James Brown: the 100 most inspiring musicians of all time
James Brown (b. May 3, 1933, Barnwell, S.C., U.S.—d. Dec. 25, 2006, Atlanta, Ga.), known as “the Godfather of Soul,” American singer,songwriter, arranger, and dancer, was one of the most important and influential entertainers in 20th-century popular music. His remarkable achievements earned him the sobriquet “the Hardest-Working Man in
Show Business.”
Brown was raised mainly in Augusta, Ga., by his great aunt, who took him in at about the age of five when his parents divorced. Growing up in the segregated South during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Brown was so impoverished that he was sent home from grade school for “insufficient clothes,” an experience that he never forgot and that perhaps explains his penchant as an adult for wearing ermine coats, velour jumpsuits, elaborate capes, and conspicuous gold jewelry.
Best Sheet Music download from our Library.
Neighbors taught him how to play drums, piano, and guitar, and he learned about gospel music in churches and at tent revivals, where preachers would scream, yell, stomp their feet, and fall to their knees during sermons to provoke responses from the congregation.
At age 15 Brown and some companions were arrested while breaking into cars. He was sentenced to 8 to 16 years of incarceration but was released after 3 years for good behavior. While at the Alto Reform School, he formed a gospel group. Subsequently, secularized and renamed the Flames (later the Famous Flames), it soon attracted the attention of rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll shouter Little Richard, whose manager helped promote the group.
Intrigued by their demo record, Ralph Bass, the artists -and-repertoire man for the King label, brought the group to Cincinnati, Ohio, to record for King Records’ subsidiary Federal. Brown’s first recording, “Please, Please, Please” (1956) eventually sold three million copies and launched his extraordinary career.
Along with placing nearly 100 singles and almost 50 albums on the bestseller charts, Brown broke new ground with two of the first successful “live and in concert” albums—his landmark Live at the Apollo (1963), and his 1964 follow-up, Pure Dynamite! Live at the Royal. During the 1960s, Brown was known as “Soul Brother Number One.”
His hit recordings of that decade have often been associated with the emergence of the black aesthetic and black nationalist movements, especially the songs “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud” (1968), “Don’t Be a Drop-Out” (1966), and “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothin’ (Open Up the Door, I’ll Get It Myself)” (1969).
In the 1970s, Brown became “the Godfather of Soul,” and his hit songs stimulated several dance crazes and were featured on the soundtracks of a number of “blaxploitation” films (sensational, low-budget, action oriented motion pictures with African American protagonists).
When hip-hop emerged as a viable commercial music in the 1980s, Brown’s songs again assumed center stage as hip-hop disc jockeys frequently incorporated samples (audio snippets) from his records.
He also appeared in several motion pictures, including The Blues Brothers (1980) and Rocky IV (1985), and attained global status as a celebrity, especially in Africa, where his tours attracted enormous crowds and generated a broad range of new musical fusions.
Yet Brown’s life continued to be marked by difficulties, including the tragic death of his third wife, charges of drug use, and a period of imprisonment for a 1988 high-speed highway chase in which he tried to escape pursuing police officers.
Brown’s uncanny ability to “scream” on key, to sing soulful slow ballads as well as electrifying up-tempo tunes, to plumb the rhythmic possibilities of the human voice and instrumental accompaniment, and to blend blues, gospel, jazz, and country vocal styles together made him one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century.
His extraordinary dance routines featuring deft deployment of microphones and articles of clothing as props, acrobatic leaps, full-impact knee landings, complex rhythmic patterns, dazzling footwork, dramatic entrances, and melodramatic exits redefined public performance within popular music and inspired generations of imitators (not the least Michael Jackson).
His careful attention to every aspect of his shows, from arranging songs to supervising sidemen, from negotiating performance fees to selecting costumes, guaranteed his audiences a uniformly high level of professionalism every night and established a precedent in artistic autonomy.
In the course of an extremely successful commercial career, Brown’s name was associated with an extraordinary number and range of memorable songs, distinctive dance steps, formative fashion trends, and even significant social issues.
