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Transcript

James Brown: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag... Of Meth · DISGRACELAND

0:00
Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis.
0:15
Speaker 2: The stories about soul singer James Brown are insane. Notorious
0:20
Speaker 2: for finding his band members for dropping beats and for
0:24
Speaker 2: firing them for dropping acid. He himself would later mix
0:28
Speaker 2: his angel dust in with his cream corn for breakfast.
0:32
Speaker 2: He once took his shotgun and blasted up a juke
0:35
Speaker 2: joint in an attempt to murder fellow soul singer Joe
0:38
Speaker 2: tex injuring seven people in the process. When Elvis Presley died,
0:44
Speaker 2: James Brown requested and received a private viewing of the body,
0:48
Speaker 2: where he kneeled over and whispered to the dearly departed King, Elvis,
0:53
Speaker 2: you rat I ain't number two no more. The myth
0:57
Speaker 2: surrounding the birth of James Brown is that he was
0:59
Speaker 2: a stillborn baby but worked so hard that he overcame
1:03
Speaker 2: the impossible, and then applied the same work ethic to
1:07
Speaker 2: overcome the soul crushing poverty he grew up in to
1:10
Speaker 2: become America's soul brother number one. Coming from nothing, he
1:14
Speaker 2: worked his supernatural talent hard and took it as far
1:17
Speaker 2: as he could take it to the top, becoming one,
1:20
Speaker 2: if not the most successful musicians of all time. It
1:25
Speaker 2: goes without saying that James Brown made great music, some
1:29
Speaker 2: of the greatest music ever made. In fact, that music
1:32
Speaker 2: at the top of the show that wasn't great music.
1:35
Speaker 2: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Samba
1:38
Speaker 2: Organ six' eight LOW mk. TWO i played you that
1:43
Speaker 2: loop BECAUSE i can't afford the license For Don't Worry
1:47
Speaker 2: Be happy By bobby. McFerrin and why WOULD i play
1:50
Speaker 2: you that specific slice of inspirational a cappella? Cheese COULD
1:54
Speaker 2: i afford? It because that was the number one song
1:58
Speaker 2: In america On september twenty, four nineteen eighty. Eight and
2:02
Speaker 2: that was the day That James, brown with his shotgun
2:05
Speaker 2: at his side and high as A georgia, pine took
2:08
Speaker 2: authorities on a WILD pcp induced high speed chase across interstate,
2:13
Speaker 2: lines kicking off what would become the last chapter of
2:17
Speaker 2: his wildly entertaining. Career on this the last episode Of
2:22
Speaker 2: Disgraceland season, One angel dusted cream, Corn Samba, organs inspirational
2:28
Speaker 2: a cappella, cheese a high speed, chase and the hardest
2:32
Speaker 2: working man in show, Business James. Brown I'm Jake, brennan
2:37
Speaker 2: and this Is disgraceland. Time. Off time off was hard
2:57
Speaker 2: for the hardest working man in show. Business James brown
3:01
Speaker 2: hated not. Working he hated time, off nothing to do
3:06
Speaker 2: except get high and fight With. Adrian adrian wasn't around this,
3:10
Speaker 2: morning thank, god so Mister brown sat in his truck,
3:14
Speaker 2: alone sweating in a Black adidas. Tracksuit THE pcp he'd
3:19
Speaker 2: smoked for breakfast had him on, edge so he was
3:22
Speaker 2: rolling a joint to help level him. Out bobby McFerrin's
3:26
Speaker 2: Don't Worry Be happy was threatening to make his way
3:28
Speaker 2: through the static on the PICKUPS fm. Dial he hated the,
3:32
Speaker 2: song but his hands were too preoccupied with the weed
3:35
Speaker 2: to deal with the tuner at the. Moment Don't Worry Be?
3:39
Speaker 2: Happy how are you going to write a song like
3:41
Speaker 2: that and wake up every morning and look at yourself
3:43
Speaker 2: in the? Mirror in nineteen eighty, eight For James, brown
3:47
Speaker 2: there was a lot to worry about and little to
3:50
Speaker 2: be happy. For as arguably the most successful black entertainer
3:54
Speaker 2: of all, time one, of if not the most influential
3:57
Speaker 2: musicians of all, time was fifty five five years, old,
4:01
Speaker 2: broke strung, out losing his, teeth and having a hard
4:04
Speaker 2: time doing what he was put on this earth to
4:06
Speaker 2: do to. Work it Was saturday morning In, Augusta. Georgia
4:12
Speaker 2: everyone was out running, errands which meant nobody was at
4:15
Speaker 2: Mister brown's, office which meant it was a perfect time
4:19
Speaker 2: and place for. Privacy but even the weekend had its.
