Little Willie John was a powerful and influential figure in rhythm & blues whose impact on other artists often outstripped his public recognition -- Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Al Green are just a few of the artists who've acknowledged how much they learned from John's passionate vocal style. However, bad luck and bad choices marked John's life in and out of the spotlight, and in 1968, he died in prison at the age of 30. James Brown was one of many fans who was devastated by Little Willie John's passing -- Brown and John were labelmates as well as mutual admirers -- and within a few months of John's death, Brown released a tribute album, Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things. Though at that time Brown's music was evolving into the lean, wildly percussive funk that would be his trademark through the late '60s and '70s, Thinking About Little Willie John found him easing back into a subdued, jazzy groove that had more to do with his early work for Federal and King than "Mother Popcorn." This set showed that Brown was a master of slow, easy grooves just as much as those driven by hard funk, and anyone who regards Brown as a shouter more than a singer ought to hear these sides, which show where Brown learned a few of his tricks about pushing the upper register. If Brown's vocal style was always rough, on numbers like "Talk to Me, Talk to Me" and "Cottage for Sale" he reveals a shrewd, emotionally effective gift for subtle phrasing that shows he could work with a much broader emotional palette than many have been willing to acknowledge. Brown's organ work isn't quite up to the same level as his singing here, but he sure knows how to make this band groove, and the instrumental tracks are nearly as rewarding as the vocals. A moving tribute to a friend and influential colleague, Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things is an atypical James Brown album of the period, but it's a moving bit of late-night groove that allows Brown the space to show off a side of himself he didn't often acknowledge. Little Willie John was a powerful and influential figure in rhythm & blues whose impact on other artists often outstripped his public recognition -- Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Al Green are just a few of the artists who've acknowledged how much they learned from John's passionate vocal style. However, bad luck and bad choices marked John's life in and out of the spotlight, and in 1968, he died in prison at the age of 30. James Brown was one of many fans who was devastated by Little Willie John's passing -- Brown and John were labelmates as well as mutual admirers -- and within a few months of John's death, Brown released a tribute album, Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things. Though at that time Brown's music was evolving into the lean, wildly percussive funk that would be his trademark through the late '60s and '70s, Thinking About Little Willie John found him easing back into a subdued, jazzy groove that had more to do with his early work for Federal and King than "Mother Popcorn." This set showed that Brown was a master of slow, easy grooves just as much as those driven by hard funk, and anyone who regards Brown as a shouter more than a singer ought to hear these sides, which show where Brown learned a few of his tricks about pushing the upper register. If Brown's vocal style was always rough, on numbers like "Talk to Me, Talk to Me" and "Cottage for Sale" he reveals a shrewd, emotionally effective gift for subtle phrasing that shows he could work with a much broader emotional palette than many have been willing to acknowledge. Brown's organ work isn't quite up to the same level as his singing here, but he sure knows how to make this band groove, and the instrumental tracks are nearly as rewarding as the vocals. A moving tribute to a friend and influential colleague, Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things is an atypical James Brown album of the period, but it's a moving bit of late-night groove that allows Brown the space to show off a side of himself he didn't often acknowledge. false 2022-10-18 18:55:16 1968 1968-01-01 1968-01-01 38 Blues Funk R&B Soul 111467 2366131 9c14b0f6-20cf-4607-bc71-d984d26084b3 20ff3303-4fe2-4a47-a1b6-291e26aa3438 6f38e94c-51e8-4148-adde-7bdb09cd9a22 /media/data/media5/Music/James Brown/Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968)/folder.jpg James Brown AlbumArtist /config/metadata/People/J/James Brown/folder.jpg James Brown Artist /config/metadata/People/J/James Brown/folder.jpg James Brown James Brown 1 03:28 2 03:06 3 03:29 4 02:44 5 04:49 6 03:05 7 02:06 8 03:08 9 03:12 10 02:37 11 02:48 12 03:01 James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer and musician. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by various nicknames, among them "King of Soul", "the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business", "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk", "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 23, 1986. His music has been heavily sampled by hip-hop musicians and other artists. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He rose to prominence in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a new approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006. Brown recorded and released 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was posthumously inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in the Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and at No. 44 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.