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New James Brown documentary comes up short

Written by Emily Toman, The Shorthorn staff

Monday, 24 March 2008 06:42 PM

The Night James Brown Saved Boston Director: David Leaf Release date: premiering at 9 p.m. April 5 on VH1 and VH1 Classic Rating: 2 out of 5 stars On April 5, 1968 at Boston Garden, James Brown did what no policeman or politician could do — he stopped the chaotic rioting that followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The soul singer performed at a televised concert and calmed the hearts of outraged blacks in Boston, Mass. and surrounding cities, which catapulted him into the spotlight as a political activist and patriot. However, the highly anticipated documentary The Night James Brown Saved Boston failed to portray enough about that night. The only interesting part was James Brown himself and the footage from the actual concert. The hour-long film could have been condensed into about 30 minutes at most. The repetitive commentary by Rev. Al Sharpton, music journalists and random black professors seemed to barely scratch the surface. Kevin White, the mayor of Boston at the time, gave the most informative interview having not been a fan of James Brown at all. The story begins with the assassination and the events leading up to the concert that was almost cancelled for fear of more rioting. The concert’s effect on Brown’s career was crammed into the last 10 minutes of the film, an important element that shouldn’t be rushed. Although the film is not completely finished, director David Leaf said during a Q-and-A session that the only thing left to do is sound mixing. Constant clips of the upbeat and crazed concert are enough to hold interest. James Brown fans should just watch for the DVD release of the 1968 footage, James Brown Live at Boston Garden. Views: 1648 | E-mail   Comments (1)  1  Written by oscar fields, on 03-25-2008 16:34 This is Great news for all of James Brown Fans, such footage  of things like this, that James brown has done is so important,  it shows that he knew what to do in that time, to bring about  peace to all people, but yet in the center of an unbalance generation. My greatest wish is more of what he has done could be put together, of other concert that was done and TV  programs that he perform on, his fans would love it and but it,  thank you for what you are about to do. Report Abuse Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 April 2008 04:59 PM )

 

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