James Brown Live Concert Video with Long Introduction
February 24, 2018 8:26 PM   Subscribe

I'm looking for a specific video of a James Brown concert or TV appearance.

It's in colour and, I believe, fairly late in his career. He's wearing a red suit and handing out flowers to the crowd while his band plays a funky riff. Meanwhile, a member of his band is giving him a really long intro that consists of a long list of superlatives ("Hardest working man in soul, Godfather of soul...etc.") and mentioning his name over and over again. I think James Brown falls to his knees a couple of times and does the thing where someone leads him off stage but he waves them away and continues with the show. I assumed this clip was from one of his classic shows, but I can't seem to find it on YouTube. Anyone know the one I'm talking about?
posted by Prunesquallor to Media & Arts (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
It might be a challenge to find this, because most of the things you mention--the brightly-colored suit, the vamping, the elaborate introduction from Danny Ray, the bit with the cape--really everything except the flowers, are standard elements of a James Brown show, repeated thousands of times over decades.

It's probably not The Lost James Brown Tapes (aka Body Heat) (wrong suit). It might be Live at Montreux, from 1981 (didn't find a good YT link). I don't think it's 1983 w/B.B. King (wrong suit). I kind of think you're thinking of the Ritz in 1986, but I didn't see any flowers.

'Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown' is a pretty good documentary, currently on Netflix, and it includes a lot of performance footage. If you like James Brown, it's a pleasant way to pass two hours, and you might see something you recognize.
posted by box at 10:09 AM on February 25, 2018 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks for this response, box. These are great videos, but not the one I'm looking for. Watching them did clarify a few things in my mind though:

1) He definitely handed out flowers to the audience.
2) I'm more confident that it was a TV appearance. The set and lighting looked more like a studio than a concert stage.
3) James Brown's red suit was open at the front, revealing quite a lot of his bare chest. It was tight fitting. He was older and heavier set than in the videos above.
posted by Prunesquallor at 7:51 PM on February 25, 2018


You might add ‘tv,’ or more specific strings like ‘Soul Train’ and ‘Beat Club’ and ‘Midnight Special,’ etc., to your YouTube searches.

I might take another stab at it later, but, in the meantime, good luck with your search.
posted by box at 5:29 PM on February 26, 2018


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