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One, two. One, two, three, four! | 0:00:13 | 0:00:17 | |
If you enjoy James Brown music, you're going to have a good time tonight. | 0:00:17 | 0:00:22 | |
We're tonight celebrating Black Velvet James Brown Junior's 62nd birthday! Whoo, 62! | 0:00:22 | 0:00:29 | |
So round about now put your hands together | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
because we've got a young man coming to the stage. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
He's been on The David Letterman Show. Put your hands together | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
and meet and greet Black Velvet James Brown Junior! | 0:00:39 | 0:00:44 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
# This is a man's world | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
# But it wouldn't be nothing | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
# Nothing... # | 0:00:55 | 0:00:57 | |
'I've been playing James Brown since I was 14 years old.' | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
# Yea-ea-eah! | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
# Yea-ea-eah! # | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
'But now I want to do Charles Bradley.' | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
I've been struggling for over 42 years trying to make it in the industry | 0:01:52 | 0:01:57 | |
and at the age of 62, I'm just beginning to find my way through. | 0:01:57 | 0:02:01 | |
I never made enough money to support myself in music, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:08 | |
but I'm hoping that this album will make a turning point for me, | 0:02:08 | 0:02:12 | |
that I can support myself in music. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
Hey, man. I'm going to give you water, OK? Hey, man. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
That's my bird. He make me mad. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
I get mad, I go in the back room and close the door and let him scream all he want to. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:31 | |
I have my little place. It's not what I want, but thank God I got a roof over my head! | 0:02:31 | 0:02:36 | |
When I go in my little apartment and lock my door, | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
I'm in peace, | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
but going into the projects, | 0:02:43 | 0:02:45 | |
going into the elevator, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
getting in there, that's when the trouble starts. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
You never know what's going to happen. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
There's a guy downstairs. His name is Alfred. Very good guy. Don't bother nobody. Church guy. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:59 | |
They shoot up his place. He showed me all the holes. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:03 | |
I said, "Wow, man! I couldn't live on the first floor." | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
When it get too crazy at the projects, I go to my mom's house and I sleep in her basement. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:14 | |
So I come here and this is where I crash. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:23 | |
Until the next day, I go take care of the errands, | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
take care of everything to keep a roof over both our heads. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:31 | |
I like to get a little of this... | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
a little ball. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
Just put these in. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:41 | |
How's that rice? | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
Let me see. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:47 | |
Just a little bit more. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:50 | |
I came from a family of eight. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
My main goal is watching over... is my mom. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
And I do the best I can. | 0:03:57 | 0:03:59 | |
It's my baby boy. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
And I love him. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
'I'm just making her life peaceful, | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
'so she can not worry about the bills and everything.' | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
I took that upon my shoulder. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:23 | |
I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, but now I'm in it, I won't change it. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:28 | |
All I can do is try to make something work where I can make a decent income, | 0:04:28 | 0:04:33 | |
where I can live and let live. That's all I can ask from life now. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:38 | |
# Round and round the road we go again | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
# Where it stop | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
# Nobody knows | 0:04:50 | 0:04:53 | |
# It's a cold, cold world | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
# It's a cold, cold world... | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
# How can we stop the changes going on in America today...? | 0:05:01 | 0:05:07 | |
# Oh, oh-oh-oh | 0:05:19 | 0:05:23 | |
# Go back | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
# Go back to the golden rule | 0:05:31 | 0:05:34 | |
# Go back | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
# Go back to the golden rule | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
# Bring it all down! # | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
That's a song from the new record No Time For Dreaming, Charles Bradley and The Menahan Street Band. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:06 | |
I can't believe you came out of nowhere as a virtual unknown to us. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:10 | |
Have you recorded before? | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
No. It's my first time, really, coming out. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
I know you've been performing. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:19 | |
-Yes. -As Black Velvet. -Yes. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
-So, now you're performing as Charles Bradley? -Yeah, yeah. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:26 | |
You certainly have a great band backing you here | 0:06:26 | 0:06:29 | |
and with the folks over at Daptone, you know, what a great crew they are! | 0:06:29 | 0:06:34 | |
And you've seen what's happened with Sharon Jones | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
who, you know, just like you, went from complete obscurity to... | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
Who knows what kind of heights you could scale? | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
So, that's got to be an exciting moment for you. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
I think God just answered my prayer. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:49 | |
You know, it's just like... | 0:06:49 | 0:06:51 | |
I asked myself why it took so long, but you can't question God when he wants to do things. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:57 | |
So, at my late age, it just started coming. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:01 | |
-What's next? Are you thinking big? -I'm thinking the sky's the limit. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
Congratulations on this great record. No matter what happens with it, it's a fine piece of work. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:11 | |
Charles Bradley on WFUV. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
# This world | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
# Going up in flames | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
# And nobody | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
# Wanna take the blame | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
# Don't tell me how to live... # | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
I don't know how many artists have ever been 62 years old | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
and released their debut record. He may be the first. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
The guy is just getting it going as far as I'm concerned. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
He's worked very hard for a long time. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:46 | |
I hope that enough people can hear him sing, | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
so he can make the kind of life he wants and take care of his family. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:53 | |
# Huh! | 0:07:53 | 0:07:55 | |
# Yeah! | 0:07:55 | 0:07:56 | |
# I'm talkin' to you, girl | 0:07:56 | 0:07:58 | |
# Yeah! | 0:07:58 | 0:08:00 | |
# Only you... # | 0:08:00 | 0:08:02 | |
If you're into funk and soul music or Afrobeat and you live in New York, | 0:08:14 | 0:08:19 | |
Gabe Roth is the guy you want behind the board. You want these guys pushing you in the direction | 0:08:19 | 0:08:24 | |
because their records were phenomenal. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
I just started making the kind of records I like listening to. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
I think a lot of those soul records have a certain sincerity that I always like. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:35 | |
One morning, pretty early, nine or ten in the morning, I got a knock on my door and it was Charles. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:42 | |
He said, "I heard you were looking for singers. I heard you were looking for me." | 0:08:42 | 0:08:47 | |
I had no idea what he was talking about, so he shows me a videotape | 0:08:47 | 0:08:51 | |
of him singing James Brown songs. Sounds great. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:54 | |
Gabe Roth from Daptone Records brought him down to a rehearsal in Staten Island. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:59 | |
Gabe wanted us to record with a singer. Charles was a singer they hadn't found a band with on Daptone. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:04 | |
Charles had captured their attention. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:06 | |
I just figured, see how Charles works with them. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
# Stop | 0:09:10 | 0:09:11 | |
# Stop it, baby | 0:09:13 | 0:09:14 | |
# Ooh | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
# I'm feelin' awful, baby | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
# And I'm locked up in a cage... # | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
I played with Tommy's band that he had over at Staten Island. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:33 | |
I just went over there one day and they was rehearsing, jamming. | 0:09:33 | 0:09:37 | |
They said, "Hey, man, sing on this, sing on this." | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
And I'm liking the music. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:43 | |
The lyrics were just popping in my head. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
So, that all worked out well and we recorded those songs with Bradley at Daptone. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:51 | |
They were good songs, but they just didn't take off. Then we kind of went in different directions. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:57 | |
Two years went by | 0:09:57 | 0:09:59 | |
and I was doing James Brown in small clubs. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:04 | |
And then I got a call to come round and do a show with Sharon Jones. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:09 | |
We rehearse, we play the show, great. Me and Charles see each other for the first time in a couple of years. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:16 | |
We catch up a little bit. I say, "Charles, I'm working on some music. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
"How about you come over one night and we give it a shot?" He said, "Yeah, Tommy, of course." | 0:10:20 | 0:10:25 | |
We magically recorded two songs in one night - The World Is Going Up In Flames and In You I Found A Love. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:32 | |
Charles was right here and I was right here pressing "record". | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
You know, we wrote it together and that was it. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
The music was laid down, but he was just coming out with lyrics off the cuff. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:44 | |
And I was just putting it in the right place. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
We haven't played so many shows with Charles up to this point. | 0:10:55 | 0:11:00 | |
We played a couple. | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
Charles wants to reach every single person in the audience. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
What we rehearse and what goes down on stage is two different things. The band's going to be tight. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:11 | |
The only thing we tried to rehearse with Charles is to let Charles lead the band. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:16 | |
-# Bam, bam, bam, bam -Bam, ba-a-am... # | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
Three, four. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:25 | |
THEY PLAY GENTLE INTRO | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
# In you | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
# I found love | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
# That makes me feel so real | 0:11:49 | 0:11:53 | |
# Oh, baby | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
# Sometimes | 0:11:56 | 0:11:58 | |
# When I'm sleeping at night | 0:12:00 | 0:12:02 | |
# I wake up | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
# And you're nowhere to be found | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
# You said you love me | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
# And you'll always be around | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
# In you... # | 0:12:19 | 0:12:21 | |
The new music, for once, it's me. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:26 | |
It's things that I have experienced, that I went through, heartaches and pains. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:31 | |
# I don't want to be a fool no more... # | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
-Yeah, Bradley, you waited twice for the horns. -You told me that. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:47 | |
Yeah, that's perfect. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
-Nine and a half... -Mother, come on. You said nine, you said eight. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:03 | |
I get eight. Now you want nine, you want nine and a half. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:07 | |
What's wrong with those shoes right here? | 0:13:07 | 0:13:10 | |
INAUDIBLE REPLY | 0:13:10 | 0:13:12 | |
You're going to drive me crazy. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:15 | |
Oh, Jesus... | 0:13:19 | 0:13:21 | |
It's hard sometimes. It's very hard because everything now is really depending on me. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:29 | |
But if I put her in a home, she would die and I know that. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:33 | |
And when...when my husband... | 0:13:48 | 0:13:50 | |
..died. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:53 | |
She said, "Son, let me spend my last days in the house." | 0:13:55 | 0:13:59 | |
I said, "OK, Mom. I'll do that." | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
But she don't know... | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
I have no life. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
My life is her. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
For me to be with someone, | 0:14:09 | 0:14:12 | |
I don't even know how to do it. | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
When Charles' mother first left Florida to go to new York, | 0:14:24 | 0:14:29 | |
Charles was only eight months of age. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
Eight months old. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
And she stayed away so long that when she came back for the first time, | 0:14:36 | 0:14:41 | |
he didn't recognise her, he didn't know she was his mother. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
He thought that his grandmother really was his mother. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
She abandoned, actually, in a way, her children | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
to follow... | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
..a man who had a wife | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
that she was very crazy about. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
Otherwise, she probably would never have gone to New York. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
I was about the age of seven or eight years old. | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
My mother told my grandmother, "I want him to come back to New York with me." | 0:15:26 | 0:15:30 | |
My grandmother said, "No, let them stay here. They'll get a better education if they stay with me." | 0:15:30 | 0:15:37 | |
So my mother says, "No." | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
My grandmother says, "You're not taking them," so my mother stole us. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
That's what I did. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
I really hate to say this, but I think at that time, | 0:15:57 | 0:16:01 | |
it was hard to find jobs, | 0:16:01 | 0:16:03 | |
so there was only one way if you had some kind of dependents | 0:16:03 | 0:16:07 | |
that you can get some welfare. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:10 | |
And I feel like that's what she was doing to get the welfare | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
by having those kids there. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
During his infancy, | 0:16:18 | 0:16:20 | |
now, he was the favourite child. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
He received all the love and care from his older brothers and sisters and his grandmother | 0:16:23 | 0:16:28 | |
and his uncles and all of us because he was the baby. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:33 | |
When Charles went to New York, that's when he lost all of that. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
I was living with my mom and I was afraid she would hurt me, so I left. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
We couldn't see eye to eye. I was getting blamed for everything. | 0:16:46 | 0:16:51 | |
I was very bitter. It seemed like everything was rationed to us. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:56 | |
I was in a basement worse than this one. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
You know, it was this sand basement. It was no concrete basement. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:03 | |
A 15-watt bulb of light and I said, "No, I can't take this." | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
I said, "I don't want it, I'm going." So I left. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:10 | |
I was 14 years old. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
My home was the subway train. That's where I'd keep warm. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
I'd get on the subway train some nights, winter nights, cold, riding the A-Train back up and down. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:31 | |
The police would hit the darn thing real hard and say, "Kids, you got to get off." | 0:17:31 | 0:17:36 | |
I'd go across the platform and get another train going back. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:41 | |
I'd sleep, get me a little corner. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
I'd get the stick real hard and it'd penetrate through my head. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:48 | |
He'd say, "Get up. You can't sleep here." | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
So, I'd just keep going different routes | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
to get a night's sleep before daylight come. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
And I'd see myself what's going down | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
because everybody in those days was getting high using hard drugs. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:07 | |
I'd be watching while they're shooting up and they'd try to give it to me. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:12 | |
I got scared and I was afraid of needles. I'd say, "No, no, no." | 0:18:12 | 0:18:16 | |
That's when I went to Job Corps. I tried to get my mother to sign me to go to Job Corps. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:21 | |
She was mad with me, she wouldn't sign, so I got my sister to forge her name. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:27 | |
I learned to cook. For two years, I was a cook trainee up in Bar Harbor, Maine. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:32 | |
That's when I started doing James Brown on the Job Corps. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:36 | |
They'd say, "Man, you see that new guy that came in? | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
"He looked just like that guy they call James Brown." | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
And then they got me fired up one day. They gave me some gin. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:47 | |
In the Job Corps, you were sneaky. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
They gave me some gin, they got me really high and they gave me the microphone and said, "Sing!" | 0:18:49 | 0:18:55 | |
And I went crazy. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
They told me they'd take me to a girls' Job Corps centre to perform. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:01 | |
I said, "How many people is there going to be?" They said, "20 or 30 people." I said, "OK." | 0:19:01 | 0:19:07 | |
And they called me on stage. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
And I looked out from that stage and I saw all those people. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
I froze. I said, "Uh-uh, I ain't going out there! Not me, not me." | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
So, this guy named Moody came behind me and gave me a push. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:24 | |
I see all the people just happy, they love me. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
They love me giving them my heart. | 0:19:27 | 0:19:29 | |
And I said, "Wow, this is where I want to be at!" | 0:19:29 | 0:19:33 | |
