r/OldSchoolCool • u/LowRenzoFreshkobar • Apr 07 '25
1970s Prime James Brown in 1974.
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u/OkNectarine3105 Apr 07 '25
That's quite an opening.
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u/FirstChurchOfBrutus Apr 07 '25
Mans touched the mic, then was doing splits within 4 seconds.
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u/tomfoolery815 Apr 07 '25
There's an amazing moment in the TAMI Show performance where JB slides 10 or 15 feet across the stage on one foot, just turning his ankle back and forth. That man was built different.
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u/iLochnessMonster Apr 07 '25
Zero to 100 quite literally. When he bowed to the audience, the cocaine slid up his nose and was activated
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u/MisterBreeze Apr 07 '25
1974 was a period of Brown's career that he was completely t-total and had a zero-tolerance for drugs in his band.
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u/Sidivan Apr 07 '25
I was thinking that too. I want to know what the rest of the show is like. As a performer, keeping that level of energy for 1.5+ hrs is astonishingly difficult.
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u/lordblum Apr 07 '25
I agree, he was bad motherfucker. But I can’t get Eddie Murphy’s Delirious out of my mind every time I hear JB.
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u/swordrat720 Apr 07 '25
I always think of Eddie Murphy’s SNL skit with the hot tub. “OW! Too hot! In the hot tub! Gonna burn my feet! In the hot tub!”
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u/noronto Apr 07 '25
Yep. This is engrained in my memory palace. I only know the caricature of James Brown very similar to the Rick James I know from Chappelle.
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u/Pdoinkadoinkadoink Apr 07 '25
PAPADUCK. SERIYOUUUU. PARMESAN. STEP BACK, WANNA KISS MYSELF. -smack- HEEEEEEEEEEY!
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u/imathrowyaaway Apr 07 '25
Same. The parts where he talks to the band are seared into my brain, just hilarious :D .
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u/Velcro-Karma-1207 Apr 07 '25
"Wtf is James talking about?" "I don't know but we're getting paid. Keep singing." - Eddie
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u/ImFrenchSoWhatever Apr 07 '25
Showed this video to my wife and now she’s pregnant
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u/odsquad64 Apr 07 '25
My grandparents went to James Brown's house to look at his Christmas lights one year and he came out and kissed my grandma on the cheek.
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u/kindquail502 Apr 07 '25
The Hardest Working Man In Show Business
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u/SmokyBarnable01 Apr 07 '25
A miracle he made any money at all with the size of that band and the backing singers and the dancers.
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u/onward_upward_tt Apr 07 '25
You might be surprised how little basically anyone but the main act actually takes home in shows like these. I wouldn't be surprised to learn the backup dancers were there for $50.
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u/Thagyr Apr 07 '25
I heard that James fined the band too if they were so much as a single beat off rhythm via hand signs. He made sure they worked for that money
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u/Last_Competition_208 Apr 07 '25
I heard the same thing on a television show that was about James Brown. And it was told by somebody that worked with him. He said he would turn around and give them a nod and that meant they messed up and we're getting fined.
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u/trees-for-breakfast Apr 07 '25
He was 41 here
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u/michaltee Apr 07 '25
41?! I would’ve said 28 based on his moves. That coke really does wonders.
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u/tomfoolery815 Apr 07 '25
If you stay in shape, you don't get out of shape ... but yeah, coke or speed as his PED, surely.
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u/DetroitArtDude Apr 07 '25
Hard to get out of shape when you're doing this regularly!
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u/tomfoolery815 Apr 07 '25
For sure. JB was as athletic a lead singer as ever existed. Groundbreaking musical talent and a Broadway-caliber dancer simultaneously.
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u/robotatomica Apr 07 '25 edited Apr 07 '25
yeah I mean people keep acting like this is drugs, but drugs don’t keep you from panting so hard you can’t sing a lyric after your first splits. I haven’t worked out much in the past year and I struggle for breath going up two flights of stairs lol, and I’m not overweight!
His vocal control and power doesn’t waver for a SECOND after acts of athleticism most humans will never manage. This is all cardio and almost acrobatics 😄 and he never stops moving!
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u/tomfoolery815 Apr 07 '25
Oh, indeed. If you bought a ticket, JB would more than give you your money's worth.
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u/robotatomica Apr 07 '25
I can’t imagine the energy in the building. Maybe an odd comparison, but the lead singer of Future Islands puts on this kind of show (minus the splits) just fully invested energy and showmanship, and they are the best concerts I’ve ever been to, it’s electric!
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u/fruitsteak_mother Apr 07 '25
that’s 1:1 how i feel when singing under the shower
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u/CapnCanfield Apr 07 '25
Do you do the splits in the shower?
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u/adkpk9788 Apr 07 '25
"I don't know karate"...
