James Brown put the "F" in Funk

My husband and I were watching a football game Christmas night when a "Breaking News" banner came across the screen. 

It read:  "The Godfather of Soul and R&B legend James Brown has died at the age of 73."  Apparently he had been hospitalized on Christmas Eve, suffering from pneumonia.

At first I thought I read it wrong because I saw The Godfather in a recent interview and, besides, no one famous ever dies on Christmas.  My husband and I sat stunned and speechless for a few minutes and then scrambled through the TV channels to try to find out more information.  Sadly, we couldn't find much but a 30 minute special BET did in between an "In Living Color" marathon.

Wow...James Brown is dead.  It seems so hard to believe.  He's one of those entertainers you think will live on forever.  Even in his 70's he was still performing and as a matter of fact, in the interview I saw he said was preparing to perform a concert in New York on New Years Eve. 

James Brown came on like gang busters in the 60s.  He put the "F" in funk--no doubt about it.  Every time I heard "I Feel Good" on the radio, I had to get up and do my thing--no matter where I was--in the house, the car, a convenience store.  It actually became a theme song for my daughter and me when she was a toddler and it's a memory she still remembers.  Even today when we're riding in the car and the song comes on, we get our groove on!

My husband says "It's a Man's World" was his all-time favorite James Brown song.  Mine was "Say It Loud."  That song gave this dark chocolate sister inspiration--believing it was OK to be dark skinned and I could SAY IT LOUD--I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD! It became my new national anthem.

The dance moves demonstrated by Michael Jackson and M.C. Hammer were the creative genius of the Godfather.  He set the stage for future artists like Michael Jackson, Prince and M.C. Hammer.  You could just sit and watch him dance, even without singing.  And he did his "splits" better than most cheerleaders I knew back them   

Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. "The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.  What a shame that the ONLY person to ever pay him any royalties for their "sampling" was M.C. Hammer.

Today I will remember the Godfather---not in a mournful way---I will, instead, celebrate what he brought to the music world.  So let me end here and go put on my dancing shoes because:

"I feel good...like I knew that I would...so good...so good..'cause I got you!"