Posted by SWANG on 12/27/2006, 11:36 am, in reply to "James Brown"
151.197.254.94

Thank you for sharing this with us, Skyn. Miss ya, brotha... --Previous Message-- : I don't have Bootsy's number but I called : Catfish at 10:30pm CST and we talked about : what a great loss Mr. Brown is to the world. : Cat said he had been on the phone all day : about Mr. Brown and that he was waiting to : get word on the funeral because he was going : to pay his respects. : : I saw Mr. Brown in 1968 at the Bushnell : Auditorium in Hartford, Ct. I knew after : that show that I wanted to be an : entertainer. Even though my father made me : proud because he was a civil rights leader : in Connecticut, I secretly wished James was : my father. When he released 'Say It Loud I'm : Black & I'm Proud' that : "sealed" it for me. He was more : than a mere entertainer, he actually cared : about the plight of his people and like my : father and Dr. King, was prepared to stick : his neck out for us. : : After the second show that I went to at age : 11, my father got me and my brother : backstage to meet Mr. Brown and he signed my : program. I took the program to school the : next day and my best friend asked if he : could borrow it to show to his friends in : "the hood". I grew up feeling : guilt about the fact that my father lived at : home with my family while many of my friends : had no fathers at home so it was a true show : of brotherhood when I let him take my newly : signed program home that night. I never : worried about it coming back in one piece : because I trusted that my friend Kenny had : the same appreciation for Mr. Brown's : aotugraph that I did. It was like our : "Shroud of Turin" : : I accompanied Bo Diddley to the 1997 Alachua : County Harvest Fest where we went onto Mr. : Brown's tour bus and I sat next to Bo as he : and Mr. Brown rehashed the most recent of : their memories since last crossing paths. Bo : introduced me as his producer and I, : humbled, took Mr. Brown's strong handshake : and said "It's a pleasure to meet you : sir". : : Because of my friendship with Bo, I have : been in the presence of many famous people : but James Brown was THE "reason" : for me standing there at that moment. : : An assistant graciously informed us that Mr. : Brown would need to get ready for his : performance and we obliged by saying : goodbye. As we were walking out Mr. Brown : said "I'm a man in G" and Bo said : "Oh! Yeah!" : : We were taken to a spot on the stage : reserved for guests of Mr. Brown and in a : small town like Gainesville, Florida.... we : were it. : : After Mr. Brown went through many of his : best-known songs, he introduced Bo to the : crowd of roughly 60,000. He talked about : their parts in the Blues Brothers movie and : he said their friendship went back to the : 50's. : : Mr. Brown instructed the band to play 'I'm A : Man' : which they started too fast and Mr. Brown : quickly instructed them to slow it down and : "Funk it" so Bo could perform it : as I stood next to Bo's third wife, her son : and my wife on the stage. Bo Diddley backed : by the JB's with Mr. Brown conducting, : performed I'm A Man. : : A memory I will cherish for life. :