JAMES Brown, the legendary US singer known as the “Godfather of Soul”, died Christmas morning, 2006. he was 73.
Brown was one of the major musical influences of the last
50 years. He provided the basis for mu
ch of black music and
most of pop music with his early hits like. “Please, Please,
Please”. He essentially created funk（“疯客”音乐）with
mid-1960s songs such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag".
It won him a Grammy Award as best rhythm-and-blues song,
and it was only the beginning of Mr. Brown's rhythmic
breakthroughs. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Michael Jackson and Prince. Rap stars of recent years, such as Fat Boys and Publ
ic Enemy, have all borrowed his lyrics and rhythms.
Brown's songs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as "Hot Pants" and "Make It Funky", mixed the sophistication(复杂) of jazz-style arrangements with raw funk. With these songs, Brown established himself as the godfather not just of soul, but of all subsequent styles of dance music: funk, disco, hip hop.
"He made soul music a world music," said Al Sharpton, who toured with Brown in the 1970s and imitates his hairstyle to this day. "What Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach(巴赫, 德国作曲家) was to classical music. He put everybody on a different beat, a different style of music."
Amid the civil rights movement of the 1960s Mr. Brown used his fame and music for social messages. He released "Don't Be a Dropout" in 1966 and met with Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey to promote a stay-in-school initiative. Two years later "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" insisted, "We won't quit movin' until we get what we deserve."
小题1:The passage is mainly about _______.
A．black music in the US
B．James Brown's unique music styles
C．James Brown's contribution to American music
D．great musicians in the US in the last 50 years小题2:The author intends to tell us by the last paragraph that ______.
A．James Brown was proud of being a black
B．James Brown was also active in political movements
C．the then Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was one of Brown's fans
D．no children dropped out of school because of James Brown's social influence小题3: Which of the following indicates that Brown's career began to take off?
A．His rapid-footed dancing.
B．His three years in prison.
C．His tour around the country with Al Sharpton.
D．His mid-1960s songs such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag".小题4:James Brown has influenced all American music types EXCEPT ______.
A．classical music
B．rhythm-and-blues
C．Rap
D．hip hop
