MY "JAMES BROWN" STORY

So I just watched the movie on James Brown's life yesterday called "Get on up" and it was pretty good. So I figured I'd share my story about the only time I saw James Brown perform live. So back around 2004 and friend and I went to Brookhaven Amphitheatre (now renamed Pennysaver Amphitheatre) to see James Brown perform as I'd never seen him perform live before. I mean how could you pass up seeing the "Godfather of Soul" in person? Let me just say the man was 72 years old and he was dancing and singing on stage like he was 27! He was truly AMAZING! I mean I would have been winded if I was dancing like he was and the man was 72 years old when I saw him! It really was an amazing concert as his music just made you want to dance even though I think I only really recognized about 3 songs all evening. So if that wasn't cool enough we were right in front of the stage about 5-10 feet away from James Brown as he was performing!

But here's what REALLY made the night special as I found out FIRST HAND why they called him the "Godfather of Soul!" So he says to the crowd in his typical James Brown voice, "I'm gonna bring out a fine young lady who sings a lot like Janice Joplin. You guys like Janice Joplin?" So everyone cheered and he says again, "No, you guys like JANICE JOPLIN!!?" And everyone cheered even louder! So she came out and sang an entire song by herself and she really had an AMAZING voice! So the next song she did a little improvisation and handed the wireless mic to James and he did a little improvisation. I remember saying to myself, "Ok that was pretty cool...I'm feelin' that." So he handed the mic back to her and she did another improvisation and then as she was handing the mic back to James I was thinking, "I wanna see why they call him the "Godfather of Soul" so being literally at the front of the stage only 5-10 feet away from him and knowing I can project my voice really loud I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Show 'em what ya got Jamesey!" Well, he got on that mic and they say the best things in life are undescribable because I can't describe what made it great! About 4 or 5 notes into his improv he hit this one note and everyone in the audience went nuts at the same time! And it wasn't like some people cheered and then more people started cheering, it was like EVERYONE cheered on the same note at exactly the same time! Like I said I can't tell you what made it great, but it just was and you just knew it was something special! It truly was one of the best performances I've ever seen in my life and now I know first-hand why they called him the "Godfather of SOUL!"

Here is a pic from that night at the Brookhaven Amphitheatre as I had this lady I didn't even know take a few pics for me and she actually sent them to me too!: