Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for the Real James Brown - Softcover

McBride James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1474603645 ISBN 13: 9781474603645

Publisher: Weidenfeld And Nicolson, 2016

Synopsis

The definitive biography of the soul legend James Brown by National Book Award-winning novelist James McBride

The music of James Brown was almost a genre in its own right, and he was one of the biggest and most influential cultural figures of the twentieth century. But the singer known as the 'Hardest Working Man in Show Business' was also an immensely troubled, misunderstood and complicated man. Award-winning writer James McBride, himself a professional musician, has undertaken a journey of discovery in search of the 'real' James Brown, delving into the heartbreaking saga of Brown's childhood and destroyed estate, and uncovering the hidden history of Brown's early years.

But this book is more than the story of the larger-than-life soul genius. It is an acutely insightful account of the racism and Southern culture which both produced and destroyed James Brown, a portrait of the musicians who created the 'James Brown sound' yet were lost to history, a nuanced appreciation of what made Brown's music so special, and a series of conversations with the friends and protégés whose lives were changed by the 'Godfather of Soul'.

Vividly written and thoroughly researched, James McBride has crafted a deeply personal story of a man and a legend.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of April 2016: National Book Award winner James McBride has written a book about an essentially unknowable man, one so twisted up in myth (self-made and otherwise) and (often poorly understood) tabloid-ready disasters that a traditional biography might well become worthlessly, untruthfully lurid. Instead, Kill 'Em and Leave is less concerned with the biographical minutiae of Brown's life than it is with Brown's world; he is the central figure of the book, but rarely is he at its center. Like an astronomer might look for an invisible planet by observing the movements of its celestial neighbors, McBride takes an oblique approach, traveling deep into Brown's past to interview bandmates, managers, family members, and friends, applying his unique, propulsive voice and insight as a musician to illustrate the world stacked against "The Godfather of Soul" and the ways it changed in his wake. --Jon Foro

About the Author

James McBride is the author of the National Book Award winner and New York Times bestseller The Good Lord Bird, as well as the bestselling novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Color of Water. He is also a saxophonist and composer who teaches music to children in the Red Hook, Brooklyn, housing projects where he was born, and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU.

Edition details

• Publisher: Weidenfeld And Nicolson
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1474603645
• ISBN 13: 9781474603645
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256