TOO HOT

A founding member of Kool & the Gang shares the story of the group’s rise from the streets of Jersey City to international acclaim.

As drummer and a songwriter for the veteran funk/soul band, Brown (b. 1949) hasn’t been as much in the spotlight as some of the singers and other instrumentalists. However, he is the only member other than Robert “Kool” Bell who was there at the beginning and is still there. Brown calls his book “a cautionary tale, a fantastical narrative of fortune and fame, but one that came at a price,” and he shows how the quest for success can lead to marital problems, band tensions, management issues, substance abuse, and all sorts of touring hijinks. He discusses the period in the 1980s when the other members thought he had attitude problems as well as more recent times, when he has been off the road for health concerns (including a recent cancer scare). Yet he leaves no doubt that he loves what he feels he was born to do, and the rewards have well outweighed the risks. His story seems more inspirational than cautionary, showing how some musically inclined friends and family came together and stayed together. They started as more of a jazz group and sharpened those chops but then broadened their appeal via R&B, funk, disco, and sing-along anthems such as “Celebration.” Along the way, Brown has met and toured with a host of luminaries—Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Van Halen—and he drops their names throughout the narrative without offering much in the way of illumination. Similarly, we learn of band troubles without specifics about their causes—except for the departure of lead singer James “J.T.” Taylor. “Though it might have looked perfect from the outside,” he writes, “navigating the inner workings of a musical juggernaut like Kool & the Gang demanded a herculean amount of compromise and concessions.”

A sanitized version of the familiar sex, drugs, and stardom tale.