James Brown, Godfather of Soul Dies at 73

Early Christmas morning James Brown passed away from heart failure. I was saddened to hear his passing. After thinking about it for awhile I thought what a great way to leave this earth on Christmas Day. It's so like James Brown. I remember seeing his routine on television. During live performances at the end of a song he would literally be on the stage hunched over on his knees apparently overwhelmed by the music. A member of his band would come and put a blanket on him and it would look like he was consoling him. They would walk him off stage as he would be patting James on the back & then out of nowhere he would come bounding back to the stage to the screams of his audience to belt out the rest of the song. That was his trademark.

I actually remember seeing Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees do his routine on an episode of their show. Mickey was truly doing a tribute to James Brown with Mike Nesmith as the one who put the blanket on him. I read later on that alot of white children who had never heard of James Brown had no idea to that reference.

In the years that passed there were other cultural references to Brown's persona. SNL's Eddie Murphy's rendition of James Brown's Hot Tub. I still remember Eddie Murphy as James Brown getting ready to get into the hot tub, "Here I go! Hot Tub! OW! Hot Tub! Gettin' Ready to go in the Hot Tub!! Ow!"

Mr. Brown also had his troubles. Like getting arrested on PCP and his numerous divorces. His prison time. But he fullfilled his purpose in life. To entertain.