In the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, one could hear Bob Marley's Black Progress yelping ‘Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud’; or in Birmingham, England and Steel Pulse's Black and Proud; or in Broward County, Florida and 2 Live Crew's With Your Badself; or the incomparable Miles Davis' Yesternow. James Brown's 1968 funk recording is not simply one of Brown's most signature songs of the 20th century or a popular Black Power anthem of the 1960s and 1970s. Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud exemplifies the reach of Brown's music and the impact that it had on global music culture.

John Scannell is a Lecturer in the Department of Media, Music, and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. In James Brown, he pens the tale of not only the impact of Brown's music on musicians but the influence it had on politics and race in the US and around the world. Scannell's work here is a reminder of why Brown was, and is even in death, such a powerful cultural and societal symbol. This book is especially valuable to the field as it simultaneously presents Brown's life before music and his influence on music, but also details with powerful examples the societal changes that occurred because of Brown. The ‘Godfather of Soul’ does not do justice in describing what Brown meant to music and society.

The book, as one begins to read, feels like a biography of sorts. However, Scannell's discussion of Brown's early years is not a traditional presentation of the life of its topic. Instead, Brown's life is couched in a variety of moments that are emblematic of the political underpinnings present in his future music. Scannell recounts a young Brown who was born as a stillborn, abandoned by his mother at two, raised by his aunt who ran a brothel, sent to juvenile hall at age 16, and a musical prodigy in his teens while at the Juvenile Training Institute (pp. 31–32). These moments are then connected to Brown's musical life in either metaphorical ways or with specific examples in Brown's own words. The early years that Scannell recounts nicely position the rest of the book to be connected to Brown's musical/societal/political/racial influence.

James Brown, the artist, mirrored the US in the mid-1960s. Brown and the US were growing, trying to shed the past, yet realising that without fully addressing where we once were we cannot affect where we will go in the future. Brown played some of the most popular venues in the 1960s, including the T.A.M.I Show (Teenage Awards Music International). That broadcast had performances from the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson and The Supremes. But it was Brown's performance that changed the way society and musicians viewed the role of music. The Rolling Stones saw Brown's performance and were quoted as saying they ‘wish they'd never come to America’ (p. 63). Brown's following grew and America continued to change as President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Scannell's last two chapters ‘The Foundations of Funk’ and ‘The Godfather of Post-Soul’ provide both theoretical and specific examples of how Brown invented funk and what that has meant for society. Scannell outlines how Brown connected funk and jazz and notes that past work on Brown highlights Brown's funk as ‘a modern reiteration of a deeply African aesthetic’ (p. 78). But what Scannell does here is to provide examples of funk's immediate influences and it is clear that Brown's African lineage contributes to the music in not simply a linear way but in a transnational and intercultural manner. Whether it is with ‘Papa's Got a Brand New Bag’ and Scannell's ability to show Brown's song as an expression (revolutionarily) on racial realism, or ‘Out of Sight’ with Brown now steeped in the language of streets, it is clear that James Brown is like no other book on the man and the subject. The final chapter details Brown in the 1970s and once again, Scannell aptly describes Brown's music and how it mirrors the racial and political trajectory of the post-Civil Rights movement decades. The post-soul era, Scannell posits, is one where Brown's music was bastardised, his lyrics misunderstood, and lawyers fought with other lawyers over ownership rights.

Overall, the book presents James Brown as a cutting-edge black artist who presented themes on race and politics at a time when the US and the world needed to reconstitute their understanding of the past. The book is truly an interdisciplinary work worthy of inclusion to anyone studying music, race, anthropology, sociology, politics, law and beyond. The book explicates funk and soul for both the avid musician, ethnomusicologist and simple music fan. It details Brown's legacy from jazz to funk to DJ culture and does so in a way that makes readers feel like they are reading an autobiography. James Brown is a book that is perfect for those interested in the connections between music and society and a necessity for graduates interested in a fascinating conversation about race, culture, and music.