Chuck Brown passed away today at age 75. The conventional press coverage only captures the reflection of what Chuck was, and is: the musical soul and heart of Washington, DC.
The go go beat came from "Mr. Magic," Grover Washington Jr's mid 1970s tour de force that was a huge hit in DC. But the sound of go go came from Chuck's wide ranging musical taste and his love for performing. He did it until he could do it no mo'. When I was growing up in DC, too young to hang out at dive bars, he played every weekend at Mr. Y's on Rhode Island Ave. NE, maybe a half mile from my house. At that time he, and his audience, were making the transition from blues and jazz covers to create DC's own sound -- go go is party music, but party music with a seriousness that comes from its musical roots. And as go go evolved to create a space for bands that were being crowded out by the rise of the DJ, who could fill a club for a much lower cost than live musicians, go go in turn influenced DJs (including me) - keeping dance floors going between songs in hours-long sets long before most people ever heard DJs mixing tracks. The sound never really caught on with the mass audience, There were a few radio hits and an ill-fated attempt by Chris Blackwell of Island Records to break go go out globally (and make a lot of money) the way he did for reggae. All that is history now. Go go is the sound of noontime concerts in DC's downtown squares with throngs of office workers. It's the sound of hot summer evening concerts at Carter Barron and a dozen other bandshells around the region. It's a highlight at the 9:30 Club (the current one and the original, at 930 F St). But most of all it's the sound of neighborhood clubs on the east side of the city into the Maryland suburbs, "meet me at the go go, about half past nine" and "party til dawn." Chuck Brown didn't do it all on his own, but he truly was the godfather of go go. And as he often said, his ability to connect to the audience and to inspire other bands to follow the groove and the musicianship were the most satisfying results of all. The go go sound has been picked up on countless hits and influenced many other genres (hip hip, house, techno...). It's a reminder that there are two cities: Washington, the nation's capital and a world center, and DC, a real city with a real history and a real presence. The article by RIchard Harrington (my boss in the late 1970s at the long-expired Unicorn Times, predecessor to the City Paper) in the Washington Post in 2001 isn't readily available online, but here's a good story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/25/AR2009092502858.html The best interview: http://www.nea.gov/av/avCMS/Brown-podcast-transcript.html A documentary that captures go go at its apogee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC7bzLib0GY And Chuck and the band at their best: "That'll Work!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRn2EM9KepQ -- fh --------------------------- http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/chuck-brown-dies-the-godfather-of-go- go-was-75/2012/05/16/gIQAJAfPUU_print.html Chuck Brown dies: The Godfather of Go-Go was 75 By Chris Richards, Wednesday, May 16, 1:43 PM Chuck Brown, the gravelly voiced bandleader who capitalized on funks percussive pulse to create go-go, the genre of music that has soundtracked life in black Washington for more than three decades, died May 16 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was 75. The death, from complications from sepsis, was confirmed by his manager, Tom Goldfogle. Mr. Brown had been hospitalized for pneumonia. Known as the Godfather of Go-Go, the performer, singer, guitarist and songwriter developed his commanding brand of funk in the mid-1970s to compete with the dominance of disco. Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because the music just goes and goes. In addition to being go-gos principal architect, Mr. Brown remained the genres most charismatic figure. On stage, his spirited call-and- response routines became a hallmark of the music, reinforcing a sense of community that allowed the scene to thrive. As go-go became a point of pride for black Washingtonians, Mr. Brown became one of the citys most recognizable figures. No single type of music has been more identified with Washington than go-go, and no one has loomed so large within it as Chuck Brown, former Washington Post pop music critic Richard Harrington wrote in 2001. Mr. Browns creation, however, failed to have the same impact outside of the Beltway. The birth of go-go doubled as the high-water mark of Mr. Browns national career. With his group the Soul Searchers, his signature hit Bustin Loose not only minted the go-go sound, it spent four weeks atop the R&B singles chart in 1978. Bustin Loose was the one record I had so much confidence in, Mr. Brown told The Post in 2001. I messed with it for two years, wrote a hundred lines of lyrics and only ended up using two lines. .?.?. It was the only time in my career that I felt like its going to be a hit. It was Mr. Browns biggest single, but throughout the 1980s We Need Some Money, Go-Go Swing and Run Joe became local anthems, reinforced by radio support and the grueling performance schedule that put Mr. Brown on area stages six nights a week. While rap music exploded across the country, go-go dominated young black Washington, with groups including Trouble Funk, Rare Essence and Experience Unlimited (also known as E.U.) following in Mr. Browns