And I never stopped. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
I want to taste it when you open that... | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
-The one that's pumpkin? -Oh, yeah. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
-I got to taste that. -We can open it now. -I never heard of pumpkin beer. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:13 | |
-We can drink some of that. -I sure want to taste that. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:16 | |
Oh, my God, this is delicious! | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
-Seriously. This is unbelievable. -That's the pumpkin? | 0:20:21 | 0:20:26 | |
-Yeah. -That's the pumpkin? -It is like uncarbonated. It tastes unbelievable. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:30 | |
You like it? No? You don't like it? | 0:20:31 | 0:20:33 | |
-I don't like it. -I think it's delicious. -I'm going to taste the pumpkin in there. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:38 | |
Working with Charles Bradley as opposed to working with Sharon Lee | 0:20:38 | 0:20:42 | |
or the other singers from New York that I so often work with, Charles has got the craziest stories. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:48 | |
Craziest stories. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:49 | |
So, you know, as a songwriter, I just sit around and I hear Charles tell these stories | 0:20:49 | 0:20:55 | |
and you're like, "We've got to write a song about that." | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
So usually before we do the vocals on the track, I'll play Charles' song | 0:20:59 | 0:21:04 | |
and just ask him if he likes it first of all. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
I'll sing him my ideas and say, "This is how I think it should go." | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
Not that he disregards my ideas, but he's got his own ideas and he instantly starts expressing them. | 0:21:11 | 0:21:17 | |
He'll just start singing and then we'll stop and get away from it for a second and just talk. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:22 | |
If you talk with Charles long enough, a story comes out about something. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:27 | |
Without me asking him, he'll start singing about what we spoke about. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:31 | |
Then I'll just grab a pencil and paper and let him freestyle over the track over and over again. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:37 | |
Then we'll go back and that'll become a song slowly, over the course of a couple of hours, | 0:21:37 | 0:21:42 | |
but it's his stories I'm always trying to translate into a song. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
I was bouncing into different bands like that. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:00 | |
They'd say, "Man, we'll pay you 40 to do this show tonight." | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
This guy paid me to do this tonight. That's how I was doing out there. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:08 | |
And at that time, I don't know why...I got sick. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
I called my mom and she said, "Son, come on back home." | 0:22:12 | 0:22:18 | |
Mom is getting old | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
and she's been through a lot. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
It's not for me to crucify her for what she did in her life. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
Then my brother Joseph, he came to hospital to see me | 0:22:53 | 0:23:00 | |
and he reached over and he kissed me. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:03 | |
He said, "Charles, no, no." | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
He whispered in my ear. He said, "Bro, if you don't want to live for yourself, please live for me." | 0:23:06 | 0:23:13 | |
He said, "Charles, I love you. You're my heart." | 0:23:13 | 0:23:16 | |
I said... I said, "Joe, I'll fight. I'll fight." | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
My brother just told me. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:27 | |
He said, "Charles, do something that you want to do. Follow your dreams. You love music. Do it." | 0:23:27 | 0:23:33 | |
I said, "Joe, I'd like to be someone like you." He said, "You don't want to be me. Be you." | 0:23:33 | 0:23:39 | |
He said, "Cos I can't do it like you do it." | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
I remember when I was a kid, when I was in Florida, Joseph was going to piano school, | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
and how I learned these little things I'm playing on the piano by watching him. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:11 | |
I was trying little tunes myself. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
He said, "Follow your dreams and your music." | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
And he said, "Take one of these rooms in this house and fix it up." | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
He gave me this room. "People can come here for a rehearsal." And that's what I did. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:25 | |
Joe was like a father and a brother. He was a beautiful brother. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:30 | |
Yeah, sit down, Charles, and eat. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
You know, I'm not hungry, | 0:24:39 | 0:24:41 | |
but you eat and then we'll start slowly talking about what you did. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
-OK, I'll leave this here for you. -That's fine. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:47 | |
'I'm tutoring Charles.' | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
He's at kindergarten or first grade reading level | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
and reading comprehension level. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:55 | |
"Other writers interested in my story." | 0:24:55 | 0:25:01 | |
OK, you sounded it out. Did you understand everything that you read? | 0:25:01 | 0:25:05 | |
Um... | 0:25:07 | 0:25:08 | |
-Yes and no. -Yes and no. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:11 | |
I think his number one goal is for him to be able to write his lyrics down fast | 0:25:11 | 0:25:17 | |
when they're coming into his head because he's got a lot of words up there he wants to get out on paper, | 0:25:17 | 0:25:23 | |
but he doesn't know how to do it. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:25 | |
You didn't spell "an" right. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
-Oh. Two N's? -Just one N, no D. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
-Oh, "an"... -"And" is like when you put two things together like... -Right, OK. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:35 | |
Fish AND chips. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
-Thank you. -Bye, Charles. I'll see you next week. Thank you. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:42 | |
You got it? You can read it later. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
-Wrap it up. Get started. -Get outta here. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
You know I own you. You know I'm the boss. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:11 | |
-I bet you wish you were. -Thank you, Mr Brown. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:15 | |
'Charles used to wear his James Brown wig all the time.' | 0:26:18 | 0:26:21 | |
Right? All the time. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:23 | |
