Searching for James Brown and the American Soul - Kill 'Em and Leave

This book was much more about the authors broad generalization and view of the Southern US, sometimes misguided, than it ever was about James Brown. I couldn't finish it after 2/3rds complete, I tried to push through it. The little bit of info actually gleaned on James Browns life can easily be found on Wikipedia. I'm more disappointed in my favorite magazine which recommended the book. Maybe they owed him a favor. Do yourself one...

McBride is an outstanding writer–he won a National Book Award for his memoir of his mother, The Color of Water. As well as a reporter, he’s been a jazz musician and he is clearly at home in the bubbling, vibrant musical world of James Brown and his comperes. He is also African-American (father African American, mother a Polish Jew), angry about what America and the recording-performing world still do to American blacks. All this makes him a good choice to write about a complicated man, the Father of Soul James Brown. This isn’t a regulation biography. At points, it’s a rant. The biography parts are liberally spiced with anger: a no-holds-barred condemnation of the straightjacket of race that constrains, thwarts and warps even the most exceptional black performer like Brown --or Michael Jackson, who is a player in the book as well. (“Talent is just dessert in the ear-candy business anyway. It’s about who can stand the ride.”)

He contrasts Brown’s notorious generosity, his neatness and attention to appearance (he never ventured out with his hair mussed up or raggedly clothes on, and you could eat off the floor of his kitchen, it was so clean) and his musical perfectionism with his compulsive hoarding, his ramshackle love life, his petty acts of tyranny and meanness (coming out of nowhere at times) toward his musicians (but at other times, there were acts of considerable generosity). Along the way, McBride meets and interviews Brown’s prize saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, the ever loyal Rev. Al Sharpton, Brown’s (black) manager Charles Bobbitt and (white) accountant David Cannon. And he keeps cycling back to how Brown’s carefully worked out plans for his fortune were torn to pieces by the vultures who descended on his corpse after he died –his not-wife fourth wife, all of the relatives who wanted a bigger chunk of his wealth than he’d left them –he wanted the bulk of his fortune to spent on educating and raising up poor children black AND white—and the legal vultures who have milked the estate of most of his hard-earned cash for ten years now, with no appreciable end in sight.
McBride’s prose is sometimes high flown, lyrical-- at other times, it’s racy and demotic. But his anger is a rhetorical tool too, persuasive and eloquent in itself. When you have finished this eloquent account, you will understand and appreciate James Brown –James Brown, the man, not just the performer—in ways you didn’t before. Highly recommended.

This book is n outstanding look into an unknown world of a great entertainer, I being a baby boomer followed James Brown the entertainer my whole life from my teenage years through my years in the military during Vietnam all the way until his death. This book showed me a side of Mr Brown I didn't know the human side. I think it is very well written and detailed. In a way this book shows the struggles that every Black man has gone through during this era just trying to make it. James Brown through all his faults was a legend and a man that gave us all hope when there was none. A man that made us stay in school and say it loud I am Black and I am proud. Thank you Mr McBride well done.

I really wanted to love this book. The subject matter and even the style of writing are right in my wheelhouse. Unfortunately for me, Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul devolves into less of a search for the "real" James Brown and more of a series of rants about the author's world view and experiences. And even that would not necessarily have been a bad thing. But in this case the author presents a story of a journey he never actually takes. This is hearsay and conjecture about James Brown, nothing more. And while there is no doubt that James Brown comes from a place where racial tension and civil rights violations are woven into history, the author seems to blend all the experiences of all people of color into an over-simplified blanket that he hangs over James Brown's life.

Make no mistake, the author is an excellent writer. This is a collection of interesting stories. At times some of those stories are very engaging. But when you take a step back from it, it's hard not to notice the small percentage of factual accounts about James Brown's life that actually made their way into this book.

There are thankfully some exceptions. The Nafloyd Scott portion of the story offers the kind of account I was really looking for. Yet there are too few of those and there is a complete lack of context when one considers the hyperbole of many of the surrounding chapters. And even the relevant stories seem to offer very little additional depth for those seeking the "real" James Brown the author was searching for.

