17:14,089
When we did the show,
we were hurt
1022
01:17:14,297 --> 01:17:15,657
but you didn't think
about anything
1023
01:17:15,757 --> 01:17:17,801
but doing that show at the time.
1024
01:18:01,427 --> 01:18:02,679
Wait a minute.
1025
01:18:03,721 --> 01:18:05,932
Move off.
I'll be all right, I'll be fine.
1026
01:18:06,975 --> 01:18:08,893
I'm all right, I'm all right.
1027
01:18:10,895 --> 01:18:12,897
I'm all right, I'm all right.
1028
01:18:15,650 --> 01:18:17,443
You want to dance? Dance.
1029
01:18:17,652 --> 01:18:22,282
People started rushing the stage
and we weren't playing no more
1030
01:18:22,490 --> 01:18:23,908
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
01:18:26,202 --> 01:18:29,038
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
01:18:31,916 --> 01:18:34,335
and brown says,
"hold it, hold it, hold it."
1035
01:18:34,544 --> 01:18:35,771
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
wait a minute,
1036
01:18:35,795 --> 01:18:36,981
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
01:18:46,097 --> 01:18:47,408
Now look,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
1039
01:18:47,432 --> 01:18:48,951
Let me finish the show,
now wait a minute,
1040
01:18:48,975 --> 01:18:50,369
let me finish the show
for everybody else.
1041
01:18:50,393 --> 01:18:52,113
I didn't know what to say
about that myself.
1042
01:18:52,312 --> 01:18:54,165
I'm sitting there on the drums
still just waiting, you know,
1043
01:18:54,189 --> 01:18:55,648
like, wow, what's going on?
1044
01:18:55,857 --> 01:18:58,818
This is no way.
We are black, we are black!
1045
01:18:59,986 --> 01:19:01,070
Now wait a minute,
1046
01:19:01,279 --> 01:19:02,548
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
01:19:04,073 --> 01:19:05,673
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
01:19:07,243 --> 01:19:09,537
Get off the stage,
step down there.
1051
01:19:10,496 --> 01:19:12,624
Let's represent our own selves.
Now step down.
1052
01:19:12,832 --> 01:19:14,292
No, no, that's not right.
1053
01:19:15,001 --> 01:19:16,854
You're not being fair
to yourselves or me, either.
1054
01:19:16,878 --> 01:19:19,505
You're not being fair
to yourself or me or your race.
1055
01:19:20,965 --> 01:19:22,276
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
01:19:25,845 --> 01:19:26,971
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 --> 01:19:41,277
You did not just stop the show,
1062
01:19:42,195 --> 01:19:43,821
told people off, then went like
1063
01:19:44,030 --> 01:19:46,574
"all right,
let's get it together. Hit it."
1064
01:19:50,370 --> 01:19:52,090
If I were in the band,
I would've been like,
1065
01:19:52,163 --> 01:19:54,415
uhh, that's my cue, goodbye.
See you.
1066
01:19:55,375 --> 01:19:56,685
There's like a riot
about to break out.
1067
01:19:56,709 --> 01:19:57,877
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
01:20:03,883 --> 01:20:05,301
and they respected him.
1070
01:20:08,554 --> 01:20:09,681
He cleared them up
1071
01:20:09,889 --> 01:20:12,392
and there wasn't
no more fighting or nothing.
1072
01:20:12,600 --> 01:20:14,280
It could have been
a turnout of that place.
1073
01:20:15,395 --> 01:20:17,021
He was damn good.
1074
01:20:21,317 --> 01:20:22,777
Boston was one of the few cities
1075
01:20:22,986 --> 01:20:26,864
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
01:20:30,034 --> 01:20:31,786
Trouble was very minimal.
1078
01:20:39,585 --> 01:20:40,945
We'd like to announce
that the city
1079
01:20:41,045 --> 01:20:43,548
is very quiet and calm,
1080
01:20:43,756 --> 01:20:44,966
and the report also states
1081
01:20:45,174 --> 01:20:48,636
that everyone is home
watching the TV program.
1082
01:20:48,845 --> 01:20:50,430
So I think the fact
1083
01:20:50,638 --> 01:20:53,391
that we do have
the television cameras here,
1084
01:20:54,600 --> 01:20:56,811
I think it was a big success.
1085
01:20:58,938 --> 01:21:00,332
I wanted to see people
get off the streets,
1086
01:21:00,356 --> 01:21:01,566
I wanted them to calm down,
1087
01:21:01,774 --> 01:21:03,651
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
01:21:08,948 --> 01:21:10,068
of the people on the streets
1091
01:21:10,116 --> 01:21:12,827
because I understood
what they were fighting for.
1092
01:21:15,788 --> 01:21:18,207
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
01:21:20,793 --> 01:21:22,879
Overlooking the city,
overlooking Harlem,
1095
01:21:23,087 --> 01:21:25,548
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 --> 01:21:30,094
and you know who lives there?
1098
01:21:31,220 --> 01:21:32,221
The black people.
1099
01:21:33,389 --> 01:21:34,932
You know, in Washington,
1100
01:21:35,266 --> 01:21:37,935
houses that we were walking
in front of, condemned,
1101
01:21:38,144 --> 01:21:40,688
and no one can be living
in these houses.