4:23
Speaker 2: Complications Mister brown kept a business office In, augusta a single,
4:28
Speaker 2: level nondescript roadside strip mall space that he rented out
4:32
Speaker 2: to local businesses and also used as an excuse to
4:35
Speaker 2: get away from his. Wife for some reason beyond his,
4:39
Speaker 2: comprehension his office had been overrun that morning by a
4:43
Speaker 2: bunch of, herbs white dudes in khaki pants and running,
4:46
Speaker 2: shoes bad, ties and cheap. Frames it was an insurance,
4:50
Speaker 2: seminar some, nonsense a bunch of pencil, knicks no. Class
4:54
Speaker 2: but Mister brown admired the. Hustle a seminar on A,
4:58
Speaker 2: saturday hailed to the work. Man still they were messing
5:03
Speaker 2: with his. Plans it used to be, that no matter
5:07
Speaker 2: what the, complication If James brown wanted something, done there
5:11
Speaker 2: was someone at arm's length on salary to take care of.
5:14
Speaker 2: It but that wasn't the case these. Days by nineteen eighty,
5:18
Speaker 2: eight tax issues and declining ticket sales forced Mister brown
5:21
Speaker 2: to cut. Back no more private, jets no more personal,
5:25
Speaker 2: hairdressers no more, bagmen and no more muscle to sort
5:29
Speaker 2: out life's little. Annoyances for. Him it had been years
5:33
Speaker 2: since Mister brown Cut Baby james And Henry stallings. Loose
5:37
Speaker 2: both men were part of his security, team or what
5:39
Speaker 2: he called his hit. Squad big, men capable, men able
5:44
Speaker 2: to take on all. Comers he regretted cutting them, loose
5:48
Speaker 2: especially this. Morning henry would have this mess in hand
5:51
Speaker 2: in no, time And Baby, james, well he'd kill for.
5:55
Speaker 2: Less Mister brown remembered them, fondly particularly a night Back
6:00
Speaker 2: harlem not too long, ago when their unique skill sets
6:03
Speaker 2: were put to use and allowed the hardest working man
6:05
Speaker 2: in show business to do what he was put on
6:07
Speaker 2: this earth to. Do to go to. Work, jimmy the
6:28
Speaker 2: voice crackled over the backstage phone At Harlem's Apollo, theater
6:32
Speaker 2: the accent a mix of old School italian in nineteen Seventies, Brooklyn,
6:36
Speaker 2: jimmy we know you like your bags of. Money. Jimmy
6:39
Speaker 2: we're gonna send a couple guys down with thirty large
6:42
Speaker 2: buy some new suits for the. Band get a suite
6:44
Speaker 2: at the plaza and stay. Awhile they called Him Jimmy.
6:49
Speaker 2: Punks everyone, else even The president of The United states
6:52
Speaker 2: Of america called him Mister. Brown quote Unquote jimmy hated
6:57
Speaker 2: these guys they called or came around every time Mister
7:00
Speaker 2: brown came Through New york always wanted to just give him,
7:04
Speaker 2: money but he knew what that meant alone from the,
7:07
Speaker 2: mob and then they owned you back in the, sixties
7:10
Speaker 2: he had to humor them and politely. Refuse James brown
7:14
Speaker 2: didn't need anyone's, money especially not a white. Man's he
7:17
Speaker 2: was bank growing himself in debt to no. One but
7:23
Speaker 2: in the late, seventies The italian mafia's grip On manhattan
7:26
Speaker 2: was more powerful than, ever so Mister brown took the
7:29
Speaker 2: telephone call out of obligation and also on the advice
7:33
Speaker 2: of his quote unquote new, son the young man From, Brownsville,
7:37
Speaker 2: brooklyn by way Of Queen's Reverend Al. Sharpton The rev
7:41
Speaker 2: as he was, called told him he had to at
7:43
Speaker 2: least hear the wise guys. Out Young Al sharpton knew
7:47
Speaker 2: exactly what was up In New York, city which was
7:50
Speaker 2: in part Why James brown kept him. Around he liked
7:53
Speaker 2: young people who knew what he did. Not, plus the
7:56
Speaker 2: rev would do anything for Mister. Brown he was the
7:59
Speaker 2: dad he never had. It James brown sat on the
8:02
Speaker 2: phone and stared at the walls. Backstage he loved this old,
8:07
Speaker 2: theater the scene of one of his greatest. Triumphs his
8:10
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty Three live at The apollo was one of
8:13
Speaker 2: the greatest selling live albums of all. Time he'd be
8:16
Speaker 2: hard pressed to find a black household In america that
8:18
Speaker 2: didn't have a copy filed away next to the family record.
