Remembering Our Day with James Brown

December 26, 2006 (WPVI) -- It was at the Jam on the River on Penn's Landing, in the spring of 2001. The Godfather of Soul was the headlining act. He took to the stage, and the crowd just ate it up.

James Brown had the cape, he had the moves, he had the big hair - and he unleashed more soul-infused rock in one peformance, than most musicians do in a lifetime.

I was covering the event for the 11pm newscast. Wouldn't it be nice to chat with Mr. Please, Please, Please himself? It was just a thought - I never considered it would actually happen. Scoring an interview with the man who invented soul, funk, and possibly even rap? The legend?

We contacted his representatives. They got back to us. Mr. Brown would agree to an interview. Whoa....

I was summoned, along with photographer Dan Sheridan, into Brown's trailer. As we waited, I peered through a nearby window, and what a sight it was: the Godfather of Soul, sitting beneath a huge, dome-shaped hair dryer, preparing his trademark hairstyle for Action News.

Then, it was time. I opened the door to his "green room," and was immediately greeted by the legend himself, along with his long-time assistant Roosevelt Johnson. He started doing some sort of rap about gun violence. To tell you the truth, I had no idea what he was saying for about three minutes. This reporter was star struck.

I went to shake James Brown's hand. I guess I got a pretty good grip on it. He winced.

"Ooooh! You're a strong young man!"

"You're not so bad yourself." And then I threw out one of my typical complementary one-liners:

"In fact, you don't look a day older than 25."

In his typical James Brown soul-infused voice, he replied "Oh, you make me feel goooooodddddd!"

It was a wonderful moment. I was jive-talking with James Brown!

We spoke about a program that Brown was working on to reduce urban gun violence, and that was that. I was out the door, and James Brown was on to the next show.

The picture you see with me and him was taken from a frame of video we shot during the interview. Certainly, James Brown leaves a mixed legacy, considering his brushes with the law, and his troubles with marriage. But his absence leaves a huge hole in music - no matter what your tastes. Click here for more information on James Brown's death

MURDER COUNT

It is so sad that Philadelphia could not spend a Christmas without racking up the homicide count. As you probably have heard, the city has reached a new plateau: more than 400 murders for 2006. We reached 402 yesterday. This is the most since 1997, when we had 418. And there are nearly six full days left in the year.

This puzzling wave of gun violence seems to have become the top issue in the Philadelphia mayor's race. Expect to hear a lot of ideas coming from the candidates on how to stem the tide of killings. Unfortunately, the ideas will come too late for future victims, as homicide detectives continue to be dispatched to fresh killing scenes - almost on a daily basis.

YEAR ENDER

I hope you will join Action News for our Year in Review. It airs this Saturday at 7pm. You may have seen this feature during our newscasts in year's past. This time, it is a 30-minute special.

Action News editor Matt Adamchak is still working on the final cut. I have seen portions, and believe me: if you love the news as much as I do, you will want to see this.

Thanks for visiting our Action News morning blog. I'll see you tomorrow, at 5am.

Later,

Matt

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•