Charles Bradley (November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2017) was an American fun… Read Full Bio ↴Charles Bradley (November 5, 1948 – September 23, 2017) was an American funk/soul/R&B singer.
Born in Gainesville, Florida, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Bradley spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. One of the more optimistic moments of his childhood came in 1962, when his sister took him to see James Brown at The Apollo. Brown’s energy formed a lasting impression on Bradley. He went home and immediately began practicing microphone tricks with a broom attached to a string, imitating the Godfather’s every move. With his newfound inspiration came an urgent desire to get off the streets and make something of himself.
Bradley made his way out of Brooklyn via Job Corps, a federal program for helping underprivileged families. His job placement took him to Bar Harbor, Maine where he learned to cook. While in Maine, he put together a band and began to pursue his passion for performing. He had his first taste of the stage when he was asked to perform for some female employees of Job Corps in Poland Springs. The ladies went wild and Bradley knew that he was destined to be an entertainer. Unfortunately, his fate was put on hold when his band mates were drafted in the Vietnam War, and he was forced to find work as a chef in Wassaic, New York at a hospital for the mentally ill.
After nine years cooking for 3500 people a day, being harassed by local police officers, and having no musical outlet, Bradley decided to leave Wassaic and head west in search of a dream. He had saved up enough money to buy a new Ford but soon realized that he couldn't keep up with the payments; he promptly returned it to a dealer and began hitchhiking. He caught rides all the way from New York to California and up through Canada. He persevered through the dangers of the road (including one driver who confided in him that he had just killed his wife and children) and eventually landed in Alaska where he once again found work as a chef. Though the job paid well, he was not well liked by his fellow chefs, and soon made his way back to California via airplane.
Bradley spent over 20 years in California, making his living as a chef, all the while playing music on the side. He had no regular band, but he played pick-up gigs when they came along and sat in on recording sessions to feed his musical cravings. Things seemed to be looking up for Bradley, but just as he was about to put a down payment on his first house, he was laid-off from his job of 17 years. Being fired forced him to re-evaluate his life out west. Ultimately, he decided to come home to Bushwick, Brooklyn to be with his family again. Bradley took every penny he had saved, loaded up a truck with the musical equipment he collected over the years, and drove back to New York. At this point, he was fed up with the tribulations of being a chef and took up work as a handyman to allow himself the flexibility to pursue his musical career.
Bradley finally found an audience when he began making appearances in local Brooklyn clubs performing his James Brown routines under the alter ego “Black Velvet.” At 51, he was finally making a life for himself back home. His musical career was moving forward, but he was to be tested once again.
Bradley awoke in his mother’s house one morning to the sounds of police sirens. He was devastated to find that his brother had been shot and killed by his nephew. Life did not seem worth living anymore.
Bradley was down and out when Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records happened upon him performing his Black Velvet act at the Tarheel Lounge in Bedstuy. Roth recognized his raw talent and directly brought him into the Daptone “House of Soul” studios for a session with the Sugarman 3. "Take It as It Comes" was Bradley's first single on Daptone and it proved him as a worthy vocalist. Roth eventually brought Bradley out to Staten Island to see Dirt Rifle and the Bullets, a young funk band playing James Brown and Meters influenced songs. Thomas Brenneck, songwriter and guitarist for the Bullets, hit it off with Bradley and they began working together. They released two singles on Daptone under the name “Charles Bradley and the Bullets,” but the Bullets soon dismantled in order to form the afrobeat influenced Budos Band.
However, Brenneck knew that Bradley had something more to give and after moving to Bushwick himself, he and Bradley reunited. In time, they became close friends and Bradley confided his life story in Brenneck. The young producer was moved when he heard Bradley tell the painful story of his brother’s death. Brenneck said, "Charles, we gotta put that story to music." Brenneck had put together a small bedroom studio and was working on instrumentals with a new group soon to be named Menahan Street Band. His new sound was the perfect compliment for the heartfelt and troubled lyrics that sprang from Bradley’s story. Brenneck had just launched Dunham Records, a division of Daptone, and would release Bradley’s "The World (Is Going Up in Flames)" and "Heartaches and Pain" as it’s second single. A departure from his Black Velvet act, the songs showed a new side of Bradley as a compelling artist in his own right and proved to be a great success. Many late night writing and recording sessions later, he and Brenneck completed their first full-length record, "No Time for Dreaming". Bradley always knew he was born to entertain, but in the making of this record he discovered a proclivity for songwriting as well.
The record was a labor of love for both Bradley and Brenneck. After years of working together, "No Time for Dreaming" was released on Dunham Records. After that, Bradley toured with the Menahan Street Band and honed his passion as a singer and an entertainer.
Bradley died on the 23rd of September, 2017, due to the consequences of cancer.
Born in Gainesville, Florida, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Bradley spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. One of the more optimistic moments of his childhood came in 1962, when his sister took him to see James Brown at The Apollo. Brown’s energy formed a lasting impression on Bradley. He went home and immediately began practicing microphone tricks with a broom attached to a string, imitating the Godfather’s every move. With his newfound inspiration came an urgent desire to get off the streets and make something of himself.
Bradley made his way out of Brooklyn via Job Corps, a federal program for helping underprivileged families. His job placement took him to Bar Harbor, Maine where he learned to cook. While in Maine, he put together a band and began to pursue his passion for performing. He had his first taste of the stage when he was asked to perform for some female employees of Job Corps in Poland Springs. The ladies went wild and Bradley knew that he was destined to be an entertainer. Unfortunately, his fate was put on hold when his band mates were drafted in the Vietnam War, and he was forced to find work as a chef in Wassaic, New York at a hospital for the mentally ill.
After nine years cooking for 3500 people a day, being harassed by local police officers, and having no musical outlet, Bradley decided to leave Wassaic and head west in search of a dream. He had saved up enough money to buy a new Ford but soon realized that he couldn't keep up with the payments; he promptly returned it to a dealer and began hitchhiking. He caught rides all the way from New York to California and up through Canada. He persevered through the dangers of the road (including one driver who confided in him that he had just killed his wife and children) and eventually landed in Alaska where he once again found work as a chef. Though the job paid well, he was not well liked by his fellow chefs, and soon made his way back to California via airplane.
Bradley spent over 20 years in California, making his living as a chef, all the while playing music on the side. He had no regular band, but he played pick-up gigs when they came along and sat in on recording sessions to feed his musical cravings. Things seemed to be looking up for Bradley, but just as he was about to put a down payment on his first house, he was laid-off from his job of 17 years. Being fired forced him to re-evaluate his life out west. Ultimately, he decided to come home to Bushwick, Brooklyn to be with his family again. Bradley took every penny he had saved, loaded up a truck with the musical equipment he collected over the years, and drove back to New York. At this point, he was fed up with the tribulations of being a chef and took up work as a handyman to allow himself the flexibility to pursue his musical career.
Bradley finally found an audience when he began making appearances in local Brooklyn clubs performing his James Brown routines under the alter ego “Black Velvet.” At 51, he was finally making a life for himself back home. His musical career was moving forward, but he was to be tested once again.
Bradley awoke in his mother’s house one morning to the sounds of police sirens. He was devastated to find that his brother had been shot and killed by his nephew. Life did not seem worth living anymore.
Bradley was down and out when Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records happened upon him performing his Black Velvet act at the Tarheel Lounge in Bedstuy. Roth recognized his raw talent and directly brought him into the Daptone “House of Soul” studios for a session with the Sugarman 3. "Take It as It Comes" was Bradley's first single on Daptone and it proved him as a worthy vocalist. Roth eventually brought Bradley out to Staten Island to see Dirt Rifle and the Bullets, a young funk band playing James Brown and Meters influenced songs. Thomas Brenneck, songwriter and guitarist for the Bullets, hit it off with Bradley and they began working together. They released two singles on Daptone under the name “Charles Bradley and the Bullets,” but the Bullets soon dismantled in order to form the afrobeat influenced Budos Band.
However, Brenneck knew that Bradley had something more to give and after moving to Bushwick himself, he and Bradley reunited. In time, they became close friends and Bradley confided his life story in Brenneck. The young producer was moved when he heard Bradley tell the painful story of his brother’s death. Brenneck said, "Charles, we gotta put that story to music." Brenneck had put together a small bedroom studio and was working on instrumentals with a new group soon to be named Menahan Street Band. His new sound was the perfect compliment for the heartfelt and troubled lyrics that sprang from Bradley’s story. Brenneck had just launched Dunham Records, a division of Daptone, and would release Bradley’s "The World (Is Going Up in Flames)" and "Heartaches and Pain" as it’s second single. A departure from his Black Velvet act, the songs showed a new side of Bradley as a compelling artist in his own right and proved to be a great success. Many late night writing and recording sessions later, he and Brenneck completed their first full-length record, "No Time for Dreaming". Bradley always knew he was born to entertain, but in the making of this record he discovered a proclivity for songwriting as well.
The record was a labor of love for both Bradley and Brenneck. After years of working together, "No Time for Dreaming" was released on Dunham Records. After that, Bradley toured with the Menahan Street Band and honed his passion as a singer and an entertainer.
Bradley died on the 23rd of September, 2017, due to the consequences of cancer.