1102
01:21:40,897 --> 01:21:42,565
I went to watts,
1103
01:21:42,774 --> 01:21:44,414
I found a lot of people
staying in an area
1104
01:21:44,442 --> 01:21:46,694
that didn't have nothing
to offer.
1105
01:21:47,320 --> 01:21:48,863
I went from black america
1106
01:21:49,072 --> 01:21:50,712
and I started talking
to the white america
1107
01:21:50,865 --> 01:21:51,865
and I was saying,
1108
01:21:52,033 --> 01:21:53,633
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
01:21:56,829 --> 01:21:59,665
We got to go to the people
that are not even surviving.
1111
01:21:59,874 --> 01:22:01,793
My fight is just starting.
1112
01:22:02,001 --> 01:22:07,382
My fight is against the past,
the old colored man.
1113
01:22:07,590 --> 01:22:09,008
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
01:22:30,988 --> 01:22:33,366
James. Come here, James.
1117
01:22:34,951 --> 01:22:35,952
Come here.
1118
01:22:38,621 --> 01:22:40,248
He's my friend.
1119
01:22:44,460 --> 01:22:46,295
First, I would like
to say good morning.
1120
01:22:47,797 --> 01:22:48,798
I want to say this:
1121
01:22:49,006 --> 01:22:50,341
We would like to know sometimes
1122
01:22:50,550 --> 01:22:52,150
what's going to be done
for black people.
1123
01:22:52,343 --> 01:22:54,262
The black man wants ownership.
1124
01:22:55,388 --> 01:22:56,988
He wants to be able
to own his own things
1125
01:22:57,056 --> 01:22:59,016
and make up his own mind.
1126
01:22:59,350 --> 01:23:01,769
Number one
in the black community,
1127
01:23:01,978 --> 01:23:04,480
the lower income areas,
we need housing,
1128
01:23:04,689 --> 01:23:06,357
so we don't have to stay
in the dump,
1129
01:23:06,566 --> 01:23:08,192
like I've stayed in
when I was a kid.
1130
01:23:08,401 --> 01:23:09,610
We need our own banks
1131
01:23:09,819 --> 01:23:12,655
so we can get some money
to do things by ourselves.
1132
01:23:13,239 --> 01:23:14,508
We don't want nobody
to do it for us,
1133
01:23:14,532 --> 01:23:15,741
we want to do it by ourselves.
1134
01:23:15,950 --> 01:23:18,744
Now the candidate that gives me
those kind of things,
1135
01:23:18,953 --> 01:23:20,621
that's the man I endorse.
1136
01:23:21,414 --> 01:23:24,333
I don't endorse the party,
I endorse the man.
1137
01:23:38,931 --> 01:23:41,601
- So good.
- So good.
1138
01:23:53,905 --> 01:23:55,745
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
01:24:00,661 --> 01:24:03,998
This is not only
soul brother number one,
1141
01:24:04,207 --> 01:24:05,374
and rhythm and blues
1142
01:24:05,583 --> 01:24:07,084
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
01:24:09,378 --> 01:24:12,882
Welcome James brown
to black dignity.
1145
01:24:13,090 --> 01:24:14,425
Thank you, brother Don.
1146
01:24:16,969 --> 01:24:18,697
All right, we are ready to go
for some calls,
1147
01:24:18,721 --> 01:24:20,723
and, ask whatever you want.
1148
01:24:20,932 --> 01:24:22,743
Hello, this is Don warden,
you are on black dignity.
1149
01:24:22,767 --> 01:24:24,977
- 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
01:24:27,813 --> 01:24:29,857
I would like to know
why you got your process cut?
1152
01:24:30,691 --> 01:24:32,235
Well, this is a black move
1153
01:24:32,443 --> 01:24:34,779
and regardless
of what you are thinking,
1154
01:24:34,987 --> 01:24:36,197
we all got to think one way
1155
01:24:36,405 --> 01:24:38,085
and when we look alike,
we can think alike.
1156
01:24:38,241 --> 01:24:39,575
You know, the way I see it,
1157
01:24:39,784 --> 01:24:41,386
it's really what's in the mind
that counts.
1158
01:24:41,410 --> 01:24:42,411
Well, the mind counts,
1159
01:24:42,620 --> 01:24:46,582
butsee,
we all don't have a good image
1160
01:24:46,791 --> 01:24:48,167
and the image is like, black.
1161
01:24:48,376 --> 01:24:49,696
See,
we've never thought together.
1162
01:24:49,835 --> 01:24:51,647
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
01:24:53,130 --> 01:24:54,257
Over here, you don't know.
1165
01:24:54,465 --> 01:24:56,759
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
01:25:05,476 --> 01:25:06,686
and went natural, that was it,
1168
01:25:06,894 --> 01:25:08,896
that was the height
of the black power era.
1169
01:25:14,402 --> 01:25:15,762
James brown was known
for his hair,
1170
01:25:15,820 --> 01:25:20,491
he was absolutely fascinated
with the "conk" as we called it.
1171
01:25:20,700 --> 01:25:22,326
And for him to give it up
1172
01:25:22,535 --> 01:25:24,537
was to show
he ultimately did feel
1173
01:25:24,745 --> 01:25:27,540
that blacks needed
to learn their natural pride.