8:21
Speaker 2: Player but, man these, days backstage at The apollo was
8:26
Speaker 2: a rat. Hole, nonetheless Mister brown built this. Place he'd
8:31
Speaker 2: be damned if he was going to be extorted by
8:33
Speaker 2: some goon for the opportunity to work at The, apollo
8:36
Speaker 2: of all. Places, insulted it was zero patience, left Mister
8:40
Speaker 2: brown cut to the. Quick, LISTEN i don't need your.
8:44
Speaker 2: MONEY i never needed your. Money NOW i gotta, GO
8:46
Speaker 2: i gotta go do my. Thing the voice on the
8:49
Speaker 2: other end of the line grew. Tense now you listen to, Me.
8:52
Speaker 2: Jimmy we know you get the irs all over. You
8:55
Speaker 2: we know you're burying cash in your backyard and the
8:57
Speaker 2: squirrels are eating and faster than the little fatty Sh
9:00
Speaker 2: sharpton works the buffet. Table we know you got x
9:02
Speaker 2: ys coming out of your ass threatening to. Sue we
9:05
Speaker 2: know you ain't selling tickets like you used. To now
9:07
Speaker 2: take the goddamn, Money. Jimmy if you, don't our guys
9:10
Speaker 2: ain't gonna bring. Cash they're gonna bring bags of rats
9:12
Speaker 2: and let them loose throughout the apollo during a. Show
9:15
Speaker 2: how do you like? That Mister brown just hung. Up
9:19
Speaker 2: any other performer would have called THE fbi or, worse
9:22
Speaker 2: taken the. Money but Mister brown wouldn't back. Down he
9:25
Speaker 2: knew what to. Do how could he? Not years earlier
9:29
Speaker 2: he got his start on The chipman, circuit a Post
9:33
Speaker 2: World war two rhythm and blues concert circuit that existed
9:36
Speaker 2: almost entirely outside of the. Law the practically invented vice
9:41
Speaker 2: that was built on the back of the numbers, racket
9:44
Speaker 2: a tight network of black owned nightclubs that existed only
9:47
Speaker 2: but for the grace of bribed white, politicians where women
9:51
Speaker 2: of ill repute with names Like, Caledonia Short Fat fanny
9:55
Speaker 2: And Long tall sally inspired men Named Louis, Jordan Larry
9:59
Speaker 2: williams and Little richard to immortalize them in. Song richard's
10:04
Speaker 2: inspiration being second, hand of, course dice, parlors dance, halls,
10:10
Speaker 2: bootleggers and great live music by some of the, greatest
10:13
Speaker 2: most consequential musicians In american. HISTORY. B. B, King Ike,
10:18
Speaker 2: Turner John Lee, hooker and countless other rock and roll
10:22
Speaker 2: pioneers cut their teeth on The chitlin. Circuit this is
10:26
Speaker 2: where bandleaders went to. College no textbooks, required just bagman and.
10:31
Speaker 2: Muscle the circuit was so corrupt and violent the getting
10:36
Speaker 2: paid at the end of the, night if you got
10:37
Speaker 2: paid at, all was to take your life into your own.