Change for the World
Charles Bradley Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Charles Bradley:
03.Electric Victim Of Love Nowhere to hide Victim of love I'm a victim of loving you I…
04.Electric Victim Of Love Nowhere to hide Victim of love I’m a victim… of loving y…
Ain I try (Hey Rail?) I try to be a righteous man I try…
Ain't Gonna Give It Up I ain′t gonna give it up I ain't gonna give it…
Ain't It A Sin I try (Hey Rail?) I try to be a righteous man I try…
Can't Fight the Feeling Oh Ah, yeah Oh Oh, baby Can't fight the feeling, baby Can't…
Change Change Change I feel unhappy I feel so sad I have lost the best…
Confusion Can you stop the storm? Can you stop the rain? Can you…
Confusión Featuring Menahan Street Band Can you stop the storm? Can y…
Electric Victim Of Love Nowhere to hide Victim of love I'm a victim of loving you I…
Fly Little Girl Fly away, little girl Fly, fly away I'll always be there, li…
God Bless America Hello this is Charles Bradley A brother that came from the H…
Golden Rule Round and round the road we go again Where we started,…
Good to Be Back Home Good to be back home uh The land where is was…
Heart of Gold I want to live I want to give I've been a miner For…
Heartaches And Pain There a time in my life when it ran so cold can't…
How Long How long Must I keep going on? To see all this pain…
Hurricane People, look around you It's a hurricane Everybody tryin to …
I Feel a Change I feel a change coming over me Uh I feel a change…
I'll Slip Away I forget about the girl who said no I tell who…
In You In you I found a love Make me feel so real,…
In You I Found a Love In you I found a love Make me feel so real,…
Let Love Stand a Chance [Chorus] All I'm asking All I'm asking Just give love Love a…
Lonely as You Are You think you've been lonely, but loneliness is mine As lone…
Love Bug Blues (Burning) (Fire) Love bug, aha, done bit me (Done bit me) D…
Lovin' You Baby Ooh, ah Loving you, baby When you're holding me, baby I fee…
Lucifer Woo! I know Lucifer was in heaven, was in heaven I know…
No Time for Dreaming No time for dreaming (dreaming, dreaming!) Gotta get on up (…
Slow Love We′ll go slow, love I know you want to We'll go slow…
Stay Away Monkey see, monkey do I don't know why I'd rather be dead…
Strictly Reserved For You I’m tired of the same lies I’m tired of the…
The Telephone Song Hello, baby Oh, it's you Ah, man, yep, I do; this is... To…
The World This world Is going up in flames And nobody Wanna take the b…
Through the Storm [Chorus] I thank you For helping me through the storm I than…
Victim of Love Nowhere to hide Victim of love I'm a victim of loving you I…
We Do We Go From Here [Chorus] Where do we go from here? Where do we go from…
Where Do We Go From Here. [Chorus] Where do we go from here? Where do we go from…
Why Is It So Hard Why is it so hard To make it in America I try…
World Is Going Up in Flames This world Is going up in flames And nobody Wanna take the b…
You Put a Flame on It My life is cold You put the flame on it (You put…
You put the flame on it feat. Menahan Street Band My life is cold You put the flame on it (You put…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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N B
I almost feel guilty, being here because of Barry, because I can see now that this man's value to the world went far beyond this TV show. That horn hook accomplishes more in four seconds than most songs can in five minutes.
But now that I've heard the full lyrics, I feel more than ever that this was the perfect song to sum up the themes of Barry. If the show's about anything, it's about how hard it can be to make that change and stop hurting others. "Put away the gun and take this love."
It's always sad to see an old singer fade, so I'm glad to see this was recorded in 2016. Mr. Bradley was clearly at the height of his powers when he died, and I wish he'd lived long enough to see what a gem of a story his music's associated with.
Kuchio Asonga
This song is so relevant right now. People are so polarised.
SUN WARRIOR
BARRY!!! Yes that show knows awesome music!!!
negydimenziosember
this is what you are left with from this song...another victory for inhumanity...nice job !d!iot
Happy Now
Took me a year to find it :)
boknowsbaseball
They sure do. "Dark End of the Street" in the background at the bar when Sallie sits down Barry for a talk almost made me cry. It turned me onto this song too and hearing the whole thing - hoo boy. Charles Bradley was a baaad man.
mtlmann
Thank you to HBO's BARRY for letting me discover this piece of music. Great song and artist (RIP). All it took was that BRASS section to get me searching for it. Too cool.
mnkyCmnkyDO 1
He left us with a message 'Hate is poison in the blood.' We live in times when things seem to be going backwards. Thankyou Charles Amen brother.
Duncan Blade
Barry is a combo of comedy, satire and all the seriousness in the world combined! Ace!
Seansteiger
Had no idea he died 2 years ago. It's a shame he never got the recognition he deserved. The world just doesn't appreciate this kind of music anymore, and it's sad. Rest in Power.