James Brown :
The Godfather of Soul
by James Brown, Bruce Tucker

In this updated edition, the Godfather of Soul tells--with pride and humor--his own rags-to-riches story of survival and artistic achievement.

From his boyhood in a Georgia whorehouse, where Brown used music as an escape from poverty, to international fame, to recent brushes with the law, readers learn the truth behind the legend.

ISBN :1560251158

Living in America : The Soul Saga of James Brown
by Cynthia Rose
ISBN : 1852422092

Rose both celebrates and scrutinizes the art of the soul-music great. Drawing on interviews with Brown and former band members, as well as on her own wide-ranging knowledge of African-American culture, she portrays the singer as a ``Southern surrealist.'' Brown

brought the ``deepest, blackest'' aspects of his experience--Southern Baptist religion, poverty and disenfran- chisement--to a mass audience, both white and black. And in an unprecedented instance of reverse assimilation, says Rose, that audience elevated him to a stature previously unknown to a black--indeed, to any--pop performer. Rose argues convincingly for Brown's greatness with deft interpretations of songs such as ``Licking Stick'' which, she says, highlighted ``the way he could assimilate everyday language to spell out ... his vision of the world.''

Occasionally, trendy generalizations about ``white European systems of thought'' and ``Afrocentric values'' muddle her analyses. But overall, this debut by Rose, a former editor of London's arts magazine, City Limits , is like Brown's music: ``a complex fabric of attitudes'' as well as a compelling mix of journalism and cultural history.

Funk : The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One
by Rickey Vincent, George Clinton (Introduction)
ISBN : 0312134991

For once, we'd like to present you a book instead of the music itself. Rickey Vincent's book Funk, tells a vital vibrant history, the history of a uniquely American music born out tradition and community, filled with energy, attitude, anger, hope and irrestistable spirit. It's the only musical genre ever to have transformed the nation into a throbbing army of bell-bottomed, hoop-earringed, rainbow-Afro'd warriors on the dance floor. Its rythms and lyrics turned bleak urban realities inside out with distinctive, danceable downright irresistable music. Rickey Vincent brings as one of the first and only writers tribute to the funk. It spans the complete range of the funk. From early James Brown funk, funky soul of Stevie Wonder, Temptations, black rock funk of Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the family stone, jazz funk of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, monster funk of Parliament, Funkadelic, naked funk of Rick James, Gap Band, disco funk of Chic, funky pop of Kool & The Gang and Chaka Khan, Hiphop of De La Soul, funk sampling rap of Ice Cube and more

The book is an essential reading for everyone who wants an indepth view of the funk scene, focussed on the seventies.Rickey Vincent gives a clear picture of all facets of the funk, its social background, ideals and reasons of existence. This book almost breathes the real funk spirit as much as a funk record could do. The coverage of the late sixties roots of the funk and the golden era of funk, the seventies is excellent, painting the contributions to the funk of almost all important groups.

Although the book is unconditionally essential reading for real funkateers, we would have preferred more coverage of early eighties funk and non American funk in general. Rickey Vincent forgets the story of the super clean synth studio funk where artists reached new levels of recording perfection and well balanced audio dynamics without forgetting soul & funk in it. It's the era of people like Kashif, Mtume, Lillo Thomas, Marcus Miller, Bo Watson, Nick Martinelli, Al Hudson, J.F. Petrus, Mauro Malavasi, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Leon Sylvers III and unfortunately much of it is missing in the book of Rickey Vincent. The vivid early eighties British funk scene is missing as well, with no coverage of artists like Loose Ends, Light of the world, Andy Sojka ...

Nevertheless, Rickey Vincent did an excellent job and maybe he is preparing a follow up book covering the later funk eras or maybe we will write a follow up one day or another ourselves ...

James Brown : A Biography :
Doin' It to Death
Hardcover - 192 pages (Aug 1996)
Omnibus ISBN: 071192077X

by Geoff Brown

The definitive biography of this extra-ordinary and controversial superstar by Geoff Brown, former editor of "Black Music" magazine. The book has been researched over a 20 year period through interviews with James Brown and his ever-changing entourage.

Illustrated with many rare photographs and including a comprehensive disco- graphy. Hardcover.