I heard the news today, oh boy...

I was just listening to his Christmas album around midnight while driving from Framingham to Woburn.

An Associated Press article posted around that time stated:....ATLANTA-James Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia on Sunday, but he hopes to be able to perform again next weekend, his agent said. Brown, 73, was admitted to Emory Crawford Long Hospital, said his agent, Frank Kopsidas of Intrigue Music. A hospital spokesman refused to confirm whether Brown was a patient, citing privacy laws. The Godfather of Soul canceled shows this week in Waterbury, Conn., and Englewood, N.J., but Brown should be ready to perform on Saturday at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, N.J., Kopsidas said.

Then, while fixing my coffee in the lobby of the Comfort Inn this morning, the sad news came over the television. James Brown, Godfather of Soul, dead at 73- article We will have to play that album again today. Rest in peace, James Brown.

Per All Music Guide...""Soul Brother Number One," "the Godfather of Soul," "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that James Brown has earned them more than any other performer. Other singers were more popular, others were equally skilled, but few other African-American musicians have been so influential on the course of popular music. And no other musician, pop or otherwise, put on a more exciting, exhilarating stage show; Brown's performances were marvels of athletic stamina and split-second timing.

Through the gospel-impassioned fury of his vocals and the complex polyrhythms of his beats, Brown was a crucial midwife in not just one, but two revolutions in American black music. He was one of the figures most responsible for turning R&B into soul; he was, most would agree, the figure most responsible for turning soul music into the funk of the late '60s and early '70s. Since the mid-'70s, he's done little more than tread ...more