James Brown, Singer

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

P264_James-Brown-w-Helen-Creighton-at-1st-MFF-1958 — P00264: James Brown with Helen Creighton on stage at the First Miramichi folksong Festival in 1958.

James Brown was an important resource for Sandy Ives’ work on both Larry Gorman and Joe Scott, as he knew many songs by each of the great woods poets. Brown worked in woods of Maine for many years and learned this song in Lily Bay, ME (on Moosehead Lake) around 1900. He was also a popular singer at the Miramichi Folksong Festival for many of its early years. Ives described his singing style as traditional, but individual, “a sort of pulsating staccato that made a line sometimes sound as though there were rests between each syllable.”