The One: The Life and Music of James Brown

by RJ Smith

Overview

The definitive biography of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, with fascinating findings on his life as a Civil Rights activist, an entrepreneur, and the most innovative musician of our time

Playing 350 shows a year at his peak, with more than forty Billboard hits, James Brown was a dazzling showman who transformed American music. His life offstage was just as vibrant, and until now no biographer has delivered a complete profile. The One draws on interviews with more than 100 people who knew Brown personally or played with him professionally. Using these sources, award-winning writer RJ Smith draws a portrait of a man whose twisted and amazing life helps us to understand the music he made.

The One delves deeply into the story of a man who was raised in abject-almost medieval-poverty in the segregated South but grew up to earn (and lose) several fortunes. Covering everything from Brown's unconventional childhood (his aunt ran a bordello), to his role in the Black Power movement, which used "Say It Loud (I'm Black and Proud)" as its anthem, to his high-profile friendships, to his complicated family life, Smith's meticulous research and sparkling prose blend biography with a cultural history of a pivotal era.

At the heart of The One is Brown's musical genius. He had crucial influence as an artist during at least three decades; he inspires pity, awe, and revulsion. As Smith traces the legend's reinvention of funk, soul, R&B, and pop, he gives this history a melody all its own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592407422
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/06/2012
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	570,212
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

RJ Smith has been a senior editor at Los Angeles magazine, a contributor to Blender, a columnist for The Village Voice, a staff writer for Spin, and has written for GQ, The New York Times Magazine, and Men’s Vogue. His first book, The Great Black Way, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and recipient of a California Book Award. He lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Give The Drummer Some 1

Chapter 1 A Certain Elemental Wildness 7

Chapter 2 The Terry 18

Chapter 3 The Black Satchel 33

Chapter 4 Toccoa 44

Chapter 5 A New Orleans Choo-Cuoo 62

Chapter 6 Top Banana 77

Chapter 7 The Traveler 97

Chapter 8 Star Time 108

Chapter 9 Keep On Fighting 122

Chapter 10 The Cape Act 140

Chapter 11 Man's World 153

Chapter 12 Guost Notes 167

Chapter 13 America 185

Chapter 14 How You Gonna Get Respect? 202

Chapter 15 Color TVS and Dasuikis 217

Chapter 16 The Other Further 229

Chapter 17 Master of Time 245

Chapter 18 Soul Power 261

Chapter 19 Follow the Money 274

Chapter 20 Emulsified 292

Chapter 21 The Hustle 308

Chapter 22 I Can See the Light! 324

Chapter 23 An Uproar All the Time 340

Chapter 24 The Dancer 355

Chapter 25 Hit It and Quit It 362

Afterword 381

List of Interviewees 389

Other Interviews Used 391

Notes 393

Acknowledgments 441

Index 445

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I recommend reading [The One] for it will give you an unparalleled view into the man, the consummate entertainer, his music, and us as a nation.” —Reverand Al Sharpton, The New York Times Book Review

“A showstopper. This book’s sparkle speaks for itself, as does Mr. Smith’s ability to take on his screaming, moaning, kinetically blessed, unbeatably shrewd subject.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“As illuminating as it is definitive.” —Rolling Stone, 4.5 stars

“[A] supreme, sublime biography.” —ELLE

“RJ Smith may have come closer than anyone to understanding how James Brown became James Brown.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“The imperatives of biography are to record, to correct, and to carve out historical significance, and Smith’s lively account succeeds on all three fronts.” —Smithsonian

"The One: The Life and Music of James Brown crackles with the same kind of exuberant energy that explodes out of grooves of one of the Godfather of Soul's classic sides." -The Boston Globe

“Top Spring Music Choice” and a “…compelling and detailed portrait of one of our greatest musicians… Smith’s compelling and detailed portrait of one of our greatest musicians reveals affectionately and honestly the reasons we jump up every time ‘I Feel Good’ comes on the radio.” -Publisher's Weekly

"This bio should be a cornerstone of soul-music-literature collections." -Booklist

