Chuck Brown
Encyclopedia
Chuck Brown is a guitar
ist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C.
in the mid- and late 1970s. While its musical classification, influences, and origins are debated, Brown is regarded as the fundamental force behind the creation of go-go music.
Brown's musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm, joining Los Latinos in 1965. He still performs music today and is commonly known in the Washington, DC area. Brown's early hits include "I Need Some Money" and "Bustin' Loose
". "Bustin' Loose" has been adopted by the Washington Nationals baseball team as its home run celebration song, and was interpolated by Nelly for his 2002 number one hit "Hot in Herre
." Brown also recorded go-go covers of early jazz and blues songs, such as "Go-Go Swing" Duke Ellington's
"It Don't Mean a Thing If Ain't Got That Swing", "Moody's Mood for Love"
, Johnny Mercer's
"Midnight Sun
", Louis Jordan's
"Run Joe", and T-Bone Walker's
"Stormy Monday"
.
He has influenced other go-go bands such as Big G and The Backyard Band, Rare Essence
, Experience Unlimited (EU)
, Little Benny and the Masters, and Trouble Funk
.
The song "Ashley's Roachclip
" from the Soul Searchers' 1974 album Salt of the Earth contains a famous drum break, sampled countless times in various other tracks.
In the mid-1990s, he performed the theme music of Fox
's sitcom The Sinbad Show
which later aired on The Family Channel
and Disney Channel
.
Brown is considered a local legend in Washington, D.C., and has appeared in television advertisements for the Washington Post and other area companies. The D.C. Lottery
's "Rolling Cash 5
" ad campaign features Chuck Brown singing his 2007 song "The Party Roll" in front of various D.C. city landmarks such as Ben's Chili Bowl
.
Brown resides in Waldorf
, Maryland
. His son, Nekos, was a defensive end/linebacker for the Virginia Tech football team. While his son was in college, Brown scheduled concerts and other appearances around the Hokies home schedule to ensure that he would never miss a game, and became a fixture at Lane Stadium
. Following the Virginia Tech massacre
, Brown stated in an interview that he was "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy, and cried every day for two weeks. In shows that followed, Brown would pause for a moment in prayer for the victims and their families before beginning his performance, and dedicated several shows to their memory.
Brown was the subject of the cover article in The Washington Post Magazine on October 4, 2009, entitled Chuck Brown's Long Dance. He received his first Grammy Award nomination in 2010
for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
for "Love" (with Jill Scott
and Marcus Miller
), from the album We Got This.
Since the early 1970s, Brown has exclusively played a blonde Gibson ES-335, which is affectionately referred to as his "Blondie."
On September 4, 2011, Brown was honored by the National Symphony Orchestra, as the NSO paid tribute to Legends of Washington Music Labor Day concert - honoring Brown's music, as well as Duke Ellington
and John Philip Sousa
- with a free concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Brown and his band performed capped the evening with a performance.
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in the mid- and late 1970s. While its musical classification, influences, and origins are debated, Brown is regarded as the fundamental force behind the creation of go-go music.
Brown's musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm, joining Los Latinos in 1965. He still performs music today and is commonly known in the Washington, DC area. Brown's early hits include "I Need Some Money" and "Bustin' Loose
Bustin' Loose (Part 1)
"Bustin' Loose " was a hit song for Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers. Released from the LP of the same name, it spent four weeks at the top of the R&B singles chart in early 1979 and peaked at number thirty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart....
". "Bustin' Loose" has been adopted by the Washington Nationals baseball team as its home run celebration song, and was interpolated by Nelly for his 2002 number one hit "Hot in Herre
Hot in Herre
"Hot in Herre" is a popular song and single performed by the hip-hop artist Nelly, and was released in 2002 as the first single on his album Nellyville. The song's producers were The Neptunes...
