Was James Brown an a-hole?

I just started listening to his music.
I like it! Never really given it much of a listen in the past.

But was he an asshole in person?

Most musicians are.

Ooooh! That’s harsh!

I wasn’t going to respond because I didn’t want to bad mouth the guy. Obviously he was a great musician. If he had problems with drugs, alcohol and spousal abuse, that was his problem (and his spouses’). Clearly he did have such problems.

[quote]At the age of 16, was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison.

In 1988, Brown was arrested following a high-speed car chase on Interstate 20 along the Georgia-South Carolina state border. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses. Although he was sentenced to six years in prison, he was eventually released in 1991 after serving only three years of his sentence.

On July 3, 2000, the police was summoned to Brown’s residence after he was accused of charging an electric company repairman with a steak knife during the repairman’s visit to Brown’s house to investigate a complaint of having no lights at the residence.

In 2003, Brown was pardoned for past crimes that he was convicted of committing in South Carolina in 2003.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Brown was repeatedly arrested for drug possession and domestic abuse. Adrienne Rodriguez, his third wife, had him arrested four times between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s on charges of assault. In January 2004, Brown was arrested in South Carolina on a domestic violence charge after Tomi Rae Hynie accused him of pushing her to the floor during an argument at their home, where she suffered scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip. Later that year in June 2004. Brown pleaded no contest to the domestic violence incident, but served no jail time. Instead, Brown was required to forfeit a $1,087 bond as punishment.[/quote]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown

But then I got to thinking, is his personal life really irrelevant? What if he had been an axe murderer, rapist, pedophile, cannibal?

If Jeffrey Dahmer, the guy who diddled young boys, killed and ate them and stored their parts in his freezer, had been an awesome musician, would you have enjoyed hearing him play?

Hitler was an aspiring artist. A crappy one as you can see by his below works:

But if he had been a great painter, would you have hung one of his works on your wall?

Ok, JB’s crimes may not be of the same magnitude, but weren’t they a little irksome to fans? Didn’t people intentionally NOT discuss such things as it put a damper on his otherwise awesome performances?

Who cares about his personal life.

Enjoy the music. It’s FFFFunky.

If Saddam’s music was FFFFunky, would you say the same thing?

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]If Saddam’s music was FFFFunky, would you say the same thing?

[/quote]

A little difference between genocide arrangements and coke addiction, wouldn’t one agree?

Why should our role models be entertainers? I don’t need David Beckham, or James Brown, or Bob Dylan for inspiration on how to lead my life. I enjoy the fruits of their art. Thats all.

btw…there is a great value 2cd/dvd package on sale for NTD700 in eslite…

50 singles from the early days to the later ones…(just listen to that groove get defined)…

a wonderful documentary on the rise and fall and re-rise of the picasso of groove (but you’ll need subbies to understand the man himself)

and a live show and rehearsal from the house of the blues…

just the thing to while away a wet weekend…just merember, whatever you do…make it funky

I’ve got that cd/dvd package you refer to.
It’s a lot cheaper at Rose Records though, I picked it up for 538nt.

Yeah he was an artist not a frickin saint.

That’s like saying “Was jim morrison an asshole for showing people his wang?”

Jeezis, boy, if your musical library is restricted to artists who’ve never been in trouble with the law or are known to have never stepped outside it, remind me to pass on your pool party.
All Pat Boone, All The Time…

[quote=“FrankInTaipei”]Yeah he was an artist not a frickin saint.

That’s like saying “Was jim morrison an asshole for showing people his wang?”[/quote]

I understand the point and I agree. We listen to musicians for their music, watch athletes for their athletic abilities, appreciate actors for their acting, don’t demand any of them to be saints in their personal lives and don’t expect them to be perfect role models. But that’s only when their personal transgressions are relatively mild – drunk driving, getting fucked up and smashing a hotel room, throwing a cell phone at a personal attendant, etc.

