|
Mr. James Brown, the Godfather of Soul
(Video of "It's a Man's World" clip on the flipflop)
When I was just a sprout at Willard Junior High School on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, I often found myself cooling my heels in the dean's office, usually for trying, selflessly, to enliven an otherwise dreadfully boring class with a humorous quip or two, perhaps a series of them.
More often than not, it would be me and a couple of black guys who were also, in the language of today, most likely trying to keep it real, as only thirteen-year-olds can, within the oppressive confines of the conditioning system known as the Berkeley public school system.
And there we would sit together in the outer office, cooling our heels, waiting for the dean of boys, who knew us all on a first-name basis, to call us into his private domain.
Invariably, we would get in an argument about who was better, James Brown or The Beatles.
I remember one time in particular. It was me and four guys.
They challenged me:
--Who's got more number one hits?
Me [mind you, I had no facts to back my claims up.]:
--The Beatles
Them:
--Who's made more money?
Me:
--The Beatles
Them:
--Who's sold more albums?
Me:
--The Beatles
:::::::::::: [long pause wherein they all sort of gazed at the floor] :::::::::::
And then one guy looked me right in the eye and said:
"Well, who's got more SOUL??"
|