A skilled dancer and singer with an extraordinary sense of timing, Brown played a major role in bringing rhythm to the foreground of popular music.
In addition to providing melody and embellishment, the horn players in his bands functioned as a rhythm section (they had to think like drummers), and musicians associated with him (Jimmy Nolan, Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker) have played an important role in creating the core vocabulary and grammar of funk music. Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Best site for sheet music downloading is right here!
James Brown Greatest Hits Full Album – Best Songs Of James Brown
Browse in the Library:
Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
---|---|---|
The Tom And Jerry Show – Hiromi Uehara (Piano Solo Sheet Music) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Tommy Flanagan Collection | The Tommy Flanagan Collection | |
The Truman show – Dreaming Of Fiji – Philip Glass | ||
The Truman show – Reunion – Philip Glass | ||
The Truman show – Truman Sleeps – Philip Glass | Truman sleeps | |
The Trumanshow – Dreaming Of Fiji – Philip Glass | ||
The Trumanshow – Truman Sleeps – Philip Glass | ||
The Ultimate Fake Book 2nd Edition for keyboard, vocal, guitar and all C inst. | The Ultimate Fake Book 2nd Edition for keyboard, vocal, guitar and all C inst | |
The Ultimate Gospel Choir Book Vol4 | The Ultimate Gospel Choir Book Vol4 | |
The Ultimate Pop Rock Fake Book A-Z (ebook) | The Ultimate Pop Rock Fake Book A-Z (ebook) | |
The Ultimate Pop Rock Fake Book Joel Withburn | The Ultimate Pop Rock Fake Book Joel Withburn | |
The Untouchables – Main Title – Morricone (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Used – Smother Me | ||
The Utimate Broadway Fake Book | The Utimate Broadway Fake Book – Hal Leonard | |
The Very Best Of John Williams – Dan Coates arr. easy piano | The Very Best Of John Williams – Dan Coates arr. easy piano | |
The Very Best Pop Songs Of All Time 19 of the best-ever pop songs Piano voica and guitar chords | The Very Best Pop Songs Of All Time | |
The Village – The Gravel Road – James Newton Howard | ||
The Visible And Invisible In Pianoforte Technique (By Tobias Matthay) (1947) | ||
The way we were – Barbara Streisand | The way we were – Barbara Streisand | |
The Way We Were – Piano And Vocal (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Way We Were – Piano and vocal Barbra Streisand | The Way We Were – Piano and vocal | |
The Way We Were (Lead sheet with Guitar chrods and lyrics ) | ||
The Way We Were (Lead Sheet With Lyrics ) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Way We Were (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Wedding Night (Frankenstein OST) Patrick Doyle | ||
THE WHO – The Who Anthology | The Who Anthology Contents | |
The Who – Guitar Play Along Volume 108 WITH mp3 audio tracks with Tablature | Guitar Play-Along Volume 108 – The Who | |
The Who – Tommy (Piano-Vocal-Guitar) | The Who – Tommy | |
The Who Rockscore | ||
The Who The Acoustic Guitar Collection Guitar Songbook TABs | The Who The Acoustic Guitar Collection Guitar Songbook TABs contents | |
The Who The Definitive Collection Volume A E Guitar TABs Songbook | The Who The Definitive Collection Volume A E Guitar TABs Songbook | |
The winner takes it all (Abba) | ||
The Wizard of Oz – (Harold Arlen) Vocal & piano score | The Wizard of Oz – (Harold Arlen) -vocal.piano.score | |
The Wizard Of Oz The Musical by Andrew lloyd Webber | The Wizard Of Oz Musical Webber | |
The Wonder of Life (Afterwards OST) Alexandre Desplat | ||
The Wonders – That Thing You Do | ||
The Words And Music Of Frank Zappa By Kelly Fisher Lowe (Book) | ||
