JAMES BROWN R.I.P. 1933-2006

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I truly hope that you had a great Christmas this year – I especially hope that it was better than mine. I normally wouldn’t get personal, but events of the past few days make it difficult to avoid. As the holiday season approached, things seemed peachy, but two days before Christmas, my oldest son (age 16) started complaining about back pain. He also registered a slight ‘on-again, off-again’ fever, and the doctor detected a rattle in his breathing. He shrugged all of this off, but within 24 hours, he was sitting in the emergency ward, in extreme pain. After a few shots of morphine (!!) his pain was relieved, and they sent him home…only to discover that he was allergic to morphine, AND that the back pain returned, even worse than before, with a fever hovering over 102. He was admitted to the hospital on December 23, and he’s still there as I type this. Doctors are trying to figure out what combination of illness could bring on such a cocktail of symptoms. We’re assured he’ll be all right, and I believe them. But at this moment, he looks like hell, and his pain is tough to witness. Naturally, this set me off into a dark mood, and Christmas Eve left me feeling disconnected, confused, and worried.
With my son’s illness occupying almost all of my thoughts, I woke up Christmas morning to hear that James Brown passed away. In any other circumstance, at any other time, this would be overwhelming news. James Brown was larger than life, and a musician of huge, historic proportions. He could easily qualify as one of the most influential musicians of all time. Nevertheless, I was distracted by my own preoccupations. Even the press made little mention of it, and that is shameful. As I think about it, it is almost bizarre how little was said. I even started to doubt that it was true, thinking that maybe I made it up in a moment of negative delirium. No such luck. Although the media has not yet reflected the weight of his passing, it was not a bad dream. James Brown passed away on Christmas morning after being hospitalized for Pneumonia.
I could dedicate 24 hours of radio time to James Brown, and I would only skim the surface of his life’s work. Is there another musician alive who has had a greater influence on the state of music? Under any other circumstance, I would compile as much information as possible, and dedicate this entire week to the music of James Brown. As it is, though, I have a lot on my plate, and we only have one hour, so with this show, I will do my best to convey the musical spirit of the Godfather of Soul, and I’ll dedicate it to my son. Here’s hoping that he can get well soon, and we also hope that your holiday season is blessed with good health and happiness.
Here are songs that we hope to cover in today’s program;
1) I Got You (I Feel Good)
2) I Lost Someone
3) Bewildered
4) Prisoner of Love
5) I’ll Go Crazy (Live at the Apollo)
6) Night Train
7) Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag
8) Cold Sweat
9) I Got the Feelin’