Finding Joseph I: An Oral History of H.R. from Bad Brains
Page 1
Copyright © 2017 by Paul D. Hudson, Howie Abrams and James Lathos
first published in the united states of america in 2017 by:
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“Greetings in the name of His Imperial Majesty, Selassie I the first, Jah Rastafari, Almighty One, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of Himself, Earth’s Rightful Ruler, Holy, Jesus Christ the Messiah.”
-H.R.
“Back in the day, H.R. used to have a staff and walk around with a rod. So H.R. meant ‘Hunting Rod’ before it developed into ‘Human Rights.’”
-Earl Hudson
Bad Brains, Human Rights, H.R.’s BrotheR
“In the 12 Tribes of Israel, every man is born a month, and each month has its own tribe. The significance of ‘Joseph’ in the Bible . . . That love for everybody. Him get the name Joseph from that.”
-Ras Michael
SONS OF NEGUS
Prologue
The following excerpts are taken from interviews conducted by filmmaker James Lathos with H.R. in Jamaica between February 4 and 14, 2012.
James Lathos: Tell us who you are.
H.R.: Okay. I’m Mr. PhD, more commonly known as Mr. Paul D. Hudson. My friends call me H.R., short for “Hunting Rod” or “Human Rights,” and formerly I was called “Ras Hailu Gabriel Joseph I.” I want to thank you again for believing in I and I, and for just everything. It’s been most approvable. We find your peace offering approvable, and your love, and also your words of inspiration most acceptable. Thank you again. Jah1 Love, Rastafari.
James: I want you to explain some things to me, because I care about you. I filmed you that one week in Baltimore and you painted your face . . .
H.R.: (Laughs knowingly.) James: . . . and you wore a robe out in public. I don’t know where you are sometimes and can’t connect with you. A lot of people say you’re just being an artist. Other people think you’re sick. Can you explain what happens to you when these things that people talk about happen?
H.R.: I think it was, more or less, trying to be as awesome and unpredictable as possible. At times—I did not really know how I would be received and what the response would be, and the only way I could find out was by doing it—and so that’s what I did. It had some very interesting responses to it. It was a bit unpredictable and a bit unadulterated, and some people didn’t even recognize me. They had no idea who it was, and I could hear their opinion on what was going on. And so, for me, it was interesting to hear. I don’t know if people were telling the truth or not, but they said some pretty wild things. And once I knew what they were saying, I just took my wig off and put it aside, and didn’t use as much makeup, and eventually, it got kind of put away and I don’t know where it went. That was that.
James: So, you’re just trying to fuck with people? Going out like that to see how people might react. Is that what it is?
H.R.: No, no. I knew I had to lighten up. I was given an objective.
James: So, are you trying to shock people by dressing like that?
H.R.: No. I wanted to be more of that kind of person that I felt inside, or what I knew inside, and was given to me to lighten up the idea. One of the former managers said, “Spruce yourself up and lighten up, dude. Don’t slap people in the face, because your dreads are so gnarly.” I said, “Okay, let me see what I can do,” and I went over to the place where they had hairpieces and got me this blonde hairpiece, and got me some makeup. I had gotten the idea from Dennis Rodman. I learned later through experience in life that you can’t fool all the people all the time, and you can’t make everybody happy, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need. Don’t look back; keep moving forward, and that’s what I did. I kept on moving forward. Thank goodness, because to my surprise, people loved me. They didn’t love the hairpiece, and they didn’t love the makeup. They loved me and they loved the music, and now they wanted to know who I was. Where was the band coming from? Who were the Brains? Who were the mighty Brains? Who was Human Rights? Who is that individual inside that individual? Am I pretending to be H.R., or am I really, truly, you know, Dr. PhD? And so that is basically where it’s coming from.
James: Well, who are you? Paul Hudson, Joseph I, Dr. PhD, H.R.?
H.R.: I am what I am. I do love to be happy—and at one with God and the audience, and I don’t want to be a threat to anybody’s existence, so for that reason, we became more in tune with a universal love and a proper understanding.
James: Tell me about your brother. He has to be your best friend.
H.R.: I wanted him to be my drummer and I wanted to be his vocalist, and nobody else would play those songs with me except for Earl. I remember telling Earl he was massive, he was just incredible, but he worries about everything. I mean, he sees A through Z. He’s always been an inspiration and always a very direct individual. Conscious, clean, upright. He does have different ideas. Some of his ideals are more majestic rounded.
James: Do you pretend a lot?
H.R.: Oh, that’s my second name: Mr. Exaggeration.
James: Is this just all a big act for you?
H.R.: Absolutely!!! When I go on that stage, I’m not bad at all, but I have to pretend, you know. You’ve got to pretend to be somebody. Just like in wrestling.
James: Do you pretend to be H.R.?
H.R.: As a matter of fact, yes!
James: Well then, who are you really?
H.R.: Who am I truly? Well, actually I’m the King of England, but shhhhh, it’s a secret!
James: Is Paul Hudson still in there?
H.R.: I don’t know, let’s see. Where’s my towel? Are you in there, Paul?
