Ahhhhhh, The Name Is Bootsy Baby

12/30/06 AUGUSTA, GA: Top two photos--Bootsy on bass while Bobby Byrd sings to the crowd. Bottom photo--It's one flamboyant musician paying tribute to another. Immediately after Danny Ray's introduction, Bootsy prepares to join in the musical tribute to the man that meant so much to him. Judging from the amount of applause Bootsy received after Danny's intro, it was rather obvious he needed no introduction to this crowd at all. Everybody knows Bootsy! Now children, take note. Mark this down in your calendars or scrap books and remember it. You will never...and I mean never...see Bootsy playing a stock Fender bass. He only plays his custom made, star-shaped, signature "Space Bass" on stage at all times. Here, he obviously flew to the funeral without instrumentation and was handed one of the stage musician's instruments to use.

Fred Wesley

12/30/06 AUGUSTA, GA: The legendary funk trombonist, Fred Wesley, on stage at The James Brown Arena paying his musical tribute to his former boss as a crowd of over 8000 looks on while thousands more stand outside of the building unable to get in. It was Fred, considered to be the world's premiere funk trombonist, as well as legendary James Brown sax man, Maceo Parker, (both of whom went on to later tour with Bootsy's Rubber Band) who added all of the necessary color and spice which helped to define the James Brown sound. Fred recently became an author too--releasing personal memoirs in his book "Hit Me, Fred...Recollections of a Sideman." And all music lovers, everywhere, know exactly where the title of Fred's book came from. Don't you?

Danny Ray

12/30/06 AUGUSTA, GA: When it came to the musical part of the homegoing of Brother James Brown, there was only, and should have been only, one emcee: Danny Ray. James' red cape was there with him--spread out over the upper portion of The Godfather's elaborate gold casket.

Bobby Byrd

12/30/06 AUGUSTA, GA: Long time associate of James, Bobby Byrd, paying tribute in song to The Godfather--exactly as he would have wanted it to be. Hypothetically speaking, had the present situation been reversed, and it was Bobby who had passed on Christmas Day, instead of The Godfather, you could have mortgaged the farm on the fact that James Brown would have dropped everything he was doing to be there for his buddy. From the time and place where they both started, up to Christmas Day, 2006, the rich history of accomplishments they both shared together, went far beyond the usual definition of "The American Dream."

The King Of Pop Checks In

12/20/06 AUGUSTA, GA: Michael Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Reverend Jessie Jackson paying their last respects to The Godfather. While he would not get up and dance at the festive celebration, as M.C. Hammer did, Michael did pay further respects in a short, but heartwarming, speech in which he told of his Mom waking him up from bed, as a youngster, to allow him to see James Brown performing on TV.

Well...Nobody's Perfect!

I was vacationing in Ft Lauderdale one summer when an ad jumped off the newspaper page and caught my eye. A nightclub right outside of Ft Lauderdale, in the town of Hallandale, was to have a very special show featuring The J.B.'s, James' very own backup band, with the vocals being handled by Gorgeous George and Martha High. I had to go! And yes, in my rental car, I took off and landed there on time. Sure enough, it was The J.B.'s alright. They were all there and in uniform too--sparkley and glittery "J. B." on each custom made uniform. James, at that time, was an endorser for good ole' boy, Hartley Peavey's, line of PEAVEY amplifiers and speakers, and the stage was fully loaded with each and every one of them too. It was the full James Brown band indeed. Martha High, had just recorded, as a solo artist, a 12-inch disco single around that time which, if my memory serves me well, was called "Showdown." It had recently been released and I have it on 12-inch vinyl, the club single, to this very day. The lyrics to it I still remember after thirty years: "There's a showdown...on the dance floor." All of James' vocals were handled by Gorgeous George including the intense disco hit that James had back then called "Get Up Offa That Thing." Martha High was always good--then and now. I enjoyed seeing the show although something told me deep down inside there was something else going on that the public did not know. I had been in the business too long to not feel it. So, after the whole show was over, I decided to see just what was going on here because it was not like the James Brown I had heard so much about to sanction such a show without being there himself. I went up to an older, grey-haired, gentleman who obviously had something to do with the band and he identified himself as the group's road manager. He also stated he was the group's road manager when they were out with James too. We had a friendly chat. He was a real nice guy. I found out exactly what I felt in my heart was true--you know, that "sixth sense" was talking to me. And, that "sixth sense" turned out not to be a lyin' either! It seems as though James did not pay the band's salaries, and they simply took off with his equipment, in lieu of pay, and went out on their own, booking themselves, so they could make enough money to survive. He mentioned to me that it would be a cold day in hell, or something like that, before James would ever see that equipment ever again. Looking back, I'm sure James could have cared less since, as an endorser, he probably didn't have to pay anything for all that equipment in the first place. I mentioned that I had seen James on a very popular TV show at that time, The Mike Douglas Show, talking about being a humanitarian and donating money to hospitals, etc, to which the manager replied: "Yeah...He's like that to everybody...except his own band!" Obviously, this guy was aggravated. I proceeded to thank him for his time and off to the hotel I went. Now THAT was the James I had heard so much about! For whatever reason, and I really don't know what reason it was, there was a smile on my face as I left the club.

Prank Call?

