Considerable musicians have represented soul music, and James Brown was one of the most prominent. Southern soul became extremely popular towards the end of the 1960s, and Brown had his first success in 1956 (Covach and Flory 218). Initially, Brown worked as a stand-in for Little Richard, and his first record, “Please Please Please,” was quite thriving (Covach and Flory 240-241). Brown used to sing lead vocals, and his early musical style resembled that of the 1950s doo-wop (Covach and Flory 242). However, he began to develop the soul style in 1960 with “Think,” characterized by horns and a driving rhythm section (Covach and Flory 242). In 1964, Brown introduced “Out of Sight,” which represented the hard-driving soul style featured in his later songs towards the 1970s (Covach and Flory 242). James Brown was one of the performers who took control of their music, as he united an aggressive style of vocal and dance performance, production skills, and understanding of business (Covach and Flory 242). Brown’s musical style through the 1960s and into the 1970s changed from following prior era’s themes to creating his unique sounds.
As Brown was searching for and evolving his individual style, his career differed from Motown, Stax, or Atlantic artists and led him to produce distinguishable songs. For instance, the stops at the end of the verses in Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Pt. 1” distinct the music from a Stax arrangement (Covach and Flory 243). At the same time, the absence of background vocals in the song varies from Motown’s approach (Covach and Flory 243). Moreover, James Brown’s music was highly famous within the Black community, as, unlike Motown and Atlantic artists, Brown expressed apparent racial pride through hard-edged musical style and political lyrics (Covach and Flory 244). Brown acted passionately on his live shows as a singer, dancer, and bandleader but also hired notable musicians and rehearsed them tirelessly (Covach and Flory 240). James Brown was a remarkable performer whose vision of music and societal norms differed from other professionals.