2. James Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr0ERp6XFc4 Saying that there will never be anybody like James Brown is as close to an undisputed statement as anyone can make about music. The arrangement style of a James Brown song is extremely distinctive - very tight and deeply funky. His use of horns can sound spare, but that's just because Brown's own histrionics were already so wild and unfettered. He's one of the distinct superstars - an iconic singer, dancer and stylist. There's no equivalent to him today. There are some extremely funky bands out there, like Parliament or Lettuce, but nobody's distilling anything into such an authoritative, regal persona like James Brown could do. Another fairly recent loss, James Brown is one of the few inclusions on this list who didn't die or suffer some sort of irreparable creative breakdown. He had the dignity to record and perform until his death in 2006. Though his popularity waxed and waned over the years, his prolific recording career produced literally hundreds of great tracks. So much material exists that it's hard to take full stock of his career. Listening to - or better, watching - his live shows gives a much better sense of his real affect. He flails and dances crazily, yelling at his band, calling out for the bridge or a solo. It's all in the best of fun. There have been plenty of great soul men since James Brown, but he's the purest, best performer soul or funk will probably ever see.