The one performer Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger both called the greatest
When the British invasion first began, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were both interested in playing more than a couple of good tunes.
They had a mission to entertain the audience at all costs, and that often meant going the extra mile to make sure that the girls kept screaming whenever they were onstage. And while they could each hide behind their instruments, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger felt that the best musicians were the ones who could sweat their ass off every single night.
After all, it couldn’t have been easy being the Fab Four when they were first making waves after their Ed Sullivan Show appearance. People were reacting the same way that they reacted when they saw Elvis Presley, only this time amplified by four, since there were more heartthrobs onstage. And while they could play their asses off whenever they kicked into tunes like ‘She Loves You’ and ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, Macca figured that they would take a few cues from their favourite acts when they put together their stage rap.
They had already played to those Hamburg crowds before they were famous and left everyone delirious by the end of their sets, but not even The Beatles managed to work for their money the same way that R&B performers did. Little Richard was absolutely magnetic whenever he hit the stage, but when listening to James Brown perform, there was no way that any other act could have hoped to follow him onstage.
No one earns the title of being the hardest working man in show business by accident, and when Brown first hit the stage, he was going to give every single soul in the room their money’s worth when he played his tunes. Not everything was exactly easy for him, but with each passing song, he was practically playing the band like they were their own unique instrument, to the point where he would be on his knees, squeezing out that last bit of emotion out of every song.
That kind of performance can’t be taught, and it was also something Macca couldn’t fathom doing himself, saying, “OK, stack us up against James Brown, record for record, he’s definitely hotter because he’s James Brown. But he didn’t do the stuff we did. He’s James Brown, and he’s sodding fantastic. We can all agree on that.” By comparison, Jagger should have at least had a better time getting his point across with no guitar in his hands, but even with his stage presence, it was still no contest.
Brown was the epitome of showmanship, and the Rolling Stones frontman figured everyone could do themselves a favour by listening to Brown work a room, saying, “[Even if] you don’t sound like James Brown, you know that’s in your repertoire. It’s all there in the background. Particularly that Live at the Apollo album, and all those early funk records. All these bands, the Stones included, could all play [some of that].”
But if you want a good picture of what Brown was really like, just listen to The Who’s version of ‘I Don’t Mind’. They’re playing everything exactly how it’s supposed to go, and they even have a bit of flair in their performance, but what’s missing is the kind of ad-libs that Brown was throwing into the mix whenever he played off the band, which Roger Daltrey wasn’t really capable of during that time.
Does that mean that everyone needs to stop trying to match Brown? Not necessarily. All great rock bands are meant to challenge the masters of their craft, but it’s impossible to think that Brown’s influence on generations of performers is ever going to be eclipsed by the new school, either. He was a singular entity, and no one on this Earth will ever forget the way they felt hearing Live at the Apollo for the first time.
