Music Mondays Presents: James Brown Live 1968

On April 4, 1968, America's greatest civil rights leader was shot dead in Memphis, Tennessee. The following evening, one man bridged the gap between misery and pure joy, just by being one of the world's most inspiring performer.

As word of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death spread, riots erupted nationwide, and Boston's mayor considered canceling all public events, including James Brown's concert at the Garden. Detroit and Los Angeles were on fire, and Boston was on the edge: no one thought that a concert hall full of African-Americans would turn out positively. No one, except the mayor's team of advisers who believed that stopping the show would appear as just one more attempt to silence the black community and shun the reality of their predicament. The mayor agreed to let the show go on, and even sat down with Brown to discuss ways in which the performer could work to keep the peace.

Though most of the local television stations refused to broadcast the concert, local PBS affiliate WGBH aired the broadcast, which included an address to the crowd from the mayor. Brown performed an array of monumental hits including "Please Please Please," "It's a Man's World," and "Cold Sweat." The film's pivotal moment occurs as fans begin to crowd Brown on stage and the police and security officers are called to intervene. Brown calls them off, claiming, "This is not how black people should act." He urged the crowd to return to their seats, successfully. The evening proved to be an unforgettable demonstration of music's power to heal and inspire during unrest, and is absolutely mandatory viewing.