Star Walker of the Month February 2007 - James Brown

“Imagine, you’re a child shinning shoes and dancing for change on the corner of Broad street and years later the very same street is named after you (Broad street was later re-named James Brown Boulevard)!”

On May 3, 1933 in the small town of Barnwell South Carolina during the Great Depression-era in the South, James Joseph Brown Jr, was born. Seventy-three years later (Christmas day 2006) James Brown left this world and passed on to the next. To say that he accomplished a lot during the years he was here, would be a definite understatement. He used the best elements of himself to move beyond his inner demons of self destruction. He took his raging inner passion and focused it on something productive, positive, inspiring and quite legendary!

Now if you are wondering why James Brown is our Star Walker for the month on February 2007, wonder no further, instead wonder at the life and master artistry of one named James Brown. A major part of Star Walker is about overcoming adversity and James Brown's life history documents triumph over adversity, again, and again, and again!

Imagine, you’re a child shinning shoes and dancing for change on the corner of Broad street and years later that very same street is named after you (Broad street was later re-named James Brown Boulevard). Imagine growing up in a brothel, owned and operated by your Aunt no less. Imagine being arrested for drug possession. Imagine having to sell all of your belongings and even your home in order to satisfy an IRS debt. Imagine having being dealt all of that, making all of those bad choices and still rising above it all. Yet, this is exactly what James Brown did. Such circumstances would have destroyed most people, but not James Brown.
He was arrested for breaking into cars at 16 and spent three to four years in the Georgia State Correctional system. While incarcerated, he met Bobby Byrd (a piano player in a group called The Gospel Starlighters), who had performed frequently at the prison. Upon his release, Brown decided to give a go at semi-pro boxing, and later gave himself a try at baseball. However, God would direct destiny with other plans as a leg injury ended his professional athletic career and inspired him to pursue music full time. In time he joined Byrd’s group and sang gospel in and around Toccoa, Georgia. Brown and Byrd would later be inspired by Hank Ballard and Fats Domino while attending a rhythm & blues event. This ultimately would introduce Brown & Byrd to the world of secular music (popular music). This lead to the birth of the Flames (later, The Famous Flames - the name they gave themselves for performing music outside the gospel sphere).

In the beginning of his incredible career he pulled inspiration from the past, and now his legacy points towards the future.

Brown pulled inspiration from the Gospel songs of old, blues and jazz to forge something new, something immersed in a fire like passion, something unique, and something God sent. Brown rose to the fore front of what became known as the James Brown Revue - an entourage complete with emcee, dancers and an untouchable stage band that would later be called the J. B.'s (band members consisted of stellar musical talents such as Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, Charles Sherrell and Bobby Byrd ). With 114 total entries on Billboard's R&B singles charts and 94 that made the Hot 100 singles chart, James Brown is one of the few three-figure hit masters. Over the years, he amassed an incredible 800 songs in his stimulating repertoire.

“In his 73 years, he succeeded as a peacemaker, a successful scribe of political polemics, a business tycoon and generous philanthropist, all the while altering the face of popular music time and time again. It's little wonder he was known as the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” - Steven Uhles Augusta Chronicle

It is reported that James Brown would sweat off up to a whopping seven pounds a night. Brown was a captivating performer who incorporated a dizzying regimen of drops, fast gravity defying smooth steps, and precision spins that would make a ballet dancer drool with envy. His movement could even inspire Li Siu Loong (Bruce Lee) to study Browns footwork in lieu of improving his own science of movement (Jeet Kune Do). He even incorporated drama in his shows, in the form of feigning a heart attack on stage, complete with the ritual donning and removal of capes. His exiting the stage while wearing his cape and then returning, became a popular event of his shows. The cape gag was engaging and exciting to watch because if you were a fan you knew what was to come afterwards, which was more world class, in a class by itself, blow your socks off entertainment!

If anyone ever doubts the power of music, all they need to do is review the fact that James Brown gave counsel to presidents and various civil rights leaders. It is now a well known fact that the Rev Al Sharpton was a protégé of Mr. Brown. His hit song of 1968 entitled; ‘Say It Loud, I’m Black & I’m Proud’ was very timely during the turbulent 60’s - at the height of the civil rights movement. In the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination he was called in to help calm the race riots in the city of Boston. Two years later in 1970 he also helped bring an end to a deadly riot in Augusta Georgia. Throughout his life he maintained a ‘real world’ relationship with the common fan/common man struggling to deal with the injustice or indifference poured upon them by an often hypocritical and racist American society. In addition to this, over and over again Mr. Brown put his money behind the words his mouth has spoken. It wasn’t long before he was regarded as a role model and speaker of the people.

