If he were alive today, Mr. Dynamite, the Hardest Working Man in Showbiz, the Godfather of Soul, Soul Brother Number 1, the King of Funk, Mr. Please Please Please Please Her, The Boss, and my personal favorite: Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, would have been 78. James Brown changed not only my life musically, but he touched the lives of every DJ, producer, and Hip Hop artist that came across his records. He was every single bit of the aforementioned nicknames and so much more. Worst mistake of my life was never ever seeing him live. A huge regret of mine. However, let’s not dwell on regrets here at FMF, but celebrate the man himself, and while we’re at it, let’s celebrate the Spring weather here in Brooklyn. Long live JB. Keep Diggin’!
James Brown Live at Olympia Paris in 1971 “Sunny”
Flea Market Funk 
Saw JB once in the early 90’s at College homecoming weekend in Western Virginia. Might have been JMU. Anyway, I never danced so hard in my life. I was a sweaty mess of a changed man after it was over. AMAZING experience.
Peace and SOUL,
HSB DaveB…
PS. We need a vinyl re-issue of Love, Power, Peace (Paris 71) like a MoFo! Perhaps as the original triple album as it was intended. Make some calls Pres!
I had the chance to see James in the late 90’s at Founders Hall in Charlotte,NC as a benefit show for Women In Need. In retrospect although I’m thankful that I had the chance to see him , it was probably one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen . I almost feel blasphemous saying that but unfortunately its true. First off, the acoustics in the place were terrible, and although that isn’t JB’s fault , had the acoustic been great I would’ve heard a very tired and worn out JB backed by a band that just wasn’t all that tight with better acoustics. JB basically complained about a little bit of everything for the entire show, and then as I recall almost 1/3 of his show was not James himself but one of his dancers ( whom I later believe was his wife , because im pretty sure her last name was Hienie) dong her own music backed by Lames band. I was incredibly disappointed , and had it not been a benefit show I probably would’ve asked for my money back. Maybe I had set my expectations too high, maybe i expected too much, but it was almost like seeing the shell of the man who was once James Brown. Im thankful I had a chance to see him live, but sadly it fell far short of my expectations.
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