The Best James Brown Interview

1988 was certainly another, very different time in comparison to the present. However, there are a few gems that have survived. For example, CNN's interview with James Brown.

James Brown is known as the creating the entire genre of funk music in the 1960s and was hugely popular among a wide variety of audiences. As time passed however, James Brown was in the news for multiple crimes and erratic behavior and in the late 1980s he even served prison time. In this interview from 1988, he allegedly beat his wife with a lead pipe and fired a gun at a car she was currently in. 

In the interview on the fourth of April, 1988, James Brown is obviously very high on some substance. There were rumors of both a PCP addiction as well as a cocaine habit. He claims that there's "nothing wrong" and continually denies to talk about the allegations and wants to instead talk about his music. Brown is almost continually yelling out his own songs as answers to questions and for a time nothing at all has been accomplished. The interviewer asks if he has started divorce proceedings and if he is now eligible and Brown replies "I am single, I want to mingle." The interview ends with Brown saying "I love you I love America I love everybody I feel good" and then singing a few more song titles.

In some sense, I am absolutely amazed at the fact that James Brown could do an interview as high as he was and be able to manage to not talk about the abuse allegations. It seems either James Brown did not have a public relations person or he was so sure of himself he pushed past any dissenting opinions and appeared live on television.