Out of respect for the Godfather of Go-go, I’m reposting this article from February 2011.
[haiku url=”http://www.grassrootsmediaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Chuck Breezy 1.mp3″ title=”Chuck Brown Interview”]
Godfather of Go-go, Mr. Chuck Brown
Grassroots Media Project radio producers Brenda Hayes and Be Steadwell interviewed Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-go, at WPFW a couple of weeks before the Grammy’s. Mr. Brown was nominated for the song LOVE featuring Jill Scott with Marcus Miller in the category Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals. As no one outside of the DC radius has a proper understanding of Go-go, Chuck Brown did not win. However, all you Go-go fans out there will want to hear the Hayes/Steadwell interview of Chuck Brown because as I said, he never lets us down.
Thank you Wikipedia for the following information:
Chuck Brown (born August 28, 1936) is a guitarist 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.[1]
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 was “absolutely devastated” by the tragedy, and cried every day for two weeks.[2] 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.[3] 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.