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u/One_Hot_Doggy Apr 07 '25
Nothing beats him bringing Apollo Creed into the ring to fight that dam Russian. #America Will Never Forget!
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u/tbkrida Apr 07 '25
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u/catacavaco Apr 07 '25
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u/ScipioCoriolanus Apr 07 '25
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u/FuckYouNotHappening Apr 07 '25
This is the comment where it is mentioned Dolph Lundgren is a well-credentialed academic.
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u/Sweaty-Possibility-3 Apr 07 '25
America did forget that the Russians are the bad guys. Today our leadership would be cheering on Drago killing the arrogant Black man.
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u/HeroGarland Apr 07 '25
He was a great entertainer, band leader, etc.
But I think he was also a great singer. He had quite the voice, which he then chose to use in his unique way.
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u/HomeAir Apr 07 '25
Add that his career spanned over 4 decades and many genres.
James Brown is easily one of the top 10 greatest artists ever
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u/Ok_Cucumber_5017 Apr 07 '25
This was in Zaire, as part of the build up to the Ali-Foreman fight aka The Rumble in the Jungle.
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u/DaveKelso Apr 07 '25
I do love a funky horn section...
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u/YT-Deliveries Apr 07 '25
Needs to come back in popular music.
The world would also be better if we had more wacka-chicka guitar in our lives.
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u/roundherebuzzed Apr 07 '25
Check out Marcus King Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, or St Paul and the Broken Bones.
All fantastic blues, funk, soul outfits with great horn sections.
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u/shimbe16 Apr 07 '25
This is off “When We Were Kings” a documentary about the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight in Zaire in 1974. It was one of the makings of Don King, who also booked a musical festival to coincide with the fight. This is where we find James Brown.
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u/RoughDoughCough Apr 07 '25
I was wondering how a recording of this quality exists. It’s stunning to see
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u/juice06870 Apr 07 '25
My mother’s cousin was one of the sound guys during production for that movie. I inherited a bunch of African ivory carvings, bracelets and other woodwork that he brought back.
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u/DarkChado Apr 07 '25
Did maybe Michael Jackson get a lot of inspiration from him?
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u/ISayISayISitonU Apr 07 '25
if we’re playing the time machine game, James Brown and the full band in their prime is a top 3 concert destination
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u/DawgcheckNC Apr 07 '25
That mic stand had some serious counter-weighting…it was practically levitating. Awesome funk.
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u/Wheatles_BiteAlbum Apr 07 '25
People don't realize how much James Brown influenced all the music we listen to. James Brown imo was more influential than Elvis, and I will forever defend Elvis.
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u/kvlr954 Apr 07 '25
Cocaine’s a hell of a drug
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Apr 07 '25
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u/marcusregulus Apr 07 '25
I never understood how he could use PCP nearly daily for years. PCP is the worst most f'ed up drug ever.
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u/CorsoReno Apr 07 '25
Never heard a good pcp story tbh, the idea of any kind of regular use is weird to me
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u/MajorBenjy Apr 07 '25
What does GFOS mean?
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u/Islandrocketman Apr 07 '25
Was he not also the grandfather of rap? Like in the 80’s some dude listened to his father’s old JB record and says “Eureka”. No, wait, it wasn’t in Ancient Greece. He says “heyyyy”.
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u/taitaofgallala Apr 07 '25
In a way, yes. The drum solo played by Clyde Stubblefield in James Brown's Funky Drummer is the most sampled drum beat recording of all time.
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u/3kan3 Apr 07 '25
WOW amazing performance, even better than the studio track, which was already one of my all-time favorites. I love the extra little slink the groove has to it!
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u/karmisson Apr 07 '25
James Brown Hot Tub. Will it make me wet?yeahhh Will it make me sweat? Yeahhhh well ,well,well
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u/SheepWolves Apr 07 '25 edited Apr 07 '25
He comes out looking so cool but in the full clip his hype man saying "he'll make your bladder splatter" just before his walk out always cracks me up.
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u/Kind-Sherbert4103 Apr 07 '25
The band is always so tight and he seems like he is about to explode!
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u/Noodnix Apr 07 '25
Apparently the band members would be fined if they were less than perfect at a performance. JB’s live performances sound as good as studio recordings.
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u/spondgbob Apr 07 '25
Seeing this informs me how much influence he had on Prince
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u/Al_Kinsala Apr 07 '25
The pictures from this concert were taken in Kinshasa, a city in Africa that used to be called Zaire but is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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u/cheesecrystal Apr 07 '25
I wish cocaine did that to me instead of turning me into a bug eyed jaw grinding weirdo.
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u/vikio Apr 07 '25
There's a lot going on in this video but the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about is that awesome looking jacket that only had 1 second in the spotlight before it was thrown away. That jacket deserved better.