PHOTOS ABOVE: James with long time M.C. and "Hype Man" DANNY RAY on stage - taken in New Jersey by Marcia Stevenson. It was Danny who handled the infamous cape duties in The James Brown Show.

There are more James Brown stories circulating around than James had long black hairs streaming down his head. The Collins Brothers, who were to go on and achieve much success later on in life after leaving the J.B.'s (James' backup band) were local Cincinnati musicians who were playing at a lounge on Gilbert Avenue one night when a call came in to the club from Bobby Byrd. They thought it was a joke--a prank call. Bobby and James were not only friends, but bandmates and business associates too. They met each other in reform school. It was Bobby who let James join his band when they got released and both of them were later to show up in Cincinnati at what was then a recording studio on Brewster Avenue, in Cincinnati's Evanston neighborhood, called King Records. It was at King that James recorded his early hit records. It seems as though James had either fired his entire band or they had walked out, and by the time that phone call was through, it was highly impressed upon a very young Bootsy, and band, that James was serious about needing them to play. He was so serious, in fact, that he sent his private plane to pick them all up. And that is how quickly the move from local King Records pickup musicians to James Brown backup musicians was made. I have heard much about the days of being in the J.B.'s and the lectures James would give in an attempt to mold his band into the unit he wanted them to be. He would fine them for not having a crease in their pants. You knew better than to ever show up on stage for a gig not being in uniform. He would wait until after the show and tell them they were "not on it" when, during the actual show itself, the crowd was so hyped up and excited they were rolling in the isles. But this was James, the disciplanarian, speaking in a tone as a father to his sons...pushing them onward...not allowing any of them to grow complacent...putting into their minds the need to be better....to strive for even more greatness.

A Rare Look At James Brown's Past

Shown Above: LONDON. ENGLAND--A very old photo, at least thirty-five years old, showing a seventeen year old BOOTSY COLLINS on bass and an even more rare photo of older brother PHELPS "CATFISH" COLLINS, now retired, on guitar. To Bootsy, James was almost like the father he never had.

Christmas Day 2006: Saying Goodbye to The Godfather

June 5, 1997: Standing in the middle of what used to be KING RECORDS where James recorded all of his early hits. Exclusive LIGHTWEIGHT LECTERN photo (c) 1997 All Rights Reserved.

Well, Whaddaya say we finally get this blog started? For the past month there has been absolutely nothing on here except for a scant introduction and as I awoke this Christmas morning, 2006, I saw the news, staring me right smack in the face, about the passing of the legendary "Godfather of Soul" James Brown. James was taken to an Atlanta hospital the evening before and had his people telling the press they were sure he would be out very soon in time to perform for at least two previously booked concerts. Sadly, on this Christmas day, 2006, at around 1:45 am, we lost The Godfather. I could keep writing until Christmas of next year, and probably not say everything I needed to say, about how this man's influence shaped modern music everywhere. Those, who are not in the know, simply dismiss James, and his unique creation of "funk" music, as simply being black music which is only listened to by a black audience and they could not be m0re ignorant or wrong in their assessment. His influence hit the rock and roll business just as hard as it did the R & B crowd. I remember a story that actually happened many years ago where The Rolling Stones, I believe, had James on the bill as a warmup act and they were scared to death that James would have the crowd too worn out and tired for Mick Jagger to do anything with. The Rolling Stones had just been discovered in America and, quite simply, could not afford to have the Godfather upstage them and leave them with a totally limp crowd. I hear James' influence in Minneapolis, Minnesota's Prince, in the songs of Michael Jackson, in every Hip Hop artist out there today, and in countless Soul and R & B groups. I hear James in Gospel...I hear James in the Blues...I see James' dance movements in such white boy acts as Boston's J. Geils Band (Peter Wolf), Scotland's Average White Band, David Bowie, and I hear Oakland's "Tower Of Power" horns belting out James' riffs every time they perform. I have not even mentioned how modern Jazz players, especially those that play horns, show me the stylings of James Brown everytime I listen to them too. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic owe him a debt. So does Sly and The Family Stone, Bootsy Collins and the group "Zapp" (featuring the late Roger Troutman), The Ohio Players, and countless other Soul, R & B, and Funk groups, who continue to record and tour in an effort, as Bootsy says, to "Keep The Funk Alive." James was a giant. A simple man, whose rough shod decisions in his personal life was easy meat for a blood thirsty press to expose, but he was also a consumate showman. He would be singing to the crowd, with the microphone on a mic stand in front of him, and he would allow gravity to drop the stand (with microphone still attached) toward him as he spun around full-circle. Before the stand could hit the floor, James has returned front and center to catch it--never missing a beat or a note along the way. I remember James as a young man whose dance moves were fast and sharp. I remember James as an older man who continued to dance but to a less frenzied pace. If I live to be 100, I will never forget James singing his first hit "Please Please Please" while having his valet place the now infamous cape over his shoulders, while being led offstage, as the audience is led to believe that James is too worn out to continue. Then...he busts out...cape dropping to the floor...to do what James loved to do...give the crowd some more! He once played a concert at a small 1000 seat venue in Cincinnati, Ohio that lasted three hours. He didn't want to quit. It will be impossible for me not to remember James Brown. I will never forget him. I will also never forget June 5, 1997. That was the day my dream of meeting The Godfather came true.