Description
festive crackers from the godfather of soul
Artist
American singer, songwriter, and musician.
Born: 3 May 1933 near Barnwell, South Carolina, USA.
Died: 25 December 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (aged 73).
James Brown was raised in poverty in Augusta, Georgia.
1950s: Joined the Gospel Starlighters in 1953, a vocal quartet led by Bobby Byrd, after completing a four-year stint in prison for robbery. As Brown became the focal point of the act, the group changed its name to 'The Famous Flames' and its focus from gospel to R&B. In 1955 The Famous Flames record "Please Please Please" at the studio of WIBB in Macon, Georgia. In 1958 James Brown's first #1 hit, "Try Me", is released. It was the best-selling R&B single of 1958, and the first of 17 chart-topping R&B singles by Brown over the next two decades.
1965: Records "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", a revolutionary single that ushers in a whole new era of soul music. Released that summer, it tops the R&B chart for eight weeks and even cracks the pop Top Ten.
1971: Signs with Polydor Records, for which he recorded extensively throughout the decade.
1974: The Payback, the most successful of James Brown's Seventies albums—many of which were double-LPs with lengthy, extended tracks—makes its debut on Billboard's album chart. It is the only gold-certified (500,000 copies sold) album of his career.
1984: Bronx DJ Afrika Bambaataa teams up with Brown to record the anthemic single "Unity".
1986: "Living In America", the theme song from Rocky IV, reaches #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, becoming Brown's biggest pop hit since "I Got You (I Feel Good)" went to #3 in 1965.
1992: Receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards.
2006: Hospitalized with pneumonia, dying on Christmas Day.
Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 (Performer).
Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000.
Tracks
1
Sleigh Ride
2
Clean For Christmas
3
Spread Love
4
Not Just Another Holiday
5
Mom & Dad
6
Christmas Is For Everyone
7
God Gave Me This
8
A Gift
9
Reindeer On The Rooftop
10
Funky Christmas Millennium
11
Don't Forget The Poor At Christmas
Releases
Labels
Weton-Wesgram, LaserLight Digital, Snapper Music, Legacy Entertainment, Bellevue Publishing, Georgia Lina Records, St. Clair Entertainment Group, Inc., Christmas Gold
Countries
Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Europe
years
1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2018
