Charles Emanuel Sherrell (March 8, 1943 – March 29, 2023) was an American bassist known for recording and performing with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

. He was a member of

The J.B.'s The J.B.'s (sometimes punctuated The JB's or The J.B.s) was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records, the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Mace ...

from 1973 to 1996.

Biography

Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Sherrell began his career playing drums with fellow Nashville residents

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Billy Cox William Cox (born October 18, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first when both were in the Army, then in 1969 with the interim g ...

, practicing at a club a block from Hendrix's residence. Sherrell learned to play the guitar by washing the car (a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

) of

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

in exchange for guitar lessons. Sherrell soon began teaching himself to play the bass after buying one from a local pawn shop for $69, which led him to join Johnny Jones & The King Kasuals Band, Aretha Franklin's backing group. Sherrell joined James Brown's band in August 1968, replacing

Tim Drummond Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James ...

after Drummond contracted

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

in Vietnam. He played on some of Brown's most famous recordings of the late 1960s, including the #1 R&B hits "

Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud Say or SAY may refer to: * Speech, the production of a spoken language Music * ''Say'' (album), by Misono, 2008 * Scottish Album of the Year Award Songs * "Say" (The Creatures song), 1999 * "Say" (John Mayer song), 2007 * "Say" (Method Man song ...

", "

Mother Popcorn "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" is a song recorded by James Brown and released as a two-part single in 1969. A #1 R&B and #11 Pop hit, it was the highest-charting of a series of recordings inspired by the popular dance the Popc ...

", and " Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" and more. Brown credited him with being his first bassist to incorporate playing techniques such as thumping on the strings that were adopted by other players, including

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

. In the 1970s, Sherrell rejoined Brown and performed with

. He later played with

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

and Maceo & All the King's Men. He played bass on Beau Dollar's Who knows, Marva Whitney's and Lyn Collins album. He sang on a few of Maceo Parker's albums. He also released some recordings with the band Past Present & Future with friends Wade Conklin, Sam Pugh, Ted Hughes, Gail Whitefield, Thomas Smith, and James Nixon and he recorded under the name Sweet Charles, including his first solo album, Sweet Charles: ''For Sweet People'', on James Brown's label

People Records __NOTOC__ Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own Record producer, productions of artists associated with his revue. Try Me Brown founded his first la ...

and the Sweet Charles Sherrell ''Universal Love'' album in 2017. Charles Sherrell died of

lung emphysema Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory sy ...

on March 29, 2023, at his home in The Netherlands.

Discography

As leader

* For Sweet People from Sweet Charles (1974) * Universal Love (2017)

As sideman

*With James Brown *Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969) *It's a New Day(1970) *Get Up Offa That Thing (1976)

References

External links

sweetcharlessherrell.com
- official website
Discography at waxpoetics.com
* *

1943 births 2023 deaths African-American guitarists American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rhythm and blues bass guitarists James Brown Orchestra members James Brown vocalists The J.B.'s members Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee 20th-century American guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub