When the Godfather of Soul spoke the audience listened.
James Brown’s actions on April 5, 1968 during a concert in Boston de-escalated a situation that could have turned into a riot. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated the night before, and rioters were turning major cities into kindling.
Boston Mayor Kevin White wanted to cancel Brown’s concert. He didn’t think it was a good idea for 14,000 people, most of them African-Americans, to descend on the Boston Garden. Tom Atkins, the only Black city council member, convinced him that cancelling the concert could be more dangerous.
One of White’s aides suggested public television station WBGH televise it. The station agreed, but Brown wasn’t happy with the idea.
He was concerned he would lose money because people would watch the concert on TV. He was right, only about 1,500 dotted the 14,000-seat arena.
The city made up for it. They paid him $60,000.
The money was well spent. He sang 22 songs during his 3-hour concert.
Brown defused another tense situation near the end of the show when a spectator tried to get on stage but was pushed back by a police officer. Others rushed the stage, surrounding Brown.
He asked police to stay back and asked the crowd to show him respect and respect to all Afro-Americans. The crowd left the stage.
The city asked WGBH to rerun the concert the rest of the evening. Brown was credited with keeping people in their homes and off the streets.
Our Song of the Day, “I Can’t Stand Myself,” was the final song of that concert. Brown wrote and recorded it in 1967. It was one of several songs he recorded with the group, Dapp, an all-white band.
The song reached number four on Billboard’s R&B chart and number 28 on the Hot 100.
Song of the Day is created by Sheldon Zoldan, and produced by Pam James for WGCU. To receive the Song of the Day in your inbox every day, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