'As the record draws near, it's like, "You've got to present yourself as Charles Bradley." He had a hard time. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:30 | |
'He wanted to come out with the cape and the James Brown thing.' | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
That's what he's used to getting up on stage and doing and we did not want that. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:38 | |
We wanted Charles to be Charles and it took a lot of convincing. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:42 | |
Charles has a record coming out January 25th, | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
so now starts the promotion leading up to the record coming out. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:55 | |
I'm going on tour with Sharon Jones to open up for her. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:59 | |
Sharon Jones is giving me a chance to expose some of my music, | 0:27:00 | 0:27:05 | |
to let the world know who Charles Bradley is. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
It's real exciting for us as a label to be able to present these kind of packages | 0:27:08 | 0:27:14 | |
and Charles is the perfect guy to add to any of the shows | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
and get his name out on the heels of some of the other bands that have had success up to now. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:23 | |
If we go some place and we have 1,000 people come to see Sharon, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:27 | |
to be able to put him in front of that audience is a huge head start. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:31 | |
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings has been our most prolific artist and our most successful artist, | 0:27:31 | 0:27:38 | |
the artist that's been around the longest, toured the most and sold ten times as many records. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:44 | |
He hadn't had a proper show in about a year or so. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
You know, to also put that in context, he hasn't played a lot of gigs as Charles Bradley. | 0:27:54 | 0:28:00 | |
Working with Bradley live is a little stressful because he can go off in a song at any time. | 0:28:10 | 0:28:15 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:28:15 | 0:28:18 | |
America! | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
We've got to make this world a better place. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
Come on, Tommy, bring it all in! | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
# No time for dreaming | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
# Dreaming, dreaming | 0:28:33 | 0:28:35 | |
# Gotta get on up, gotta do your thing | 0:28:35 | 0:28:39 | |
# No time for dreaming | 0:28:40 | 0:28:42 | |
# Dreaming, dreaming | 0:28:42 | 0:28:44 | |
# Gotta get on up, gotta do your thing | 0:28:44 | 0:28:48 | |
# Hey! | 0:28:48 | 0:28:50 | |
# Hey! | 0:28:55 | 0:28:57 | |
# And get... | 0:28:59 | 0:29:01 | |
# Why don't ya? Yeah! | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
# No time for dreaming | 0:29:06 | 0:29:09 | |
# Dreaming, dreaming | 0:29:09 | 0:29:11 | |
# Gotta get on up, gotta do your thing | 0:29:11 | 0:29:14 | |
# No time for dreaming | 0:29:15 | 0:29:17 | |
# Dreaming, dreaming | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
# Gotta get on up, gotta do your thing | 0:29:20 | 0:29:23 | |
# Do your thing... | 0:29:23 | 0:29:25 | |
# No time for dreaming | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
# You gotta get on up | 0:29:30 | 0:29:32 | |
# And do your thing... # | 0:29:33 | 0:29:35 | |
CHEERING Love you! | 0:29:38 | 0:29:41 | |
I love you too. | 0:29:41 | 0:29:43 | |
-I love you too. -I love you, Charles. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:46 | |
I love you too! | 0:29:46 | 0:29:49 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
Put your hands together and give it up for Charles Bradley! | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
Show some love for Mr Charles Bradley! | 0:29:57 | 0:30:00 | |
OK, you're smarter. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:03 | |
-That was better than last night. -Yes, it was. -Killed it, Charles. | 0:30:03 | 0:30:08 | |
It was. | 0:30:08 | 0:30:10 | |
I know I made a few mistakes tonight, but I'm getting better. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
The audience didn't see it, but I know it and Tom knows about it. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:19 | |
So the last one I was good on. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:21 | |
'Then there was one I made a mistake on, but I'll get better on it. I promise you that.' | 0:30:21 | 0:30:27 | |
We can't believe they didn't put you on more! Why didn't you come back on at the end? | 0:30:27 | 0:30:35 | |
-Tell her. -That's the space they gave me. -I don't care. We want more! | 0:30:35 | 0:30:40 | |
More of Chucky. | 0:30:40 | 0:30:42 | |
Thank you, my man. Thank you. You got the juices flowing for all of us. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:47 | |
You just blew the roof off the place. Unbelievable. You're going to be huge, man. | 0:30:47 | 0:30:52 | |
I don't understand what people mean about diva. That diva word sometimes can be wrong. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:57 | |
-No, but it's right for you. -Diva means... -It all depends. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:01 | |
Yeah, when it's coming from love you gotta consider the source. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:06 | |
-Which one was yours? -You didn't say "To Charles". | 0:31:06 | 0:31:11 | |
To Charles... How do you spell Bradley? | 0:31:11 | 0:31:15 | |
-B-R-A-D-L-E-Y. -..L-E-Y. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:17 | |
-Cool. -You're a star. | 0:31:17 | 0:31:19 | |
-I love you. -I love you, too. | 0:31:22 | 0:31:25 | |
-I wish the best for you. -I wish the best for US. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:32 | |
-If I don't see you on the top, I will see you in heaven. -You'll see me on the top AND in heaven. | 0:31:32 | 0:31:38 | |
-You'll see me down here, too. -I love you, Sharon. -Love you, too, Charles! | 0:31:38 | 0:31:44 | |
Poughkeepsie. | 0:32:02 | 0:32:04 | |
'I'm gonna stop by and visit some old friends | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
'I haven't seen in years.' | 0:32:09 | 0:32:11 | |
Hey, hey, hey! | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
How are you doing? | 0:32:16 | 0:32:18 | |
-I said, "God, I hope they're still there." -Yeah. We're still here, bro. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:24 | |
Man, this smells good! | 0:32:24 | 0:32:26 | |
-What's going on, buddy? How you feelin'? -It's been years! -You look well, man. -You look good. | 0:32:26 | 0:32:33 | |
Is that Jackie coming? | 0:32:33 | 0:32:35 | |
Ah! Look at Jackie! | 0:32:35 | 0:32:38 | |
How you been?! | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
My God! | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
I knew this guy, I know Ernest Washington, since 1968. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:47 | |
And you'd throw that cape off | 0:32:53 | 0:32:55 | |
and I don't know if one of us went and picked the cape up and laid it back on your shoulder... | 0:32:55 | 0:33:01 | |
-Yes, I remember that! I remember that. -That's right. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
You'd never know you went that far. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
-God, I thank God I didn't give up. -Thank God. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:11 | |
Let me speak to Tom. Tell Tom to put Mr and Mrs Washington on the guest list. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:17 | |
