Playing 350 shows a year at his peak, with more than forty Billboard
hits, James Brown was a dazzling showman who transformed American
music. His life offstage was just as vibrant, and until now no
biographer has delivered a complete profile. The One draws on
interviews with more than 100 people who knew Brown personally or
played with him professionally. Using these sources, award-winning
writer RJ Smith draws a portrait of a man whose twisted and amazing
life helps us to understand the music he made.
The One delves deeply into the story of a man who was raised in abject-almost medieval-poverty in the segregated South but grew up to earn (and lose) several fortunes. Covering everything from Brown's unconventional childhood (his aunt ran a bordello), to his role in the Black Power movement, which used "Say It Loud (I'm Black and Proud)" as its anthem, to his high-profile friendships, to his complicated family life, Smith's meticulous research and sparkling prose blend biography with a cultural history of a pivotal era.
At the heart of The One is Brown's musical genius. He had crucial influence as an artist during at least three decades; he inspires pity, awe, and revulsion. As Smith traces the legend's reinvention of funk, soul, R&B, and pop, he gives this history a melody all its own.
RJ Smith has been a senior editor at Los Angeles magazine, a contributor to Blender, a columnist for The Village Voice, a staff writer for Spin, and has written for GQ, The New York Times Magazine, and Men's Vogue. His first book, The Great Black Way: LA in the 1940s and the Lost African- American Renaissance, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and recipient of a California Book Award. He lives in Los Angeles.