Why Iggy Pop loves James Brown
Of all of Iggy Pop’s musical loves, perhaps the first we might not equate him with is funk and soul, especially seeing as he once said, “I like music that’s more offensive. I like it to sound like nails on a blackboard, get me wild.”. Yet, Pop has revealed himself to be a massive fan of the ‘Godfather of Soul’, James Brown.
Introducing Brown’s ‘Make It Funky’ on his BBC Radio 6 Music show, Pop said, “Easily the most amazing person that has ever lived, that was James Brown. I can die peacefully knowing that I was several times in the general physical presence of James Brown: Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite. The man who brought you ‘Mother Popcorn’, ‘Try Me’, ‘Please, Please, Please’. ‘Make It Funky’ is a jam session recorded by James Brown with The J.Bs, released as a two-part single in 1971. And it made me crazy.”
Pop also holds an exceptional place in his heart for Brown’s Star Time collection. He said of the record, ”I listen to this a lot. Tight is a very inadequate word for his band.” The compilation was released back in 1991, with a whopping 71 tracks, which was more or less Brown’s complete catalogue at that point.
Star Time comprises four full records of Brown’s, beginning with Mr. Dynamite, alongside The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Soul Brother No. 1, and The Godfather of Soul. All 71 tracks must have impressed Iggy Pop, who appears to be his biggest fan.
Recalling the time when Pop was fortunate enough to meet the man himself, he told once told a hilarious anecdote. He said, “I ran into him personally, and it was pretty funny. He was always at the Kensington Hilton in London. It was one of those ‘I don’t ever do this moments’ right. I get that a lot. ‘I don’t ever do this, but…’, you know. So he was checking in at the desk, and I was walking through the lobby, and I went, ‘Oh my god, it’s James Brown.’ I just couldn’t [believe it].”
Pop continued, “He’s a big, big deal to me, so I was just staring at him; he just stopped me in my tracks. I’m just looking at him, and he turns around, and he’s going to walk to the elevator, and I’m halfway between him and the elevator. I’m thinking all I want to do is just say something, you know, nice to the guy, and touch him. That’s all I want to do. So I get up, and I’m gonna say, ‘Mr. Brown’, but he just walked right past and was like, ‘Yeah’, and just kept on going. I get it. I’m brushed off [laughs].”
James Brown is considered the central progenitor of funk music and had a terrific career in showbiz across an astonishing five decades. He was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of its inaugural inductees in 1986. Brown passed away in 2006 as a result of congestive heart failure.