I found my friends. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:19 | |
They are totally my family. We maybe go away for so long, | 0:33:19 | 0:33:24 | |
-but eventually I'm going to find you. You know that, Jackie. -We've been friends for a long time. | 0:33:24 | 0:33:30 | |
I get goosebumps thinking about that. | 0:33:30 | 0:33:33 | |
-I'll see you guys. I'll see you tonight. -Take care. I'll see you tonight. -Right, bud. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:40 | |
Oh, my God... | 0:33:40 | 0:33:42 | |
That's memory lane. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:44 | |
-# -I...I... | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
-# -I'm just loving you, baby | 0:34:09 | 0:34:12 | |
-# -Oh, I can't get enough of you, baby | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
-# -Can't get enough of you | 0:34:21 | 0:34:23 | |
-# -I was crying | 0:34:25 | 0:34:29 | |
-# -When I felt your love | 0:34:30 | 0:34:32 | |
-# -This time I know it's for real, baby | 0:34:34 | 0:34:38 | |
-# -I... | 0:34:38 | 0:34:40 | |
Bring it down a little, fellas. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
Ladies and gentlemen, | 0:34:55 | 0:34:57 | |
may ever who you are... | 0:34:57 | 0:35:00 | |
I lived here. I came here, about Poughkeepsie, | 0:35:02 | 0:35:07 | |
about 1968. | 0:35:08 | 0:35:11 | |
And I lived here for nine years. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:16 | |
You know, | 0:35:17 | 0:35:19 | |
this is like home to me, so I'm giving you my love. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:23 | |
You know... Bring it down a little softer, fellas. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:29 | |
And I worked in a little town they called Wassaic. | 0:35:29 | 0:35:33 | |
I worked at a little centre. I was cooking for 3,500 people a day. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:39 | |
There's a friend in here, two friends, I knew when I came here. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:44 | |
They was with me. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
And their names are Mr and Mrs Ernest Washington. | 0:35:46 | 0:35:50 | |
Ernest Washington, I can't see you. Where are you at? | 0:35:50 | 0:35:54 | |
But thank you, brother, for the ride. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:58 | |
Thank you, Jackie. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:00 | |
Thank you for being my friends through the years. | 0:36:00 | 0:36:04 | |
And ALL of you out there. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:06 | |
-# -I LOVE you | 0:36:06 | 0:36:09 | |
-# -Aaaaaah, hey | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
-# -I love you | 0:36:14 | 0:36:17 | |
-# -Forgive me | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
-# -Aaaaaah | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
-# -Ooooh... -# | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
Thank you. I love you. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:27 | |
CROWD CHEERS | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
We love you! | 0:36:30 | 0:36:32 | |
I got a touching moment | 0:36:42 | 0:36:45 | |
when I got down and started talking to people. It got touching. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:49 | |
So I said, "Leave it alone, Charles. Getting too deep now. Get off it." Cos it started getting touching. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:55 | |
But that was the beautiful thing about Ernest Washington and Jackie. Oh, man. | 0:36:55 | 0:37:01 | |
This is the first time they saw me in many years. | 0:37:01 | 0:37:06 | |
This is the house my brother was killed in. | 0:37:17 | 0:37:21 | |
That's why I don't like to come in this block no more. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:26 | |
I looked out the window and I saw all these policemen and fire trucks | 0:37:47 | 0:37:51 | |
so I came outside and I thought I've got to go see this for myself. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:56 | |
I saw this thing says Morgue. And when it says Morgue | 0:37:56 | 0:38:00 | |
what I did, I just saw... I came out to go in my brother's house and the detective let me in there, | 0:38:00 | 0:38:07 | |
but I told him, "That's my brother and you can't stop me." So I pushed my way in. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:12 | |
But I wish to God that I never did. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
Yes, I will, son. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:01 | |
I think Charles depended on Joseph like his mother depended on him. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:07 | |
Charles went out of his mind when Joseph got killed. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:12 | |
I mean, he... | 0:39:13 | 0:39:15 | |
For a while, he thought he was going to go crazy about him. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:20 | |
'I'd really like to find the truth of why he got killed. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:25 | |
'He was too young. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:27 | |
'He was 48 years old.' | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
There's a mic for you right here. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:40 | |
You want to try that one or you want to play something else? | 0:39:40 | 0:39:45 | |
We can come back to that. He always goes...like that. | 0:39:45 | 0:39:50 | |
-Oh, you want to do Heartaches and Pain? -Yeah. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:54 | |
All right. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:57 | |
BAND PLAYS INTRO | 0:40:03 | 0:40:05 | |
'Heartaches and Pain is by far the deepest song' | 0:40:11 | 0:40:15 | |
on the Charles Bradley record. It was probably the third song that we had written together. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:21 | |
Charles tells me this story about his brother and says to me, | 0:40:21 | 0:40:25 | |
"I want to write a song about my brother Joseph." | 0:40:25 | 0:40:29 | |
I said, "OK, I will help you do it." As a friend. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
And I said, "That song on the piano you've been playing your whole life? That's the music to the song." | 0:40:33 | 0:40:39 | |
Brought Charles in, added a couple of things to his piano. "This is the song for your brother." | 0:40:39 | 0:40:45 | |
And he did his thing then. He started screaming, running around, "This is beautiful. Oh, my God!" | 0:40:45 | 0:40:51 | |
And then we started working on it and it was hard, man. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:56 | |
It was really hard. That is a really personal, deep, deep, dark, haunting story | 0:40:56 | 0:41:04 | |
about Charles's older brother, that he admired and loved, that he needed to tell. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:09 | |
-# -Life's full of sorrow | 0:41:09 | 0:41:13 | |
-# -So I have to tell you this | 0:41:14 | 0:41:17 | |
-# -Your brother is gone | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
-# -Yeaaaah | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
-# -Heartaches | 0:41:30 | 0:41:32 | |
-# -Heartaches and pain... -# | 0:41:33 | 0:41:36 | |
So the mortgage is hard on me and I don't think it's fair to me. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:43 | |
I never missed a payment. They told me if I did, they'd go up 18% on my interest rate. | 0:41:43 | 0:41:48 | |
I tried to get it remortgaged. They tell me I don't make enough money. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:53 | |
I said, "Well, how don't I make enough money and I'm paying all this high mortgage out?" | 0:41:53 | 0:42:00 | |
I'm going out to get every little penny I can get to keep this going. | 0:42:00 | 0:42:06 | |