1174
01:25:28,332 --> 01:25:30,585
Hello, this is Don warden,
you're on black dignity.
1175
01:25:30,793 --> 01:25:32,396
I wanted to tell you
that I'm glad you got rid
1176
01:25:32,420 --> 01:25:33,740
of that stuff you had
in your hair
1177
01:25:33,796 --> 01:25:36,674
and I wish everybody
would wear a natural
1178
01:25:36,882 --> 01:25:38,968
and be what they are
supposed to be.
1179
01:25:39,176 --> 01:25:41,804
How are you going to get respect?
I'm black and proud.
1180
01:26:06,787 --> 01:26:08,539
He told me,
"I was in Los Angeles
1181
01:26:08,748 --> 01:26:10,166
and there was
all this in-fighting,
1182
01:26:10,374 --> 01:26:11,626
this crime and all,"
1183
01:26:11,834 --> 01:26:13,044
and he said that "I looked
1184
01:26:13,252 --> 01:26:15,713
and I said to myself,
we've lost our pride."
1185
01:26:15,921 --> 01:26:18,215
He said, "I went to my room
1186
01:26:18,424 --> 01:26:20,926
and I sat down and started
writing on a napkin."
1187
01:26:22,637 --> 01:26:25,389
On the spur of the moment,
it became a song
1188
01:26:25,598 --> 01:26:28,517
that literally changed
the social dynamics
1189
01:26:28,726 --> 01:26:29,894
of the United States.
1190
01:26:53,000 --> 01:26:56,253
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
01:26:58,547 --> 01:27:01,175
- He brings out the good in me.
- He's like the preacher.
1193
01:27:05,513 --> 01:27:07,264
First thing,
a man has to be a man
1194
01:27:07,473 --> 01:27:09,141
and when we say, "negro,"
1195
01:27:09,433 --> 01:27:11,193
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 --> 01:27:19,193
A black man is a man
who want to pay his own way,
1199
01:27:19,402 --> 01:27:20,736
who want to earn his own keep,
1200
01:27:20,945 --> 01:27:22,446
a man that stands up among men.
1201
01:27:22,863 --> 01:27:24,383
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
01:27:36,210 --> 01:27:39,422
I remember defining myself
as these American terms
1206
01:27:39,630 --> 01:27:42,258
of negro to colored to black.
1207
01:27:42,466 --> 01:27:44,885
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
01:27:51,016 --> 01:27:54,603
because not only did some whites
look down us,
1211
01:27:54,812 --> 01:27:56,212
there were many
light-skinned blacks
1212
01:27:56,397 --> 01:27:58,607
that looked down
on dark-skinned blacks.
1213
01:27:58,816 --> 01:28:00,234
And overnight,
1214
01:28:00,443 --> 01:28:02,903
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
01:28:16,667 --> 01:28:19,295
There was fear he had alienated
his white audience
1217
01:28:19,503 --> 01:28:20,863
and white people began
to be afraid
1218
01:28:21,005 --> 01:28:22,131
to come to the shows.
1219
01:28:22,339 --> 01:28:23,859
I don't think
that was his plan at all.
1220
01:28:24,008 --> 01:28:25,259
Brown's whole sound
1221
01:28:25,468 --> 01:28:28,345
is an assertion
of black beauty and black pride.
1222
01:28:31,640 --> 01:28:35,019
There is a black revolution
taking place on many campuses.
1223
01:28:35,227 --> 01:28:37,354
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
01:28:42,067 --> 01:28:44,320
are complete separatists,
the campuses I've visited.
1227
01:28:44,528 --> 01:28:46,280
They don't associate
with the whites,
1228
01:28:46,489 --> 01:28:47,782
they don't eat with the whites,
1229
01:28:47,990 --> 01:28:50,284
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
01:28:53,996 --> 01:28:55,766
when there was a white society
and a black society.
1232
01:28:55,790 --> 01:28:57,374
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
01:28:59,710 --> 01:29:00,910
and whites to eat with whites.
1235
01:29:01,086 --> 01:29:02,814
- Well, wait a minute...
- We have been fighting forever
1236
01:29:02,838 --> 01:29:03,881
to get together.
1237
01:29:04,089 --> 01:29:07,384
Why can't I know about me,
if you know about yourself?
1238
01:29:07,593 --> 01:29:09,196
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
01:29:10,387 --> 01:29:11,531
That probably true, Jimmy,
but it's not -
1241
01:29:11,555 --> 01:29:13,766
but I have to know that.
Do you call yourself a man,
1242
01:29:13,974 --> 01:29:16,268
knowing that I pay taxes
same as you,
1243
01:29:16,477 --> 01:29:18,163
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
01:29:19,396 --> 01:29:21,276
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
01:29:23,025 --> 01:29:25,402
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
01:29:28,405 --> 01:29:29,907
What do you mean, ought to be?
1250
01:29:30,407 --> 01:29:32,660
- But the conditions...
- What conditions?
1251
01:29:32,868 --> 01:29:34,328
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
01:29:36,747 --> 01:29:38,207
I'm 36 years old,
when am I supposed
1254
01:29:38,415 --> 01:29:39,917
- to be a grown man?
