Last night I came across this documentary made two years ago about the improbable rise of soul singer Charles Bradley. At the age of 62 he managed to get a career started, after a life of misery and hardship. I had listened to his second CD which was released recently. After having seen the Soul of America, my respect for Charles Bradley's story really grew. It made me relisten!
Bradley's story starts when he is reunited with his mother. She had left his place of birth to go to New York in search of better oportunities (or for the love of a married man, as her brother claims), when her youngest son Charles still is a toddler. That means he hadn't seen his mother for about 7 or 8 years, so he doesn't recognize her at first. She takes him and his brother to New York. What exactly happens there is explained thoroughly in the film, but at the age of 14 Charles leaves home and he lives on the street for some time, keeping warm by travelling the subways. He makes little money by impersonating James Brown, until his complete band is drafted for the Vietnam War. He lives half and half on the streets, sometimes in the basement of his mother. One time, he gets hit by a terrible disease. His brother Joseph makes him fight for his life. We can only imagine the pain he must have felt when this same brother is killed in robbery. So far, and I hope you don't mind me saying this, these kind of stories are not that unusual, and Bradley's life might have ended anonimously for the rest of the world, until the record company Daptone Records advertises their search for new singers. Here Charles Bradley comes to life for us, lovers of great music.
What we get from the documentary is an incredibly dearing, human portrait of a somewhat naive, but truly honest and open character. The film is leading up to the date of the release of his debut CD. So he is still completely unknown, and overwhelmed by a minimum of attention he gets. Beautyful how he reacts when he hears that he will be in the newspaper, and embracing people in the street who are genuinely happy for him. Completely understandable he is blown off his socks when he sees that his CD presentation show is sold out.
To me, an important moment in the film is the scene where Charles takes English classes, and aparently his level is somewhere in the first few grades. He can't read or write! Another key scene to me was where he explaines how he was too nervous to get on stage. He reenacts this for the documentary! When we combine these two things, we might get to to the bottom of what makes this documentary a great film: it is the person it is centered around. Bradley is uneducated, and bruised by events in his past, but with his golden voice, an open attitude, and a natural charm, makes him a great, rare chracter, that waited for the right time to blossom. He took the initiative when Daptone was searching for talent, and every now and then he shows he is aware that he has to do things to help his career. Now is his time, let's hope he will stick around long enough to pick the sweet fruits of success. (4 stars out of 5)
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