Under the Hood: RJ Smith on James Brown’s Early Career Choice

R.J. Smith is the author of THE ONE: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF JAMES BROWN.  He says before James Brown became a musician, he considered a very different profession.

He thought about being a boxer.  He was a pretty decent boxer as a teenager people say. But I think when he saw the power he had over audiences when he was in prison as a teenager, and when he was there he started singing gospel behind bars. And really I think he learned a lot then about getting a good feeling in yourself from performing for other people, and how you could really change them and that really moved him. – RJ Smith