- Now.
1255
01:29:40,125 --> 01:29:42,169
Oh, I'm supposed to be
a grown man at 21, man,
1256
01:29:42,378 --> 01:29:43,838
no, no, not36.
1257
01:29:44,839 --> 01:29:48,050
Jimmy, I'm on your side.
What are you so mad about?
1258
01:29:48,342 --> 01:29:51,011
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
01:29:53,138 --> 01:29:54,640
you just don't know
what's happening.
1261
01:29:54,849 --> 01:29:56,350
This is not really a joke.
1262
01:29:56,559 --> 01:29:58,995
You're laughing at something
that's going to be a big problem.
1263
01:29:59,019 --> 01:30:00,779
Because you got kids out there
that can't eat
1264
01:30:00,896 --> 01:30:02,040
and they are robbing
and stealing
1265
01:30:02,064 --> 01:30:03,566
doing what they have to do
to make it
1266
01:30:03,774 --> 01:30:05,043
and if you don't do
something about it,
1267
01:30:05,067 --> 01:30:06,545
we're going to lose the country,
not...
1268
01:30:06,569 --> 01:30:08,028
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 --> 01:30:11,198
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
01:30:18,789 --> 01:30:20,207
You've got to open your ears.
1273
01:30:20,416 --> 01:30:22,626
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 --> 01:30:29,758
His lead over Humphrey
was so close but he won it
1276
01:30:29,967 --> 01:30:33,178
and, in winning that,
he won the presidency.
1277
01:30:33,512 --> 01:30:35,222
According to present statistics,
1278
01:30:35,431 --> 01:30:38,809
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
01:30:40,936 --> 01:30:43,355
which he claims will assist
the afro American
1281
01:30:43,564 --> 01:30:44,940
to get a piece of the action.
1282
01:30:45,149 --> 01:30:47,943
The president calls it
"black capitalism."
1283
01:30:50,154 --> 01:30:52,948
Richard Nixon saw
there was this great desire
1284
01:30:53,157 --> 01:30:55,534
among professional
middle class members
1285
01:30:55,743 --> 01:30:58,329
of the black community
to make it in america.
1286
01:31:02,666 --> 01:31:06,253
James brown was privately
very politically conservative.
1287
01:31:07,922 --> 01:31:09,798
He had supported Humphrey in '68
1288
01:31:10,007 --> 01:31:13,260
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
01:31:22,853 --> 01:31:25,272
but to James brown
it was black capitalism.
1293
01:31:44,166 --> 01:31:47,419
We got a food franchise getting
started called "gold platter."
1294
01:31:47,711 --> 01:31:49,880
It's basically set up
to get the black man
1295
01:31:50,089 --> 01:31:52,883
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
01:31:55,886 --> 01:31:58,013
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
01:32:05,187 --> 01:32:07,648
And we have
the James brown food stamps,
1300
01:32:07,856 --> 01:32:09,191
which is very important.
1301
01:32:09,400 --> 01:32:11,235
This is the idea of us
getting together
1302
01:32:11,443 --> 01:32:14,279
an idea of getting money
into the black community.
1303
01:32:14,863 --> 01:32:16,448
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 --> 01:32:37,928
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 --> 01:32:47,646
I would say, "I don't want
nobody to give me nothing."
1308
01:32:53,485 --> 01:32:56,405
The James brown hard beat
was the one.
1309
01:32:56,613 --> 01:33:00,034
It's the beat, but it's also
that you're the one,
1310
01:33:00,242 --> 01:33:02,953
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
01:33:07,916 --> 01:33:10,002
at the same time, reverend,
you got to be the one."
1313
01:33:10,210 --> 01:33:11,336
"You got to be the one."
1314
01:33:29,354 --> 01:33:32,441
At that time, Nixon was
preaching self-reliance
1315
01:33:33,025 --> 01:33:34,651
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
01:33:41,241 --> 01:33:42,659
that he had done it himself
1319
01:33:42,868 --> 01:33:45,245
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
01:33:50,375 --> 01:33:51,668
But the fact of the matter is,
1322
01:33:51,877 --> 01:33:54,463
brown was a supernaturally
talented individual.
1323
01:33:54,671 --> 01:33:56,423
Not everyone else
is that talented
1324
01:33:56,632 --> 01:33:59,009
or that ruthless,
or that driven.
1325
01:34:22,366 --> 01:34:25,452
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
01:34:27,704 --> 01:34:30,791
He just hung on to his money,
you know.
1328
01:34:31,625 --> 01:34:34,503
When you tried to own
a radio station, they failed,
1329
01:34:34,711 --> 01:34:36,964
a restaurant, they failed,
you know.
1330
01:34:37,172 --> 01:34:41,969
I mean, this is a man
that would pack an auditorium,
1331
01:34:42,177 --> 01:34:44,805
take boxes of money
out of that auditorium,
1332
01:34:45,013 --> 01:34:46,390
and not pay the band.
1333
01:34:46,598 --> 01:34:48,198
When you got ready to get paid,
you know,
1334
01:34:48,350 --> 01:34:51,311
"hey, look,
we don't have all of the money.
