Steve Shark Kisses The Ring Of Th' Godfather O' Go-Go! Dept.

 

Everybody's heard of James Brown [assumes Steve Shark - Ed.] - the Godfather of Soul! Lemme hear you say yeah!

YEAH!

But what if I told you there was another musical Godfather, and that his name was Brown, too? Lemme hear you say yeah!

WHUT?

So, yeah, meet Chuck Brown - the Godfather of Go-Go!

The late Charles Louis Brown was an interesting character who carved out a significant niche for himself in the Washington DC music scene of the late 70s, 80s and 90s - and even onwards into the 21st century. This was all due to a style of music that came to be known as "Go-go". He claimed to have invented it, which is somewhat of a moot point, but he certainly helped come up with the formula, laid down some of its main foundations, and became its most famous proponent.

After a childhood in poverty, Brown was going nowhere, and drifted into crime, ending up in prison for murder. While he was inside, he traded some cigarettes for a guitar and so finally found his metier. On his release, he had to take various menial jobs after finding it impossible to play the clubs, as the terms of his probation stipulated that he couldn't enter any premises with a liquor license. After his probation period ended, however, he got a gig playing guitar for Jerry Butler and eventually joined a big draw in Washington - Los Latinos. The band played all over the city covering top 40 tunes, but with the added novelty of a Latin American percussion section. Although Brown didn't particularly like the covers music he was having to play, he loved the percussion so much that when he eventually formed his own band, the Soul Searchers, in 1966, he started linking the set songs with conga and timbale breaks.

So far, so good, but disco eventually came boogeying along and everybody wanted bands who played DISCO. Brown wasn't keen and found the music limiting, due to his love of jazz and blues, as well as deeply frustrating, because there was no room for his guitar playing.

Then, one day in 1977, Brown heard the Grover Washington Jr tune "Mister Magic" and loved the rhythm so much that he started to slow down the material he was playing and use the song's beat as the basis for his own take on funk. Brown eventually found a drummer who could play the required five over four beat to his satisfaction, and so, according to Brown, Go-go music was born. He made the percussion an integral part of the music, giving it breaks in the songs and keeping it playing between numbers, while conducting call and response chants with the audience.

As Brown himself once put it: "Disco? Well, dis-got-to-go! Talking 'bout disco? OK, dis-go dis way and dis-go dat way. No! We goin' go-go this way! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

The Soul Searchers were now ready to take the city by storm, armed with percussion, that Mister Magic beat, lots of banter between Chuck and the audience, and sets that didn't have any breaks between the numbers, so the audience wouldn't drift away.

Brown was an excellent guitarist, well-versed on the instrument in the jazz and blues he loved, and he brought elements of these to the Soul Searchers' repertoire. He never concealed his debt to James Brown, either, although Go-go had a lot more swing than JB's variety of funk. The band had horns - typically sax, trumpet and trombone - keyboards, bass, drums and LA percussion - congas, bongos and timbales. Brown was nearly always the sole guitarist and would take plenty of solos, often scatting along with them. Although the line ups over the years were always tight, the music was never rigid and the players could stretch out. Brown took the vocals, singing in a rich baritone, but then he'd switch to a sort of rap and talk to the audience, encouraging them to answer back.

However, it was Brown's choice of material which was most surprising. As well as original numbers, there were many, many covers which revealed his love of jazz, soul, blues and beyond. Here's just a few of his band's many covers from various live sets over the years.

Saturday Night Fish Fry
A Foggy Day
Stormy Monday Blues
Family Affair
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
Red Top
Misty
Boogie on Reggae Woman
Hoochie Coochie Man
Tutu - yes, the Miles tune!
You Can Have Watergate
Harlem Nocturne
Midnight Sun
Moody's Mood For Love
The Woody Woodpecker Theme - really!

All of the above were played to the Go-go rhythm and the crowd just lapped them up.

Although Brown and his band became big in Japan and were also very popular in Europe, they never really made it in the US much outside of Washington DC, where they were probably the city's biggest musical draw. Yes, there were a few hits and their Go-go anthem "Bustin' Loose" made it to the top of the US R&B chart in 1979, but that was about it. Live, however, Chuck and the band were always in demand, although mainly on their home turf, of course. Unfortunately, gang violence reared its ugly head and Brown cut back on club gigs after an audience member was shot in front of the band one night. He even released a jazz vocal album covering standards, in an attempt to broaden his appeal.

Then his music began to be picked up by the younger hip hop crowd, who appreciated how the Go-go beat had influenced what they were doing. So, Brown came to be seen as an essential influence on the music of the city, and was regarded as somewhat of a father figure by his young successors, as well as an occasional collaborator with them.

Interestingly, it would appear that Miles was au fait with Go-go music, and even took Brown's drummer Ricky Wellman into the studio and on tour with him in the late 1980s and the early 90s.

There's honestly been nobody quite like Chuck - there's a touch of James Brown, a smidgen of Louis Jordan, elements of blues and jazz, and a deep appreciation of what's come to be known as "The Great American Songbook" - all driven by an infectious determination to give the audience a good time.

Sure, the music went down well in places like New York and New Orleans, too, when Brown took the band further afield, but it failed to get enough significantly wider national appreciation to take him into the big time - although it certainly deserved to.

As one critic put it, "This man, who invented a musical genre and grooved so hard and for so long, is not yet in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The Dave Clark Five, however, are comfortably settled in the shrine. Argument enough to burn that motherfucker down to the Lake Erie waterline."

For those who want to hear Chuck at his best, there's a classic live album for you, a "Best of", that also includes some of his later crossover work, and also a book about the Go-go scene in general, which is a bit dry, but has some interesting material and some photos.

Note from FT3: I'd like to thank Steve for his enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and invaluable contributions, often, like this one, introducing me to somebody I'd never listened to before. And likewise I'm shewer to the rest of youse bums what have had screed FoamFeatured® antecedently, or left the best comments any blog ever had. It's been a blast. Swing by in a couple of days!