365 Days #256 - Message From James Brown (mp3s)

MP3:
Message From James Brown (6:10)

This is a rarity: an unreleased promotional single that was probably distributed to radio stations only. There is no discographical info whatsoever (there isn't even a label on the record), but it must date from around 1967, which would be the time of national race riots that it is obviously intended to try and quell. JB had done a famous concert at Boston Garden during a severe time of unrest in '67 to 'keep people off the streets', and this little record will give you some idea of what was going through the Godfather's mind at that time, expressed in his own totally unique way! Not much more you can say about it; it speaks volumes for itself.

- Contributed by: Hoppy Stone

Comments

[Sammy Reed]

This was basically another way of saying what Bill Cosby would say nearly 40 years later.

[SillyWilly]

The concert in Boston Garden was in 1968, a day or two after Dr. King was killed. It had been scheduled for months, and the then-Mayor of Boston (Kevin White, I think--god I love irony) asked JB to go ahead with the concert. In order to try and quell potential riots, the concert was aired live on the local PBS station in the hope that people would tune in instead of rioting. It apparently worked well enough that President Johnson advised Brown to visit Washington, D.C. to greet inner-city residents there, performing at a benefit concert and expressing the notion that violence "wasn't the way to go".
This info is based on my own personal recollections and info @ Wikipedia. All disclaimers apply.

I found this quite moving