James: So, when you’re onstage, it’s just an act?
H.R.: Oh, yeah. I’m acting, man. That’s what Anthony Countey said: “You better go out there and entertain, and if you walk off that stage, we’re through.” I said, “No, it’s not fair.”
James: Is it too much pressure sometimes?
H.R.: No. It’s not too much pressure, but sometimes the girls are rather tempting, you know.
Introduction
I am a die-hard Bad Brains fan and have been since first lending my ears to their game-changing, self-titled, cassette-only debut album released on Reachout International Records in February 1982. The group’s reputation had already ascended to legendary status in their adoptive home of New York City, where I, too, resided. In OG fan terms, I was late to the game; having first become aware of the Bad Brains and their incomparable vocalist and front man, H.R., a year after the ROIR release in 1983. I would not witness one of their renowned live gigs until the summer of 1985 at the newly launched, muggy-as-hell Jane Street Rock Hotel, when they “reunited” after a brief hiatus. I was unaware they’d ever lef
t.
What I encountered that July evening on the west side of Manhattan was nothing short of life-altering. The Bad Brains were far and away the most intense band I’d ever seen, and the crowd matched their output with unbridled vehemence. Doc, Darryl and Earl played faster than fast, yet with a laser-like control only a seasoned musician might comprehend. H.R. was something else. You would swear he moved at a different speed than other human beings. His control of that room of punks, skinheads and curious onlookers—sometimes without uttering a single word—was unprecedented. The kids moved as he moved. They took a breather only when he did. They, myself included, bought into anything and everything he commanded. I became immediately convinced that there would never be a better band, nor a greater front man. I still believe that.
Aggressive music has always been a liberator for me; however, hard tunes with no soul quickly wear thin. H.R. exhibited soul where it could not be found previously. His lyrics contributed an urgency fueled by spirituality and a call to social justice, which substantiated the ferocity of the Bad Brains’ earth-shattering soundscapes. This included the instances when Bad Brains broke it down to a mesmerizing, skank-drenched reggae rhythm. H.R.’s vocal style was otherworldly; ever vacillating between combative and graceful expression; all the while thrusting forth a righteous dose of rebellion served with a side of hope.
In 1989, seven years after that ROIR cassette dropped, I was afforded the honor and privilege of releasing said Bad Brains album on compact disc for the first time ever via the In-Effect Records label I cofounded. Our parent company, Important Record Distributors, already distributed the ROIR label in America, so we were able to reach an agreement to do so, as they were only interested in putting forth cassettes. We sold nearly twenty thousand of those CDs in the first six weeks, a watershed accomplishment for hardcore at the time.
My only direct interaction with H.R. up until that point had been tagging along with a journalist friend on his mission to interview H.R. prior to a gig on Long Island. After much scrutiny as to where the interview should take place—the tour bus was too cold, backstage was too noisy—H.R. concluded that the discussion should take place a few hundred yards beyond the parking lot of the venue, beneath a large bush. I thought it odd. To H.R., it seemed normal.
The intellection of materializing a book concerning H.R.’s life and career seemed well beyond possibility. This is H.R. after all. You’ve heard the stories: he’s out of his mind; he’s not all there; he only cares about Rasta. I wasn’t quite sure what to think or believe. As daunting an undertaking as this biography seemed, I convinced myself to access anything and everything within my power to bring it to life. I mean, this is H.R. after all! Beginning from scratch was an intimidating suggestion. No one, myself included, could tell if H.R. was willing or able to participate in such a venture, given his recent history of uneven behavior. I recalled that a filmmaker based in Baltimore named James Lathos had begun work on a documentary film designed to convey H.R.’s story, so I obtained his number and cold-called him to see if he might be willing to work together on a book adaptation alongside his movie. James’s response was warm and welcoming, and we decided to team up in an effort to do justice to H.R.’s personal narrative: James utilizing a camera and me with a pen, so to speak, all with H.R.’s full support and cooperation, which James had already secured.
By this point in late 2014, James had conducted countless hours of interviews with those close to H.R. both personally and professionally, in addition to folks who have been touched or moved by him from afar. Furthermore, dozens of hours were spent talking with H.R. himself over the course of several years, much of which while he was in the throes of debilitating mental illness, which had not yet been properly diagnosed. His erratic, frequently unsettling comportment had long since grown to mythic proportions. By the late eighties, Bad Brains supporters and admirers of H.R.’s reggae offerings with his group Human Rights alike had grown increasingly confused, disheartened and even disturbed by what appeared to the naked eye to be apathetic, detached live performances. Very few people knew, H.R. was suffering from a condition much more problematic than fans could have imagined.
Some of the results of the interviews with H.R. executed for this project are laborious and disconcerting, while others are free-flowing and on point. At times, he appeared to be disinterested in the discussions, while at other times, thoroughly engaged and engaging. I truly wanted this to be HIS book, with the story told only by H.R. Nevertheless, it was clear that additional voices were required to convey the saga, hence the oral history format for Finding Joseph I; the title comes from James Lathos literally finding H.R. residing in a squat in Baltimore a few years prior while seeking to interview him for a skateboard magazine.
