James Brown

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       No musicians' list is complete without James Brown, The Godfather of Soul.  He was a pivotal figure of soul music and rhythm and blues in t he 1950's all the way up until hip hop and rap overtook those genres.  He is however still the most digitally sampled recording artist in the history of pop music.  He remains the Godfather of Soul and will always be that.  James Brown idolized Little Richard and the latters saxophone filled band helped put the funk into James Brown's later music. James Brown filled in for Little Richard's tour dates after Little Richard quit the road to become a preacher man.  Brown's group with The Famous Flames as back up vocalists had their first soul hit in 1959 with Try me.  He had two huge hits later on in the mid 60's with Papas Got a Brand New Bag, and I Got You (I Feel Good.)  They remain mega hits to this day.  Later in the sixties, James Brown sowed the seeds for rap with the spoken more than sung tunes Mother Popcorn and I Got the Feelin'.  So, while he wasn't part of rap, he formed the foundation for it.  Interesting.

This James Brown review was posted by Dr. Whitey

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