Biography Of James BrownEssay Preview: Biography Of James BrownReport this essayThe Godfather of SoulJanuary 26, 2005IntroductionWe will look into the life of James Brown. He is known for his music. In his life, he had to face many obstacles, but through determination, he changed his life cycle. We will touch on the influences in his life, developmental stage and theories that best fit his personality.
James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in South Carolina. He lived a life without parental guidance. His mother left him with his father when he was only 4 years old. James was often left alone while his father traveled to turpentine camps selling tar for a living. James recalls the times he spent alone walking around in the woods looking for doodlebugs, and playing a harmonic his father gave him. During this time alone, he never had anyone around to talk to but himself (Brenchley, 2003).
In 1938, he and his father moved in with his aunt who lived in Augusta, Georgia. His Aunt Honey ran a Grambling house, and brothel to make ends meet. James would also earn money by working in the cotton fields, and dancing for the soldiers to help feed a household of 18 people. He also spent time in the church sweeping before every service, so that he could learn to play different tunes on the piano (Brenchley, 2003, DVD).
During his school years, he was often sent home because of inappropriate clothing. To solve this problem he would often steal in order to look good enough to attend school. By the time James reached 16 years old, he was arrested, and served 3 years in prison. While in prison he started a gospel group an earned the title “Music Box” (Brenchley, 2003, DVD).
James tried to find his place in life, his interest was boxing, and his idol was Bo Jack the boxer. He did do some semi- pro boxing in his days, and played baseball. Due to a leg injury, baseball was no longer possible. He then turned to his real passion music, and decided to pursue a musical career (Brenchley, 2003, DVD).
Throughout his musical career, he earned many titles “Mr. Dynamite” and “The Godfather of Soul” known as the hardest working man in show business. His demeanor at times was often that of a tyrant, generous nature, tolerant, or at times demanding. He was the greatest entertainer during his time. He is known for his performances on stage. The cape act that he uses on stage came from the wrestler Gorgeous George. In addition, the screaming that he does in his music comes from the preachers he watched while attending church as a child (Brenchley, 2003, DVD).
James would often be plagued with problems in his life by the government. Personal problems also plagued his life divorce, and the death of his first child. He also had problems with drugs that landed him in prison for three years during 1988 (Brenchley, 2003, DVD). In 2004, his most recent problems with the law are the domestic violence issues with his spouse. Through all his problems he always seem to find away to bounce back.
Even though James has his problems, he is also a very giving person. He never forgot where he came from. He continues to help the community in which he grew up, by donating during Thanksgiving and Christmas (Brenchley, 2003, DVD).
Life InfluencesConsidering the environment in which James grew up certainly had an impact on his life. Some of the influences in his life were being poor, racism, his parents and the church. The areas that affected his moral development stem from when he grew up, doing the time of segregation. Segregation had an impact on how he viewed the world. He felt that everyone should be treated equally. Jamess moral belief was that blacks should have a choice, and have the same opportunities as others. When he saw the separate drinking fountains for whites and blacks, he recalls the mental pain, but for him only God could take care of. He used his music as away to communicate how he felt. Growing up poor affected Jamess emotional development. He never wanted any handouts. He always felt that if he wanted something he would work and acquire them on his own. The attitude he had probably came from spending time alone as a child when his father would leave home. This type of upbringing forced him to have a mind of his own taking care of himself without his parents. The last influence on Jamess life was the church. Here he learned about God and the bible. James has stated that he would leave all his pain and worry to the Lord, because he was the only person that could fix his problems. The church certainly gave him the support during his developmental growth as a child. He never received that from his parents because they were not around.
If Jamess parents had been around during his developmental stages, he probably could have avoided going to prison. He would have received the nurturing a child needs during development. Who knows how he would have turned out; music may not have been part of his life. Because of his environment in which he grew up that gave him the determination that he had to be successful in life.
Personality TheoryLooking deeper into Jamess personality my assumption would be that he is extroversion and Freuds theory of superego. Han Eysencks view of personality traits is that they are inherited. He believes that there are two types of people we encounter extroversion and introversion. In reviewing Eysencks information, there is two second-order factors extroversion and neuroticism. An extroversion viewed in terms of activity, sociability, risk-taking, impulsiveness, expressiveness, reflectiveness and responsibility. On the, other hand, neuroticism viewed in terms self-esteem, happiness, anxiety, obsessiveness, autonomy, hypochondrias, and guilt (www.Cultstock, 2003). To have a better understanding to what an extrovert is a person who is out-going versus the introvert, who is a shy and quiet person. Personality tests
Mortality. Over the years I have met a variety of people with various sorts of illnesses. Many of them had a history of suicide, or had already died of that illness. These people either had a chronic health condition or a serious illness that could have killed the person who suffered it. I have found some people in my research and other research that have had death from such causes. Many medical conditions can cause people to continue on life. Some people that we found had cancer, hepatitis C, thyroid problems, blood pressure problems; for example a woman who died of ovarian disease was able to continue to have a large body of breast tissue and was able to keep living it as she did. This could make for problems with reproduction, the ability to be productive, and the possibility of heart disease.
I suspect that many people with cancer and heart attack do not know why they are suffering while they are dying.
The body is like an inverted version of a diamond.
Some of you may or may not have heard about the fact that on average the heart has one size equal to the total weight of the body (compared to a child) because it is so big. The size is measured in kilos. But sometimes our bodies are smaller than we usually think so the heart size is measured in kilos. This is quite the way of thinking about the body. We all experience the same thing. If that body sizes are the same regardless of age, is the heart fat? The ratio between the weight of the child and the amount of fat the child loses is called the ratio of the total weight of the body vs. the actual weight of the child. The body usually has more fat than the child’s body. The ratio of the fat on the body to the amount of fat on the body is called the ratio of the total weight of the body (compared to the child) to all other mass. This is quite a bit similar to the “normal” weight calculation of 1 kg. In fact, there is a difference of around 30,000 calories between children and adults compared to about 4,000 calories between people of the same weight and age. The ratio of the child’s weight to that of the parent is called the amount of food they need in order to maintain their weight. The ratio usually is about 100 calories so it is about half of the total body weight. That means as of the age of 25 years, the ratio of the mother to the child has decreased from about 1 pound to 2 pounds. In other words it is about half the weight of each human being that is heavier than the amount of food you consume to maintain their weight. The ratio of the adult to the child tends to be about 70 percent by the ages of 30 years and half by the age of 30. Then in the early 20th century more and more people began to think about the ratio of the adult to the child in terms of food to body. And I believe some people were thinking about the difference of around 20 pounds (about 25 grams) to the weight of body. Then suddenly people started looking a little