***THE GODFATHER OF SOUL TRIVIA TIME!!*** ....He got on MORE, than just the 'Good foot'...... (3:25).... - ... Empress, this is a highly, highly HIGHLY important moment, not just for James, Pop Music & TV, but for RACE RELATIONS, too; aired in Dec., 1964, this was One of the VERY few moments Blacks got to be featured on (white) TV....segregation was still in effect, and there wasn't even an 'R&B charts' then, to tally what were the hottest selling Soul singles were.... - ...THIS performance, helped change that! ...while the Supremes were on the bill, *FUNK* wasn't; James BULLDOZED Funk into White Homes with this Show / performance, and was doing the very things they feared ELVIS doing! ..his showy, energetic performance READIED Whites to Tina Turner, The Temps, Jackson Five, Gladys Knight & The Pips, etc. later on....(1:54) .... - It also premiered his TRADEMARK; The 'Cape' that was thrown on his back, and he's walked off by his helpers....then, comes ROARIN' back, to give more! ..Afterwards, the R&B charts were reinstated (April 1965), The Supremes were the BIG act afterwards, The Beatles & The Rolling Stones sang the praises of these R&B Acts, and SOUL became defined as a theatrical, thrilling spectacle....for EVERYONE..... .....and James, became ..... *THE GODFATHER* .....A VERY important moment..... (4:42) ....
The T.A.M.I. Show was filmed at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Tickets to the concerts were given away free! James Brown taught Mick Jagger how to dance and properly front a rock band that night. The crowd was integrated because racial segregation in California was less overt than in the South back then and also, perhaps, because the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting racial segregation in public accommodations, took effect a few months prior on July 2, 1964 -- just in time for Independence Day. The studio version of "Night Train", released in 1962, shuffles along at a slower pace than that found in this performance, and beyond Brown's shout outs to all the cities on his tour, it's filled with sax fills and a super funky bass line that inspired teenage bands from London to Jamaica.
One of the things that I love the most is that even during racially charged times like the 60’s, “game recognizes game”. Music and art just brings people together. White artists who were influenced by black artists told everyone they could how great these artists were and that they should be heard! It’s sad to say, but I feel like there were more integrated rock and soul bands in the 60’s and 70’s than there are today. And we just loved music, together. We didn’t think about race being “such a thing” about everything back then. Radio stations played everything like a big, delicious Gumbo!!
Nice reaction. I guess I was 9 when this concert took place. I did see James Brown once in concert at a small venue back in 1983 or 1984. Electrifying. Take care. ☮
Loved your reaction, Empress, thanks! Great comment about the lead person blending in with the background members and being even smoother. Also about the integrated audience. This dancing by James blows my mind. I bet he was a good athlete. Seemed like he was on ice with the sliding and how quick he was. He definitely had to get the right soles on his shoes to even enable the possibility of what he did. He blows people today out of the water with his showmanship and sheer skills, as you said.
I think I mentioned before I’ve been a fan of James Brown since I was 12 and 1968 he’s been my favorite performer I saw him about 100 times in concert from the early 1970s to the 2000s. I’ve got all his records and 45s I met him a few times and all that good stuff. He was 31 years old here this is the earliest concert performance of Mr. Brown that we know of that caption on film. This is considered his greatest dancing captured on film. There are some other great performances from that show too are reacting to. OUT OF SIGHT, PRISONER OF LOVE and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. If you can find the over eight minute medley on the Ed Sullivan show from 1966 that’s an awesome one to react to also. IT’S A MAN’S WORLD from 1981 live is a great thing to react to also. Love your enthusiasm and your energy.