“Smith never loses the beat.” -Los Angeles Magazine

“Required Reading.” -New York Post

"RJ Smith's authoritative, keenly intelligent bio of one of the most protean of American musical giants." -Philadelphia Inquirer

"Unflinching portrait of the conflicted and contradictory superstar...untangl[es] the psychological elements that came together to make James Brown, tracing his almost prescient ability to read audiences back to his days dancing for spare change from sailors and growing up in Georgia with a violent, unpredictable father.” -Associated Press

“Great telling of a really interesting man...captures the rhythm of the man” -On Point, WBUR

Editorial Reviews

The One is the first of its kind to represent James as the social and cultural force he was, not just for black Americans but for all of America—in fact, all of the world… I recommend reading [The One] for it will give you and unparalleled view into the man, the consummate entertainer, his music, and us as a nation.” — Al Sharpton, The New York Times Book Review

“I recommend reading [The One] for it will give you an unparalleled view into the man, the consummate entertainer, his music, and us as a nation.” —Reverand Al Sharpton, The New York Times Book Review

“A showstopper. This book’s sparkle speaks for itself, as does Mr. Smith’s ability to take on his screaming, moaning, kinetically blessed, unbeatably shrewd subject.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“As illuminating as it is definitive.” —Rolling Stone, 4.5 stars

“[A] supreme, sublime biography.” —ELLE

“RJ Smith may have come closer than anyone to understanding how James Brown became James Brown.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“The imperatives of biography are to record, to correct, and to carve out historical significance, and Smith’s lively account succeeds on all three fronts.” —Smithsonian

"The One: The Life and Music of James Brown crackles with the same kind of exuberant energy that explodes out of grooves of one of the Godfather of Soul's classic sides." -The Boston Globe

“Top Spring Music Choice” and a “…compelling and detailed portrait of one of our greatest musicians… Smith’s compelling and detailed portrait of one of our greatest musicians reveals affectionately and honestly the reasons we jump up every time ‘I Feel Good’ comes on the radio.” -Publisher's Weekly

"This bio should be a cornerstone of soul-music-literature collections." -Booklist

“Smith never loses the beat.” -Los Angeles Magazine

“Required Reading.” -New York Post

"RJ Smith's authoritative, keenly intelligent bio of one of the most protean of American musical giants." -Philadelphia Inquirer

"Unflinching portrait of the conflicted and contradictory superstar...untangl[es] the psychological elements that came together to make James Brown, tracing his almost prescient ability to read audiences back to his days dancing for spare change from sailors and growing up in Georgia with a violent, unpredictable father.” -Associated Press

“Great telling of a really interesting man...captures the rhythm of the man” -On Point, WBUR

From the Publisher

For years, writers have attempted to tell James's story and to dissect his complex and multilayered life. Either too naïve or just unaware of the nuances of societal challenges and cultural norms alike, they failed to fully grasp the depth of value that James and his music played in transforming American life as a whole. Going to great lengths researching and interviewing those closest to the music icon (myself included), Smith not only effortlessly highlights James's unmatched musical career, but also provides a well-studied historical context for the basis of his artistic expression…The One is the first of its kind to represent James as the social and cultural force he was, not just for black Americans but for all of America—in fact, all of the world.
—The New York Times Book Review

Al Sharpton

…a superb new biography of a tireless entertainer who spent decades tightening his grip on the boundless energy he radiated. While investigating the hardest-working man in showbiz, Smith breaks a sweat of his own. This is a meticulously researched book that tracks Brown's childhood in the segregated South, his rise as a musical innovator, his tangled relationship with the Black Power movement, his connections to a handful of U.S. presidents and his golden years, tarnished by debts and drugs. Like Brown's music, Smith's writing is both airtight and full of life, conversational and reflective.
—The Washington Post

Chris Richards

R J Smith does not have to explain why his big new biography of James Brown is such a showstopper. This book's sparkle speaks for itself, as does Mr. Smith's ability to take on his screaming, moaning, kinetically blessed, unbeatably shrewd subject…Some of these stories come from Mr. Brown's 1987 book, The Godfather of Soul, but Mr. Smith culls, shapes and amplifies them very well.
—The New York Times

