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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.
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. 
