The Passionate, Turbulent Life Of James Brown

我不知道为啥两个同时播发。 暂停一个， 可以听到另一个。 

By prefessional.

 

By amateur

 

 

James Brown used to tell people that even being stillborn as a child couldn't stop him. He rose to the highest heights in the music industry and stayed there longer than most. But in the end he succumbed to atrocious financial planning, a drug habit and a violent temper.

RJ Smith, author of the new biography The One: The Life and Music of James Brown, tells NPR's Guy Raz that Brown believed he was indestructible.

Smith says, "Having been through as much in his life as he went through — criminal experiences, been up and down with the music industry, made millions, lost millions — I think on some level he felt whatever happened happened, and he couldn't die."

Raised by a violent father, Brown's upbringing in Augusta, Georgia was turbulent. His mother left, his aunt was a prostitute and Brown was constantly in trouble for stealing or fighting.

During an early stint in prison, Brown listened to a lot of music. "I think he heard a lot of gospel," says Smith, "that he was listening to before, but never so much as when he was in prison with a radio stuck to his head. They called him Music Box in prison as a teenager. And he was in a gospel group when he was in prison. He started to understand, singing gospel, what power he had over an audience.