Give it up for the Godfather Of Soul, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Mr. Dynamite, Soul Brother Number One, The Father Of The Funk, His Own Bad Self.
Irreplaceable.
In terms of sheer impact, influence, and longevity, Brother James was truly a towering presence in R&B, Soul, Funk, and all of their offshoots filtering into Blaxploitation, Disco, Electronica, IDM, Rap, Jazz, Hip-Hop, hell--Krautrock even, you name it and he is there.
His singular vision and larger-than-life persona were rivaled perhaps only by Johnny Cash. Both had their hiccups with substances and run-ins with the law, but Brown's happened in the tabloid era long after Cash's had been forgotten. And more's the pity that JB didn't have a Rick Rubin onboard to usher him into late-period greatness similar to that which Cash enjoyed. But in any case, The James Brown Show was always a happening, right up to the last.
If there is any good to come out of his passing, perhaps it will result in a closer examination of the enormity of the James Brown canon, with richly-earned props floating in the direction of his spirit. And there is still much work to be done in properly tending to his vast back-catalogue. So let the reissues begin apace, hopefully done with the care and respect that they deserve.
