Celebrity encounters -- James Brown

[jawjahboy]

I had a few encounters with James Brown and knew some of his business associates. He once lived a few hundred feet from my Jr high school. His house was not visible from the road and he had tall fencing and 24/7 guards at the gate. His Christmas decorations were "outa sight" and all of the characters in the larger-than-life nativity scene were black.
I was friends with the son of the city editor of the Augusta Chronicle newspaper and had access to press entrance at the Bell Auditorium when I was 19 and 20 yrs old. That is how I got close to JB on occasion.
If you have seen the movie "Get on Up" then you have a good idea of how tough a life he had and how he related to the people close to him.
There are a few things the movie omitted that were common knowledge to those who knew him:
He was self taught on the musical instruments he played. He could tear up an organ that he carried on tour. He played the organ during breaks for his band.
He designed all his clothes -- stage clothes and street clothes were the same outfits.
His favorite car was a pink Mustang convertible when he was driving. He also drove old pickup trucks. When his chauffer drove him during his most prosperous years, it was in his Rolls Royce --the most expensive one ever built when he purchased it.
His wife at the time of his death was Caucasian and had a picture of his face tattooed on her right shoulder.