When Joseph got killed Charles went on and took on the full duty of taking on what Mother needs. | 0:42:06 | 0:42:13 | |
Cos none of them would do it. Charles is doing it, | 0:42:13 | 0:42:16 | |
a lot of his personal money he puts into the house to help her to stay there. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:22 | |
He's in the process, I would say, almost of buying this damn house for his mother. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:29 | |
And his older siblings that live there in the house don't want him there. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:36 | |
And so he is largely responsible for | 0:42:36 | 0:42:41 | |
taking care of all of my sister's... | 0:42:41 | 0:42:44 | |
..affairs. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:48 | |
RINGTONE PLAYS | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
Hello? | 0:42:57 | 0:42:59 | |
Yes? | 0:42:59 | 0:43:01 | |
Oh, hi. How you doing, Paul? | 0:43:02 | 0:43:04 | |
She says if she won't be able to do the remortgaging... the refinancing of the house, | 0:43:05 | 0:43:11 | |
I'll have to wait for two months until the income tax come. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:17 | |
She'd like me to give up my apartment, but I don't want to. | 0:43:17 | 0:43:22 | |
I'd have to move over to my mom's house. | 0:43:22 | 0:43:26 | |
Yeah, cos this apartment is the only place I have to run to when I get depressed. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
And there's pieces only of me here. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:34 | |
Whatever you decide, cos I know that you're trying to help me and I appreciate that. | 0:43:34 | 0:43:40 | |
All right, Paul. Thank you, Paul. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:42 | |
What's left for me to do is my life, take my life away. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:49 | |
Sometimes I do, I say, "God, just call me home." | 0:43:49 | 0:43:53 | |
Because every day I get out and I fight and fight to keep the honesty, | 0:43:53 | 0:43:57 | |
the decency of a human being walking the planet. And loving everybody as God asked you to love. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:04 | |
But today they look at it as a weakness, I think. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:08 | |
How much more can one give before they find love on the planet? | 0:44:08 | 0:44:14 | |
How much more can you give? | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
I say, "Father, whatever time and hour you want me, I'm ready to go." | 0:44:17 | 0:44:22 | |
That's the way I feel about life. | 0:44:23 | 0:44:26 | |
And before I leave this world I said I'd let the world know. They can't change me. | 0:44:31 | 0:44:37 | |
I don't give a damn what you give me, there's no money on this Earth | 0:44:37 | 0:44:41 | |
can take the love that I've got for God in my heart. I love everybody. | 0:44:41 | 0:44:47 | |
I never do nobody no harm. | 0:44:47 | 0:44:50 | |
All I try to do is just walk my straight line. | 0:44:50 | 0:44:54 | |
-# -Why is it so hard | 0:44:58 | 0:45:02 | |
-# -To make it in America | 0:45:03 | 0:45:06 | |
-# -So I said to myself | 0:45:13 | 0:45:15 | |
-# -I... I gotta move away from here... -# | 0:45:16 | 0:45:20 | |
Me and Homer were travelling around Europe with Sharon Jones and we had hung out one night | 0:45:20 | 0:45:26 | |
and met some girls in Paris. They were like, "Is Sharon Jones as big in America | 0:45:26 | 0:45:32 | |
"as she is in France?" And we were like, "Nobody knows about Sharon." This was years ago. | 0:45:32 | 0:45:39 | |
We played around Brooklyn and small clubs, but at the time we were playing theatres in Paris | 0:45:39 | 0:45:46 | |
and it was a bigger thing in Europe. | 0:45:46 | 0:45:49 | |
So that led to us writing this little tune that night called | 0:45:49 | 0:45:53 | |
# Why is it so hard to make it in America? # | 0:45:53 | 0:45:56 | |
The second that Charles sang, "Why is it so hard to make it in America?" | 0:45:56 | 0:46:01 | |
the song's meaning completely changed. | 0:46:01 | 0:46:06 | |
-# -Why-y-y | 0:46:07 | 0:46:10 | |
-# -Is it so hard | 0:46:11 | 0:46:13 | |
-# -To make it in America? | 0:46:14 | 0:46:17 | |
-# -I try-y-y | 0:46:20 | 0:46:23 | |
-# -So hard now | 0:46:23 | 0:46:25 | |
-# -To make it in America... -# | 0:46:26 | 0:46:30 | |
Beautiful, Bradley. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:44 | |
RINGTONE PLAYS | 0:46:47 | 0:46:49 | |
Oh, Tommy. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:52 | |
OK, I'm definitely... I'm definitely going to get it? | 0:46:53 | 0:46:57 | |
All right, Tommy. | 0:46:57 | 0:46:59 | |
Page six? OK, Tommy. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:02 | |
OK, Tommy. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:06 | |
I owe so much to you guys. You just... Oh, Tommy! | 0:47:06 | 0:47:11 | |
I'll see you. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
Your bad self. | 0:47:13 | 0:47:15 | |
All right, Tommy. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:17 | |
Tommy said they got me in the Post on page six. | 0:47:17 | 0:47:22 | |
Ohhh... | 0:47:23 | 0:47:24 | |
Lord have mercy. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:28 | |
What can you say? | 0:47:28 | 0:47:30 | |
You got the Post? You got the Post? | 0:47:46 | 0:47:49 | |
Ohhh... | 0:47:49 | 0:47:51 | |
They don't have the Post. | 0:47:51 | 0:47:54 | |
-How's everybody doing? -Hey, Charles! How you doing? -I'm holding up. | 0:47:54 | 0:48:00 | |
Aaaah! | 0:48:16 | 0:48:17 | |
Shoot! | 0:48:20 | 0:48:22 | |
Oh...my...God. | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
Yes! | 0:48:29 | 0:48:30 | |
Oh, my God. Look at this! | 0:48:32 | 0:48:34 | |
-Ah, shit. They got me in the paper. -They got you in the paper? Oh, my goodness! | 0:48:34 | 0:48:40 | |
-Oh, man. What you doing? -That's me right there. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
Jesus... I thank God for this. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:48 | |
Oh, my God. | 0:48:50 | 0:48:52 | |
This guy's been... He's been doing a lot of struggling within himself, | 0:48:52 | 0:48:57 | |
but it's gonna be OK today. It's gonna be OK. | 0:48:57 | 0:49:01 | |
We were talking for years and I look at him and I say to myself, | 0:49:01 | 0:49:05 | |
-"He's gonna be there..." Is he in the paper? -Yeah. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:09 | |
-He's in the paper?! -Yeah! | 0:49:09 | 0:49:11 | |
-I'm talking and you're in the paper?! -Right there. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:15 | |
My Lord. | 0:49:15 | 0:49:17 | |
-You couldn't have knocked on my door and told me that? -I just found out! | 0:49:17 | 0:49:22 | |
I told you, honey! I told you, baby! | 0:49:22 | 0:49:25 | |
-Right. -You know, I love you. | 0:49:25 | 0:49:28 | |
-What? -You told me. -I told you. | 0:49:28 | 0:49:31 | |
It's happening! | 0:49:31 | 0:49:33 | |
I told you. Keep the faith and never stop believing and you're already there! What you worried about? | 0:49:33 | 0:49:40 | |
-You've been there and it's already done. -Congratulations. -God has been good. And if you cry, | 0:49:40 | 0:49:46 | |
it's a good cry. When you do, hold your head up cos He has you still. | 0:49:46 | 0:49:50 | |
I love you, brother. I won't forget. | 0:49:50 | 0:49:53 | |
'Tonight is my first night. | 0:49:58 | 0:50:00 | |
'Me only on stage. Charles Bradley. | 0:50:00 | 0:50:03 | |
'My chance has finally come and I'm hoping everybody out there will come out | 0:50:03 | 0:50:11 | |
'to show me their support.' | 0:50:11 | 0:50:13 | |
You all right? | 0:50:15 | 0:50:17 | |
Are you coming tonight? You always tell me you're gonna come. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:22 | |
This is the place where, before they fixed it up, | 0:50:22 | 0:50:27 | |
I lived in here for about... God, about 2½ years. | 0:50:27 | 0:50:30 | |
It was abandoned. And now it's a church. The guy that owned it sold it and they fixed it up. | 0:50:30 | 0:50:37 | |
But that... This was home one time and this guy, Jose, | 0:50:37 | 0:50:42 | |
he is the one that really gave me electricity from his place. It kept me going. | 0:50:42 | 0:50:48 | |
That's why we're such close friends today. | 0:50:48 | 0:50:50 | |
Most people could have given up and not done anything. | 0:51:07 | 0:51:10 | |
Just settle into a job. He's been plugging away. | 0:51:10 | 0:51:14 | |
It's hard enough for people in their 30s to launch a career. For someone in their 60s, it's almost insane. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:21 | |
-You like rhythm and blues? -We're going. -We've got our tickets. -Ah, come on! | 0:51:21 | 0:51:26 | |
'I just hope it's a decent night, | 0:51:31 | 0:51:34 | |
'some people turn out and he's got a room to perform to and feels good about the record. Cos we do.' | 0:51:34 | 0:51:40 | |
Wow! | 0:51:49 | 0:51:51 | |
Wow! | 0:51:52 | 0:51:53 | |
Sold out! | 0:51:53 | 0:51:55 | |
-My God. -'No Time For Dreaming. | 0:51:57 | 0:52:01 | |
'Please welcome to the stage, Mr Charles Bradley!' | 0:52:01 | 0:52:05 | |
I was on the guest list and working for the label and had friends in the band and I had to wait outside | 0:52:07 | 0:52:14 | |
like, I don't know, 25 minutes before I could get in the door. It was sold out. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:19 | |
Ladies and gentlemen, I got a special lady in the house. | 0:52:42 | 0:52:46 | |
My mama's in the house some place. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:49 | |
Mama! | 0:52:52 | 0:52:53 | |
Mama! | 0:52:54 | 0:52:56 | |
Look around you. In the red over there is my mama. | 0:52:56 | 0:53:00 | |
But ladies and gentlemen, she gave me the start. | 0:53:00 | 0:53:05 | |
-# -O-o-oh | 0:53:13 | 0:53:16 | |
-# -Go back Go back to the golden rule | 0:53:24 | 0:53:28 | |
-# Golden rule -Ay-ay, go back | 0:53:28 | 0:53:33 | |
-# -Go back to the golden rule | 0:53:34 | 0:53:37 | |
# Golden rule... # | 0:53:37 | 0:53:39 | |
You know... | 0:53:40 | 0:53:43 | |
Let me say a few words right now. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:46 | |
You...you...you... | 0:53:48 | 0:53:51 | |
-made me to be the person I am. -Love you, Charles! -Thank you. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:56 | |
Thank you. | 0:53:56 | 0:53:58 | |
I thank you and I hope to God that I can keep giving you love, | 0:53:58 | 0:54:03 | |
decency and honesty. | 0:54:03 | 0:54:06 | |
-# -Aaaah | 0:54:20 | 0:54:22 | |
-# -Aaaah | 0:54:22 | 0:54:25 | |
-# -What am I gonna do? | 0:54:25 | 0:54:29 | |
-# -What am I gonna say? | 0:54:30 | 0:54:33 | |
-# -Yaaaah! -# | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
AUDIENCE ROARS | 0:54:40 | 0:54:42 | |
What love can I ask for around me right now? Tell me God ain't real. | 0:54:53 | 0:54:58 | |
This love I feel around me will make me reach into my heart | 0:54:58 | 0:55:02 | |
and give everybody a little piece to say I love you. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:06 | |
It was one of my special shows. | 0:55:06 | 0:55:08 | |
He changed my life. Changed my life. | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
It's infectious, you know? He's in love with what he's doing and in love with his audience. | 0:55:12 | 0:55:19 | |
When he says, "I love you, guys," you feel it. | 0:55:19 | 0:55:22 | |
Amazing. I brought my friend from Italy and...what do you think? | 0:55:22 | 0:55:27 | |
Amazing. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:29 | |
'I think it was too small a place for the people that came there cos a lot of people were turned down. | 0:55:29 | 0:55:36 | |
'It hurt me to see that, but for the joy, the love the people gave me that was there, oh, my God.' | 0:55:36 | 0:55:43 | |
They wanted more from me and I looked in the traces of their faces. Oh, my God. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:49 | |
It was a tear dropper. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:52 | |
Oh, man! | 0:55:58 | 0:56:01 | |
-# -Ay-yi-yi | 0:56:02 | 0:56:04 | |
-# -Oh, baby | 0:56:06 | 0:56:09 | |
-# -This world... -# | 0:56:12 | 0:56:14 | |
Lord have mercy! | 0:56:15 | 0:56:18 | |
-# -And nobody wanna take the blame | 0:56:18 | 0:56:24 | |
-# -Don't tell me how to live my life... -# | 0:56:24 | 0:56:28 | |
'I knew the record was going to do real well, but I didn't know how quickly. People don't know him well' | 0:56:28 | 0:56:35 | |
and the sales for a guy just putting out his first LP, I mean, it's unbelievable. | 0:56:35 | 0:56:40 | |
-# -Ooooh | 0:56:40 | 0:56:43 | |
-# -Come on, baby... -# | 0:56:44 | 0:56:46 | |
'It's really against the odds to think that a 62-year-old black man from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, | 0:56:46 | 0:56:53 | |
'is going to have his first record and within the first couple of weeks' | 0:56:53 | 0:56:59 | |
sell more than most records are selling in a year at this point. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:03 | |
-# -So what am I gonna do? -# | 0:57:03 | 0:57:07 | |
I don't think it's a done deal and I don't think it's easy. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
A lot more people have got to buy his record, he's got to sing a lot more shows, make a lot more records. | 0:57:11 | 0:57:17 | |
It's a long path, you know, and he's a late starter. | 0:57:17 | 0:57:21 | |
-# -I can't turn my head away... -# | 0:57:21 | 0:57:24 | |
'It's above any of our expectations already and I think the record's got wheels. It's not stopping now. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:30 | |
'We haven't seen the biggest sales.' | 0:57:30 | 0:57:32 | |
-# -It's burning up in flames... -# | 0:57:32 | 0:57:35 | |
Aaaaah! | 0:57:35 | 0:57:38 | |
Lord have mercy! | 0:57:40 | 0:57:42 | |
-Yeah! -Oh, my God! | 0:57:42 | 0:57:44 | |
We're leaving to go to Europe to do some touring | 0:57:47 | 0:57:51 | |
and I hope Europe will love what I'm doing, what I'm giving to them. | 0:57:51 | 0:57:55 | |
And now it's clean as a baby's...tail. | 0:57:56 | 0:58:01 | |
-How long will you be gone, baby? -About three weeks. -Three weeks, baby? I'm gonna miss you. | 0:58:02 | 0:58:08 | |
Uh-uh, you live right here. | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
-Every three days, I'm gonna call you. -OK, darling. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:14 | |
I'm a bad boy. You ain't got no water to throw on me now. | 0:58:19 | 0:58:24 | |
You ain't got no water. I can tickle you. | 0:58:27 | 0:58:31 | |
I can tickle you now. | 0:58:31 | 0:58:33 | |
And like my mom said today, | 0:58:44 | 0:58:46 | |
she never believed I would get to this level. | 0:58:46 | 0:58:51 | |
I want to see how far I can make myself go in life. | 0:58:51 | 0:58:57 | |
See can I go further than any of my family members have ever been | 0:58:58 | 0:59:04 | |
and say, "I took me there." | 0:59:04 | 0:59:06 | |
Young peoples out there, watch out. | 0:59:06 | 0:59:09 | |
The old man's coming up for you. Do your job better. If you don't, I'll do it for you. | 0:59:09 | 0:59:15 | |
# I'll take the long road Yeah, yeah | 0:59:15 | 0:59:20 | |
# The long road | 0:59:20 | 0:59:22 | |
# But I am sure that I will get there | 0:59:22 | 0:59:26 | |
# Yes, I will | 0:59:29 | 0:59:31 | |
# You can take that short cut | 0:59:33 | 0:59:36 | |
-# -I'll take the long road | 0:59:37 | 0:59:42 | |
# I don't mind You can take that short cut | 0:59:42 | 0:59:46 | |
-# -I'll take the long road | 0:59:46 | 0:59:51 | |
# You take that short cut Yeah, yeah | 0:59:52 | 0:59:57 | |
# But surely, surely Surely I will get there... # | 0:59:59 | 1:00:04 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 1:00:05 | 1:00:07 |