Soul Man Knows The Moves
Known to fans throughout the world as the godfather of soul, James Brown recorded such hits as "Cold Sweat," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and the ever famous "I Got You," better known as "I Feel Good."
Brown is now on tour promoting his current album I'm Back. He joined CBS This Morning to talk about his career and perform his latest single "Funk on a Roll."
Born May 3, 1928, James Brown was raised in Augusta, Ga. After dropping out of school in the seventh grade, he educated himself in music, building on the gospel roots he discovered in church and using them on the street to sing and dance for money to help support his family.
Brown's musical interests led him at age 15 to form his own band, the Cremora Trio. With this group, he began to establish his distinctive style and imitate his favorite singers for parties at local schools.
At 20, he joined an R&B gospel group that quickly advanced to international acclaim, known as The Famous Flames.
With his group, Brown used his music to break the boundaries of racial segregation in the 1950s. "Both blacks and whites became engrossed in the new musical phenomena," according to Brown. On Jan. 10, 1997, Brown received the 2080th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The man who has inspired so many cites as his sources of inspiration: "I put on gospel, Five Blind Boys," he says. "Jack Wilson and Joe Tex, people like that. Various men in my career making me really go get it....dynamite people."
Brown singles out M.C. Hammer as the man today with the sharp moves. "He thinks about God; he's doing preaching now. You can't forget Prince and Michael but I like Hammer because of what he's into," he says.
Even though Brown's roots lie in gospel, his work is a mix of funk, R&B and soul. His comprehensive body of work also includes movie credits, including The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit, Rocky IV and Beach Party.
Several movie companies are interested in doing a movie about his life with Eddie Murphy portraying him as a young man - something that Brown says he wouldn't mind seeing. "There's one thing about it. You got to be serious about my movie," he says. Murphy often impersonated Brown on Saturday Night Live. Brown would like to play himself, though, toward the end of the film.
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