The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America

by James Sullivan

Overview

The untold story of the night a divide nation turned to James Brown—and he delivered hope and calm in the form of an immortal concert 

Since James Brown's death in December 2006, the Godfather of Soul has received many stirring tributes. Yet few have addressed his contribution in the darkest hour of the Civil Rights movement. Telling for the first time the story of his historic Boston Garden concert the day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, The Hardest Working Man captures the magnificent achievements that made Brown an icon of American popular culture. 

Sullivan details the charged atmosphere in Boston, Brown's fight against city officials to take the stage, and the electric performance he delivered. Through the prism of this one concert, Sullivan also charts Brown's incredible rise from poverty to self-made millionaire, his enormous influence on popular music, and his complex relationship with the Civil Rights movement, making The Hardest Working Man both a tribute to an unforgettable concert and a rousing biography of a revolutionary musician.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440637223
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/13/2008
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	310 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

JAMES SULLIVAN was a pop culture critic at the San Francisco Chronicle for seven years, and has also written for The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Book.

Editorial Reviews

A music journalist looks at one of the soul legend's key performances-as well as his overall legacy. By the late '60s, notes Boston Globe contributor Sullivan, Brown was "Soul Brother Number One to black America." On April 5, 1968, one day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Brown played what would become a landmark show at the Boston Garden. But the show almost didn't occur. As the city's traditionally black neighborhoods hovered on the verge of chaos-a fate that befell many cities around the country following King's death-Garden officials and Mayor Kevin White decided to cancel the concert. However, after much negotiating with city counsilor Tom Atkins, activist Paul Parks and others, they agreed that "the concert would have a healing effect on the city"-especially since they decided to televise the event live. After an argument over the fee for his appearance, the Godfather of Soul took the stage, pleading peace and turning in an electric, if somewhat ragged, performance. Because most of the audience who couldn't make it to the show chose to watch at home, Boston's streets remained mercifully free of violence. With serviceable prose, Sullivan ably navigates the many conflicting allegiances surrounding the event, taking time to chronicle Brown's rise to fame and the concurrent increase in civil-rights agitation and its reflection in the music of the time. He charts Brown's burgeoning relationship with Al Sharpton and other civil-rights leaders, and examines the backlash the entertainer endured when he supported Richard Nixon. (During a 1973 performance at The Apollo, one banner read, "James Brown, Nixon's Clown.") Throughout the narrative, Sullivan provides intermittentlyinsightful commentary on Brown's music, duly recognizing that "his crucial innovation was to hear each instrument in his orchestra as another form of percussion." Continuing in that vein, the author closes by citing musicians whose sound was most directly influenced by Brown, including Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, Marley Marl and Big Daddy Kane. Sullivan may not capture the fiery soul of the best James Brown performance, but he shines a light on an important instance of music affecting real change. Agent: Paul Bresnick/Paul Bresnick Agency

Kirkus Reviews