CONCLUSION

Those who are looking for a book on the process of researching historical people will find a lot of lessons learned here. The author does a lot of things right, and he documents the leg work here. But the finished product has to be more than an account of his search. There has to be an actual story about James Brown at the end of it. And sadly, this book falls far short of achieving that.

when asked why he never stayed around and socialized after his performances, james brown replied. “kill ‘em and leave.” even for off stage meetings he would, as he told the young man he mentored, al sharpton, “come important, and leave important’.

mcbride’s biography of the godfather of soul sets out to describe the unknown man, who turns out to be the archetypically flawed successful entertainer with millions, a dedicated fan base, countless affairs with as many women, a public persona of generosity and the secret hidden heart of sensitivity and deep loneliness. and like all successful men who started from nothing, james brown worked hard to achieve his fame. he was a poor businessman when it came to handling money and a tough boss who worked his band members relentlessly. performing on stage and demanding excellence from his bands who endured grueling rehearsals, brown earned the title of ‘the hardest working man in show business’, and it was his work ethic which was his legacy, the importance that young people get educations, a dream which was supposed to extend beyond his death. his multi-million dollar debt with the irs was settled, and after the changes in music tastes when first disco and later hip hop had out distanced rhythm and blues, james brown’s soul music had a conservative revival, with the help of david cannon and buddy dallas as his new managing team.

"In 2000," mcbride writes,” [Brown] spent $20,000 in legal fees to have an airtight will and estate drawn up. The will left his personal effects and money, worth an estimated $2 million, to his children, plus a generous education fund to send his grandchildren to college should they decide to attend. The rest of it, the bulk of his estate—songs, likeness, music publishing—he left in a trust fund that he named the I Feel Good Trust, said to be worth conservatively at least $100 million when he died. The trust was set up to help educate poor children—white and black—in South Carolina and Georgia. Brown was specific about that—the main criteria: need. ... The trust was to be run by the same two business partners that had brought him back to prominence, David Cannon and Buddy Dallas, and a trusted African American road manager and local magistrate named Albert “Judge” Bradley. … And nine years after he died, not a dime of Brown’s money would go to educate a single impoverished kid in either state.”

you need to google the lawsuits pertaining to the trust and the wills ( a second will was drawn after brown’s death!), and google the persons involved. also read the newspapers’ accounts, but don’t stop there, read the comments by the newspaper readers as they weigh in with opinions of some of the key players later interviewed by mcbride, particularly david cannon.

mcbride gets angry, foremost as a journalist covering the brown estate as the legal mess continues to play out in south carolina, and also he gets angry as a musician himself familiar with what entertainers, the back-up bands and singers endure from headliners and the music business and what the headliners endure to stay on top.

as amateur music critic, he claims brown’s band from 1965 to 1969 as “the greatest group of r&b musicians ever assembled.” mcbride offers a glimpse of michael jackson, when he worked as a reporter for a magazine covering jackson’s victory tour and interviews with people who recall the interaction between the two luminaries.

mcbride describes “the godfather of soul” as a product of the south, a place you can’t understand unless you are from there. the southern culture, the states of georgia and south carolina known to brown, transcend race and class, though race and class dictate all aspects of life. there’s a story related to mcbride of the white family with a son who has a black friend who is almost like family but the boys are warned by the grandmother of the white boy not to play in the front yard for fear they’ll be seen together. for mcbride, the south’s peculiar state of race relations is a metaphor for race relations throughout the rest of the nation.

this is far from a pretty biography—for the musicology of james brown you have to read elsewhere—but certainly one, i could not put down.

Kill 'em and leave searching for James Brown and the American soul by James McBride 2016 is a nonfiction book about the superstar singer James Brown in cultural and historical perspective. James Brown was born in 1933 and died in 2006, 11 years ago and there are several previous books on James brown so it is hard to find new material. James McBride got around this by interviewing those close to Brown, his family and business associates. Not being a fan of James Brown prior to reading this book I learned a lot about him and developed a deep respect for him and his music. However the book is repetitive and somewhat tedious to read. The author uses the word "legendary" too much. I think to really enjoy this book fully you have to be a James Brown fan. I know that other reviewers knew nothing of James Brown and loved the book, but generally speaking it helps to be interested in the singer. The book paints a full portrait of the south in the 20th century and the author displays a lot of anger about being black in America and about James browns being cheated in particular and it all rings true. I recommend this book for James Brown fans and people in the music business.

