Bradley bares his soul

Soul singer Charles Bradley found fame late in life, but is haunted by his past, writes Ed Power

CHARLES Bradley doesn’t mean to sound ungrateful. After a lifetime of obscurity, at the age of 65, the Brooklyn soul singer has achieved overnight musical celebrity. His latest tour is a sell out and he is one of the headliners at this weekend’s Body and Soul Festival at Ballinlough Castle in Co Westmeath. But there is a downside to success and it would be foolish and dishonest to pretend otherwise.

“It is very tiring,” he says, his voice heavy with weariness. “I adore going on stage and giving love to the audience and getting love back. The truth is, it takes a lot out of you. In between you have to work hard and keep your energy levels up. I’m trying not to tire myself out.”

Bradley became famous in 2012 when Soul of America, a documentary about his life, caused a sensation at the South By Southwest film festival in Austin Texas. Chronicling his years as a homeless person and his unlikely stint as a James Brown tribute artist, the film brought the singer to the attention of soul label Daptone. He has gone on to release two best-selling records, most recently Victim of Love.

The journey from the margins to the mainstream has happened quickly and he is still trying to process it. A life-long drifter and the product of a broken home, Bradley had hoped that Soul Of America and the ensuing attention would make him happy, but some wounds refuse to heal.

“On the road, life is fantastic. Off the road, there are still issues in my world that I need to put right. I’m still fighting hard to get my lifestyle balances in a good place. It’s tough. I want to be able to go home and have a beautiful place to live.”

Home is a recurring theme for Bradley. Raised in Gainesville Florida by his grandmother, he was eight years old when he met his mother for the first time. At her insistence he went to live with her in New York. It was not a stable upbringing. The neighborhood was gripped by a drugs epidemic and he witnessed a lot of violence. The night his brother was shot two blocks away from the family home, Bradley was woken by the police sirens.

“My life has always been a struggle,” he says. “I’ve gone through many hard times. It’s been tough, always so tough. Through it all, though, the one thing I held onto was my pride. Nobody has been able to take that away from me. I’ve always kept it close.”

In his early teens, he ran away and lived on the streets. Sometimes he was so desperate he would sleep in subway cars, a dangerous pursuit in 60s New York. Eventually he found work in New England as a chef, dabbling in singing part time (while he had a fantastic voice, he was crippled with shyness). He stayed ten years, until his drifting instincts took over. He spent the next decade or so living around New York, the Pacific Northwest and California. Then, out of the blue, came an epiphany.

“I was in a lot of pain, spiritually speaking,” he says. “On a particular afternoon, I was in this bar and a guy came in and put a quarter in the jukebox. The song that came on was ‘Take It To The Limit’ by The Eagles. I don’t know why — the lyrics really spoke to me. I was an empty shell and somehow, the sentiments in that song changed everything.”

He returned to New York and his mother, and became serious about music.

Friends had always commented on his likeness to James Brown.

He had a soulful croon to match and, as a covers artist, was soon doing well. This attracted the curiosity of documentary maker Poull Brien and of Daptone Records, best known as the home of soul revivalist Sharon Jones.

Bradley was invited for a meeting with Daptone founder Gabriel Roth.

The label wanted to give Bradley a break and believed in his star power. Nevertheless, he had to demonstrate his worth as an artist. Nobody was going to do him any favours.

“It was tough,” he recalls. “Real tough. They were on my side and they wanted to help. However, I had to show them that I really wanted this.

Through my life I’ve always been a soft touch. To step up there and prove myself — that was a hard. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.”

He’s grateful to Poull Brien and understands Soul of America has played a significant part in his unlikely breakthrough. Still, he has found watching the documentary painful.

“I have not let my mother watch certain scenes,” he explains. “It is very difficult to sit through. She put me through a lot of hardship in my past. Now she is 89 years old. She turns 90 this year. So I’ve tried to live and let live. Each day, I look in the mirror and do my best to let it go. It’s not easy. But I keep trying.”

*Charles Bradley performs at the Body and Soul festival, Ballinlough, Co Westmeath on Saturday.