In The Blues Brothers film in 1980 he made an electrifying cameo appearance as an engaging preacher of the Black church. His recognition as a forefather of rap helped trigger a resurgence in his career. To date no one has had his records more heavily sampled by rap and hip-hop acts than James Brown. In 1984, he attained renewed street credibility by recording a single called "Unity" with rapper Afrika Bambaataa. In 1986 he made an appearance in Rocky IV with Stallone and performs the movie theme song called ‘Living In America’ which went to #4 on Billboards Top 100 chart on January 11th! Only a few weeks later of that same year on January 23rd, he was in the first group of artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York city. In 1992 he would go on to receive a Life Time Achievement Award at the 34th Grammy Awards among other honors. Never one to rest on past accomplishments, and always having a pulse on the community, in August 2002 he recorded an album called, ‘The Next Step’ in which one of the singles was entitled: ‘Killing Is Out, School Is In’ on the Fome Record label. This was his contribution to sending out a message of anti-gang violence to the youth in inner city communities all across the nation. On December 1st, 2003 he received the Kennedy Center Honors.

Star Walker is about rising above those human mistakes we sometimes make so easily. Star Walker is about rising above circumstances anything less than ideal and fighting the good fight. Star Walker is about finding your passion, your God given talent and living it to the fullest. James Brown did all of this and more. His style of music has influenced essentially every major music performer of our time (from Mick Jagger, to Prince, to Michael Jackson and too many others to mention here). Yes James Brown made mistakes, and he made bad choices in judgment (notably a police chase through Augusta in 1988 that ended in his arrest). He was sentenced to a six-year prison sentence, of which he served two. But he always rose above the bad choices he made in his life and moved on to higher ground. He always moved forward to a new day so that he could eventually say to anyone who asked, ‘I Feel Good’! And he meant it.

Mr. Brown’s annual turkey and toy giveaway at the Imperial Theater became something the entire community looked forward to every Holiday season. In fact, Mr. Brown's final public appearance happened to take place at this annual toy giveaway just a few days before he passed. It is perhaps providence that his last event involved him doing what he did best, being there for the people and giving back in a way that really meant something. He always held true to his commitment of giving to the less fortunate and insisted on being there to personally take part in it. The true treasure of his legacy is the humanitarian spirit he so willingly extended to others. Indeed, I am confident that time will reveal just how much James Brown will be missed.

On a lighter note, we’ve received word that the music of James Brown has inspired the intense workouts of the Ken Ju Kai on more than one occasion. For those of you who may not already know, the Ken Ju Kai are elite warriors within the world of Star Walker who come from another dimension, the spiritual realm. In fact it is the Ken Ju Kai who train the Star Walkers for the spiritual warfare soon to come. Like many things of earth, the incredible moving music of James Brown is known on other worlds and in the spiritual dimension. And it has been reported that Star Walkers use the complex and sophisticated rhythm of Brown’s music to master their fighting footwork, and to get them through what is known as the Ken Ju Kai Run (check out Episode II of the Star Walker Radio Episodes). The music of this wonderfully talented musician and performer will live on for a very, very, very long time. His arrival on earth, the life he led, and the artistry he leaves behind was no accident. Instead, I believe James Brown was sent to us by true providence. Only God could touch a man to deliver to the world such soul stirring, culture influencing and moving music!

James Brown we would like to personally thank you for your gift of artistry and the musical passion you left us to enjoy and be inspired by. May God bless and forever embrace your divinely inspired spirit. You lived a life filled with adversity and yet you rose above it. You remembered those less fortunate and did something about it. You embody what the Star Walkers are all about, which is goodness, loyalty, true friendship, excellence, courage, kindness, compassion, family, divine purpose, true artistry, leadership and love. We extend to you James Brown an honorary 7th Rank within the Star Walker Ken Ju Kai. It is one of the highest ranks among the challengers of evil known as the Ken Ju Kai, the warriors of good within the Star Walker Universe! In the spirit of the Star Walker Ken Ju Kai, we here at Star Walker – remember and honor you James Brown because you are indeed, a Star Walker.

Commenteors – What other people have to say about this Star Walker of the Month, these commentaries are like comets and meteors, brief but prolific and enlightening – sure to leave a trail of insightfulness across your heart - what we call Commenteors.

To Star Walk – Click here and find James Brown’s star as he is forever remembered in the galaxy of the stars within the Star Walker Universe. View and watch the skies slowly fill in the coming months and years as the light of Star Walker, after Star Walker, after Star Walker fills the heavens. We do this as an interactive memorial tribute to those who are still among us, and for those who have through fate, destiny, and even under divine purpose, left the rest of us behind.

Past Star Walkers of the Month:

January 2007 - Mother Teresa

December 2006 - Paul Allen Knopf

November 2006 - Princess Diana

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