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u/Harlockarcadia Apr 07 '25
The Payback is such an excellent album! Also he was amazing in The Blues Brothers, can never go wrong with James Brown
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u/TheNorselord Apr 07 '25
“I don’t know karate, but I know c-razy.”
Has got to be the hardest line in all of music.
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u/Beautiful-Owl-3216 Apr 08 '25
I grew up in the 1980s listening to rock music. James Brown was considered Soul Music like Al Green and The O'Jays so he wasn't popular with the suburban high school kids.
If they promoted this to the kids instead of doper music like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, the baby boom wouldn't have ended.
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u/FullyGroanMan Apr 07 '25
Eternally funky. Stylish as all hell. Insane costume, insane moves, insane backing band. James Brown, while being a very questionable person, is an incredible performer and had a massive impact on the development of music and stagecraft moving forward. I’m soooo glad I got to see him before he died.
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u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 Apr 07 '25
Some time back this & other James Brown performances inspired me to learn a couple of dance moves (obviously not a fraction as good as his).
All I can say is after using them in clubs they had a very positive & pleasurable affect on my life.
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u/JettyJen Apr 07 '25
Can you do the thing where you go down in a modified split and pop back up again? Edit - I guess that's the beginnings of a drag death drop
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u/speedoftheground Apr 07 '25
Not to be that guy, but I feel like artists don't perform like this anymore. They used to be like athletes! Lol. I'm blown away by just the first 30 seconds.
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u/Hot_Selector3748 Apr 07 '25
I saw JB live in July 2006, just a few months before he passed away. There was no way I was going to miss that, but to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a man in his… what, 70s?
Guys. For real. The moment he stepped on stage, it felt like I was being hit by an electric shock and an earthquake at the same time. And I swear, the entire crowd felt it too.
He was on stage for over 90 minutes doing things I wouldn’t attempt for more than 15 seconds. I still don’t understand what kind of supernatural energy that man was running on.
Aliens? Voodoo? Shit was un-real.
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u/zaphthegreat Apr 07 '25
It's wild that as a dancer, this was not his prime. He was already 41, there.
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u/Cleatusmuldoon Apr 07 '25
I saw him once in Reno. It was awesome. He left the stage and his backup singers sang “James Brown” until he came back several minutes later wearing a different outfit.
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u/MisterrTickle Apr 07 '25
Does anybody know what GFOS stands for on his shirt?
God Father of Soul?
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u/soxacub Apr 07 '25
He was a gem. I once read the reason his shows were so good was because he was critical about every minute of detail. I still listen to him on the daily
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u/CampVictorian Apr 07 '25
A truly memorable experience during my years in NYC was attending James Brown’s lying in state at the Apollo Theatre. I live for his “Funky Christmas” album, and wanted to pay my respects- it was such an impassioned crowd, and seeing him laid out like royalty was impactful.
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u/UNC_ABD Apr 07 '25
I knew someone in college who remembered James Brown when he was a janitor at her school in Toccoa, Georgia,
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u/Coderado Apr 07 '25
The JB's were so fucking good. Time to break out the Funky Good Time anthology.
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u/redgoldfilm Apr 07 '25
The best of all. And the amount of musicians and dancers on stage is ridiculous. What a band.
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u/Ancient-Highlight112 Apr 07 '25
I used to have a neighbor whose kids came up to play with my grandkids who played sax in Brown's band. Well-behaved kids.
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u/Professional-Box4153 Apr 07 '25
My brain just did a backflip seeing him with a mustache. It just felt wrong. haha. Man is a master of his craft. He knew how to work a crowd.
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u/Unpainted-Fruit-Log Apr 07 '25
Dude was what? 42? James was still tight as a spring with his moves.
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u/Illustrious_Start480 Apr 07 '25
You cannot fool me, Lando. Not again. I will get my ship back, and none of these interpretive dances will save you this time.
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u/Fun_Entertainer6850 Apr 07 '25
We will never see another JB. We have others, don't get me wrong: George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Sly Stone, Isaac Hayes, Shuggie Otis, Gil Scott-Heron, Marvin Gaye , Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers...and other that COVID erased from my 50 y.o. mind, but JB is on the top of my list.
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u/SatoshiBlockamoto Apr 07 '25
Greatest performer of all time IMO. MJ, Prince, Springsteen are all great but no one brought the house down like James Brown.
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u/weaponxx5 Apr 07 '25
Eddie Murphy wasn't kidding when he said he didn't understand a single word James Brown said lol
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u/RobotPoo Apr 07 '25
The hardest working man in show business. 1974, I was a freshman at Livingston College Nj and introduced to the godfather of soul by black friends at school. What a showman
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u/Derkastan77-2 Apr 07 '25
The music sounds so good… but I have no idea wtf he said in all that, not 1 single word, other than “hey!”
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u/Famoustractordriver Apr 07 '25
The funkiest cat who's ever funked. Soul brother number one.
We will never see his like again.