"James Brown enjoyed many different titles throughout his life, some of them being ""Soul Brother Number One,"" ""the Godfather of Soul,"" ""the Hardest Working Man in Show Business"" and ""Mr. Dynamite."" All of these hefty titles present a man that seemed to fill all these shoes. The man was a marvelous sensation in the music world, putting on shows that were exhilarating and filled with energetic passion. As the decades wore on, James Brown revitalized the sounds of R&B, soul and funk, tweaking each genre and branding it as his own. He is still regarded as one of the music industry's most revered creative geniuses, and perhaps today, more than ever, his music emerges as more influential and even more poignant. A trend setter and a visionary, the name James Brown will always hold weight with those lavish titles.Brown has a rags to riches story as he was born into poverty in the South and seemed to get himself frequently entangled in the law. With a determination to refocus his energy and stay out of jail, he turned to music and joined the gospel group Byrd. Their soft R&B ballads and the natural charisma of the wildly expressive James Brown helped them gain fame among the public. Brown later joined the group The Flames, which helped further tip his fame in the industry. As Brown found his solo voice, he released songs that would give listeners a hint of more to come. The ballad ""Try Me"" became a hugely successful R&B hit in the 1950s, but as the 1960s approached, he incorporated a more Latin and jazz fused sound, which can be heard on tracks like ""I'll Go Crazy,"" ""Good Good Lovin'"" and ""Night Train.""His hits ""Out of Sight,"" ""Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"" and ""I Got You (I Feel Good)"" were instant smash sensations, putting Brown's name on the charts and foreshadowing the more funk inspired beats to come. Browns' greatest commercial success perhaps came in the late 1960s and overlapped into the 1970s. His music became bold and funky with the ballads ""Cold Sweat"" and ""I Got the Feelin'."" His name found a permanent spot on the charts during this era, and he was gaining fans around the world. Brown continued to perform throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A fighter, he managed to hold off prostate cancer, but eventually succumbed after a short bout with pneumonia. His music, like the man himself, often seems larger than life and will continue to dominate the airwaves in the years to come."