1335
01:34:51,520 --> 01:34:52,789
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
01:34:54,898 --> 01:34:57,234
And sometimes, it would happen
and sometimes it wouldn't.
1338
01:34:57,442 --> 01:35:01,071
Actually, we didn't get nothing
from anything, just a salary.
1339
01:35:01,280 --> 01:35:04,199
The most money I made
was around $300
1340
01:35:05,033 --> 01:35:09,621
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
01:35:11,790 --> 01:35:15,002
I had gotten to be sort of like
a handyman, you know.
1343
01:35:15,210 --> 01:35:17,254
For whatever reasons.
1344
01:35:17,713 --> 01:35:20,090
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 --> 01:35:24,471
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
01:35:27,055 --> 01:35:30,184
He and I got together, I said,
"man, I'm working hard,
1349
01:35:30,392 --> 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
01:35:35,939 --> 01:35:38,150
Get your James brown programs!
1352
01:35:38,358 --> 01:35:40,444
His attitude towards politics
1353
01:35:40,652 --> 01:35:43,155
was the same attitude
that he took towards his music.
1354
01:35:47,951 --> 01:35:51,205
On stage, he was the front man
that channeled the energy
1355
01:35:51,413 --> 01:35:53,457
coming from the band
in a totally unique way.
1356
01:35:53,665 --> 01:35:56,793
But it is very easy to fall
into the illusion
1357
01:35:57,002 --> 01:35:58,795
that it's all coming from you.
1358
01:36:02,674 --> 01:36:05,552
There's no way
that the James brown sound
1359
01:36:05,761 --> 01:36:07,481
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
01:36:11,808 --> 01:36:13,518
If it wasn't for pee wee,
1362
01:36:13,727 --> 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
01:36:31,411 --> 01:36:33,747
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 --> 01:36:40,772
where they were pumping each...
"We don't need to take this."
1369
01:36:40,796 --> 01:36:43,006
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 --> 01:36:49,429
and James is just not the kind
of guy to be intimidated.
1372
01:36:49,638 --> 01:36:51,014
He's like a stone.
1373
01:36:51,223 --> 01:36:52,849
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
01:36:57,729 --> 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
01:37:01,441 --> 01:37:02,859
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 --> 01:37:08,156
He came in a James brown
Learjet...
1381
01:37:09,533 --> 01:37:11,618
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
01:37:15,038 --> 01:37:17,124
and picked us up
1384
01:37:17,332 --> 01:37:20,002
and everybody was looking at us
like, "wow."
1385
01:37:20,210 --> 01:37:24,047
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
01:37:28,343 --> 01:37:30,137
until we actually got there.
1388
01:37:30,345 --> 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
01:37:35,475 --> 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
01:37:41,189 --> 01:37:45,861
That was the sad part
because they were our heroes
1393
01:37:46,236 --> 01:37:48,196
and we could see,
it's like, dag,
1394
01:37:48,405 --> 01:37:50,574
these cats are mad
about something.
1395
01:37:50,782 --> 01:37:52,159
We didn't know what it was.
1396
01:37:52,367 --> 01:37:55,037
Everybody got their bags
and instruments,
1397
01:37:55,245 --> 01:37:59,541
and who ever had cabs
or rented cars, everybody left.
1398
01:37:59,958 --> 01:38:02,085
And I'm the only somebody
that was left.
1399
01:38:02,294 --> 01:38:03,934
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
01:38:06,965 --> 01:38:07,966
so he didn't have no time
1402
01:38:08,175 --> 01:38:10,385
for no explanations to us
and this and that.
1403
01:38:10,594 --> 01:38:12,512
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 --> 01:38:48,965
I see a few new faces
in the band.
1406
01:38:49,174 --> 01:38:50,592
Yes, this is a new breed band.
1407
01:38:50,801 --> 01:38:52,677
Kids like to see
the young kids up there.
1408
01:38:52,886 --> 01:38:54,054
That's the idea.
1409
01:38:56,723 --> 01:38:58,725
These were definitely
his peak years,
1410
01:38:58,934 --> 01:39:02,145
so to lose his band and have
that kind of a transition
1411
01:39:02,687 --> 01:39:04,147
was pretty shocking
1412
01:39:04,356 --> 01:39:06,858
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
01:39:08,735 --> 01:39:09,986
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
01:39:17,702 --> 01:39:20,831
I had to be something
like around 17, 18.
1418
01:39:21,039 --> 01:39:22,399
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
01:39:25,001 --> 01:39:27,838
James talking about,
"nah, son, nah."
1421
01:39:28,046 --> 01:39:31,007
"Nah, can't go out there
and play tonight, nah.
1422
01:39:31,758 --> 01:39:34,094
Got to ride with me.
Ride with me, son."
1423
01:39:34,302 --> 01:39:36,555
He wanted to know
what was on my mind.
1424
01:39:36,763 --> 01:39:39,933
"Why are you laughing
at my shoes?" You know,
1425
01:39:40,142 --> 01:39:41,476
"what's wrong with my cape?"
1426
01:39:42,185 --> 01:39:45,439
You know, I'm saying, I mean,
"wouldn't you wear this?"
1427
01:39:46,356 --> 01:39:50,235
He wanted to know,
what a young kid,
1428
01:39:51,069 --> 01:39:52,154
how he thought about it.