Regardless, you will come to know and understand this passionate, gifted and distinctively complex artist and messenger a whole lot better through his words, as well as those of H.R.’s contemporaries and enthusiasts.
-Howie Abrams
1. It’s About Luv (Who Is H.R.?)
Norwood Fisher | Fishbone
H.R. is the genius madman musical prophet that has descended from planet . . . I don’t know what. In a historical sense, he is the beginning of so much. It’s hard to encapsulate the vastness of the influence, the energy and explosiveness. H.R.’s doing backflips and walking on the crowd like Jesus walking on water. He’s an icon. He’s choosing all the right notes to actually twist your heartstrings and bring this certain kind of tension and beauty, and there is no one like him.
Chino Moreno | Deftones
He’s the best vocalist ever as far as I’m concerned. When I first saw him performing, I was just blown away as far as the passion he had as a singer and as a human being. When I met him, I was perplexed by who he was. He’s definitely his own being. What’s behind what he does is a mystery to me, and that’s intriguing. It makes it more interesting. I’ve met him a lot of different times over the decades and seen him in a lot of different places and in different moods. He can be the nicest, kindest man in the world, and he can be out there sometimes.
Vernon Reid | Living Colour
He’s the voice of one of the greatest American rock and roll bands of all time. H.R.’s one of the most contradicting, maddening, inscrutable, mysterious, dangerous . . . he’s the real thing. He’s what people talk about when they talk about danger in rock and roll. He’s put people in the hospital. He’s done that! That’s a fact. He’s dangerous like Lead Belly’s dangerous, and he’s also an incredibly sweet person. He’s a living, walking contradiction.
Kenny Dread | Human Rights
We’re talking about a performer who took the total rage and boundary-breaking of rock and roll, and the deep spirituality of Rasta reggae and molded it into one. They have a saying in classical music: “Once in a hundred years.” It’s a once-in-a-hundred-years personality, a once-in-a-hundred-years energy. The pure shamanistic quality of pulling the energy in and smashing it back out again. H.R.’s voice: it’s like a journey of emotional expression, and it’s the sound of spirit. I’d never heard singing that had such nuances of expression. A tiny bit of a Southern accent, a tiny bit of African-American, a tiny bit of Jamaican accent. Snarls, yelps, screams. Nobody had ever done anything like that before.
John Joseph | Cro-Mags
If you listen to “Rastaman Chant” by Bob Marley where he’s yodeling, H.R. was able to do incredible things with his voice, too, while putting out the most energetic performance you’ve ever seen in your life. Still, to this day, I bow down. I’ve seen all the bands in the early ’70s. I was thirteen, fourteen, going to Madison Square Garden to see Led Zeppelin and The Who. I’ve never seen a front man better than H.R., and I don’t think I ever will. Fishbone, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers . . . nobody can touch H.R. They can’t even hold his chalice. It wasn’t just the physical; it was the spiritual, too. That’s where the real energy comes from, the soul, and he trave
led with such a conviction and spirituality to his beliefs. He lived it. He wasn’t talking shit. He was getting up every day, meditating and reading the Bible and Yahweh, living the life Ital.2 He touched so many lives that went on to do amazing things. The way he delivered that message . . . you have the music, but if you don’t have that front man that can deliver it and kill it on stage, you don’t have the whole package. Bad Brains had the whole package primarily because of H.R.
Rakaa Iriscience | Dilated Peoples
Imagine if James Brown and Bob Marley got together to freestyle at a punk rock show after watching acrobatics and gymnastics. You hear about hybrid music. You hear about fusion music, but you don’t often hear about anybody who can do it for real. He does it all to the highest degree. There are a lot of people who are brave and don’t mind pushing the envelope a little bit, but someone like H.R. doesn’t have to rely on gimmicks or shtick of any sort. You’re looking at genius. Going through some crazy hardcore punk, and you see people wilding out, and then all of a sudden breaking the whole crowd down in a way that’s real. A lot of people don’t have the skills to back up that attitude.
Chuck Treece | McRad, Underdog
H.R. is like a modern-day Little Richard. Little Richard’s focus back then was just basic rhythm and blues, and Richard was edgier than all of ’em: Prince and James Brown followed him, and a lot of people follow H.R. now. The closest reggae guy to H.R. is Eek-A-Mouse. You can compare Eek-A-Mouse’s extravagances with H.R., but I don’t think Eek-A-Mouse’s voice would have worked over a hard band like Bad Brains. H.R. has a certain physical structure. If he turns it on, you’re just freaked out. I think he’s the only singer that can cut through the melody of a song and still make sense. I think it comes from him understanding how to play guitar and understanding what songwriting is. If you have something to express . . . the hardest thing for a musician or a songwriter to do is just be expressive. You have to let go of the formulas. Most people won’t take that risk because you have to embarrass yourself and sound different from the norm. He’ll just do something totally drastic, way against the melody of a song, but it still applies. It’s the weirdest thing.