JAMES BROWN
The hardest working man in show business, James Brown, was born in 1928. Raised in a Georgia whorehouse, James formed his first musical group at the age of 13. A high school dropout, he spent three years in reform school for petty theft...and during that time he resolved to make somthing of himself. When he was paroled in 1952, he joined a quartet of southern gospel singers. The group later transformed into an R&B outfit that was finally named the Flames. They cut a demo at a local radio station and a scout for King Records heard James's impassioned sound and signed them immediately. Though the group had a hit with "Please,Please,Please", it would be over three years before they reached the same level again with a song. After that, Brown developed his band into the hottest R&B/Funk sound in the land. The music was geared to accent his own screams, jumps, and shimmies and it catapulted him to fame. Many, many hits later, he was arrested after a wild car chase through South Carolina and Georgia, tried and sentenced to 6 years. Out now, he received a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 1992.
>>< href="/search/NameSearch.lasso?Name=James+Brown" target="_blank">The Rhino Works

CURTIS MAYFIELD
Born in 1942, Curtis Mayfield was ahead of his time. Performer, producer, songwriter and businessman he was more in sync with the civil rights movement than any of the other musicians of his era. "My songs were not only personal to me, they were personal to a movement.." he said in 1989. He taught himself to play guitar and later performed gospel with his friend Jerry Butler in the Northern Jubilee Singers. In 1957 they formed the Roosters, a doo wop group. The name would change again, to the Impressions, before they scored a hit with "For Your Precious Love". Jerry Butler, the vocalist for the song, left the group to go solo...taking Curtis along as guitarist, though he still remained with the Impressions. In 1960 Mayfield made his first hit as a songwriter and soon other singers in Chicago were turning to him to write for them. He realized early in his career the benefits fo having financial control over his songs. So, while he was still in his teens, he formed Curtom Publishing Company with his then-manager Eddie Thomas. It later became Curtom Records as his dream of owning his own label came true. After going on his own in 1970, he gained enormous success with such hits as "Superfly". In 1990, while performing onstage in Brooklyn, a 500 pound lighting bank fell on him, paralyzing him from the neck down. The accident ended his performing career, but he remains one of the fathers of funk to this day.
>>The Rhino Works

PARLIMENT/FUNKADELIC
Talking about Funkadelic you have to also talk about Parliment and of course, George Clinton. Born in 1941, the Funk Godfather first worked as a barber. He later formed a doo wop group called the Parliments. They made their recording debut in 1959 and settled in Detroit for the 60s. They did poorly until 1967 when they recorded "(I Wanna) Testify". It was not only their first hit, but it was also a clue that psychedelia was creeping into George's brain. Legal hassles forced him to lose the rights to the name Parliments, so he changed the group's name to Funkadelic. While recording for Westbound Records in 1970, they also signed with Invictus Records ...as Parliment. Clinton then started up one of the most bizarre shows ever staged by a musical group. Parliment/Funkadelic was the example you held up to symbolize Funk and all that it was. Clinton's mind-bending, eye popping shows were also an indication of the turn that things were taking in society. If you were to think of a single thing to repesent the '70s with, Funkadelic would be ideal. >>The Rhino Works

SLY STONE
The innovations that Sly Stone unleashed on pop music would change it forever. Not only was he a major mover in the Funk movement, but his multi-racial, multi-gender band would shape the way of things to come. Born in 1944, Sylvester Stewart began his career with his family. His mother would play guitar and sing at a local church , his father served as deacon, his older sister would play the piano and he would sing with his 3 other siblings. He taught himself how to play guitar and soon mastered the organ, harmonica and other instruments. He joined a doo wop group as the lead singer and they cut two singles. He studied musical theory and compostion for three years before hooking up with Autumn Records where he began to produce. During the mid-'60s he led a hectic schedule. He formed his own band and worked as a DJ as well. His sister joined his group, The Family Stone, after their little noticed debut album. In 1968, they took off with the release of "Dance to the Music". But as the '60s ended, group members became disaffected by their leader's increasingly erratic behavior. Sly had become embroiled with personal and drug related problems. By the mid seventies, Sly and the Family Stone were no more. They are still remembered as the first group to make Funk commercially successful.
>>The Rhino Works