JAMES BROWN: THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

Almost everyone is familiar with the Seven Wonders of the World: 1.) Mount Everest, Himalayan; 2.) The Northern Lights, Alaska; 3.) Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Africa; 4.) Great Barrier Reef, Australia; 5.) Grand Canyon, Arizona USA; 6.) Paricutin Volcano, Mexico; 7.) The Harbor, Rio de Janeiro. Well hold on to your chair there is a move on to name James Brown as the EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!

Saturday night My son Christopher and I went backstage at the Jubilee music festival to meet Mr. Brown. He is truly an amazing man. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw this seventy-year-old man dancing and singing on stage like a young man. Only the legendary Tina Turner surpasses him. Sorry Mr. Brown but you can’t bring the funk like “Tina”. She’s sixty-three years old and still kicking it high!

When Christopher met Mr. Brown he started name-dropping. “ I know your good friend Rev Al Dixon.” We smiled and I told Christopher to stop name-dropping. I don’t know where he got that.

Mr. Brown was very nice for the brief moment that we met him. He was talkative and smiled a lot.

As Mr. Brown embraced me during our photo shoot many memories went through my mind. My most memorable memory was when in 1969 I first heard Mr. Brown sing “Say it Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud!” I was eleven years old and in the sixth grade at S. C. Baskerville Elementary in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. I can still see my friends: Helen Bowens, Linda Williams, Sheila Pulley, Beaula Battle, Myrna Lowe, Juachina Williams, Jewel Chavis and Beverly Powell dancing to the song and shouting to the top of their voices: “Say it Loud We are Black and Proud!” These were some of Rocky Mount, North Carolina’s most popular and attractive girls. I can still see Helen Bowens dancing to James Brown’s records trying to get on the good foot!

James Brown was born dirt-poor seventy years ago, on May 25, 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina. He was stillborn; his Aunt gave him mouth to mouth resuscitation and breathed life into his body. His mother abandoned him when he was four years old. She returned after he became a super star. He was shifted from relative to relative, and lived a very streetwise life. His father was a filling station worker with dreams that one day his son would follow into his footsteps.

Despite crippling circumstances, numerous run ins with the law and insurmountable odds, James Brown today has his act together. He has gone from his birth street, 944 Twiggs Street in Barnwell. South Carolina to Wall Street. An undisclosed major Wall Street financial institution is lending Mr. Brown $30 million dollars in exchange for future royalties earned by his record catalog. The man behind the deal was David Pullman, who masterminded similar deals for rock star David Bowie, and the song writing team of Holland/Dozier/Holland. Today James Brown has a thirty-two year old wife and a four year old son. He is still feeling good. James Brown has a net worth of approximately $100 million dollars.

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by logging on to his WebPage at www.greggriffin.com