James Brown is the single most important musician of the Twentieth Century

[MrScorpio]

Hands down.

[CO Liberal]

1. If Nothing Else, The Sweatiest

:-)

[MrScorpio]

3. You would be too if you were the Hardest Working Man in Show Business

[Catch22Dem]

2. Negative Ghost Rider...

[MrScorpio]

6. I said the "SINGLE MOST!"

If I said ensemble, you might have an argument

[tjdee]

All his songs are basically hooks.

Musically, there's been better stuff.

Vocally, there's been better stuff.

Um....can you elaborate?

[NightTrain]

19. So?

JB is a minimalist. Like generations of drag-racers, he strips away everything non-essential. Personally, I think it makes for some funky, kick-ass music!

[tjdee]

4. dupe

sorry...

[Richardo]

5. If you don't count 178 other people.

He's made a big contribution, but 'single most important'? In a one hundred-year period? I don't think so.

[non sociopath skin]

7. I like JB but, sorry, I don't believe in the SINGLE best musical anything!

The Skin

[Crankie Avalon]

8. We all have our opinions...

...but I would think either Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong would be stronger choices, for starters.

[OneBlueSky]

9. um . . . no . . . ever hear of Louis Armstrong? . . .

James Brown and everyone else in popular music rides on Satchmo's back . . . he was the true innovator, and his influence reaches into every genre -- jazz, pop, rock, blues, big band, everything . . .

[Leilani]

10. Huh?

EOM

[MrScorpio]

11. One of may dedications to the Genius of the Godfather

From VH-1:

>>"Soul Brother Number One," "the Godfather of Soul," "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James
Brown has earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other African-American musicians have been so influential on the course of popular music. And no other musician, pop or otherwise, put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show; Brown's performances were marvels of athletic stamina and split-second timing.

Through the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats, Brown was a crucial midwife in not just one, but two revolutions in American black music. He was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul; he was, most would agree, the figure most responsible for turning soul music into the funk of the late '60s and early '70s. Since the mid-'70s, he's done little more than tread water artistically; his financial and drug problems eventually got him a controversial prison sentence. Yet in a sense his music is now more influential than ever, as his voice and rhythms were sampled on innumerable rap and hip-hop recordings, and critics have belatedly hailed his innovations as among the most important in all of rock or soul.<<

http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/brown_james/bio.jhtml

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. Eh....

He was influential at best.
Duckie

[MrScorpio]

13. Here's another

Wikipedia


>>James Brown (born May 3, 1933, Barnwell, South Carolina - some sources list his year of birth as 1928 and his birthplace as Pulaski, Tennessee) is one of the most important figures in twentieth-century music and the prime mover in the evolution of gospel and rhythm-and-blues into soul music and funk. As a singer, dancer and bandleader, he has influenced popular musicians since the 1960s. He has been cited as an influence by jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, and, with the advent of rap music and hip-hop, has seen his rhythmic innovations used as samples in countless songs.

James Brown's musical innovations, developed in tandem with the many skilled musicians who passed through Brown's bands, used the basic building blocks of earlier African-American music; his career is a case study in change and self-determination. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, his irresistible sound spawned countless imitators. By the mid- '70s, several of his key band members (Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker) had left his employ and joined forces with George Clinton, whose so-called P-Funk groups (Funkadelic, Parliament, Parlet, the Brides of Funkenstein) were a looser, wilder and more self-consciously countercultural version of Brown's bands. With the advent of hip hop in the late '70s, James Brown's grooves became the foundation for rap music and breakdancing, as DJs such as Grandmaster Flash looped and extended the drum breaks from earlier JB favorites like "Give It Up Or Turn It A Loose." In the late 1980s, James Brown's music experienced a renaissance with the rise of sampling by Hip Hop producers. Snippets of his songs were recycled into hundreds of rap songs and continue to appear in electronic music to this day.<<

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown_%28musician%29

[MrScorpio]

14. Another

Ask Men

>>With nicknames like Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Soul Brother Number One, The Hit Man, The Creator, The Minister of the New New Super Heavy Funk, and The Original Disco Man, James Brown has been astounding audiences around the world since his recording debut in 1956. He's the most successful African-American entertainer of the 20th century, having charted more pop singles than any artist except Elvis Presley, and more R&B singles than anyone in history. <<

http://www.askmen.com/men/entertainment_100/145_james_brown.html

[RetroLounge]

15. Uhm, he is not a musician, he's a singer

RL

[NightTrain]

17. No, he's a musician, too.

Along with being a singer and songwriter, JB also plays the piano and the drums.

Ever hear Brown's version of "Night Train?" He played the drums on that recording. And in 1965, JB came out with an instrumental remake of his old hit, "Try Me." The label credit read, "James Brown at the Organ."

So yes, the man is indeed a musician!

[RetroLounge]

23. I was not aware of this fact.

He plays piano, which makes him a musician.

If it was just drums, I would stand by my statement... :D

RL

[NightTrain]

24. Ya learn something new every day at DU, don'cha?

That's one more thing that differentiates us from Free Republic! :evilgrin:

[MrScorpio]

20. It would be more accurate to say that he was a Singer/Composer

But as far as I'm concerned, He's a Musical Force of Nature

[miss_kitty]

25. Uhm-how is the voice not an instrument?

I realise the issue concerning Mr Brown has been cleared up for you, but how is it to you that singers not musicians?


just askin':)

[NightTrain]

16. JB is my favorite musical performer of all time. However...

...I'd have to rank him as the #2 most important U.S. musical figure of the 20th century.

My pick for #1? Louis Armstrong!

[maveric]

18. And he's great when he's not beating his wives.

[MrScorpio]

21. I've chosen to separate is influence on music from his personal troubles

I never said he was a saint

[NightTrain]

22. For three full decades, James Brown was ahead of his time.

In the 1950s, he made soul records.

In the 1960s, he made funk records.

In the 1970s, he made records that laid the groundwork for hip-hop and rap.

James Brown's influence can be heard in every facet of African-American music. Soul, funk, disco, rap, and even jazz and gospel have absorbed his legacy.

And the man's influence doesn't stop at U.S. borders. Check out Fela Kuti some time, and you'll think you're listening to JB's long-lost cousin from Africa!

Whether or not you like James Brown's music or that which it influenced, you certainly can't deny his importance.