The World Hits Of Oldies (Jazz Fake book) | ||
The World’s best music (Famous Compositions for Piano Vol. 1) 1904 | The world’s best music | |
The World’s best music V Famous compositions for the piano | The World’s best music V Famous compositions for the piano | |
The World’s Greatest Fake Book | Greatest Fake Book | |
The Worlds best music I Famous compositions for the piano | The Worlds best music I Famous compositions for the piano | |
The Yellow Rose Of Texas – Traditional (Musescore File).mscz | ||
The Young Pianist’s Anthology Of Modern Music (1972) | The Young Pianist’s Anthology Of Modern Music (1972) | |
The Zombies Songbook | ||
Thegogos – Head Over Heels | ||
Thelonious Monk Compositions (as recorded by himself) | Thelonious Monk’s Compositions Fake Book – (Jazz) | |
Thelonious Monk Blue Sphere | ||
Thelonious Monk easy piano solos Jazz | Thelonious Monk easy piano | |
Thelonious Monk – Japanese Folk song (Kojo No Tsuki) (sheet music transcription) | ||
Thelonious Monk – Jazz Masters | Thelonious Monk – Jazz Masters | |
Thelonious Monk – Originals and standards | Thelonius Monk originals | |
Thelonious Monk – The Man I Love (solo) Gershwin | ||
Thelonious Monk & Cootie Williams – ‘Round Midnight | Thelonious Monk & Cootie Williams – ’round Midnight | |
Thelonious Monk Collection | Thelonius Monk Collection | |
Thelonious Monk Collection 12 Note For Note Solo Piano Transcriptions Artist Piano Transcriptions | Thelonious Monk Collection 12 Note For Note Solo Piano Transcriptions Artist Piano Transcriptions | |
Thelonious Monk Compositions (as recorded by himself) | Thelonious Monk’s Compositions Fake Book – (Jazz) | |
Thelonious Monk Fake Book | Thelonious Monk Fake Book | |
Thelonious Monk Fake Book C Edition | Thelonious Monk Fake Book C Edition | |
Thelonious Monk For Guitar with TABs | Thelonious Monk For Guitar | |
Thelonious Monk Intermediate Piano Solos Arranged By Ronnie Mathews 14 Arrangements | Thelonious Monk Intermediate Piano Solos Arranged By Ronnie Mathews 14 Arrangements | |
Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Collection | Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Collection | |
Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 49 | Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Solos Series Volume 49 | |
Thelonious Monk Omnibook for piano Transcribed exactly from his recorded solos | Thelonious Monk Omnibook for piano Transcribed exactly from his recorded solos | |
Thelonious Monk Plays Standards – Volume 1 Artist Transcriptions Piano 12 transcriptions | Thelonious Monk Plays Standards – Volume 1 Artist Transcriptions Piano 12 transcriptions | |
Thelonious Monk Plays Standards – Volume 2 Artist Transcriptions Piano 12 transcriptions | Thelonious Monk Plays Standards – Volume 2 Artist Transcriptions Piano 12 transcriptions | |
Thelonious Monk Quartet featuring John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (Book) | ||
Thelonious Monk Revealing Instincts Of The Genius Of Jazz Piano Originals | Thelonious Monk The Genius Of Jazz | |
Thelonious Monk Round Midnight Jazz Standard arr. Carsten Gerlitz | ||
Thelonious Monk Solo Transcriptions | Thelonious Monk Solo Transcriptions | |
Thelonious Monk Tea For Two (piano solo transcription sheet music, partition) | Thelonious Monk Tea For Two (piano solo transcription sheet music, partition) | |
Thelonius Monk – Monk’s Music and Jazz History in the making (Book) | ||
Thelonius Monk – Thelonious transcription | Thelonius Monk – Thelonious transcription | |
Theme de Charles (Un homme et son chien OST) Philippe Rombi | ||
Thème de Jeanne – Le Diable par la Queue OST (Georges Delerue) | ||
Thème de Jeanne – Le Diable par la Queue OST (Georges Delerue) trio version | ||
