charles bradley: impersonator search of himself
impersonator: the one that imitates the appearance, voice, manner of or mimics a known artist or entertainer. Also known as “The Screaming Eagle of Soul”, when we take a look at the biography of Charles Bradley, nothing there seems new to us. He had the same type of childhood as many other black kids born in the middle of the last century in the USA. His grandmother in Florida brought him up till he reached the age of 8 when his mother, who worked in New York, brought him to Brooklyn. When he was 14 his sister took him to the Apollo Theatre to see James Brown. That was when his life changed. By the age of 15 he could mimic James Brown’s voice and movements perfectly.
His next step was to run away from home. He spent two years living on the streets and sleeping rough in abandoned cars. That ended when he got a job as a cook. When his colleagues told
him that he looked like James Brown, he did his Brown impersonation for them. He formed a band with those workmates and they performed half a dozen shows. The Vietnam war came along and forced the band to move from American theatres to the jungles of Southeast Asia. As he was too young to be called up, Charles didn’t have to go, so he worked in kitchens
in Maine for another 10 years. He then heard the call of the wild and set out across the country in search of adventure as he hitchhiked through Seattle, Canada, Alaska and then on to California where he settled down. He worked in many badly-paid jobs and during this period he also performed some shows as a James Brown impersonator. In 1996, his mother called him and he returned to Brooklyn. There, his James Brown show at the Black Velvet club soon became successful. His success also brought him a few problems. He began to impersonate Brown in real life apart from his shows and it’s no secret that James Brown
had more than his fair share of trouble with the law.
Soon afterwards, a representative from Daptone Records heard Bradley’s deep, powerful, cracked voice at the Black Velvet and Daptone contracted him to work with several groups on the label (Menaham Street Band and The Bullets, amongst others). He hung up his James Brown clothes and from then on Charles Bradley began to impersonate himself. He released his first solo record last year: No time for dreaming. There is no bomb disposal squad that’s able to dismantle this soul, funk and rhythm and blues bomb!
His next step was to run away from home. He spent two years living on the streets and sleeping rough in abandoned cars. That ended when he got a job as a cook. When his colleagues told
him that he looked like James Brown, he did his Brown impersonation for them. He formed a band with those workmates and they performed half a dozen shows. The Vietnam war came along and forced the band to move from American theatres to the jungles of Southeast Asia. As he was too young to be called up, Charles didn’t have to go, so he worked in kitchens
in Maine for another 10 years. He then heard the call of the wild and set out across the country in search of adventure as he hitchhiked through Seattle, Canada, Alaska and then on to California where he settled down. He worked in many badly-paid jobs and during this period he also performed some shows as a James Brown impersonator. In 1996, his mother called him and he returned to Brooklyn. There, his James Brown show at the Black Velvet club soon became successful. His success also brought him a few problems. He began to impersonate Brown in real life apart from his shows and it’s no secret that James Brown
had more than his fair share of trouble with the law.
Soon afterwards, a representative from Daptone Records heard Bradley’s deep, powerful, cracked voice at the Black Velvet and Daptone contracted him to work with several groups on the label (Menaham Street Band and The Bullets, amongst others). He hung up his James Brown clothes and from then on Charles Bradley began to impersonate himself. He released his first solo record last year: No time for dreaming. There is no bomb disposal squad that’s able to dismantle this soul, funk and rhythm and blues bomb!
