It seems like 2015 has been the year of the rock docs – The Who (Lambert and Stamp), The Scorpions (Forever and a Day), Pink Floyd (Roger Waters The Wall), The Wrecking Crew and the Kurt Cobain movie Montage of Heck, to name a few. And now we’ve gotten news of another, this time about the Godfather of Soul (or Mr. Dynamite or the founding father of funk music, if you prefer), James Brown. Moon River Studios expects to begin production on the Brown documentary in November, which will feature interviews with friends, family and fellow musicians as well as concert footage from the singer’s last live performance ever.
In a career that spanned six decades, the singer, songwriter, band leader and dancer extraordinaire made music history with his electrifying live performances of such now-classics like “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.” The forthcoming doc plans to hit all the high notes of this career, focusing on Brown’s battles against racism, his patriotism and the multi-generational impact of his music. A number of never-before-released songs are also anticipated to be featured in the documentary, along with an accompanying soundtrack.
‘Tis the season for feeling good about Brown. HBO released a documentary about the soul singer last year (Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown), and earlier this month, leaders of Augusta, Georgia (where Brown grew up) announced preliminary plans to revamp the local plaza dedicated to the musical icon.