10:40
Speaker 2: Hands to get, paid you needed three. Things number, one
10:45
Speaker 2: a thirty eight caliber pistol in the willingness to use
10:48
Speaker 2: it and show the steal, subtly maybe shift it casually
10:52
Speaker 2: from under one side of your belt strap to the
10:54
Speaker 2: other one negotiating the terms of your. Payment number, two
10:59
Speaker 2: a dude on your, pay big enough to demand half
11:01
Speaker 2: your feet up front before the, show in a, bag
11:05
Speaker 2: preferably a dirty one with grease, stains made to look
11:08
Speaker 2: like nothing more than a greasy sack of fried. Food and,
11:12
Speaker 2: finally the third thing you needed was to give off
11:15
Speaker 2: the vibe that you just didn't, care didn't care if
11:19
Speaker 2: you got, cut didn't care if you got, shot didn't
11:22
Speaker 2: care if you, lived and didn't care if you. Died
11:26
Speaker 2: it was the foundation that the rock and roll ethos
11:29
Speaker 2: just built upon not giving a single. Fuck the only
11:35
Speaker 2: way to stay alive was to, intimidate and to intimidate
11:38
Speaker 2: you had to be nutty enough to not. Care all
11:41
Speaker 2: you cared about was getting paid and going to. Work
11:45
Speaker 2: despite his success after The Chitlin, Circuit James brown never
11:49
Speaker 2: forgot this. Lesson so that night In, harlem with his
11:54
Speaker 2: livelihood in The Apollo, theater under the threat with the
11:57
Speaker 2: mafia with their bags of, rats mister dispatched his own
12:01
Speaker 2: hit squad into the crowd to keep an eye out
12:03
Speaker 2: and to discourage any wise guy. Hijinks Baby james spotted
12:08
Speaker 2: Some shannana looking dude skulking along the back wall with
12:11
Speaker 2: a big bulge under his, jacket out of, place it
12:15
Speaker 2: with a style that was fifteen years out of, fashion
12:17
Speaker 2: and not paying any attention to anyone else in the,
12:20
Speaker 2: building just moving slowly like a creep along the back
12:24
Speaker 2: wall of the. Theater before he knew, it he was
12:28
Speaker 2: swept up under each arm by what had to be
12:30
Speaker 2: mountains posing his. Men. Shannanana dude had no idea what was.
12:34
Speaker 2: Happening he was being moved. FAST a hand on the
12:37
Speaker 2: back of his greasy head pushed his face into two exit.
12:40
Speaker 2: Doors the doors opened and he was, airborne thrown out
12:43
Speaker 2: of the theater and into the. Alley he landed hard
12:46
Speaker 2: face first stars under his, eyelids rats scurrying out from
12:50
Speaker 2: the bag at his side and off through the. Alley
12:53
Speaker 2: he heard a sudden roar from the crowd from inside
12:56
Speaker 2: The apollo as the hardest working man in show, business
12:59
Speaker 2: without any one getting in his, way started to do
13:02
Speaker 2: what he was put on this earth to. Do. Work so,
13:06
Speaker 2: now ladies and, gentlemen it is star. Time are you
13:09
Speaker 2: ready for star? Time we'll be right back after this,
13:13
Speaker 2: word word. Word James brown was the hardest working man
13:19
Speaker 2: in show, business and that work was paying. Off he
13:22
Speaker 2: was a, millionaire had his own jet fur, coat a
13:25
Speaker 2: new stetson for every day of the. WEEK a traveling,
13:28
Speaker 2: hairstylist his records flew off the shells and into black
13:32
Speaker 2: and white homes. Alike he played upwards of three hundred
13:35
Speaker 2: and sixty dates a year with multiple shows a, day
13:38
Speaker 2: and his appearances demanded tens of thousands of dollars in.
13:42
Speaker 2: Fees and beyond the, money he had influence To African
13:47
Speaker 2: americans young and. Old he was an example of The american,
13:50
Speaker 2: dream a real life rags to riches's story with supernatural,
13:54
Speaker 2: talent and by the late, Sixties James brown had positioned
13:58
Speaker 2: himself at great risk to his own personal wealth and
14:02
Speaker 2: standing at the center of The black power. Movement James
14:05
Speaker 2: brown invested his money in black, businesses black, neighborhoods and
14:09
Speaker 2: invested his time into black. Causes his Hit Say It,
14:13
Speaker 2: Loud I'm black And I'm proud in nineteen sixty Eight
14:16
Speaker 2: america literally changed the country's social. Dynamic all of a,
14:21
Speaker 2: sudden Young African americans were proudly embracing their heritage and
14:26
Speaker 2: like Mister, brown growing their hair out for that natural
14:29
Speaker 2: look and leaving behind the white influenced rebel without a,
14:32
Speaker 2: cause processed. Pomp And he did all this while at
14:36
Speaker 2: the height of his musical powers with his bands The
14:38
Speaker 2: Famous flames and then THE. Jbs James brown wouldn't just
14:42
Speaker 2: challenge musical, genres he would invent. Them soul out of
14:46
Speaker 2: necessity funk on purpose and hip hop as a matter of.
