Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown? [MERGED]

[MJJExpert]

Just wondering about why we never heard or read anything about a duet with MJ and James Brown...
Michael considered him a truly Maestro and "his greatest inspiration" on many occasions.
It's highly unlikely that they never wrote, arranged or simply rehearsed something together in over 30-40 years of career.
Yet, we don't have any clue of unreleased material about them (neither a project of it).
What do you think about it?

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

I don't know. if so they never got a chance to get around to it. :scratch: that would of been quite interesting.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Why did nobody ever ask him questions like these? :no:

 

[Jackson Rules]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Probably because Michael didn't want to overshadow James Brown and, as a form of respect to his greatest inspiration, refused to do it

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Michael overshadow James Brown? lol. Michael got his inspiration from him. so i don't think a duet would overshadowed neither of them. they were both legends. i would see that as a awesome duet to me.

may they both r.i.p

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Yeah, nobody was going to outshine nobody here. Imo James Brown is one of the most overlooked singers of all time. He was such a force. He could reach G6’s effortlessly and had his own vocal trademarks such as the grunts, screams, shrieks. He could sing any crowd into a frenzy and on top of that he was a master showman and dancer. Put some respect on his name!

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

I agree. James Brown need more respect than he gets. he need to be talked about more. that being said we probably wouldn't have Michael without James Brown. so thanks to the grandfather of soul.

 

[Jackson Rules]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Michael is the perfect example of a pupil that has surpassed his master (a great quote by my compatriot Leonardo Da Vinci), so I have that feeling that Michael would have overshadowed him.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Who really knows? :laughing:

 

[Michaels Lover]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

I agree. James Brown need more respect than he gets. he need to be talked about more. that being said we probably wouldn't have Michael without James Brown. so thanks to the grandfather of soul.

It's the godfather of soul, not grandfather

 

[MJJExpert]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

Michael is the perfect example of a pupil that has surpassed his master (a great quote by my compatriot Leonardo Da Vinci), so I have that feeling that Michael would have overshadowed him.

This could be a good reason. But Michael came with multiple duets with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger (and duets with Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston were planned). All people who - of course - didn't need any publicity and - for sure - couldn't be overshadowed, neither by Michael Jackson at his peak

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

It's the godfather of soul, not grandfather

Oops. my mistake.

 

[JichaelMackson]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

haha grandfather of soul.
I'm not laughing with you NatureCriminal7896 it's just a funny error :-D

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

haha grandfather of soul.
I'm not laughing with you NatureCriminal7896 it's just a funny error :-D

you mean at?

 

[JichaelMackson]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

you mean at?

I mean I'm not making fun of you

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Did Michael ever considered a duet with James Brown?

I mean I'm not making fun of you

yeah but you kind of miss pronounced your sentence. it's okay.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

This could be a good reason. But Michael came with multiple duets with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger (and duets with Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston were planned). All people who - of course - didn't need any publicity and - for sure - couldn't be overshadowed, neither by Michael Jackson at his peak

Don’t forget Freddie Mercury as well.

 

[wonderouzmj]

Why mj & James brown never did anything

Ive been wondering lately why mj didnt do anything with his idols. Like add them to a project or a cover of at least 1 James brown or featured fred astair in a short

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

he did do some stuff with people he look up too. i think Fred was too old to do anything. i'm not sure with James.

 

[JichaelMackson]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

Well if MJ had lived during Fred Astaire's big days I'm fairly certain they would have appeared in dance/musical movies together. Or maybe not as black men didn't get the big parts in old Hollywood.

I'm not sure what he could have done with JB. Their music is very different. JB during his height was all about funk and improvisation, Michael worked entirely different and rehearsed everything to perfection.

What I did miss MJ doing during concerts is an ode to JB. I often wished he continued to perform JB's "there was a time" live on stage. JB himself would have loved it, just look at how much fun he has when MJ joins him on stage

 

[DuranDuran]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

I'm not sure what he could have done with JB. Their music is very different. JB during his height was all about funk and improvisation, Michael worked entirely different and rehearsed everything to perfection.

James funk era records was more about the rhythm and less about melody. He usually didn't have guitar solos, but "chicken scratch" guitar playing. That's one reason his 1970s records had little Top 40 pop airplay. He'd have songs 10 minutes of more of just a steady groove. In a lot of cases with funk music the lyrics are unimportant, it's the feel of the rhythm. James has songs where there's just a line sung over and over, screams, or he's just talking about nothing in particular. Repeating lines and call & response was common in gospel music, and a lot of the earlier R&B/soul singers had a church choir background. James also released all instrumental albums.

Like I mentioned in the Prince Bad thread, Mike seemed unlikely or unwilling to actually collaborate with another artist. He either writes a song and get another singer to sing on it. Or he just sings on someone else's record like Kenny Loggins or Rockwell. More like a session singer.

 

[wonderouzmj]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

Well prince was more of his peer. James was his idol so.... it's a huge difference & he also did those 2 duets with Stevie & Paul

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

I can't answer.

 

[Nite Line]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

Considering some of the shady things that James Brown did, I am glad that MJ never worked with him. It's already bad enough that he worked with R Kelly.

 

[wonderouzmj]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

Considering some of the shady things that James Brown did, I am glad that MJ never worked with him. It's already bad enough that he worked with R Kelly.

He did something shady to mike?

 

[DuranDuran]

1960s

Well prince was more of his peer. James was his idol so.... it's a huge difference & he also did those 2 duets with Stevie & Paul

They're from the 1960s. James' 1st records came out in the 1950s and I don't think Mike has done any records with pre-1960s acts, unless you count Quincy Jones.

 

[Serious Effect]

I am pretty sure Mike did not want to "outshine" his idol if the two took the stage or studio because realistically, as legendary as Brown is, Mike would probably be the central source of attention, which is not what he would desire as he respected James Brown so much that he would wish for him to shine as well.

Here for example. Michael did not dance as much like he was motivated to because he did not want to take the stage from Brown:

 

[83magic]

Re: Why mj & James brown never did anything

paul McCartney talks about writing with Michael. they were equal partners. 'say say say' is just as much Michael's song as it is paul's.

maybe even more so, as there is an alternate version of Michael singing some of paul's parts as well as his own. he can also be heard laying the blueprint for the harmonica/sax riff to follow in.

to answer the question of the thread, I would rather hear Michael and james collaborate during the j5 era. I feel their music would have been more compatible then. 'going back to indiana' for example.

 

[JichaelMackson]

Ha cool , I never heard this 2015 mix of say say say. I love it. It sounds quite different. At first I thought it was MJ completely solo but then I started hearing Paul's voice.

This is why I'm here, I keep finding new MJ music after all these years!

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I remember when this aired on TV. i can't believe it's been that long. R.I.P both.