This is a most curious book. The writing is faultless, knowledge of the subject is superlative. The focus here seems to be on the role of white music executives in diminishing James Brown's chances to [financially] succeed, although the author does admit that Brown was no money manager. Most curious is the implied (?) criticism of people like Little Richard and Diana Ross, who enjoyed success by settling in Beverly Hills and on Fifth Avenue. Then there's Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, and many others who, while probably having to fight the white establishment (tell me, what other establishment was there), still came out ahead. For all the losses chalked up by countless musical artists, McBride's focus here is on how the music industry "took" black artists. One could easily say that the recording industry and its legions of hangers-on (managers, business managers, venue owners) also "took" plenty of white artists, who also ended up with little. Then there are cases where the same record establishment actually had a hand in mentoring new artists. But the most glaring omission to me here is the fact that McBride leaves unexplored the effects of childhood pugilism --barehanded and bareheaded boxing -- on Brown's brain. It is more than a plausible hypothesis that he was brain damaged, with the unfortunate panoply of emotional and psychological manifestations that go alone with it. Then there is the unexplored (in this book) effects of addiction and PCP use, both of which come with their own damage-inflicting consequences. Instead, here the author pursues the easiest hypothesis, that being race. So there's at least one other book to be written and other stories to be told.

James McBride’s "Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul" isn’t your typical biography. It’s about roots and family and friendships. It’s about business and “the business” and family greed. It’s about the artistry of James Brown and what he meant to Black America. But it’s not “just” about James Brown — the man, the artist, the performer. It’s also about the “idea” of a James Brown in America. Ultimately, It’s about the country and culture that birthed a “James Brown,” a culture that builds it’s heroes up only to tear them down. You can read my review in its entirety at allmusicbooks(dot)com, but what really makes this book such a gratifying read is how McBride is able to paint a series of small, sort-of-connected vignettes into a larger and telling portrait of the hardest working man in show business, soul music, and America and its “soul.”

In Kill 'Em and Leave, James McBride goes in search of the soul of a man, a people, a country. It is without question the most beautifully written of any book I have read within the music genre, to include reviews, biographies... There are points where it is poetic, even musical. James McBride is clearly as in awe of the man as anyone and dissatisfied with overblown, inaccurate, superficial portrayals goes in search of the man behind the myth. He travels around the south, to the places he was born and where he lived, places where his aura is still visible. He interviews the people who knew him best, and others who encountered him in one way or another, digs like an investigative journalist to brush away the pop portraits which feed and feed off his bigger than life image to find the sensitive, decent, caring and responsible man underneath. It is truly an enjoyable and informative read.

My one and only withhold is that he is perhaps a bit too enamored of the man. I am not sure that I can agree that he sidelined Ray Charles. I don't, however, want to split hairs. James Brown was undeniably one of the most important and influential figures in the history of rock music, or even American music. This is a well written, well researched and passionate account that digs deep. If you are interested in getting to know the real James Brown, to the extent that is possible, this is the book to read. You may still find that you do not really know the man, as guarded and private as he apparently was, but McBride turns over every stone looking for him, and more than anything, finds him in the soul of a people who were used and abused, and had to stay guarded and fearful. He also shines a light on his pride and caring. We can only hope that people wake up and honor that, release his estate to do the good work he intended it to do.

The author has taken on an ambitious task; Telling the life story of James Brown while recreating the cultural atmosphere - racial tensions, economic hardships,and business pressures - that helped shape and mold “The Godfather of Soul” throughout his life. Author McBride does a credible, if not completely successful, job of it.

At first - in the first few chapters - I was a little put off by the book… too much “evil white man” nonsense. It seemed as though everything, every hardship, every setback, came back to the same thing. The evil white man. Then I realized that McBride was simply using the language, or more accurately the sentiments, of those who were relating their experiences from another time and place. The pre-Civil Rights era of the American South where James Brown came from. I still think McBride hit that note a little too hard, a little too often, but I get it.

Like many modern nonfiction writers McBride has a tendency to put himself in the story a little too much. In some places it becomes less about James Brown and his journey and more about James McBride and what he’s attempting to do. He also has a tendency to repeat himself; Relating events or moments in James Browns life then, while interviewing various people, he repeats the same information. It’s mildly distracting at times. But only mildly.

Author James McBride has an obvious passion and respect for the subject (James Brown) but at times it seems as though he approaches things with too much respect. Choosing to rationalize or tread lightly on certain aspects (such as Brown’s drug use and erratic behavior later in life).