Theme de Suzanne – Potiche OST (Philippe Rombi) | ||
Theme from the Mermaid Chair (Secret Garden) | ||
Theme From The Simpsons Jazz Play Along (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Theodore Shapiro Diary Of A Wimpy Kid – Main Titles | ||
Theodore Shapiro Louder Than Thunder The Devil Wears Prada Theme Piano Solo Arr. | ||
Theodore Shapiro Severance Main Theme | ||
Theodore Shapiro Suite from The Devil Wears Prada Theme Piano Solo | ||
Theory Essentials An Integrated Approach To Harmony, Ear Training, And Keyboard Skills (Connie E. Mayfield) Book | ||
Theory of Harmony – Arnold Schoenberg | Book Theory | |
These Foolish Things Sheet Music Ella Fitzgerald | ||
Thinking In Jazz The Infinite Art of Improvisation Berliner, Paul (Book) 1994 | ||
This Is Halloween Easy Piano | ||
This Is Us Songbook Selections From The Television Series Soundtrack | ||
This Land Is Your Land (Guitar Chords) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
This Land Is Your Land (Musescore File).mscz | ||
This Little Light of Mine (African-American Spiritual) from The Best Children’s Songs Ever (Easy Piano) | This Little Light of Mine (African-American Spiritual) from The Best Children’s Songs Ever (Easy Piano) | |
This Little Light of Mine (African-American Spiritual) from The Best Children’s Songs Ever (Easy Piano) Musescore file.mscz | ||
Thomas Attwood Allegro First Movement From Sonatina No. 1 In G (Trinity Grade 2 Piano) | ||
Thomas Attwood – Allegro – First Movement from Sonatina No. 1 in G (Trinity Grade 2 Piano).mscz | ||
Thomas Johnson READ AND PLAY New Series Grades II, III and IV Piano | ||
Thomas Newman – Any Other Name (American Beauty Theme) | Thomas-Newman-Any-Other-Name-American-Beauty 1st page | |
Thomas Newman – Road To Perdition – Road To Chicago | ||
Thomas Newman – Road To Perdition (Piano Solo) | ||
Thomas Newman – Road To Perdition Theme – Guitar Tabs | ||
Thomas Newman – The Horse Whisperer – Montana | Thomas Newman – The Horse Whisperer – Montana | |
Thomas Newman – The Horsewisperer – The Vast Continent | ||
Thomas Newman – The Horsewisperer – Voice Of God | Thomas Newman – The Horsewisperer – Voice Of God | |
Thomas Newman – The Shawshank Redemption – Stoic Theme | ||
Thomas Newman Forbidden Love (Meet Joe Black) | ||
Those Were The Days (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Those Were The Days Russian Traditional Jazzy Version | Those Were The Days Russian Traditional Jazzy Version | |
Three Coins In The Fountain 1954 by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn | ||
Three Days Grace – Never Too Late | ||
Tidus And Yuna’s Theme (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Tifa’s Theme (Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections) | ||
Tifa’s Theme Final Fantasy Vii Piano Collections (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Tim Minchin – Miracle (Matilda the Musical) | Tim Minchin – Miracle (Matilda the Musical) | |
Tim Minchin – Prejudice (Musical Comedy) Piano Sheet Music | Tim Minchin – Prejudice (Musical Comedy) Piano Sheet Music | |
Tim Richards Improvising blues piano (PDF + MP3 audio tracks) | Improvising Blues Piano (with audio Mp3) | |
Tim Richards – Exploring Jazz Piano Vol. 1 (with MP3 audio tracks) | Tim Richards Exploring Jazz Piano 1 | |
Tim Richards – Exploring Jazz Piano Vol. 2 (with MP3 audio tracks) | Exploring jazz piano 2 | |
Tim Richards – Exploring Latin Piano (with audio MP3) | Tim Richards – Exploring Latin Piano | |
Tim Smith Cardiacs All Spectacular Piano Solo | ||
Tim Smith Cardiacs Savour Piano Solo |
Please, subscribe to our Library.
If you are already a subscriber, please, check our NEW SCORES’ page every month for new sheet music. THANK YOU!