It's true. Soul Brother #1, a.k.a. The hardest working man in show business, a.k.a. The godfather of soul, the one and only James Brown has passed away.
The obituary on Slate is a decent read, complete with links to YouTube for some of Brown's best work. The best paragraph?
Brown's showmanship merged the fervent emotionalism of the black church with pure showbiz—flashy clothes, vaudevillian theatrics, sweat-drenched movement, and a pompadour flamboyant enough to inspire Al Sharpton (and countless pimps). He was the model for all pop performers who followed him. After Brown, even the whitest white boy felt compelled to shake it a little onstage.
I've blogged twice about JB so it is only appropriate to point to those entries today.
