Artist of the Month: James Brown

James Brown, from rags to riches was born in a one room shack into extreme poverty. As a child he would dance for pennies for soldiers at Fort Gordon, he also shined shoes, begining at 3 cents and eventually going up to 6 cents.
He also claimed that it was not until he was 9 years old that he finally got a pair of store bought underwear, prior to then he had worn clothing made from material from sacks and other used items.
When he was 12 he was sent home from school because he didn’t have sufficient clothing. Skipping through the poor side of the story, by now everybody knows that James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, touring throughout the 50’s and 60’s constantly. Most people would admit that they really didn’t like James Brown mainly because of his singing, but like with some other artists James needs to be remembered for his stage acts and dancing, no one can top that. And not only did he write music and sing, he also played drums harmonica guitar and piano as well. James Brown recorded 17 singles that reached no.1 on the Billboard R&B Charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart which didn’t reach no.1, and of the Billboard R&B charts from the beginning of his musical career through 2010 he is ranked no.1 in the top 500 artists.
He ranks at no.7 on Rolling Stone’s list of it’s 100 greatest artists of all time and also the most sampled artist of all time. At the end of the 60’s he owned a publishing company, three radio stations and a lear jet. Some famous quotes by James Brown are, “I taught them all they know, but not everything I know.” Another quote was, “I’ve outdone anyone you can name- Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss, and even Irving Berlin he wrote 1,001 tunes i wrote 5,500.
Find out more about The Godfather of Soul as we feature the one and only JAMES BROWN as artist of the month on the “Little Red Rooster Show” on KWMC’S 1490 AM all new Classic Hits Station.
Remember that all stories and known Facts are by Wendy Johnson and all shows are produced by Javier Martinez.