TGR: Chuck Brown Rocked DC... and Baltimore, too!
Music Icon Passes (1936-2012), Godfather of Go-go
By Doni Morton Glover, www.bmorenews.com
(BALTIMORE – May 17, 2012) – Like many of you, I was saddened yesterday after hearing the news of the passing of Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-go. For those who never experienced one of his performances, you at least have youtube. The point is that he was a musical icon and he touched our hearts and souls.
Mind you, I am a proud Baltimorean. And even though I’ve heard that there is some ‘riff’ between the two jurisdictions, I am one Baltimorean who absolutely loves and adores the District of Columbia. For me, it is a refreshing change to go over to New York Avenue, and North Capitol, and Pennsylvania Avenue. I find delight in seeing our beloved sister city that is just 45 minutes south.
So, to hear of Chuck’s hospitalization and consequent passing, I had to take a moment and reflect on what he meant to me, on what he meant to the people.
His Go-go music is characterized – to me – by the drum. It has it’s own funky beat. While I had an appreciation for Go-go, it was my ex-wife who really got me lovin’ and appreciating the culture of Go-go. She taught me how to appreciate it from an indigenous perspective. And this meant there is a certain etiquette that is understood at Go-go concerts.
The best advice I can give is to go an experience how Go-go music gets Washington, D.C. jumpin’. A sort of trance where people are in a zone might attempt to describe what happens. And there is no question that deep down, the beat is purely African.
And for me, that’s part of why I love it so much. I see and meet a lot of black people who – to me – have slightly more sophisticated sense of political consciousness than in Baltimore. Now, there was a time when Baltimore was a national leader in the Civil Rights Movement. However, most of the old black leadership has died. And, of what’s remaining, a lot of political clout in Maryland has shifted southwards to Prince George’s County.
And that’s a great segue into my final point about Chuck. Chuck’s musical career paralleled that of a black Washington, D.C. Despite who was in the White House, Chuck provided the background music for so much – including the political campaigns of Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry.
And so, the world has lost a legend. Words cannot begin to describe what he means to so many people – both in DC and around the world. He took the local groove and made it international – and yet was all so down-to-earth as a person.
Rest easy, Chuck. Your songs live on in our hearts!
_________________________________________________________________________________
(WASHINGTON - May 16, 2012) - Guitarist and singer Chuck Brown passes. He was 75. May he RIP. He was the progenitor of DC-area Go-go music.
Who was Chuck Brown? According to his website (www.windmeupchuck.com).....
"“The Godfather of Go Go,” Chuck Brown is the undisputed sole founder and creator Go-Go music, a hypnotically danceable genre deeply rooted in funk and soul that he developed in the early 70’s , and the only form of expressive culture to originate in the District of Columbia. Foreshadowing rap and many of the major popular R&B styles of the past three decades, Chuck's signature style earned him a place in American musical royalty. This esteem was maintained by the reputation of his legendary live shows, heavy on audience participation and built around “the beat” to create an unparalleled non-stop party atmosphere.
While searching for a sound to call his own in the 1960s, Chuck was deeply inspired by artists like James Brown. He latched onto the Latin percussion groove from the band he played with at the time, Los Latinos. Combining this with his roots, his love of blues, jazz, gospel, soul, and African rhythms, Chuck began to develop his own unique sound. Starting out playing top forty, Brown would break-it-down between songs with percussion and audience call and response, and keep the music going, and the dance floor packed.
His first hit was “We the People” on the debut album of the same name in 1972. Next came the album Salt of the Earth, with the hit “Blow Your Whistle” (sampled by Grammy winner Eve in 2007 in her hit “Tambourine”), and one of the most sampled break beats of ALL time from “Ashley’s Roach Clip” (including Eric B and Rakim, LL Cool J and countless others). In 1978, the Soul Searchers became Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, and Chuck’s original composition “Bustin’ Loose” took the #1 spot in Billboard, on Source/MCA Records. The song was used in Grammy winner Nelly’s 2002 smash “Hot in Herre,” and continues to be one of the most relevant and often sampled funk songs ever written (“Bustin’ Loose” is currently featured in a national television campaign for Chips Ahoy).
After substantial touring across the US, but no money to show for his success, Chuck found himself looking for inspiration. He found it in his next hit, the Billboard charting “We Need Some Money,” which propelled him around the world again. Brown then revisited his love of jazz and created the “Go Go Swing Medley,” introducing people around the world to classics by Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, and James Moody, spun in Chuck’s inimitable way. Released independently and later on Polygram Records, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers once again reached an international audience through a 1985 at Holland’s North Seas Jazz Festival. In between sets by Curtis Mayfield and James Brown, Chuck schooled everyone on the genre he created. That same year, Chris Blackwell introduced the movie “Good to Go,” a much hyped but poor reflection of the scene. Nonetheless other artists, such as Salt N Pepa, Kurtis Blow, and Grace Jones, began incorporating his sound in their music. Brown continued to record, perform in the US, with stints in Europe and Japan in the nineties.
After a string of live recordings, he met at the time an undiscovered, shy talent by the name of Eva Cassidy in the early nineties. His lifelong dream of singing with a lady, springing from his love of duets by the likes of Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Eckstine with Sarah Vaughan, came to fruition with the critically acclaimed and worldwide release of “The Other Side” by Chuck Brown and Eva Cassidy (which contained the original recording of the worldwide Eva Cassidy hit “Over the Rainbow”). He dedicated a jazz standards album to Ms. Cassidy after her tragic loss to cancer.
In 2001, he released the Billboard charting “Your Game... Live at the 9:30 Club” which was voted as one of the top 10 albums of 2001 by Billboard’s R&B Editor, Rapper Chuck D and others. A live DVD came next, called “quite possibly the greatest live concert video/DVD I have ever seen” by Murder Dog Magazine. The same year a double remastered “Best Of” album was released. In 2006 the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Chuck a “Lifetime Heritage Fellowship,” the Federal Government’s highest honor for folk and traditional arts, and Chuck also performed at the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. The following year his “We’re About the Business” CD debuted as the #1 independent album and #2 R&B album in Billboard. The National Visionary Leadership Project recognized Chuck’s contributions in shaping American history in 2007, joining previous honorees such as Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, BB King, and Earth Kitt.
Most recently Chuck has recorded with artists as diverse as Thievery Corporation, Brian Culbertson and Jeff Majors. A street in Washington DC was recently renamed “Chuck Brown Way.” His most ambitious recording, a three disc set “WE GOT THIS” was released on September 21, 2010. It contains a live concert DVD shot in HD, a live concert audio CD and a CD of bonus new studio material including collaborations with Ledisi, Marcus Miller and Jill Scott. At 74 years of age, Chuck Brown remains not only culturally and musically relevant, but a tireless and constant tour de force in American music."
