This month in 2006, the music lost a legend. James Brown passed on Christmas Day and left behind a musical legacy that few can match.
James is the MOST SAMPLED artist in all of sampling history. From the sources I've been able to gather, James has been sampled well over 1,500 times. Not to mention the pop culture adoption of so many of his drum breaks. Songs like "Funky Drummer" and "Funky President" have been indirectly sampled so many times, it's almost impossible to count them all.
So this month, I thought we'd explore the music of the Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Sex Machine, Mr. Dynamite, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, The King of Funk, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please Please Himself, The Godfather of Soul... JAMES BROWN
Since we are spending the entire month exploring The Godfather, I thought we'd go chronologically through his discography.
James released his first single in 1956. "Please, Please, Please" introduced the world to a soulful, screaming heartthrob, who got the girls to scream as much as the Fab Four.
In 1960 Jams moved on to KING records, and spent the 60s recording some of his biggest hits. "I Got You (I Feel Good)", "Night Train", "It's A Man's World" and in 1956 he released "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".
Many acts have sampled James, and this month we will explore many of them. This song in particular has been sampled by Pharcyde, Salt N' Pepa, and Kool Moe Dee on his album HOW YA LIKE ME NOW!