14:50
Speaker 2: Influence but by the seventies success was starting to. Slip
14:56
Speaker 2: the irs was in relentless pursuit of his unreported. Millions
15:00
Speaker 2: President Richard nixon had managed to get Mister brown's tax
15:03
Speaker 2: charges bounced down from criminal to civil, court but it wasn't.
15:07
Speaker 2: Enough the taxmen do take their, bite And nixon's affiliation
15:11
Speaker 2: had the added disadvantage of alienating a large part Of
15:14
Speaker 2: James brown's black. Audience James brown would never come to
15:18
Speaker 2: understand why he Supported, nixon Because nixon believed in self,
15:23
Speaker 2: reliance in socioeconomic, independence the very ideas That James brown
15:28
Speaker 2: saw as keys to his own, success a sentiment that
15:31
Speaker 2: in the late eighties suddenly had new meaning compared to
15:34
Speaker 2: when it was written in nineteen. Seventy without salaried, muscle
15:39
Speaker 2: getting it himself was the only. Option so on the
15:44
Speaker 2: morning Of september twenty, fourth nineteen eighty, Eight James, brown
15:48
Speaker 2: high ON pcp and, weed grabbed the shotgun out of
15:52
Speaker 2: his pickup truck and opened the door of the office
15:54
Speaker 2: adjacent to his an office full of white insurance men
15:57
Speaker 2: and women who quickly grew terrified of this wild eyed
16:01
Speaker 2: past his, prime high as holy. Hell shotgun Wielding black
16:05
Speaker 2: power Superstar James, brown The godfather Of soul, himself stood before, them, pacing,
16:12
Speaker 2: sweating taking turns between sternly lecturing them and laughing to
16:16
Speaker 2: himself at some joke that apparently only he was in.
16:19
Speaker 2: On he waved the shotgun around as he. Spoke the
16:22
Speaker 2: herbs were. Terrified he was growing more and more, angry
16:26
Speaker 2: but at What it wasn't entirely, Clear something about someone
16:29
Speaker 2: using his bathroom or office without. Permission didn't they know
16:33
Speaker 2: it was rude to use another man's. Commode why'd they
16:36
Speaker 2: have to invade his? Privacy didn't their parents teach them any?
16:39
Speaker 2: Manners James brown was practically raised by, wolves but he
16:43
Speaker 2: knew better than to mess with another man's, privacy especially
16:46
Speaker 2: on his day. Off then he heard the. Sirens somehow
16:51
Speaker 2: someone managed to call the. Cops James brown knew instinctively
16:55
Speaker 2: that despite whatever celebrity status he still, had he was
16:59
Speaker 2: still a black man in The south who was waving
17:01
Speaker 2: a shotgun around at a bunch of white. People time
17:05
Speaker 2: to get on the good foot and. Bounce James brown
17:10
Speaker 2: high tailed it out of the, office shotgun in, hand
17:12
Speaker 2: jumped into his pickup and squealed out of the parking
17:14
Speaker 2: lot and out onto the. Highway the sirens grew. Louder
17:17
Speaker 2: he could see them in his rear. View hot. Damn
17:20
Speaker 2: how many police cars did they have in this? County
17:22
Speaker 2: whatever the, number they all seemed to be in pursuit
17:25
Speaker 2: of him at this. Moment god damn. It bobby McFerrin
17:28
Speaker 2: was back on the radio with that ridiculous. Song how
17:31
Speaker 2: many times a day could they play this? Garbage in
17:34
Speaker 2: every life we have some, trouble but when you, worry
17:37
Speaker 2: we make it. Double Mister brown punched the, Tuner bye, Bye.
17:42
Speaker 2: Bobby another peek in the rear. View more. Cruisers this was.