Janet Maslin

Drawing on in-depth interviews with Brown’s many friends and music partners, journalist Smith powerfully chronicles Brown’s rapid rise from his early days in Augusta, Ga., singing gospel through the pinnacle of his fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s to Brown’s sharp fall from grace in the 1990s with headline-grabbing arrests for domestic battery. Brown loved the spectacle of religion that the famous religious itinerant preacher, Daddy Grace, put on at the United House of Prayer in Augusta, and he learned rhythm from the house band there. Later, in his own shows, Brown got so caught up in the spectacle of entertaining that he became a force unto himself whose hungry passion and energy—expressed forcefully and fitfully through his trembling dancing and call-and response singing—transformed his audiences. Brown’s music still sounds so alive and continues to mystify because Brown brought others into a world he created that made his art a total experience. Through the pulsing rhythms of “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” the funky, hypnotic beat of “(Get on the) Good Foot,” and the Black Power anthem, “Say It Loud,” Brown, as Smith demonstrates, reshaped rhythm and blues, pumping it full of an energy that moved listeners to ecstasy. Smith’s compelling and detailed portrait of one of our greatest musicians reveals affectionately and honestly the reasons we jump up every time “I Feel Good” comes on the radio. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"RJ Smith's authoritative, keenly intelligent bio of one of the most protean of American musical giants."

Philadelphia Inquirer

“The imperatives of biography are to record, to correct and to carve out historical significance, and Smith’s lively account succeeds on all three fronts.”

Smithsonian

"The late James Brown famously said, 'The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.' Not your bag? Read The One (Gotham), RJ Smith’s supreme, sublime biography of the Godfather of Soul—son of the segregated South, social activist, go-for-broke businessman, self-professed thug—and you’ll get up offa that thing."

ELLE Magazine

“Smith never loses the beat.”

Los Angeles Magazine

One of the "Best New Books Around the South"

Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Great telling of a really interesting man...captures the rhythm of the man”

On Point

"Unflinching portrait of the conflicted and contradictory superstar...untangl[es] the psychological elements that came together to make James Brown, tracing his almost prescient ability to read audiences back to his days dancing for spare change from sailors and growing up in Georgia with a violent, unpredictable father.

Associated Press Staff

“R.J. Smith, a Los Angeles-based music journalist and author of the new book The One: The Life and Music of James Brown, may have come closer than anyone to understanding how James Brown became James Brown.”

The Christian Science Monitor

“Required Reading”

New York Post

“The rhythm revolutionary who changed pop forever finally gets he bio he deserves...A biography as illuminating as it is definitive.” (4.5 Stars)

Rolling Stone

"This bio should be a cornerstone of soul-music-literature collections."

Booklist

"[A] showstopper...This book's sparkle speaks for itself."

The New York Times

"The One: The Life and Music of James Brown crackles with the same kind of exuberant energy that explodes out of grooves of one of the Godfather of Soul's classic sides."

The Boston Globe

"Unh! Good God! RJ Smith has written a sex machine of a book and it''s called The One: The Life and Music of James Brown. Get up-get on up!"

Stephen Davis

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, was an absolutely electrifying live performer most famous for his work in the 1960s and 1970s, cranking out hit after hit from "Please Please Please" to "I Got You (I Feel Good)." In this ambitious biography, Smith (The Great Black Way: L.A. in the 1940s and the Last African American Renaissance) covers Brown's rags-to-riches saga, from his hardscrabble youth to the sad events near the end of his life. In his heyday, he was perhaps the most popular African American artist with a positive message, "I'm Black and I'm Proud," which was an anthem during the civil rights era. In his personal life, Brown had many brushes with the law and struggled with substance abuse. Through it all, he recorded and toured endlessly and earned his reputation as the "hardest working man in show business." VERDICT Overall, this is a well-researched and well-written biography. It doesn't pull any punches and hits all the high and low points of Brown's remarkable life. Highly recommended for all soul music collections. [See Prepub Alert, 9/19/11.]—Bill Walker, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., Stockton, CA

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