Pro Talk: David Corio – Prints with a Purpose
The Godfather of Soul’, ‘The Hardest Working Man in Show Business’ and ‘Mr Dynamite’, James Brown certainly lived up to his many nicknames when I saw him for the first time at Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. He was 52 at the time, and although no longer executing the splits, was still full of energy, spinning and seamlessly flowing from one funk hit through to the next in a tight two-hour set.
I noticed that near the end of every third song he made a point of leaping into the air and, after a few unsuccessful attempts, I managed to capture him in full flight. There are several shots that I’m happy with from that night, but this is my favourite, since it shows both his boundless energy and enormous stage presence in a single image.
The shot has been published in numerous books and was used for the cover of ‘Doing the James Brown – In the Footsteps of the Godfather of Funk’ compilation album. It was also the cover of NME’s tribute to James Brown and was chosen as one of the top era-defining music photos by The Guardian in 2024.” David Corio on James Brown, November 2025