1429
01:39:52,362 --> 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
01:39:57,492 --> 01:40:00,662
I mean,
he was the worst joke teller,
1432
01:40:00,871 --> 01:40:01,997
I mean, god.
1433
01:40:02,205 --> 01:40:03,957
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 --> 01:40:11,506
and he would bow his head
a little bit,
1436
01:40:11,715 --> 01:40:13,425
then he shut one eye
1437
01:40:13,633 --> 01:40:16,219
and then he keep
the other eye on you.
1438
01:40:16,428 --> 01:40:17,971
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
01:40:21,224 --> 01:40:25,312
And he was "nah, you know,
75 percent business,
1441
01:40:25,520 --> 01:40:27,772
and 25 percent music."
1442
01:40:28,690 --> 01:40:31,568
He said, "watch me
and get yourself together.
1443
01:40:31,776 --> 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
01:40:35,780 --> 01:40:39,493
He wanted me to see
that it took hard work.
1446
01:40:39,701 --> 01:40:41,203
I'm like, 'what?'
1447
01:40:53,757 --> 01:40:54,883
And James brown,
1448
01:40:55,091 --> 01:40:58,386
he wasn't on to the new style
that was coming in.
1449
01:41:01,806 --> 01:41:03,308
It really started
1450
01:41:03,517 --> 01:41:07,020
with James brown teaching me
about the one.
1451
01:41:07,229 --> 01:41:09,669
"Just give me the one, then you
can play all that other stuff.
1452
01:41:09,731 --> 01:41:12,400
But if you give me that one
you can play that."
1453
01:41:12,609 --> 01:41:15,737
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
01:41:18,406 --> 01:41:22,452
"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 --> 01:41:46,434
was all the encouragement
we really needed, you know,
1459
01:41:46,643 --> 01:41:49,062
because it made me
want to practice harder.
1460
01:42:10,709 --> 01:42:13,795
He always said
"catfish understood," you know,
1461
01:42:14,045 --> 01:42:15,922
because catfish was older
than me
1462
01:42:16,131 --> 01:42:18,466
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
01:42:35,900 --> 01:42:38,445
they brought
a complete different rhythm.
1466
01:42:44,784 --> 01:42:47,370
I had to adjust
to playing with them,
1467
01:42:47,579 --> 01:42:48,830
playing James' stuff.
1468
01:42:55,211 --> 01:42:58,465
He took the funk from the drum
and put it in the bass.
1469
01:43:23,114 --> 01:43:25,200
It was a life-changing moment.
1470
01:43:25,533 --> 01:43:27,243
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
01:43:41,591 --> 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
01:43:48,139 --> 01:43:49,891
And it was on then.
1475
01:43:50,058 --> 01:43:51,058
- Fellas!
- Yeah!
1476
01:43:51,184 --> 01:43:52,184
- Fellas!
- Yeah!
1477
01:43:52,310 --> 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
01:44:01,569 --> 01:44:04,781
- Like a...
- What?
1481
01:44:05,365 --> 01:44:07,826
Like a sex machine.
1482
01:44:08,201 --> 01:44:10,321
- 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
01:44:45,071 --> 01:44:47,615
The lyric wasn't saying
all that much
1486
01:44:47,824 --> 01:44:49,677
but the fact that we were saying
"sex machine,"
1487
01:44:49,701 --> 01:44:52,245
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
01:44:54,372 --> 01:44:56,082
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
01:44:58,209 --> 01:45:02,213
and, of course, at that time,
maybe things was changing.
1492
01:45:37,373 --> 01:45:38,750
Once "sex machine" came out,
1493
01:45:38,958 --> 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
01:45:44,547 --> 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
01:45:53,723 --> 01:45:55,642
and, frankly,
the box office results.
1498
01:45:55,850 --> 01:45:58,895
And, you know, six months later,
we're like, okay, we're safe.
1499
01:46:19,874 --> 01:46:22,460
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 --> 01:46:29,342
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
01:46:31,886 --> 01:46:33,555
while city officials
and black leaders
1504
01:46:33,763 --> 01:46:35,473
tried to work out
their differences.
1505
01:46:35,682 --> 01:46:38,560
Negro entertainer, James brown,
flew into his hometown
1506
01:46:38,768 --> 01:46:41,980
and went on television to tell
black people to "cool it."
1507
01:46:42,188 --> 01:46:43,624
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
01:46:50,196 --> 01:46:53,491
Brown toured the troubled area,
asking for calm.
1511
01:46:53,908 --> 01:46:55,660
Many blacks say
they listened to him
1512
01:46:55,910 --> 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 --> 01:47:05,211
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 --> 01:47:11,759
I don't like the word accept,
you know.
1517
01:47:11,968 --> 01:47:13,112
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
01:47:15,179 --> 01:47:16,179
How's that, sir?
1520
01:47:16,347 --> 01:47:18,266
I don't think you understand me.
1521
01:47:19,142 --> 01:47:21,811
Number one, I'm not trying
to prove nothing to the white,
1522
01:47:22,061 --> 01:47:23,813
that I can be a head nigger.
1523
01:47:24,105 --> 01:47:25,565
See, that's not my bag.
