Can you say ‘James Brown’?

DANNY RAY is the emcee who introduced James Brown at his concerts from the early 1960s up through the Godfather of Soul’s last show in November. And if you ever attended a performance by Brown you know that he was “introduced” about every three minutes -- Ray was as hoarse as an auctioneer after gigs. “I wish I had a nickel,” Ray said, “for every time I’ve said his name.”

If they were handing out coins for name-checking Brown, there would be some heavy pockets in pop music; somewhere along the line, “James Brown” went from being a singer to being a song. Not only is he widely considered the most sampled artist in hip-hop history, there have been innumerable lyrical odes to the Soul Brother No. 1, who gave up the ghost on Christmas Day. Among them:

“Genius of Love”: This memorable 1981 rock-disco collage by the Tom Tom Club (the side project of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, then of the Talking Heads) is by turns a high-pitched swoon and a funky-strut. It hits its climax not long after the line “Who needs to think when your feet just go?” when it repeats “James Brrrooooooown” four times.

“James Brown Is Dead”: This 1991 techno song by the Dutch duo L.A. Style was a breakthrough for the genre in American radio and became a staple in the rave and DJ scene. The story goes that a bogus news report inspired the song; it, in turn, prompted a couple of response recordings, among them “James Brown Is Alive” by Dutch outfit Holy Noise. Its opening line: “James Brown’s down? / Who the funk do you think you’re fooling? / For me the man’s still ruling.”

“When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”: This up-tempo, long-titled and somewhat grumpy 1980 recording by the Police opens like this: “Turn on my VCR / Same one I’ve had for years / James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show / Same tape I’ve had for years.” “The T.A.M.I. Show” was the landmark concert film recorded in Santa Monica in 1964; Brown pretty much stole the show from the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Supremes and Chuck Berry.

“Sweet Soul Music”: This cheery 1967 hit for Arthur Conley was a reworking of the Sam Cooke song “Yeah Man” and produced by Otis Redding. It’s a musical honor roll of soul, mentioning Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave and saving the Godfather for last: “Spotlight on James Brown now / He’s the king of them all, yeah.”

“R-O-C-K in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60’s Rock)”: John Mellencamp cued up a sequel of sorts to the Conley hit with this rollicking 1986 roll call: “Jackie Wilson, Shangri-La’s, Young Rascals / They were rockin’ / Spotlight on Martha Reeves, let’s don’t forget James Brrooown.”

“Real Real Gone”: Van Morrison got back on the radio in 1990 with this spirited celebration of old R&B; and an old flame. Cooke, Pickett, Solomon Burke and Gene Chandler are given their nods and, of course, there’s this line: “James Brown said / ‘When you’re tired of what you got, try me.’ ” That’s a reference to Brown’s pleading 1959 hit “Try Me,” the first of his 17 No. 1s on the R&B; chart. “Try Me,” it turns out, might have been Brown’s advice to songwriters searching for a shorthand for everything that’s funky and soulful.

Concert to benefit ailing Ingram

WHAT do Bonnie Raitt, Garbage, Keb’ Mo’ and Victoria Williams have in common? Percussionist Wally Ingram. They’re among the many high-profile musicians who have collaborated with the So Cal rhythm man and who will take part in a benefit concert on Jan. 31 in Glendale aiding Ingram’s fight against throat cancer.

Also on the bill at the Alex Theatre are Freedy Johnston, the Section Quartet, the Martinis (with the Pixies’ Joey Santiago and David Lovering) along with “surprise guests.” Might that be Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, David Lindley or other musicians Ingram has played with over the years? Stay tuned. Info: (818) 243-2539 or www.alextheatre.org.

-- Randy Lewis

Hold the caroling, here’s a guitar

LINKIN PARK guitarist Brad Delson became a six-string-wielding Santa shortly before Christmas when he turned up at the Nightingale Middle School in Los Angeles with three dozen electric guitars for sixth- to eighth-graders. They’re in a Little Kids Rock music education program, of which Delson is an honorary board member. In return, they played him one of his band’s own songs, “My December.”

-- R.L.

That was one short honeymoon

HOLD the rice. Reports in the British press that Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty and supermodel girlfriend Kate Moss were wed on New Year’s Day in Thailand are “entirely false,” Moss spokesman Stuart Higgins says.

-- R.L.