The One, R.J. Smith
The One, R.J. Smith
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The One
The Life and Music of James Brown

Author: R.J. Smith

Narrator: Kevin R. Free

Unabridged: 14 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/15/2012


Synopsis

Senior editor at L.A. Magazine, RJ Smith saw his first book, The Great Black Way, win the coveted California Book Award. With The One, Smith profiles one of the 20th century's most innovative musical icons, the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown. Drawing on extensive research and captivating interviews, Smith chronicles Brown's rise from abject poverty to the pinnacle of fame, while also detailing Brown's work as a civil rights activist and entrepreneur.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Charles

I'd probably give this 4-and-a-half rather than 5 (for the reason I mention below), but I'll round up with the Goodreads star system. Great, great stuff. Smith nails the extremely difficult task facing every music historian. He manages to simultaneously narrate a coherent and compelling biography of......more

Goodreads review by Scott

Nearing the end, he was out of his mind on PCP, firing guns into the air at the family compound, his body way too enfeebled to do those famous splits. You will say, well James Brown was always a little nuts, wasn't he? The hypnotic thrum of the music, the cape routine, that shamanic pose - it's all......more