Some of this likely stems from the fact that much of the narrative deals with the author meeting up with those who knew Mr. Brown best and relating their version of events in the life of the soul superstar. The more people McBride introduces from James Brown’s past, some who spent years working with Mr. Brown, the more the reader is given insight into what a complicated life he led. At the same time many of these people are reluctant to speak ill of the late performer’s memory. The author seems either unwilling or unable to break through that silence to any great extent.

I’m not suggesting that the story needs to be more tabloid-like or salacious, simply that it would have been nice to have a less glossed over version of events. In the end the reader comes away with a little more understanding of James Brown but also feels as though there is much more that could have been told.

This was a good book. I think anyone with even a passing interest in James Brown or the roots of soul music would enjoy it.

***This is a review of an Advance Reader’s Edition of the book. I was given a free copy with the understanding that, in return, I would submit an honest review.

After having read McBride's excellent The Color of Water several years ago when it was part of our One Book, One Community project, I was thrilled when one of my friends loaned me his copy of Kill 'em and Leave. McBride goes a long way in placing James Brown into a cultural context in this book, as well as explaining the perplexing contradictions in Brown's life, his treatment of his family, his treatment of his band members, and so forth. After reading the book, I feel like I have a greater appreciation for Brown's cultural significance; however, there are some other books about Brown that explain the his musical procedures and how he functioned on a night-to-night basis as a band leader in more detail. One of the things that works well is McBride's intertwining of his story with Brown's story. It's almost like a form of Hunter S. Thompson-style "gonzo journalism" that's much more cohesive and coherent than Thompson's work, but, like Thompson's work, allows the biases and the life experience of the journalist to play a part in his/her understanding of their subject. A must-read for James Brown fans and for any reader interested in the civil rights movement, or the changes in African American culture that transpired between the 1940s and the first decade of the 21st century.

I should admit straightaway that I was never a fan of James Brown. I was of the Beatles generation and Brown's music, while occasionally interesting, did not move me like the others. And yet when I was loaned this book by a friend, I read it because I quickly found the writing absolutely compelling, even beautiful. If James McBride could put this kind of thought - not to mention travel - into compiling a bio of James Brown, both deserved a closer look. I have come away from the book with a new appreciation of the music and I have watched a few videos on YouTube as I read the book so I could properly be carried along with the narrative.This is not traditional biography - beginning, middle, end - but rather a sort of treasure hunt for those nuggets that haunt. We certainly meet James Brown in all his regalia, but we also examine those he surrounded himself with and get a better understanding of the whole in the bargain.

A very fitting title for this book. The author, James McBride had to make a trip to the American South to learn about one of the world's greatest entertainers from the people who actually knew him. Because of James Brown's philosophy of kill 'em and leave, I don't think the world ever got a chance to see the man outside of his genuis. So McBride tries to bring to us a more realistic view of the man, which ends up being a sad story.

I enjoyed the format and the story telling, this is not a typical biography of any sort. There aren't a bunch of dates or "important" names being thrown at you, but what you get are the people who actually meant something to the man.

I paid little attention to James Brown while he lived. His music wasn’t entirely to my taste. Several years after his passing, I read of the seemingly endless battle over his estate, even his final resting place. Curious, but just another of those mystifying internecine family squabbles with greedy outsiders nipping like sharks.

But I was intrigued by early reviews of James McBride’s bio of James Brown, so I got it, knowing that I could always put it down.

No way.

This is no ordinary biography. Not by a long shot. McBride is a firebrand. And James Brown was a driven man, a great artist.

Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to both Mr. McBride and Mr. Brown is that this biography took me to many videos of James Brown performances available on YouTube. I have, many years too late, become a fan. Watching some of these performances and listening to Brown’s songs, I understand better the hard life of James Brown, the artistry of James Brown, his work ethic, his maturation and why James McBride is such an angry man.

James Brown did not get a fair shake from life’s dice. But through his intelligence, determination and talent, he sort of prevailed. He lived far from a perfect or docile life, but it was an always interesting, never static life.

McBride is no neutral observer. In fact, he violates just about every cliché standard of biography writing.

But his end product is absolutely compelling. Through him, I have come to some small understanding of a man who in some ways conquered a mean, cruel and unfair world, but more importantly became a great artist and leaving us with a fantastic body of work.

