James Brown

Jump back! Owwww!Maryland's connection to the Godfather of Soul will appear on national television today when Deanna Brown of Baltimore and Yamma Brown of College Park help James Brown, their legendary dad, celebrate his 59th birthday on the Joan Rivers show.So how was it growing up as the offspring of a man whose name is nearly synonymous with rhythm and blues? Deanna Brown, 23, laughingly recalled that hers was a household in which "Papa Don't Take No Mess!"To this day Ms. Brown, who produces the morning show at WWIN-FM, still has a hard time thinking of her father as a superstar.

For a documentary about a music festival, "Soul Power" doesn't include nearly enough music. That's a shame, because what's here is wonderful - exuberant, high-wattage performances from the likes of B.B. King, the Spinners, Bill Withers and, especially, James Brown, performing in Zaire as a backdrop to the 1974 Muhammad Ali-George Foreman heavyweight fight. But by including only one song from each performer - except for Brown, who gets two - director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte seriously shortchanges them and his audience.

Jump back! Owwww!Maryland's connection to the Godfather of Soul will appear on national television today when Deanna Brown of Baltimore and Yamma Brown of College Park help James Brown, their legendary dad, celebrate his 59th birthday on the Joan Rivers show.The show will be broadcast today at 10 a.m. on WJZ-Channel 13. It was taped on May 4, one day after Mr. Brown's birthday.So how was it growing up as the offspring of a man whose name is nearly synonymous with rhythm and blues? Deanna Brown, 23, laughingly recalled that hers was a household in which "Papa Don't Take No Mess!"

THIS TIMEDwight Yoakam (Reprise 45241)As a singer, Dwight Yoakam has everything you'd expect of a country traditionalist -- a high, lonesome tenor with a soul-deep twang. As a songwriter and stylist, however, Yoakam's sense of tradition is anything but the Nashville norm, because instead of acting as if rock and country have nothing in common, Yoakam treats the two as different branches of the same tree. So "This Time" makes no distinction between the hillbilly heartbreak of "Home for Sale" or the classic honky-tonk of the title tune, and the Stones-style stomp of "Wild Ride."

What really works for New York choreographer Doug Elkins, whose company opened a weekend of appearances at Towson State University's Stephens Hall last night, is how he manages to loot a variety of dance styles to create his unique off-centered and humorous dances.But what makes this choreographer successful is also the same thing that undermines his works. Mr. Elkins is a stickler for detail, and his penchant for physically describing every possible stylistic variation can sometimes lead him dramatically off the deep end.The highlight of the evening was the closing work, "The Patrooka Variations," which demonstrated just how cleverly Mr. Elkins can fasten disparate movements together and make them look logically inevitable.

Charles "Freddie" Rheubottom Jr., a keyboard musician who played in area bands and for churches, died of heart failure Thursday at Continuum Care Nursing Home in Sykesville. He was 63. Mr. Rheubottom was born in Union Bridge and raised in Sykesville. He was a 1959 graduate of Robert R. Moton High School, a once-segregated Carroll County school that closed in the mid-1960s. "When he was 15, he and several cousins formed The Playboys. He was self-taught, never learned how to read music and played the piano and organ by ear," said his wife of 12 years, the former Mary Mabe.

Age 62, passed from this life on Saturday, September 6, 2003 from injuries received in a pedestrial accident. He was the beloved husband of Frances (West) McGeehan, Jr., whom he married on February 6, 1975, loving step-father to James Brown, Derrick Brown & wife, Kathy, and Alan Brown, loving step-grandfather to Terrell Bryce & Jeremy Brown, loving uncle to Robert & wife Jenn McGeehan, loving great uncle to Riley, Liam & Aiden McGeehan. He retired from Northrop Grumman after 39 years of service.

Harford Tech's wrestling team has reached another milestone, a hint that this season could surpass the Cobras' breakthrough campaign of 1998-99, when they captured their first Harford County title. The ninth-ranked Cobras (6-1), under 13th-year coach Gary Siler, have achieved their highest area ranking in school history, overcoming traditional stalwarts such as defending 4A-3A state tournament champ Chesapeake of Anne Arundel County, Eastern Tech and Boys' Latin. The Cobras bounced county rival Fallston earlier this month, handing the Cougars (10-2)

Before I started to write this account of my interview last week with soul singer James Brown, I penned a note to myself: "Don't blow this!"So naturally I froze, like a grade-schooler stricken with stage fright, like a tongue-tied young lover, like a -- well, like a journalist besieged by writer's block.Here's the problem: James Brown used to call himself "The Godfather of Soul, Sooooul Brother Number One." And he was. But over the years I've read retrospectives and critiques of Mr. Brown and his work.

James Brown announces he has prostate cancer James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul" and a legend in rap, rock and funk, has announced that he has prostate cancer. In a statement released to the Associated Press yesterday morning, Brown, 71, said that he will undergo surgery for the ailment Wednesday. "I have overcome a lot of things in my life. I will overcome this as well," Brown said. Brown, best known for seminal hits like "I Feel Good," "Please, Please, Please" and "Cold Sweat," is also a diabetic.