." Brown also recorded go-go covers of early jazz and blues songs, such as "Go-Go Swing" Duke Ellington's
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
"It Don't Mean a Thing If Ain't Got That Swing", "Moody's Mood for Love"
Moody's Mood for Love
"Moody's Mood for Love" is jazz saxophonist James Moody's 1949 instrumental solo based on Jimmy McHugh's 1935 song "I'm in the Mood for Love" with lyrics later added by Eddie Jefferson.-History:...
, Johnny Mercer's
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
"Midnight Sun
Midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous...
", Louis Jordan's
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
"Run Joe", and T-Bone Walker's
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
"Stormy Monday"
Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)
"Call It Stormy Monday " is a blues song written by T-Bone Walker and first recorded in 1947. Confusingly, it is also sometimes referred to as "Stormy Monday Blues", although that is the title of a 1942 song by Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine...
.
He has influenced other go-go bands such as Big G and The Backyard Band, Rare Essence
Rare Essence
Rare Essence, is an American go-go band, originally from Washington, D.C.-Career:The band developed from a relationship between four childhood friends: Quinten "Footz" Davidson, Andre "Whiteboy" Johnson, Michael "Funky Ned" Neal and John Jones...
, Experience Unlimited (EU)
Experience Unlimited
Experience Unlimited is a Washington, D.C.-based go-go band that enjoyed its height of popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s. Fronted by lead singer/bassist Gregory "Sugarbear" Eliot, the group has had a fluctuating membership over the years, but they have maintained a fairly loyal following...
, Little Benny and the Masters, and Trouble Funk
Trouble Funk
Trouble Funk is an American R&B and funk band from Washington, DC. It helped to popularize that area's local funk subgenre known as go-go. Among the band's well-known songs are the go-go anthem "Hey, Fellas." They released several studio albums including Drop the Bomb, In Times of Trouble, Live,...
.
The song "Ashley's Roachclip
Ashley's Roachclip
"Ashley's Roachclip" is an instrumental song by funk group The Soul Searchers from their 1974 album Salt of the Earth on Sussex Records. A portion of the song from 3:30-3:50 contains a widely recognized drum break that has been sampled countless times in songs across several genres.- Songs that...
" from the Soul Searchers' 1974 album Salt of the Earth contains a famous drum break, sampled countless times in various other tracks.
In the mid-1990s, he performed the theme music of Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's sitcom The Sinbad Show
The Sinbad Show
The Sinbad Show is an American sitcom starring comedian Sinbad that premiered on September 16, 1993 on Fox. The show's main plot is about a bachelor taking in two orphaned children. Chuck Brown performed this sitcom's theme music...
which later aired on The Family Channel
Television networks preceding ABC Family
The cable television network ABC Family has gone through several different owners during its history. Stipulations in sales terms for the network require that the network maintain the word "Family" in its name.-CBN Cable :...
and Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
.
Brown is considered a local legend in Washington, D.C., and has appeared in television advertisements for the Washington Post and other area companies. The D.C. Lottery
D.C. Lottery
The D.C. Lottery is run by the city of Washington, the US capital. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . Games offered include Powerball, DC Daily 6, DC-5, DC-4, Keno, Mega Millions and numerous scratch tickets.The D.C. Lottery began in 1982...
's "Rolling Cash 5
Fantasy 5
The following is a list of lottery games in the United States and Canada in which five regular numbers are drawn from a larger set of numbers. The list includes the name, the number field for each, and the frequency of drawings. All pick-5 games in the U.S...
" ad campaign features Chuck Brown singing his 2007 song "The Party Roll" in front of various D.C. city landmarks such as Ben's Chili Bowl
Ben's Chili Bowl
Ben's Chili Bowl is a landmark restaurant in Washington, D.C., located at 1213 U Street, next to Lincoln Theatre, in the Shaw neighborhood of northwest D.C. It is known locally for its chili dogs, half-smokes, and milkshakes, and has been an integral part of the neighborhood's history since its...
.
