1/25/07 RightWingTrashMan: James Brown

We’re killing a week by honoring recent dead celebrities, and this one might seem a little obvious. Or doubtful. After all, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton wasted no time parading before the cameras after James Brown passed away last Christmas. The soul legend’s good pals pretended not to remember how Brown frequently declared himself to be a Republican.

In a similar spirit, we could simply—and selectively—honor James Brown for “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself).” We could even hack out a quick tribute to “Living In America.” Instead, let’s honor James Brown for his war against drugs. As the above picture reminds us, it was a war made up of losing battles.

We’re feeling a little bad that this is the second black entertainer in a row that we’re celebrating in the context of drug use. What can we say? Tamara Dobson and James Brown were both good conservative role models in the ’70s. Taking on drugs was part of the package. Brown didn’t always do so with eloquence. Check out the entirety of this anti-drug radio spot on the Funk Power 1970 CD:

Hi, this is James Brown—Soul Brother #1. Always fighting, and now I’m fighting for your life, because if you use drugs, you better leave it alone. Drugs are contagious. They’re killers! Every drug is a killer! Stay away from drugs. Drugs will take your life away—and if you want to live, stay away from drugs, because they are super bad, super bad, super bad, super bad, super bad, super bad…

Brown can claim the most drug-addled anti-drug public-service announcement in recorded history. And we say that as RightWingTrash that’s worked on a similar radio spot with Whitney Houston.

But consider the majesty of 1972’s “King Heroin.” This single actually made it into the Top 40 of the pop charts, most likely thanks to a hypnotic strolling vibe reminiscent of “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” “King Heroin” is a classic Brown tune, but let’s admire it today as a prose masterpiece—which tells the truth about a drug that, like James Brown, continues to reach out to hipsters of all colors and creeds:

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Americans, lady Americans—this is James Brown.

I want to talk to you about one of our most deadly killers in the country today. I had a dream the other night, and I was sitting in my living room. Dozed off to sleep, so I start to dreaming. I dreamed I walked in a place, and I saw a real strange, weird object standing up, talking to the people.

And I found out it was Heroin, that deadly drug that go in your veins.

He said, “I came to this country without a passport. Ever since then, I’ve been hunted and sought. My little white grains are nothing but waste. Soft and deadly and bitter to taste. I’m a world of power and all know it’s true. Use me once and you’ll know it, too. I can make a mere schoolboy forget his books. I can make a world-famous beauty neglect her looks.

“I can make a good man forsake his wife. Send a greedy man to prison for the rest of his life. I can make a man forsake his country and flag. Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag. Some think my adventure’s a joy and a thrill, but I’ll put a gun in your hand and make you kill.

“In cellophane bags, I’ve found my way to heads of state and children at play. I’m financed in China, ran in Japan. I’m respected in Turkey, and I’m legal in Siam. I take my addicts and make ’em steal, borrow, beg—then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg.

“So, be you Italian, Jewish, Black, or Mex, I can make the most virile of men forget their sex. So now, now, my man, you must do your best to keep up your habit until your arrest.

“Now the police have taken you from under my wing. Do you think they dare defy me, I who am king? Now, you must lie in that county jail where I can’t get to you by visit or mail. So squirm with discomfort. Wiggle and cough. Six days of madness, hah! You might throw me off.

“Curse me in name! Defy me in speech! But you’d pick me up right now if I were in your reach. All through your sentence, you’ve become resolved to your fate. Hear now, young man and woman—I’ll be waiting at the gate.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t run! I’m not chased. Sure, my name is Heroin! You’ll be back for a taste! Behold, you’re hooked! Your foot is in the stirrup, and make haste! Mount the steed and ride him well! For the white horse of heroin will ride you to Hell! To Hell! Will ride you to Hell! Until you are dead! Dead, brother! Dead!”

This is a revolution of the mind. Get your mind together and get away from drugs. That’s the man…

Ladies and gentlemen, that was James Brown—the Edgar Allan Poe of the ghetto of our soul.

Make him your own: His catalogue is a world without end, amen, and “King Heroin” can be found on many Brown compilations—but none better than Make It Funky—The Big Payback: 1971-1975. As noted, Brown’s lesser anti-drug screed is billed as “Fight Against Drug Abuse (Public Service Announcement)” on Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang. You also get an amazing backing band setting up the greatness that was about to launch in 1971.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion