James Brown

USA, 1956–2006

American singer and bandleader, known as the Godfather of Soul. His shift from song form to rhythmic vamp in the mid-1960s reorganised soul into funk and supplied much of the raw material later sampled in hip-hop.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced James Brown and 38 artists James Brown influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced James Brown?

• Louis Jordan — Brown named Louis Jordan his first idol — 'Caldonia' was the first song he performed publicly.
• Little Richard — Brown's early career shadowed Richard directly — he fronted Richard's band The Upsetters when Richard quit rock and roll in 1957.
• Little Willie John — James Brown idolised Little Willie John, citing him as one of his major influences and recording a tribute album to him — John's impassioned delivery shaped Brown's soul.

Which artists did James Brown influence?

• Toots and the Maytals — James Brown's funk and showmanship were among the American influences Toots Hibbert named on his reggae-soul sound.
• Usher — James Brown's footwork and command of a live band feed Usher's dancing and his sense of a show as a routine rather than a recital.
• Bruno Mars — James Brown's funk and dynamic stagecraft are a foundation of Mars's retro-soul revue.
• Kool and the Gang — Kool and the Gang's raw early-'70s grooves came out of the funk James Brown pioneered, filtered through their jazz training.
• Nile Rodgers — Rodgers built his signature 'chucking' rhythm-guitar style on the funk vocabulary of James Brown's guitarist Jimmy Nolen.
• KC and the Sunshine Band — KC and the Sunshine Band's horn-driven party grooves are rooted directly in James Brown's funk.
• Sly and the Family Stone — James Brown is the funk foundation that Sly Stone took and radically exploded into psychedelic soul.
• The Temptations — James Brown's funky psychedelic soul directly shaped The Temptations' later Norman Whitfield productions.
• The Who — Townshend cited James Brown as his primary rhythmic influence.
• DJ Kool Herc — James Brown was Herc's major influence — he built hip-hop by isolating and looping the hard funk breaks of Brown's records, the drum sections that drove the dancefloor.
• Kurtis Blow — James Brown's funk breaks were the raw material of the block-party sound Kurtis Blow rapped over.
• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — The hard funk records — James Brown foremost — were the breaks Flash cut and looped into hip-hop rhythm.
• Beastie Boys — James Brown's funk breaks were foundational raw material for the Beastie Boys' rhythm and sampling.
• The Allman Brothers Band — Duane Allman was a devotee of James Brown — the funk rhythmic drive beneath the band's groove (Duane's session work at FAME steeped him in it).
• Prince — James Brown's funk was Prince's foundation — the rhythmic drive and showmanship at the core of his Minneapolis sound.
• Michael Jackson — Jackson called Brown 'the greatest entertainer who ever lived' and built his entire dance vocabulary and stage approach around him.
• Fela Kuti — James Brown was decisive for Fela - as innovator, bandleader and personality. Afrobeat is Brown's funk rebuilt on Yoruba rhythm and stretched to fill a whole side.
• Parliament-Funkadelic — James Brown was the funk rhythmic foundation on which Clinton built Funkadelic's psychedelic superstructure.
• Chic — Brown's rhythmic architecture is the documented foundation of the Chic groove Rodgers and Edwards built.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers — James Brown's rhythmic funk is foundational to Flea's slap bass and the band's groove — named among their core influences.
• Public Enemy — Brown is the most-sampled artist in Public Enemy's catalogue — the Bomb Squad built its wall from his breaks, 'Funky Drummer' first of all.
• Aerosmith — Early Aerosmith sets covered James Brown's 'Mother Popcorn' — the funk undercurrent Tyler cites beneath 'Walk This Way'.
• Talking Heads — James Brown's funk was foundational to Byrne's rhythmic vocabulary — named directly among the band's core listening.
• Can — Liebezeit's endless groove was Can's declared rhythmic north — Brown's funk machine turned into trance.
• Teddy Riley — Riley described new jack swing as a dream of James Brown and Michael Jackson on one record - Brown supplying the raw funk energy he built the drums around.
• DJ Premier — James Brown's breaks are the raw material of the boom-bap Premier inherited and sharpened.
• Pete Rock — James Brown is the record collection at the bottom of Pete Rock's production - the drums and horn stabs he cut his loops from.
• Marley Marl — Marley Marl built his revolution on James Brown records - the breaks he sampled into the first modern hip-hop drum sound.
• The Jackson 5 — The Jackson 5's dance routines were built on James Brown's footwork — a young Michael studied and reproduced Brown's moves and vocal punctuation.
• N.W.A — James Brown's funk breaks were core sampling material for N.W.A's productions, the rhythmic bedrock of their tracks.
• Isaac Hayes — James Brown's funk drive fed the rhythmic foundation of Hayes's Stax productions.
• John Mellencamp — James Brown's funk grit is a stated influence on Mellencamp's rhythmic drive.
• Average White Band — James Brown's funk is the direct model for Average White Band — Brown even answered their hit 'Pick Up the Pieces' with his own version, a mark of how close they came to his sound.
• Commodores — James Brown's rhythmic funk underlies the tight, punchy grooves of Commodores tracks like 'Brick House'.
• Candy Dulfer — The hard funk of James Brown — the school Maceo Parker came from — is the rhythmic foundation of Dulfer's danceable, R&B-inflected jazz-funk.
• Maceo Parker — Maceo Parker made his name as the saxophonist in James Brown's band — Brown's funk was the crucible in which his signature style was forged.
• RZA — The drums under the Wu-Tang sound are lifted from Brown, the way most of the form's are — RZA's account of building a beat starts with a snare from James Brown.
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes — Early James Brown specifically, which is where the Jukes' horn section comes from.