1524
01:47:25,982 --> 01:47:27,066
I'm a man.
1525
01:47:27,442 --> 01:47:29,360
I'm not trying to make
the white man accept me
1526
01:47:29,569 --> 01:47:31,046
but I would like for people
to accept me
1527
01:47:31,070 --> 01:47:33,031
whether black or white,
you know,
1528
01:47:33,239 --> 01:47:34,383
and understand what I'm doing
1529
01:47:34,407 --> 01:47:36,802
but if they don't I still got
to do what I feel like is right.
1530
01:47:36,826 --> 01:47:38,846
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 --> 01:47:42,903
I'm saying
don't give me nothing,
1533
01:47:42,999 --> 01:47:44,639
just open the door
and I'll get it myself.
1534
01:48:01,684 --> 01:48:04,270
Mr. Brown, why are you endorsing
president Nixon?
1535
01:48:04,520 --> 01:48:05,880
Well, I'm endorsing
president Nixon
1536
01:48:05,980 --> 01:48:09,108
because I believe in the future
of the country lies
1537
01:48:09,317 --> 01:48:10,860
with Mr. Nixon
1538
01:48:11,069 --> 01:48:14,614
and I feel that some
of the things he's done
1539
01:48:14,822 --> 01:48:17,784
is very close to my heart
as a minority, as a black man.
1540
01:48:21,079 --> 01:48:23,122
I think James brown
was going to endorse
1541
01:48:23,331 --> 01:48:26,000
whoever was going
to give him an audience.
1542
01:48:26,209 --> 01:48:28,544
If a poor kid from Augusta
who's a soul singer
1543
01:48:28,753 --> 01:48:30,254
can get the white house
on the phone
1544
01:48:30,463 --> 01:48:31,881
once or twice a year,
1545
01:48:32,256 --> 01:48:33,508
that's more important
1546
01:48:33,716 --> 01:48:36,636
than having the phone numbers
of the guy who lost.
1547
01:48:37,470 --> 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
01:48:45,186 --> 01:48:49,607
between being strong black,
strong cultural,
1550
01:48:49,899 --> 01:48:51,484
authentic who you was
1551
01:48:51,693 --> 01:48:54,904
but politically being
conservative and republican
1552
01:48:55,113 --> 01:48:57,281
and it was this paradox.
1553
01:48:57,782 --> 01:48:59,342
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
01:49:03,621 --> 01:49:06,040
and I feel that my best way
of endorsing the country
1557
01:49:06,249 --> 01:49:07,529
is to come
and endorse Mr. Nixon.
1558
01:49:26,602 --> 01:49:28,730
James and Nixon had talked
1559
01:49:28,938 --> 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
01:50:08,352 --> 01:50:10,313
Before he got
into this Nixon thing
1562
01:50:10,521 --> 01:50:13,816
people would tell him to just be
a musician, be a singer.
1563
01:50:14,025 --> 01:50:15,526
Stay out of the eyes
of the camera
1564
01:50:15,735 --> 01:50:19,113
because that is going to cause you
a problem down the road
1565
01:50:19,322 --> 01:50:20,698
and, of course, it did.
1566
01:50:23,117 --> 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
01:50:35,296 --> 01:50:37,840
and people picketed
James brown shows.
1570
01:50:38,049 --> 01:50:40,426
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 --> 01:50:48,392
A lot of promises were made,
1573
01:50:48,601 --> 01:50:51,145
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
01:50:56,317 --> 01:50:58,861
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
01:51:25,471 --> 01:51:28,808
who's here to make
a presentation to James brown
1579
01:51:29,016 --> 01:51:30,351
and his name is al sharpton.
1580
01:51:32,687 --> 01:51:34,814
1973, I was 18.
1581
01:51:35,022 --> 01:51:37,191
I had a met a young man
named Teddy brown,
1582
01:51:37,400 --> 01:51:39,068
who was James brown's son.
1583
01:51:39,277 --> 01:51:41,487
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
01:51:44,782 --> 01:51:48,536
and eventually he became
the father I didn't have,
1586
01:51:48,744 --> 01:51:51,205
and I became
the replacement for Teddy.
1587
01:51:51,414 --> 01:51:52,874
Then he flew me to California
1588
01:51:53,082 --> 01:51:54,442
to give him an award
on soul train.
1589
01:51:54,667 --> 01:51:56,043
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 --> 01:52:01,465
of young black america in 1974
1592
01:52:01,674 --> 01:52:02,994
because it says
many of the things
1593
01:52:03,134 --> 01:52:05,219
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 --> 01:52:12,935
We weren't from
the "we shall overcome" era.
1596
01:52:13,144 --> 01:52:15,104
We grew up in the
"I'm black and proud"
1597
01:52:15,313 --> 01:52:16,606
and "payback" era,
1598
01:52:16,814 --> 01:52:19,775
and it was that era
that introduced those of us
1599
01:52:19,984 --> 01:52:21,694
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 --> 01:52:35,124
of the basic fabric
of American music.
1602
01:52:35,333 --> 01:52:38,127
You could definitely tell
his musical children
1603
01:52:38,336 --> 01:52:39,337
with no problem.