17:46
Speaker 2: Bad where was he? Going he didn't know just the
17:49
Speaker 2: way away from this? Madness what? Happened how would it
17:53
Speaker 2: come to this constant, Drama the fighting With, adrian the flailing,
17:58
Speaker 2: career the. DRUGS i, mean he was clean most of his.
18:01
Speaker 2: Life he Fired Bootsy collins for TAKING. Lsd and now
18:06
Speaker 2: here he was SWEATING pcp through His adidas, tracksuit teeth
18:10
Speaker 2: rotting out of his, head arthritic, legs in bad need
18:13
Speaker 2: of another joint to cool him, out and in a
18:16
Speaker 2: high speed car chase with a bunch of good old
18:18
Speaker 2: boys and a loaded shotgun at his. Side something had
18:22
Speaker 2: to give and, quick or he was likely to be
18:24
Speaker 2: ventilated by one of those new police issue clock. Nineteens
18:29
Speaker 2: Mister brown gunned it and took. Off now more cops
18:33
Speaker 2: on his, tail and up ahead a makeshift roadblock with
18:36
Speaker 2: Two state troopers standing in the middle of the, road legs,
18:39
Speaker 2: spread guns, drawn pointing straight at Mister brown in his
18:43
Speaker 2: fast approaching. Pickup he pinned the gas pedal as hard
18:46
Speaker 2: as he, could pain shooting straight up his arthritic leg
18:49
Speaker 2: as he set off straight toward the two, troopers who quickly,
18:52
Speaker 2: parted one to the left and one to the. Right
18:55
Speaker 2: as Mister dynamite sped right through the middle of, them
18:58
Speaker 2: they turned and took, aim the bullets now pierced the
19:01
Speaker 2: body of the racing. Pickup more cops in the rear.
19:03
Speaker 2: View it was like a Goddamn dixie police. Parade up,
19:07
Speaker 2: ahead another rope, block this one with two cruisers in
19:10
Speaker 2: the middle of the, road their grills kissing one. Another,
19:13
Speaker 2: again troopers in the middle of the, street fixed in
19:16
Speaker 2: a shooting, stance arms, outstretched glocks trained on the. Pickup
19:20
Speaker 2: fear racing through their. Veins don't you fucking do? It
19:24
Speaker 2: don't you speed? Up but that's exactly What James brown.
19:27
Speaker 2: Did covered in, sweat with his angel dusted head hovering
19:31
Speaker 2: high above the turpentine, trees Mister brown pinned the. Pedal
19:35
Speaker 2: THE v eight wound itself into a. Row god damned
19:38
Speaker 2: with one four on the floor and faster than The
19:41
Speaker 2: Breakneck flames version Of think From live at The, Apollo
19:44
Speaker 2: James brown rocketed through the rope, block parting the, cruisers
19:47
Speaker 2: destroying the police barricade and sending the good old boys
19:50
Speaker 2: diving to safety along the. Roadside James brown screamed as
19:54
Speaker 2: he drove. Away for a, moment the adrenaline rivaled the
19:58
Speaker 2: feeling he had on, stage ailing was quickly dashed by
20:01
Speaker 2: the sound of bullets riddling his. Pickup Bomb rushing the
20:05
Speaker 2: barricade meant all bets were. Off the troopers were pissed
20:08
Speaker 2: and began firing off rounds hanging out of the windows
20:11
Speaker 2: when they're pursuing cruisers and Mister brown was taking. Shots
20:15
Speaker 2: his tires were, shot his truck slowed from breakneck famous
20:19
Speaker 2: flame speed to. Broke Dick bobby mcfarren's feed and he was.
20:24
Speaker 2: Scared now these white boys were gonna kill, him no
20:27
Speaker 2: doubt about. It he kept the truck rolling slowly but,
20:30
Speaker 2: surely and eventually over the state line Into South carolina
20:35
Speaker 2: and then back over the line Into, georgia where he
20:37
Speaker 2: eventually came to a, stop ending the. Pursuit damn it
20:44
Speaker 2: now What James brown tried to do what he did
20:47
Speaker 2: best Entertain he got out of the, truck slowly but,
20:52
Speaker 2: loudly singing the words To Ray Charles, georgia and then
20:55
Speaker 2: started in on his famous goodfoot. Dance the troopers were not.
