[2009-11-03] James Brown "The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America" book by James Sullivan

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:27 pm

[bigred]Hardcover[/bigred]
[lilred]November 13, 2008[/lilred]

From Publishers Weekly
As Boston Globe columnist Sullivan points out in this book, Brown's personal life (sexual exploits, spousal abuse, jail time) obscured a public persona that encouraged African-American children not to drop out of school and demanded that his African-American brothers and sisters respect themselves rather than putting themselves down. At the center of the book is Brown's concert at the Boston Garden on the night following Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968. Because of rising tensions among African-Americans in the city, Mayor Kevin White's first impulse was to cancel Brown's concert. Yet realizing that ticket holders might be just as angry over a canceled concert as they might be impassioned to riot by a raucous one, he and Brown worked out a deal to allow the concert to go on. Once on stage, Brown opened with his by-then famous Please, Please, Please, which became that night a rallying cry for his audience to respect themselves and others, just as King had done. Sullivan only briefly traces Brown's rise and fall as a musician from his early days in Edgefield, S.C., to his death in Augusta, Ga., as he recovers a facet of James Brown as a political and racial leader. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Sullivan examines James Brown’s role in saving Boston from the fires and riots that swept the U.S. after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Booked into Boston Garden the night of April 5, 1968, Brown agreed to put the show on live local TV to give would-be rioters reason to stay home. Garden management wanted to cancel, doubtless to avoid rioting in the Garden, but Brown and Boston’s first black city councillor interceded with Mayor Kevin White to prevent cancellation. Sullivan goes further in crediting Brown for keeping the peace than others have, and so doing, he also examines the Godfather of Soul’s life and career in the context of the Civil Rights movement. By 1968, Brown had become “Soul Brother Number One,” and his presence was “a major event, a ritual.” At the same time, the cultural gulf between races was was so wide that the mayor at first “thought the headliner in question was Jim Brown”—the NFL running back. A good record of a pivotal event and a serviceable Brown bio, to boot. --Mike Tribby

Product Description
The story of the night James Brown kept the peace in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and delivered hope with an immortal performance

Since James Brown’s death in December 2006, the Godfather of Soul has received stirring tributes from coast to coast. Yet few have addressed his contribution in the darkest hour of the civil rights movement. Telling the untold story of his historic Boston Garden concert of 1968, The Hardest Working Man also captures the magnificent achievements that made Brown a revolutionary icon of American popular culture.

Acclaimed journalist James Sullivan begins his stirring account by depicting the racially charged climate of Boston in the hours after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death. Brown’s concert was slated for cancellation as police geared up for mass retaliation. After Brown butted heads with the mayor, the show was allowed to go on—and his emotional, electric performance was broadcast live on local television. Though rioting erupted in more than a hundred U.S. cities that night, Boston remained quiet. Not only bringing to life that transforming show, James Sullivan also charts Brown’s incredible rise from poverty to self-made millionaire and the pivotal voice behind the signature anthem “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud,” making The Hardest Working Man a tribute to an unforgettable concert and a rousing biography of a revolutionary musician.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1592403905/?tag=imwan-20

[bigred]Paperback[/bigred]
[lilred]November 3, 2009[/lilred]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1592404901/?tag=imwan-20

Linda · **Posted:** Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:02 pm

Bump: a paperback edition of this book is going to be published. See first post for updated details.

[2009-11-03] James Brown "The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved The Soul Of America" book by James Sullivan

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