Don’t be put off by McBride’s occasional stridency: this is an excellent biography of a most unusual and very talented and complex man.

Jerry

I practically never give 5 stars to anything, but this book just knocked my socks off. So much more than just another biography of James Brown, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," the award winning author, James McBride, places Brown in the midst of the culture he grew up in and the times as they changed. It's quite remarkable reading all this even though I am a child of the '60's and fought for civil rights, but as a white person not from the South. McBride knows of which he speaks and so did Brown.

There were so many moving passages in this book that there are too many to note here. You will have to read it for yourself! Especially finding out about what has happened to James Brown's legacy, will and final wishes to help educate all children, black and white, as having grown up without much education, Brown valued this above all else.

But take note: you will read it from start to finish overnight and the following day, if you are like me. I couldn't put it down. Wow. That's the mark of a fascinating story and a tale well told, and well worth telling.

I received this book through the Vine program for my honest review, and I am so glad I did. James McBride, thanks for opening all of our eyes! You have done a necessary and good service for everyone in this country who wants to know more about the "real" James Brown and the culture we have all grown up in. And it is definitely time for things to change.

Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late March after making way for new furniture before Easter Sunday.

Heart-wrenching real in its honesty and forthrightedness, McBride tells truths about the Deep South and the meteoric highs & cavernous lows of James Brown's career and personal life. It reads very much like a long-length public opinion piece in a magazine, but it cuts at least four times as deep. All told, my favorite chapters are numbers 7, 8, and 12 where McBride depicts Brown as a man of the earth, with his feet on the ground, with a history, with obligations he can meet, rather than a frenzied man on fire, above the world, dealing in extremes, in the obscure, and in the kind of currency he's not prepared to pay.

James Brown remains the "Godfather of Soul"! James McBride is a excellent researcher and storyteller.
He is so good that he leaves you with the desire to want more.. .as Mr.Brown,who was a perfectionist said..."Kill'em and Leave!
But what I know after reading “Kill ’Em and Leave” is this: James Brown was among the loneliest of the great soul musicians. McBride tells us in a interview with Emma Austin, wife of one of Brown's oldest friends and herself one of those closest to the him: "I've never met anyone in my life ... who worked harder to hide his true heart. Mr. Brown worked at that very hard. He had a sensitive heart. If you knew that about him, there was not much else you needed to know."

This book is more a loosely connected series of interviews from people who knew James Brown in and around his home town in the South than it is a focused biography. Some of these interviews are insightful, others seem full of hot air. Through it all, McBride opines about Brown's and his own life with a tone that is often angry and baleful. It's hard to identify the intended audience for this book. It will give those who haven't lived in the South a bit of a view of Southern culture. Those who are James Brown fans will get a gritty look at James Brown's roots.

This is an imperfect biography of a profoundly flawed man that failed in its main self-selected task: explaining how James Brown shaped the cultural landscape of America today. It falls far short of the latter, though it is possible that my life growing up as a white boy in Arkansas, rarely listening to his music (he was not quite the cross over artist in Little Rock that he was in much of the rest of the US), that explains why Brown has had so little impact on the part of America I inhabit (of the ten original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, perhaps only Little Richard has had less of an presence in my life). Certainly his personal life, parts of which are vividly retold here, to the extent that I knew of it, did not make me want to know his music all that well. In fact, by the end of the sixties, I knew Brown almost exclusively through his appearances at the end of beach movies in which he danced outrageously across the screen. McBride does succeed is making Brown someone you understand, even if you do not admire ore particularly respect. He emerges as one so determined to be respected that it damages him as a person, showing that pride is indeed one of the original sins. As others have noted, this is not the best place to read about his music. This truly is more of a cultural study of the man. For me the biggest failure of the book is that it didn't achieve what I hoped that it would, which was to make me really want to explore the music of James Brown.

I've read "The Good Lord Bird" and just finished "Kill 'Em and Leave" not five minutes ago. This avant-garde treatment of James Brown is so startlingly intimate that a reader -any reader- comes away from it feeling as if s/he had been standing in the presence of the great American artist, staring into his eyes. The feeling is visceral. If a literary talent like James McBride is ever broke, then America is and remains nowhere. You can have your David McCullough and Nathaniel Philbrick --make mine McBride.