20:59
Speaker 2: IMPRESSED a plain closed cop came out of nowhere and
21:03
Speaker 2: violently brought his fists crashing down into the side Of
21:05
Speaker 2: James brown's. FACE a cheap shot and a painful, one
21:10
Speaker 2: but it ended the. Incident Good. God Mister brown was
21:15
Speaker 2: taken into custody and released almost immediately on, bill and
21:19
Speaker 2: within twenty four hours he would be arrested again for
21:22
Speaker 2: driving under the influence OF. Pcp think about the good
21:42
Speaker 2: things and think about the wrong. Things prisoner number one
21:46
Speaker 2: five five four one three had a lot of time
21:49
Speaker 2: to think twelve and a half. Years as a matter of,
21:52
Speaker 2: fact six In, georgia and then another six and a
21:55
Speaker 2: half In South. Carolina he served half his time before being,
21:59
Speaker 2: paroled but could have avoided prison altogether had he pleaded
22:02
Speaker 2: guilty to the drug charges and gone to rehab, instead
22:06
Speaker 2: but that was a non. Starter prison For James brown
22:10
Speaker 2: was preferable to. Rehab rehab meant admitting that you had
22:14
Speaker 2: a problem and that you were, weak and For James,
22:17
Speaker 2: brown admitting weakness wasn't an. Option not when you're born
22:22
Speaker 2: into crushing poverty in a dirt floor shack in The
22:25
Speaker 2: Jim Crow, south to a mother who had abandon you
22:28
Speaker 2: at four and a father who had split five years,
22:31
Speaker 2: later leaving you at the age of nine to be
22:34
Speaker 2: raised in a whorehouse by your prostitute. Aunt. Honey, Yeah
22:39
Speaker 2: James brown knew how to. Survive given his, violent neglected.
22:43
Speaker 2: Upbringing it's very difficult to reconcile the man with the
22:46
Speaker 2: crimes he, committed and man that he'd do some bad,
22:50
Speaker 2: shit super. Bad his transgressions were as offensive as his
22:54
Speaker 2: talent was. Immense the book On James brown goes something like.
22:58
Speaker 2: This in nineteen forty, nine at age, sixteen he was
23:03
Speaker 2: convicted of grand theft and served three. Years during His
23:07
Speaker 2: chitten circuit, days he tried murdering RIVAL r AND b
23:10
Speaker 2: Singer Joe tex after stealing his, Wife James brown entered
23:14
Speaker 2: a juke joint Where Otis redding and The Pine toppers
23:17
Speaker 2: were on, stage and with a shotgun opened fire On,
23:21
Speaker 2: texts who was seated at a. Table texts went, unharmed
23:24
Speaker 2: but seven people were wounded in the crossfire and subsequently
23:28
Speaker 2: paid off by Mister brown to keep their mouth. Shut
23:31
Speaker 2: throughout his, life he openly abused girlfriends and, wives most
23:36
Speaker 2: notably Singer Tammy, terrell who he beat. Savagely he allegedly
23:41
Speaker 2: once repeatedly hit her in the head with a. Hammer
23:43
Speaker 2: terrell eventually collapsed on stage while singing With marvin Gay.
23:48
Speaker 2: As she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died shortly.
23:51
Speaker 2: After between nineteen eighty seven and nineteen ninety, five his
23:56
Speaker 2: then Wife adrian had him arrested four times for domestic,
24:00
Speaker 2: abuse and in the year two, thousand police showed up
24:04
Speaker 2: at his door to investigate a charge by a local
24:06
Speaker 2: electric company worker who claimed Mister brown had attacked him
24:10
Speaker 2: with a stake. Knife domestic abuse charges would plague him
24:14
Speaker 2: for the remainder of his. Life until his death On
24:16
Speaker 2: Christmas day in two thousand and six of congestive heart.
24:19
Speaker 2: Failure James brown saw abuse as something to be, endured
24:25
Speaker 2: whether you were a man or a, woman and whether
24:28
Speaker 2: you were on the giving or receiving, end because the
24:30
Speaker 2: beatings he witnessed and received as a young boy left,
24:33
Speaker 2: scars defining, scars and it was. Horrifying as a nine
24:38
Speaker 2: year old, boy he was hung upside down in a
24:41
Speaker 2: gunnysack and beat mercilessly with a belt by his Aunt.
