Showing posts with label MARVA WHITNEY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MARVA WHITNEY. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2014
REVIEW OF MY FIRST JB CONCERT IN 1969
This is my review of the first James Brown concert I ever attended.
A next door neighbor was taking her kids and asked if I wanted to go also.
I was just entering my teens at the time, but I have been a JB fan ever since I heard "DON,T BE A DROPOUT".
I can,t recall everything about the show as it happened that night but I will do the best I can.
My father used to listen to a radio station out of Nashville, Tennessee, that played a lot of the R&B hits of the day.
Only being around 5 or 6 years of age at the time, the only singer that I remember hearing was James Brown.
In 1969 I was taken to a JB concert by a neighbor and witnessed a show I will never forget!
This was James Brown with his late 60s band featuring saxophonist extraordinaire, Maceo Parker.
I don,t remember all the songs but I do remember the band opening with "THE CHICKEN". Then the band,s classic hit featuring Maceo, "THE POPCORN".
Then the lovely Miss Marva Whitney came on and performed two songs, "BALL OF FIRE" AND "IT,S MY THING".
Looking gorgeous in a long blue grown she had the crowd in awe as she belted out her hits, then left the stage.
Let me tell you something; these songs were performed identically like the records ( most were extended in concert)! Then Maceo blew everyone away with an imprompt solo sax performance!
I believe after that the announcer came onstage said a few things pertaining to concert show books and whatnot.
Finally... he brought out the man HIMSELF...
Mister Dynamite,
JAAMES BROWNNN!
He was immaculately dressed in a white jacket, black silk turtleneck shirt and white pants with black patent leather boots(so shiny you could see your face in them).
Soul Brother #1 strutted on stage and delivered a quick handshake to the announcer.
He went into his big hit,
"SAY IT LOUD I,M BLACK & PROUD!"
The audience sang along with him as he went thru the song and when JB finished, he started rapping with the audience as the band stood silently in the background.
I did recall one thing that he said which really left an impression on me.
"The color of a man,s skin does not make a man."
"A man makes himself."
Still rapping, he held the mike, when all of a sudden...
he spun around and stood in the SAME POSE HOLDING THE MIKE!
This happened in a SPLIT SECOND!
I tell you as I saw it with my own eyes, the man was as fast as GREASED LIGHTNING!
JB went thru his hits from "IT,S A MAN,S WORLD"( he sang live to a tape being played while the band stood around ;at this time he no longer had the three violinists touring with him).
On "LOWDOWN POPCORN", he accompanied the band on organ, playing the song note for note.
His footwork was dazzling as he went from one side to the stage to the other.
The camel walk, the one-legged dance, (especially the James Brown) he performed as we all watched mesmerized!
He spun around three and four times, almost falling on one of the drum sets at one point.
You could actually see the sweat flying away from his body as he worked himself into a frenzy and the crowd along with him.
I noticed he didn,t do the splits at all that night, (I found out later during that period in his shows he didn,t do the splits) nevertheless still had an exciting exhilarating show.
On the live JB concert dvds, "LIVE AT THE APOLLO 1968" and "LIVE AT THE BOSTON GARDENS 1968" ( filmed a month before the former and the night after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed) he did no splits.
Then came his signature cape routine with "PLEASE PLEASE". Mister Dynamite then left the stage to rest for a few minutes.
The announcer appeared again and talked about the concert books and other things that were still available for sale.
We heard the shout, "ONE MORE TIME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MISTER JAMES BROWN", as he took the stage one more time.
He had removed his jacket before he left the stage the first time, but did not change his clothes before his finale.
All of a sudden came a familiar scream, "EEEEYOWWW!" The band immediately went into "GIVE IT UP OR TURNIT A LOOSE". followed by his current monster hit, "MOTHER POPCORN"!
The whole audience, worked into a frenzy by this time, (me included)rushed to the front of the stage.
That,s when I noticed how his pants were made. Instead of a belt or buttons in front, they were laced up, just like football jersey pants.
I also noticed for the first time his dancer, the lovely Ann Norman, on an elevated platform behind the band.
I,ve seen (what we called back then)go-go dancers before but this woman was a SUPER FINE FOX!
She was so sexy in that tiny mini-whatever she had on, I wanted to motion to JB to move over so I could get a better look at her, lol!
Someone hoisted a little girl up onto the stage. The child looked bewildered as she stared into the crowd of faces looking back as her.
JB was oblivious to the child, as he was grooving back and forth with Maceo.
One of the trumpet players saw the little girl, put his instrument down momentarily and gently lowered the child back down into the crowd ( so she wouldn,t get in the way or accidently get hurt).
The show ended with James Brown leaving the stage, drained but with a satisfied look on his face, knowing he killed them!
I,ve seen JB about five or six times after that, but I never, ever will forget that first show! Im glad that
I got a chance to see him with the late sixties band.
James Brown is gone now but...
Not only there is a movie titled "GET ON UP" on August 1, 2014 coming out about his life, but there is quite a bit of footage of him available online, like YOUTUBE, and a few officially released James Brown concert dvds out now.
So no matter what you,ve heard about JB, good or bad, mistakes and all, know this; to see him live back then was not just a concert, but an EVENT!
He was a flawed human being (we all are) that pushed himself to the top of the music world.
He had help along the way, but did it HIS WAY!
There will always be imitators, duplicators, people that will take something from him and take it to the next level.