footsteps. Mr. Brown performed less frequently in his final years but still took the stage regularly. He would often comment on his golden years in rhyme. Im not retired because Im not tired. Im still getting hired, and Im still inspired, he said in 2006. As long as I can walk up on that stage, I want to make people happy. I want to make people dance. Charles Louis Brown was born in Gaston, N.C., on Aug. 22, 1936. He never knew his father, Albert Louis Moody, a Marine. He took the surname of his mother, Lyla Louise Brown, a housekeeper who raised her several children in poverty. Wed go to somebodys house and [my mother] would say, Please feed my child. Dont worry about me. Just feed my child, Mr. Brown recalled tearfully in a Post interview in 2011. Mr. Brown was 8 when his family relocated to Washington, where he abandoned his schooling for a childhood filled with odd jobs. He sold newspapers at the bus station and shined shoes at the Navy Yard, where he recalled being tipped kindly by entertainers including Hank Williams and Les Paul. As a teenager, Mr. Brown began to flirt with petty crime and stumbled into a disastrous situation in the mid-1950s when he shot a man in what he said was self-defense. A Virginia jury convicted Mr. Brown of aggravated assault, which was bumped up to murder when the victim died in the hospital six months later. Mr. Brown served eight years at the Lorton Correctional Complex. There, he swapped five cartons of cigarettes for another inmates guitar. Upon his release, Mr. Brown returned to Washington, where he worked as a truck driver, a bricklayer and a sparring partner at local boxing gyms. He also began to play guitar and sing at backyard barbecues across the area. His parole officer wouldnt let him sing in nightclubs that served liquor. In 1964, he joined Jerry Butler and the Earls of Rhythm and, in 1965, a group called Los Latinos. Both local acts played top-40 hits at area nightclubs; in 1966, Mr. Brown formed his own group, the Soul Searchers. He originally considered taking the stage name Chuck Brown, the Soul Searcher. With the Soul Searchers, Mr. Brown scored minor hits in the early 70s We the People and Blow Your Whistle but eventually decided to emulate James Brown by trying to create his own sound. Inspired by the percussive feel of Grover Washington Jr.s Mister Magic and rhythms that Mr. Brown internalized as a child in church, he settled on go- gos loping, popping cadence. Mr. Brown sang gospel in childhood and was a guitarist fluent in jazz and blues who could toggle between gritty riffs and fluid solos. But he truly excelled behind the microphone, bringing a warm voice that he could punch up into a hot shout or tamp down into a sandpapery purr or a gentle croon as the drummers conga popped and rumbled along. The influence of jazz and pop standards could be heard in much of Browns go-go material. Motifs from jazz staples Moodys Mood for Love and Harlem Nocturne became a part of his Go-Go Swing, and Brown reshaped Louis Jordans calypso Run Joe into a go-go classic. In turn, go-go would have its influence on jazz when trumpeter Miles Davis plucked longtime Soul Searchers drummer Ricky Wellman for one of his last touring bands. Many spotted go-go rhythms on Daviss 1989 album Amandla. And while hip-hop raced past go-go in the 80s, Mr. Brown eventually influenced that genre as well. He was sampled by various hip-hop artists, most notably in Nellys 2002 hit Hot in Herre. But his impact was felt most acutely in the Washington area, where his sound spawned a generation of bands who would pull go-go into focus in the 80s. Mr. Brown was always the genres champion, but he was quick to acknowledge the importance of other band leaders, Andre Whiteboy Johnson of Rare Essence, Big Tony Fisher of Trouble Funk and the late Anthony Lil Benny Harley, among them. These guys were the pioneers of go-go, and they each have their own distinct sound and identity, Mr. Brown told The Post in 2001. Everybody has something to offer. In 1992, Mr. Brown helped launch the career of the late singer Eva Cassidy, recording and releasing an album of duets, titled The Other Side, that confirmed his talent as an interpreter of standards. Formal recognition came late in Mr. Browns life. He was nominated for his first Grammy Award in 2011, when he was 74, for best rhythm-and- blues performance by a duo or group with vocals for Love, a collaboration with singer Jill Scott and bassist Marcus Miller. In 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts presented Mr. Brown with a Lifetime Heritage Fellowship Award. And in 2009, the District named a segment of Seventh Street NW Chuck Brown Way; it was a strip near the Howard Theatre where he used to shine shoes as a child. He appeared in advertisements for the D.C. Lottery and The Post and became the citys unofficial mascot, known for his extroverted warmth and willingness to flash his gold-toothed smile for any fan hoping to join him for a snapshot. An appearance on U Street NW outside Bens Chili Bowl could stop traffic. I really appreciate that I cant go nowhere without people hollering at me, Mr. Brown said in 2010. I love being close to people. Mr. Brown also leaves behind a still-standing genre that, as he once told MTV, embodied the highest of human emotions. Its about love, the communication between performer and audience, Mr. Brown said of go-go. When youre on stage, the people put that love to you and you give it back. Theres no other music like it.
