RIP, James Brown.

Rock and Roll Heaven just got a lot more funky today. A terrible way to start the day, learning that the Godfather of Soul had died at age 73.

Being a pimply suburban kid growing up in Saint John, my introduction to his music came, strangely enough, from watching the Great Money Movie on WLBZ Bangor with Eddie Driscoll (who himself passed away earlier this year). I must have been ten or eleven, and here comes James Brown and his Famous Flames on some horrid Frankie and Annette-style ski movie....here's a clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4derDcjJnY

Possibly the whitest crowd he ever played in front of, and I'm guessing they laid out a ton of money to get JB to wear that un-Godly sweater!

I had always wanted to see one of his legendary shows, having just missed him on a trip to Vegas about five years ago, I jumped at the chance to see hime when he made a stop at the Metro Centre a couple years back. He was still doing his jump-splits...not as high as the Apollo Theatre in '62, but the energy was still there.

We're losing them a hell of a lot quicker than we're replacing them, folks.