24:45
Speaker 2: Honey growing up in a, whorehouse he regularly took beatings
24:49
Speaker 2: from Drunk john's and watched as they abused the prostitutes
24:52
Speaker 2: who roomed with him a nine year. Old these were
24:55
Speaker 2: his formative. Years it doesn't excuse, anything don't get me,
24:59
Speaker 2: wrong but it does help Explain James brown's emotional. Wiring
25:04
Speaker 2: when he bounced out of prison at age, nineteen he
25:06
Speaker 2: instinctively knew that work was going to be the only
25:09
Speaker 2: thing that would save, him and music was the only
25:12
Speaker 2: semi respectable work he knew how to, do so he
25:16
Speaker 2: made it happen with zero. Resources brown's first, band The Gospel,
25:21
Speaker 2: starlighters With Bobby, byrd performed their first shows without, instruments,
25:26
Speaker 2: literally no, instruments without. Drums they stomped the beat on
25:30
Speaker 2: floorboards without. Guitars they whistled riffs all while they sang with, passion,
25:36
Speaker 2: commitment and. Drive it was all they had at age,
25:41
Speaker 2: Nineteen James brown was a five foot six, inch dark
25:44
Speaker 2: Skinned African american ex con who broke into the music
25:48
Speaker 2: business and bent it to his, will becoming the most
25:51
Speaker 2: influential black musician of all. Time and he did it
25:54
Speaker 2: on his own through the power of his work. Ethic
25:58
Speaker 2: unlike subjects covered in past episodes of this, Show James
26:02
Speaker 2: brown wasn't good looking Like Sam. Cook he wasn't white
26:05
Speaker 2: Like Jerry Lee. Lewis he didn't have a powerful church
26:08
Speaker 2: looking out for him Like. Beck he had zero, advantages.
26:12
Speaker 2: Zero all he had was his, will his supernatural, talent
26:16
Speaker 2: and his undeniable work, ethic which is why when the
26:19
Speaker 2: work dried up in the, eighties his world came crumbling
26:22
Speaker 2: down around. Him without, work there really was. Nothing the
26:27
Speaker 2: work kept him, sane kept him on the run from.
26:30
Speaker 2: Himself without, work without the daily opportunity to showcase his,
26:34
Speaker 2: talent to show the world that he wasn't just another
26:37
Speaker 2: ordinary dude from the backwoods Of. Georgia there was nothing but, DEMONS,
26:41
Speaker 2: pcp beatings or. WORSE i started this. PODCAST i Started
26:47
Speaker 2: disgraceland to try and figure out what it was that
26:50
Speaker 2: makes rock stars so fucking crazy and so. Entertaining you
26:55
Speaker 2: can draw a straight line from one to the, other
26:57
Speaker 2: from crazy to. Entertaining Rock stars are wired. Differently they
27:03
Speaker 2: aren't like, You. Ori Rock stars are more like, feral
27:06
Speaker 2: narcissistic animals than functioning members of. Society and this is
27:11
Speaker 2: precisely what makes them so damn. Entertaining that, wildness that
27:16
Speaker 2: craziness almost always has something to do with their traumatic.
27:20
Speaker 2: Upbringings and it's hard to find a better example of
27:23
Speaker 2: this than the star who is nationally and internationally known
27:26
Speaker 2: as the hardest working man in show. Business the man that's,
27:30
Speaker 2: SAYING i go, crazy try, me you got the, power
27:35
Speaker 2: think if you want, ME i don't. Mind bewildered million dollar,
27:42
Speaker 2: sellar lost someone the very greatest Release. Nitrate it's everybody's
27:48
Speaker 2: shout and, shimmy Mister, dynamite the amazing mister please please,
27:53
Speaker 2: himself the star of the. Show James brown and The Famous.
27:57
Speaker 2: Flames i'm J brennan and this Is. Disgraceland disgraceland was
28:10
Speaker 2: created By Yours truly and is produced in partnership With Double.
28:13
Speaker 2: Elvis credits for this episode can be found on the
28:16
Speaker 2: show notes page at disgracelampod dot. Com if you're listening
28:20
Speaker 2: as A Disgraceland All access, member thank you for supporting the.
28:23
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28:50
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