Brown resides in Waldorf
Waldorf, Maryland
Waldorf, Maryland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. It is south-southeast of Washington, D.C. The population of the census-designated area only was 67,752 at the 2010 census...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. His son, Nekos, was a defensive end/linebacker for the Virginia Tech football team. While his son was in college, Brown scheduled concerts and other appearances around the Hokies home schedule to ensure that he would never miss a game, and became a fixture at Lane Stadium
Lane Stadium
Lane Stadium/Worsham Field is a stadium located in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is the home field of the Virginia Tech Hokies. It was rated the number one home field advantage in all of college football in 2005 by Rivals.com...
. Following the Virginia Tech massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
, Brown stated in an interview that he was "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy, and cried every day for two weeks. In shows that followed, Brown would pause for a moment in prayer for the victims and their families before beginning his performance, and dedicated several shows to their memory.
Brown was the subject of the cover article in The Washington Post Magazine on October 4, 2009, entitled Chuck Brown's Long Dance. He received his first Grammy Award nomination in 2010
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances...
for "Love" (with Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
and Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
), from the album We Got This.
Since the early 1970s, Brown has exclusively played a blonde Gibson ES-335, which is affectionately referred to as his "Blondie."
On September 4, 2011, Brown was honored by the National Symphony Orchestra, as the NSO paid tribute to Legends of Washington Music Labor Day concert - honoring Brown's music, as well as Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
- with a free concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Brown and his band performed capped the evening with a performance.
Discography
- 1972: We the PeopleWe the People (The Soul Searchers album)-Track listing:#We The People - 5:28#Your Love Is So Doggone Good - 8:36#It's All In Your Mind - 3:06...
- 1974: Salt of the EarthSalt of the Earth (The Soul Searchers album)Released in 1974, this album has become one of the most sampled albums in Hip Hop music with the drum break from Ashley's Roachclip being the basis of many popular songs of the past twenty years.-Track listing:#I Rolled It You Hold It - 4:38...
- 1979: Bustin' Loose
- 1980: Funk Express
- 1984: We Need Some Money
- 1986: Go Go Swing Live [Future Sounds Production]
- 1987: Any Other Way to Go?
- 1987: Live '87 - D.C. Bumpin' Y'all [live; double album]
- 1989: Trust Me: Live Pa Tape, Vol. 2 [Future Records & Tapes]
- 1990: Wind Me up Chuck, Vol. 3 [Raw Venture Records & Tapes]
- 1991: 90's Goin' Hard
- 1993: This Is a Journey into Time [live]
- 1995: Hah Man
- 1995: The Other SideThe Other Side (Eva Cassidy album)The Other Side is an album by D.C. go-go funk legend Chuck Brown and American singer Eva Cassidy. It was first released in 1992 by Brown's label Liaison records. The album comprises jazz, blues and soul standards and contains a mixture of solos and duets...
- with Eva CassidyEva CassidyEva Marie Cassidy was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996...
(recorded in 1992 and released in 1995) - 1997: Live Pa Tape
- 1998: Timeless
- 1999: The Spirit of Christmas
- 2001: Your Game...Live at the 9:30 Club
- 2002: Put Your Hands Up!
- 2005: Best of Chuck Brown (remastered)
- 2007: We are About The Business (Raw Venture Records)
- 2010: We Got This (Raw Venture Records)
External links
- Official website
- Chuck Brown's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- Photo Gallery of Chuck Brown & his band at the 9:30 Club9:30 ClubFoo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...
, Washington DC - "Chuck Brown: Go-Go Godfather's Gumbo", All Things ConsideredAll Things ConsideredAll Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, 10 May 2006 - "Wind me up, Chuck", Jeff Chang, San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 2001
- "Chuck Brown," Nick Baily, Global Rhythm, August 2007
- "Still Soulful, Still Swinging, Still Ready to Bust Loose," Jon Pareles, The New York Times, April 21, 2007
- http://emancipation.mypodcast.com on Chuck Brown's influence
- "Chuck Brown's Long Dance," Robin Rose Parker, The Washington Post Magazine, October 4, 2009