Though providing his interesting postive perspectives on James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Al Sharpston James McBride’s “Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for the Real James Brown” strikes me as very overwritten,* maddeningly repetitious, and pretty underresearched. McBride reports on encounters (he hoped would be interviews) of various associates of “the Godfather of Soul”+ with fairly considerable background about each one. Most were reluctant to talk about Brown, and in particular very reluctant to talk about his treatment of women. Instances of generosity are more comfortable for McBride’s interlocutors to talk about than rape and near-rape.

McBride does not press into why the various musicians who contributed to the “James Brown sound” left, that is in specific cases. That Brown was a tyrant as a bandleader and very unpredictable in deciding on rewards and punishments is clear. McBride does not seem to have asked how much (or little) they cared about credit, for songwriting or for performing with him. (The ‘James Brown sound”, according to McBride “was an intricacy of shifting parts that moved harmonically, often in counterpoint, back and forth, up and down, patternlike, with each pattern combining to make a whole.” Perhaps, but the beat seems more important to me.)

McBride writes that Brown “was more southerner than he was black or white.” I don’t think that anyone thought Brown was white, so what this really means is that Brown was shaped more by growing up in the South (Georgia and South Carolina) than by growing up black (or that he identified more as Southern than as black) although repeatedly showing Brown’s fear that a white power structure would take away his earnings. The IRS slapped a claim from fifteen million dollars on him (which white advocates got reduced to 1.3 million) and there is little doubt that black musicians have been and probably still are exploited. Demanding cash in advance for performances was savvy and not in-itself illegal (not reporting this income is another matter!).

James Brown was a complicated man who did not want to be known, and those who were closest to him and were still around when McBride came knocking on their doors, mostly honored the wish, though having some interesting things to say about Brown and/or Southern assumptions and conduct.

McBride largely ignores what others wrote about Brown while he was active of since his death. McBride begins and keeps circling back to expressing his justifiable outrage at the challenges to his will, which have blocked his intent to contribute to the education of poor students in Georgia and South Carolina (and though made possible by the opacity of South Carolina courts, the plaintiffs trying to break the will for their own behalf are Brown’s children, which is to say black people). There is a lot in the attempted breaking of his will to criticize, but doing so does not provide access to “the real James Brown.” I think that the royal road to that is not journalistic interviews of survivors, but watching the recordings (audio and video) of Brown performing (including for interviewers).

*E.g., “Their smiles move sideways, floating from left to right, aimless, like drops of olive oil floating on a plate of water.” Aside from its pulpiness, this unenlightening characterization makes me wonder why “left to right” is “aimless.” Brownian motion is “aimless,” though that might seem a bad pun here.

+ I’ve never understood GODfather: Brown did not stand around smiling benignly while others delivered soul music. Why not “the king of funk” or “the king of soul” (if Michael Jackson could pass as “the king of pop”…).

I *love* James McBride's writing. I picked up this book after having read The God Lord Bird and The Color of Water. I'm not particularly a James Brown fan, but this was easily the best book I read all summer. I would frequently stop to read and reread single sentences, savoring his writing like turning over candy in my mouth. Gorgeous writing--I didn't want this book to end. His collection of short stories, Five Carat Soul, is next on my list.

McBride's research gives the reader a truly in-depth look at the life and death of the Godfather of Soul. This rags to riches to rags to riches story is full of backstories from those who were close to James Brown and provide insight into the man and his life. It's sad what has happened to his estate. Kudos to McBride for a compelling and worthy story.

This is an excellent book - not a linear description of James Brown's life (although those details are in there too) but a discursive and illuminating excursion through the social, historical, personal, and artistic contexts/influences on Mr. Brown. It is also on occasion very funny. On the basis of this, I will be happy to seek out Mr. McBride's other writings.

This book was interesting. It delved into the early background of performer James Brown and uncovered the roots that gave birth to his unique and unconventional talent. It includes a lot of personal information a the wives, children, and external forces which influenced Brown. It also contains a lot of information about the posthumous travels of Brown's corpse over nearly a decade after family battle over his estate. While a lot had been covered by the media, this book manages to set the record straight my telling a multi-dimensional story that includes racism, southern poverty, the music industry, and the excesses of wealth and public success.
The book itself is well researched and fairly well written. You don't have to be a fan of Brown's to enjoy this book. I wasn't a huge fan, but the complexity of Brown's story and little known background was enough to hook me and help me understand his phenomenal degree of success.

very compelling book
and reading anything on the elusive James Brown is a must read
and there are alot of details involved
and it has alot of plot and alot of depth. one of those books
which covers a wide range
and answers a whole lot. very well put together
and a good strong read.

