The Godfather: Chuck Brown

Creative Legends of the DMV

The undisputed creator and godfather of Go Go music AND an instrumental force in the music behind some legendary old school hip hop, Chuck Brown (1936-2012) was a kind soul who left us with some great music.
He started in the 1960s playing in local groups before landing on a talented array of musicians that would become The Soul Searchers. The Soul Searchers were behind some charting hits of the early 1970s before they became Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers. In 1978, that outfit scored a #1 smash in Bustin' Loose. That enabled Chuck to keep going into the 80s where his constant touring kept him afloat and his constant search for inspiration led him to explore jazz and blues melodies and combine them with his own musical stylings into "The Go Go Swing" which reimagined the likes of Duke Ellington and Johnny Mercer into a synthesis of new percussive sound that impressed people within the music industry and audiences worldwide.
Chuck would go on to mentor and discover DMV phenom Eva Cassidy and leave a trail of influence within his Go Go sound having been the main influence to bands like Rare Essence, E.U., and The Junk Yard Band. Bands that, like The Chuck Brown Band themselves, continue to carry the torch and tradition of this legendary DMV sound created by a man like no other.