James McBride takes on an almost impossible quest in Kill’Em and Leave. Soul singer James Brown was a secretive person who didn’t leave much behind when he died. Oh, except that $100 million dollars that the lawyers and the courts are eating up like the estate of Jarndyce and Jarndyce in Charles Dickens’s Bleak House. McBride provides the rough outlines of James Brown’s life, his rise to the top and his slide to the bottom. James Brown’s marriages provide part of the reason Brown became an PCP addict. There’s plenty of sadness in Kill ‘Em and Leave. But during the mid-Sixties and early Seventies, McBride argues that James Brown challenged Motown for soul supremacy. After reading this book, I want to go back and listen to some of those old James Brown albums. Do you have a favorite James Brown song? GRADE: B
I didn’t like (read: loathed) “I Feel Good” and the damn dj’s never warned us when it was coming on! I wasn’t a big fan but he did a few songs I liked, like “This is a Man’s World,” and “If I Ruled the World,” which weren’t as frantic! He was great in The Blues Brothers!
Bob, I agree with you on James Brown in THE BLUE BROTHERS. James Brown also had a role in one of the ROCKY movies, too.
I just finished this book last week and, as I believe I mentioned elsewhere (Rick’s blog?), it’s best not to go into it expecting a traditional biography of James Brown–it’s much more about James McBride’s attempt to write a biography of James Brown. Add to that a lack of photographs or quotes from Brown’s lyrics (presumably because the publishers didn’t have money for copyright fees) and the whole book had a rather threadbare, thrown-together feel. Your analogy between Brown’s estate and the on-going case of Jarndyce versus Jarndyce in BLEAK HOUSE is apt, but Brown (notorious distruster of banks who hoarded cash and once gave his toddler daughters songwriting credits as a tax dodge) only has himself to blame for that.
As for the music, I love “It’s A Man’s World”–especially the line, “But it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman and a baby girl.”
Deb, I found it odd that James McBride wrote about his own divorce after writing about James Brown’s marriages in this book. However, McBride did ignite a need in me to listen to more James Brown music.
Really liked THE COLOR OF WATER but I find bios about musicians tedious unless you are very familiar with their music-and I am not very familiar with his so probably will skip it. I do mean to read THE GOOD LORD BIRD though.
Patti, I have a copy of THE COLOR OF WATER on my shelves waiting to be read.
“Hot Pants”! No, not really. I remember James coming out dressed in them to do the song. By coincidence, I heard “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” last week (maybe in Starbucks?) and was struck again by how good it was. I still remember seeing him do the whole fall to his knees/cape/help him up routine to “Please Please Please” (the one they show in THE COMMITMENTS) at a Murray the K show circa 1963. (It must have been 1963 because “Little” Stevie Wonder was on, doing “Fingertips – Part II.”)
I miss the old days.
Jeff, I’ve always been partial to “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” Love THE COMMITTMENTS, too! I need to watch it again. My favorite scene is in the church were the organist starts playing “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
Like Patti, I loved THE COLOR OF WATER. The Red Hook project where McBride and his siblings grew up is still a tough place, despite the gentrification of much of the surrounding neighborhood by IKEA and Fairway and hipster hangouts.
I’m not a james brown fan. I remember the “act” he did that Jeff described, and thought it was ridiculous. I think I saw it in the TAMI show, which was like a movie made from a concert of various artists.
I did watch the bio of brown, ? Get on Up?, , and thought it was well done.
Maggie, James McBride dismisses GET ON UP as a bogus movie.
Not particularly a fan, don’t own any songs except what might be included on some oldies CD. Much prefer Chuck Berry.
Rick, after reading KILL ‘EM AND LEAVE I feel that I need to explore more of James Brown’s music.
I’d never heard of this book so thank you very much for posting about it. Am I a James Brown fan? Are you kidding? We’re talkin bout The Godfather of Soul. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. A man who took black pride to a new level when that meant something. The TAMI show? I’ve watched JB’s performance at least a dozen times over the years and it never fails to make my jaw drop. Prince? Michael Jackson? All JB wanna be’s. The most sampled artist in music. Okay, dis the man if you need to but if you do, I won’t say you’ve got a hole in your soul but we are defintely living in different worlds. PS: I feel good!
Stephen, do you have a favorite James Brown album? I’m going to buy some James Brown CDs but I’m undecided about what to spend my money on.
Check YouTube. I was looking at the live performances of “Hot Pants”and even though it’s a ridiculous song it is a dynamite performance.
Jeff, you’re right about “Hot Pants.” Wow! Dynamite performance!
George: Three different eras of The Godfather’s career, each different and everyone has a favorite though I love ’em all. There’s the 1950s with great doo-wop and songs like “Please, Please, Please.” Then during the 60s it’s the re-imagining of black music with a string of hits like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” I Feel Good,” etc. By the 1970s he’s got guys like Bootsy Collins in the band and the name of the game is open-ended jams. My favorite is “Sex Machine.” He did some rap at the end but since a person of my age isn’t supposed to like rap, I don’t. But that leaves hours and hours of great stuff to seek out. Enjoy!
Stephen, thanks! I’ll sample all three of James Borwn’s eras!
A whole lot of fans like to cite the APOLLO 1962 album as his best, though it does predate a lot of his hits.
Sample it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5JG27snLzM
“I’ll Go Crazy” is perhaps my favorite of his early recordings, where he really digs in. And there’s a version on the APOLLO album. Studio single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twa3WQk2fgk
Todd, I’ll check out the Apollo 1962 album. Thanks for the links!
A whole lot of fans like to cite the APOLLO 1962 album as his best, though it does predate a lot of his hits.
Sample it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5JG27snLzM
“I’ll Go Crazy” is perhaps my favorite of his early recordings, where he really digs in, compared to the faster covers so many do. And there’s a version on the APOLLO album. Studio single: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twa3WQk2fgk
I forgot about “Please, Please, Please” and it’s a good one!
People in Boston have a special reason to think well of James Brown. On the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated, Brown went ahead with a scheduled concert at what was then Boston Garden. He helped keep the crowd and, many think, the city calm.
On a night when radio and television were filled with news of rioting around the country, Boston was relatively quiet, at least in part due to Brown.
The Brown concert was also broadcast, with the hope that a number of people would enjoy it and mourn quietly. But I don’t think the angriest folks were in any mood for that.
Steve, I think James Brown did a broadcast concert in Washington, D.C. for the same reason.