Beautifully and powerfully written. I've never had a book move me to tears, this was the first. Heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, this book struck all of my emotional chords and has left a life-long impression on me. I recommend this book with all of my heart!

What a beautifully written book this is. McBride's prose is as good as you'll ever find in a work of non-fiction. This is no throwaway pop biography. The book combines biographic elements of an American music giant, the poignant and sometimes tragic stories of those who knew or worked for Brown, a glimpse into the (southern) Black community, wonderful music history, and McBride's own journey of self-discovery. But it's McBride's writing that shines throughout. It's been a while since I've read a book where the beauty of the writing shines as much as the subject matter. Highly recommended for anyone who loves music. Recommended for everyone for an excellent non-fiction read. This is a great book.

Jazzman James McBride goes in search of the real James Brown by looking at his world and some of the people closest to him. If you are looking for a traditional biography of Brown, I would suggest you read RJ Smith's "The One." McBride tries to understand Brown by speaking to people from his hometown, relatives, musical associates, and other friends such as Al Sharpton. What emerges is a portrait of a complex figure in American popular culture. Brown possessed an immense musical talent, but treated musicians who worked for him terribly: "Brown dehumanized them. Most of them, while respecting his musicality and utter showmanship, disliked him intensely." McBride insists that to truly understand Brown, the reader must understand the South, a land populated by people who are constantly wearing masks-"tricksters and shapeshifters." This goes a long way to explaining his various sides, all were an attempt to protect himself. He could be generous, especially when he was giving money to people trying to better themselves through education. He was concerned with the direction black America was taking. His advice to young blacks "If you pull your britches up where they ought to be, and turn your cap around and in the direction you are walking, you'll be a lot better off." "Children need education, they don't need sneakers and beer." He never trusted highly educated or Northern blacks, he always felt they looked down on him. As such, James Brown's story is as much a story about the American South in the 20th century as it is about Brown himself. And McBride is a gifted writer, he will hold your attention right through the book. His defense of the importance of Louis Jordan is masterful and eloquent. And his passage on Brown sums up the book perfectly: "James Brown was our soul. He was unquestionably black. Unquestionably proud. Unquestionably a man. He was real and he was funny. He was the uncle from down South who shows up at your house, gets drunk, takes out his teeth, embarrasses you in front of your friends and grunts, 'Stay in school!' But you love him. And you know he loves you." Well written, insightful, at times dark, at times funny, this is a must read for fans of popular music, American culture, and good writing.

McBride is a skilled writer whose command of prose is exceptional. As a biographer he is unorthodox and those who are seeking a linear narrative with analysis of Brown's development as a musician will be disappointed.

The author begins with a breakdown of his viewpoint of the effect of race in the United States and the culture of the deep South on Brown as a person. This part is cogent but a little too long. Then McBride reveals his process of becoming a biographer and the sad story of Brown's post mortem finances. He left his fortune to educate the poor but the estate is tied up in litigation from Brown's family. In the process of researching this biography McBride describes how those who knew Brown or say they knew him are fighting over the profits to be made telling his story. According to McBride, everyone is writing a book. After this the biography is a series of anecdotes mostly revolving around the people in Brown's life.

While it was interesting and well done, it wasn't what I was looking for in a biography. Nevertheless it is original and provides some interest.

This intriguing and compelling book isn't a memoir. Nor is it a biography of James Brown. Instead, it's a search for the essence of the great artist. It's a poignant look at the greatness of the man and of his art. It's also an angry book, a very angry one. The anger is directed at the treatment of Blacks, even now, by the public and by the music industry. You can sense the anger throughout the book. A large part of the anger is for the gross misexpenditure of James Brown's fortune. It was directed by him that it would go to help the poor and disadvantaged children, white and black, get a proper education. Instead...well you'll read what happened and is still happening to it and I'm sure you will be sharing the sheer anger in this book.

The book is for all who realize the greatness of this man's music and of his great contribution to the soul genre. You will also gain admiration for the man James Brown was as revealed by the author. Not all about the man was great. But there was enough of a superior quality about him that should be realized and this book does the job.