The late James Brown was a master at surprising the world. From his dynamic onstage movement to his outlandish opinions, his nickname ‘Mr. Dynamite’, is one of the most accurate ever given to a musician. The main driving force behind funk coalescing and a showman for the ages – whose spirit can still be heard everywhere from hip-hop to rock – while he was undoubtedly controversial, there’s no denying that he impacted music more than most.
As you might imagine from a man whose music and show was so electrifying – bravely spitting in the face of the archaic social makeup of a deeply racist America – Brown had very little care for what people thought, if any for that matter. It was this brazen nature that allowed him to create funk out of its cherished older ancestor, rhythm and blues, and put a modern twist on the music that originated in the Mississippi Delta long before his time.
Inherent to having such little care for the opinions of others, was that Brown also had a pretty high opinion of himself. While most world-beating musicians carry a certain degree of arrogance, as it is self-belief that ultimately carries them to the summit rather than natural talent, Brown took self-belief to a whole new level, even separating himself from swaggering disciples such as The Rolling Stones.
Despite Brown being fully aware of his prowess as a musician and performer, he did, on occasion, shower praise on other musicians, who he believed ranked at the absolute pinnacle of talent. When speaking to Interview Magazine in 1990, he provided perhaps the most comprehensive list of his career of those he deemed the “greatest” artists of all time.
Kicking his mind into gear, it was put to ‘Mr. Dynamite’ that the influential modernist composer, Igor Stravinsky, once said that the three greatest musicians on earth were “the three B’s”, Beethoven, Bach and, remarkably, James Brown. Then, he was asked who would be on his own list. It’s safe to say that the funk pioneer’s was a far-reaching collection of names.
“Well, I can’t get away from the people who created different dimensions – Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mozart,” Brown started. “But if you want the people from today, the people who were able to stay around and do good through a lot of eras, I would say Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Maynard Ferguson. For song styling, I would say Sinatra. I would say Peggy Lee, Aretha. But if you’re talking about really heavy people – heavy, heavy, heavy – I’d say Burt Bacharach.”
Demonstrating Brown’s comprehensive taste, he then said of pop music pioneer Bacharach: “Well, he thought it out. He’s a very articulate man. He’s one of the nicest guys ever – and the man has a strong, strong feeling for putting together good music.”