If the personal transgressions are more serious they WOULD affect whether one wants to listen to or watch them, right? OJ was a highly popular actor and entertainer till he stabbed his wife to death. Barretta’s career had faded more than OJ’s, but any shot he had of a Baretta remake faded after he was tried for shooting his wife to death. And, as I’ve pointed out, there doesn’t seem to be much of a market for Hitler’s paintings.

On the other hand, Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise have done and said a lot of stupid crap in their personal lives and it has probably affected their box office revenues, but not so seriously.

So, I think it’s wrong to say an entertainer’s personal life never matters. It’s a matter of degree. If his act is good enough (as was James Brown’s) and the transgressions are mild enough – it’s a balancing act – people are willing to overlook the personal flaws and enjoy the art. But if the act’s not all that great anyway or the transgressions are more serious then the personal problems can kill a career, regardless of talent.

Gary Glitter seemed to be pretty popular before he started getting thrown out of various countries for kiddie-diddling. Do you think he’ll be packing many stadiums when he gets out of the slammer in Vietnam?

Look at Sid Vicious. He mebbe murdered his bint but he’s still fab. I listen to him all the time.

As for the other people you mention. Bollocks. What film is OJ in? Airplane or whatever? I still think he’s funny as fuck when I see him. His career and those others, too, were killed by the sheeple who get brainwashed by the crap newspapers they read, that’s all.

If a guy’s got it, he’s got it. The Hitler nonsense doesn’t count. A crap painter is a crap painter.

Are you seriously telling me you’d refrain from listening to Rock and Roll Part II because the singer’s a ped?

Oasis stole my bike. But I never listen to them cos they’re retro Beatles-esque-bike thief fuckers from Burnage.

But I see your point, sandman.

[quote=“ClubWax”]I’ve got that cd/dvd package you refer to.
It’s a lot cheaper at Rose Records though, I picked it up for 538nt.[/quote]

bastard…

I’m glad. That makes one of us. I have no idea what I just posted. Or the subject. I want to go home.

Go. It will be better there than at work.

James Brown was a bit selfish. When he would go on big tours, he’d stay in nice hotels and fly by airplane. But his band was not treated so well–they’d travel together in a single bus, stay in cut-rate hotels, and obey James Brown.

James Brown was hard working, but he didn’t treat his band well.

I grew up in Atlanta which was pretty much his home, and most of the shit he pulled was there, but you know, it was James Brown… Whenever he got arrested no one really cared (this is the bible belt), they just said its the godfather of soul.

And as for him living the life and his employees not?? We really did not care since he did a tremendous amount of local charity support. You could always count on him manning the soup kitchens when needed, raising money for the community, you name it, he was actually a wonderful man.

And when he screwed up he didn’t try to lie and get out of it, he would admit his mistakes, and sometimes do them again. However, like I said he did a lot for the city of Atlanta and many other cities in the states.

(please excuse the poor writing. I have been been working all day and about 12 under now listening to the Godfather of soul)

I’m not going to listen to it because it’s an monstrously overplayed piece of idiotic crap. Geezeus, do they have to play the damn tune at every single American football game? I got sick of it years before he was outed as a ped. I doubt Glitter’s going to sell out any stadiums because he’s a washed up one or two hit wonder 30 years ago whose music is gobshite. Not because he’s a pedophile.

I don’t listen to Sid Vicious, either. I prefer the songs written by a guy named Glen Matlock. Sid’s contribution to the Sex Pistols was nil. He never learned how to play bass and he wasn’t even plugged in half the time the band played live.

I still listen to Sam & Dave, even though Dave shot his wife. After that incident, Sam said that he’d keep on singing with Dave, but never speak to him again - and he kept his vow. Sam & Dave toured for many years together, but the only time they so much as looked at each was when they hit the stage.

Frank Sinatra was a mafioso goon. Jerry Lee Lewis was a incestous pedophile. Chuck Berry secretly videotaped women taking a poop in the public toilets. So what?