BUT... there will never, ever, be another... JAMES BROWN!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
SOUL SINGER MARVA WHITNEY HAS PASSED AWAY
One of James Brown,s proteges in the late 60s, Ms. Marva Whitney, passed away Saturday, Dec. 24th. JB gave her the nickname of "Soul Sister #1".
She was a powerhouse singer who gave her all on stage, performing with JB at the Boston Gardens concert (the day after Martin Luther King,s assassination) as well as volunteering to go with the James Brown Revue on a tour of Vietnam at wartime in 1968.
She left the revue and after two disappointing solo recordings, exited the music business. Marva returned in the late 80s, occasionally performing with former members of James Brown,s band.
She suffered a stroke in 2009 but returned to the stage in 2010, performing mainly in Europe and Japan. Her long awaited book, "God, The Devil and James Brown" (working title) will hopefully be released in early 2013. She is gone but will never be forgotten.
***UPDATE***
Marva,s biography has FINALLY been released! "God, The Devil And James Brown" is available on Amazon!
June 3, 2013
I've been a Marva Whitney fan since I heard her smash album "Live And
Lowdown At The Apollo". She was funky before it was cool. She had a
powerful raw voice, an amazing talent and drive which took her to the
top.
My first meeting with her was occasioned by the J.B.'s All Stars reunion in London in July 1988 (where I was involved as a producer). She was friendly and funny.
On stage her vocal delivery was sweet when it needed to be, but utterly explosive when she got down with the Funk.
I've always loved Marva's music, but knew little about her life.
This book is very detailed in tracking the career of Ms. Manning and tells of the accolades as well as the low points in her career; well written and full of unknown information about the Godfather of Soul and his musicians.
He was a very complex man, but one of the greatest talents of Black music, and he was the first to realize her soulful talent.
Marva reveals how he tried to control her life as well as her career. This autobiography reveals her upbringing and her motivations, her ambitions and her disappointments, her happy days and dramatic ones.
She talks about her music, her personal life and troubles, her philosophy, and, what I think is most exciting, show business and stage performance.
You get the feeling that this is Soul Sister no. 1 telling you her extraordinary story in a long and fascinating conversation.
Charles Waring did a very detailed job and then put it all down for the reader to enjoy.
It's a very well-executed biography and an unbiased account of the legendary life and career of a funky diva. It is really sad to know that she missed seeing her book published but her soul will live on.
This book is a must-read for anyone who loves Funk music and a must-have in any serious James Brown bibliography.
My first meeting with her was occasioned by the J.B.'s All Stars reunion in London in July 1988 (where I was involved as a producer). She was friendly and funny.
On stage her vocal delivery was sweet when it needed to be, but utterly explosive when she got down with the Funk.
I've always loved Marva's music, but knew little about her life.
This book is very detailed in tracking the career of Ms. Manning and tells of the accolades as well as the low points in her career; well written and full of unknown information about the Godfather of Soul and his musicians.
He was a very complex man, but one of the greatest talents of Black music, and he was the first to realize her soulful talent.
Marva reveals how he tried to control her life as well as her career. This autobiography reveals her upbringing and her motivations, her ambitions and her disappointments, her happy days and dramatic ones.
She talks about her music, her personal life and troubles, her philosophy, and, what I think is most exciting, show business and stage performance.
You get the feeling that this is Soul Sister no. 1 telling you her extraordinary story in a long and fascinating conversation.
Charles Waring did a very detailed job and then put it all down for the reader to enjoy.
It's a very well-executed biography and an unbiased account of the legendary life and career of a funky diva. It is really sad to know that she missed seeing her book published but her soul will live on.
This book is a must-read for anyone who loves Funk music and a must-have in any serious James Brown bibliography.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
MARVA WHITNEY ,S SOON-TO-BE RELEASED AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Soul Diva Marva Whitney has collaberated with Bank House Books to soon released "God, The Devil and James Brown", an autobiography of her life and career.
Here, in an exclusive preview, is the ‘flashback’ that opens Marva’s book:
James Brown is holding a gun against my head. I think I’m about to die. I can feel the cold metal pressing against the side of my skull. I’m terrified. It’s 1969. We’re in James’s suite at the Beverley Comstock Hotel in Beverley Hills, Los Angeles.
A few minutes earlier, downstairs, I’d told him I had decided to leave his show and stay with some friends in LA. James didn’t want that. He turned on his charm and persuaded me not to go. He said he was going to change and I believed him.
So I went with him and Charles Bobbitt, his manager, into the hotel elevator to go up to his room. As I walked into the elevator a sharp, violent kick to my backside pushed me to the floor. I lay there while James kicked me, over and over. Charles Bobbitt stepped over me but did nothing to help.
A few minutes later I’m being bundled into James’s room. ‘So you were goin’ to leave me, Whit?’ he grunts. ‘I tell you what you gonna do. You’re gonna [Censored] and fall back in it. [Censored] and fall back in it!’ He almost spat the words out as he pulled a gun on me.
So now I’m praying. Help me, Lord, I’m saying to myself, help me, Lord, and wondering how I got into this mess in the first place.
If you enjoyed Fred Wesley,s "HIT ME FRED" biography, along with the James brown books, "I FEEL GOOD", "GODFATHER OF SOUL", and "SAY IT LOUD!", this book will be a welcome and interesting read.
Read ‘God, The Devil and James Brown’ to find out how Marva ‘got into this mess’, and the whole long inspiring story of how she got out of it.
http://www.fasttrackcash.com/go.php?offer=mikewayn80&pid=8(As of this date Marva,s book still hasn,t been released but hopefully soon!)
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