Fred, this is incredible information. Thank you for writing it and putting it all together for us.
Denise On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 2:12 AM, Fred Heutte <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 funk’s > 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-go’s principal architect, Mr. Brown remained > the genre’s 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 city’s > 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. Brown’s 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. Brown’s 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 it’s going to be a > hit.” > > It was Mr. Brown’s 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. Brown’s > 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. > > “I’m not retired because I’m not tired. I’m still getting hired, and > I’m 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. > > “We’d go to somebody’s house and [my mother] would say, ‘Please feed > my child. Don’t 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 > inmate’s 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 wouldn’t 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- > go’s 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 drummer’s conga popped and rumbled along. > > The influence of jazz and pop standards could be heard in much of > Brown’s go-go material. Motifs from jazz staples “Moody’s Mood for > Love” and “Harlem Nocturne” became a part of his “Go-Go Swing,” and > Brown reshaped Louis Jordan’s 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 Davis’s 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 Nelly’s 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 genre’s 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. Brown’s 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 city’s 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 Ben’s > Chili Bowl could stop traffic. > > “I really appreciate that I can’t 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. > > “It’s about love, the communication between performer and audience,” > Mr. Brown said of go-go. “When you’re on stage, the people put that > love to you and you give it back. There’s no other music like it.” > > > > -- Denise Dalphond www.schoolcraftwax.com
