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.
