God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman.
James Brown was an amazing man, a fact which no one knew better than James Brown. No one had more style, talent, or might than this man. There have been tons of imitators who could maybe get part of it right - the flash, but not the talent, the talent but not the energy, the personality but not the bite. And there was a bite. James Brown was not a benign, entertaining, safe black man like most of his contemporaries with any success. He was a sexy, powerful, demanding, force to be reckoned with - and he let nothing stop him.
I am sad sad sad that he is dead - but it feels like a call to action for all of us who call ourselves performers. Now it’s up to all of us to pour our heart and soul and everything into whatever we do, and tell the man to suck it when he tells us we can’t. James Brown isn’t there to do the work for us anymore.
The Hardest Working Man In Showbiz finally gets to rest in peace.
December 25th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Good on ya, Skinner.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:12 am
amen