1604
01:52:46,010 --> 01:52:49,388
Easily Michael Jackson,
easily prince.
1605
01:52:52,516 --> 01:52:53,516
Most people,
1606
01:52:53,684 --> 01:52:56,312
when they look at the mustache
period of James brown,
1607
01:52:56,520 --> 01:52:58,856
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
01:53:03,402 --> 01:53:07,740
So even James brown's
down period was influential.
1610
01:53:08,908 --> 01:53:10,576
In the late 1970's
when they said
1611
01:53:10,785 --> 01:53:12,828
Mr. Brown was having
all kinds of issues
1612
01:53:13,037 --> 01:53:15,331
and problems
getting a hit record,
1613
01:53:15,539 --> 01:53:17,500
he was hot in the dj community.
1614
01:53:18,501 --> 01:53:20,169
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 --> 01:53:24,298
and especially
the sex machine album.
1617
01:53:24,507 --> 01:53:26,384
"Give it up or turn ita loose"
was the hip-hop
1618
01:53:26,592 --> 01:53:28,302
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
01:53:34,600 --> 01:53:35,893
In the mid 80's,
1621
01:53:36,102 --> 01:53:38,104
there was a period
in which producers
1622
01:53:38,312 --> 01:53:40,147
would take
these James brown breaks
1623
01:53:40,356 --> 01:53:42,149
and create all these new songs.
1624
01:53:45,695 --> 01:53:48,906
Funky drummer was essential
for that classic hip-hop period.
1625
01:53:49,115 --> 01:53:51,033
Everybody used that sound.
1626
01:53:53,577 --> 01:53:54,829
I hate that song.
1627
01:53:56,455 --> 01:54:00,334
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
01:54:03,462 --> 01:54:06,215
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
01:54:07,591 --> 01:54:10,511
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
01:54:14,223 --> 01:54:16,892
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
01:54:25,526 --> 01:54:27,445
and it became our
"funky drummer."
1636
01:54:27,862 --> 01:54:30,197
They've only had
one failed single,
1637
01:54:30,406 --> 01:54:33,617
and that single's name
was "funky drummer."
1638
01:54:35,453 --> 01:54:36,746
Go figure.
1639
01:54:37,538 --> 01:54:39,999
It's like the song that birthed
my whole movement,
1640
01:54:40,207 --> 01:54:43,085
that magic count-off
every rapper loves to hear.
1641
01:54:43,294 --> 01:54:46,255
One, two, three, four, hit it!
1642
01:55:01,270 --> 01:55:05,941
The hip-hop act that best
utilized "funky drummer"
1643
01:55:06,150 --> 01:55:07,318
was public enemy.
1644
01:55:17,995 --> 01:55:21,165
Fight the power also sampled
"hot pants road."
1645
01:55:24,919 --> 01:55:26,146
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 --> 01:55:35,679
James brown would go into a riff
1648
01:55:35,888 --> 01:55:37,932
and it would be a nice break.
1649
01:55:38,808 --> 01:55:40,434
But for a hip hop record,
you could say,
1650
01:55:40,643 --> 01:55:43,687
"man, we could take this
for like, five minutes."
1651
01:55:44,105 --> 01:55:45,981
We are going to keep vamping
on the vamp.
1652
01:55:49,985 --> 01:55:52,488
"Fight the power" comes
from James brown
1653
01:55:52,988 --> 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
01:56:01,914 --> 01:56:03,999
There would be no me
without James brown
1656
01:56:04,208 --> 01:56:05,584
so we all owe it to James brown.
1657
01:56:07,795 --> 01:56:09,463
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
01:56:14,760 --> 01:56:18,347
the most soulful part
of the Otis song
1661
01:56:18,556 --> 01:56:20,599
is that sort of climactic...
1662
01:56:26,605 --> 01:56:29,400
The James brown scream,
it's gospel,
1663
01:56:29,608 --> 01:56:33,612
it's soulful, it's primitive,
sexual, angry...
1664
01:56:37,116 --> 01:56:39,285
Even now, James brown is here,
1665
01:56:39,493 --> 01:56:41,120
whether you acknowledge it
or not.
1666
01:56:42,913 --> 01:56:45,291
He never saw himself
as a hit artist.
1667
01:56:45,833 --> 01:56:47,626
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
01:56:50,045 --> 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
01:56:58,512 --> 01:57:00,473
"whatever you do in life,
be you, be different."
1672
01:57:01,474 --> 01:57:02,641
I think it was also why
1673
01:57:02,850 --> 01:57:07,062
he was off to himself
in his own way, musically...
1674
01:57:10,441 --> 01:57:12,776
Because he grew up
in the woods, by himself,
1675
01:57:12,985 --> 01:57:14,904
laid there in the whorehouse
by himself,
1676
01:57:15,112 --> 01:57:18,908
so it gave him the sense of,
"me against the world."
1677
01:57:22,870 --> 01:57:24,079
What was his negative
1678
01:57:24,288 --> 01:57:26,290
may have ended up
being his strength.
1679
01:57:28,250 --> 01:57:29,502
When he got on that stage,
1680
01:57:29,710 --> 01:57:32,588
James brown
personified his music
1681
01:57:32,796 --> 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
01:57:44,266 --> 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!
127485
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