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PSB: How did you first start out?

Well that’s a long story that goes back to kind of a long line of playin’ at talent shows, theaters and what-have-you, and comin’ from a very poor family havin’ to dance for the soldiers and make money to the pay money to pay the rent.  Kind of built my talent up to necessity for survival and when we started talent shows, it was kind of easy for me to win.  I won so many talent shows I guess they just they just got tired of me and decided to let me make it.  

Other person: I was listening to your new record and it seems like a new direction for James Brown that’s moving into an area of sort of sophisticated production away from that raw funk sound that we kind of associate with you.  What do you feel about your musical direction now?

No.  That was just change.  It’s kind of hard to have a direction because of the fact that my past has caught up with all of the kids, the rock clubs and everything, they’re so crazy about my older stuff.  We just recorded a live album.  Went to Japan where they have the best facilities in the world.  It’ll be out next of the original James Brown sound with new arrangements.  We had a band, you’ll see what I’m talkin’ about, all the excitement that the entertainment needs today.  But by the same token, I like the studio recordings, which produced by Brad Shapiro was fantastic and I’m one who kinda wanna do it all.  I don’t wanna have this one direction.  I think the main direction that I’m goin’ in today is what the country has ceased to go in, in the direction of entertainment.  I decided to come back out and entertain the people.  They need some entertainment, that’s all.

Other person:  Do you feel that as opposed to the disco thing which is strictly a sort of recorded dance....

Well, disco gave people a chance to dance.  They’d been sittin’ down for about 15 years, so they wanted to dance.  I think what’ll happen today is you’ll have dance concerts, you’ll be playin’ live and then they’ll dance and the ones that want to sit, they’ll sit.  If you’re hot enough, you’ll keep ’em standin’, if you’re not, then they’ll sit down.  It’s be kind of bad for ’em to sit down.

Other person:  James, I interviewed a few people outside in the bar and a number of ’em told me that, a number of black people told me that you as an individual meant quite a bit to their life and that you were an inspiration and the whole soul drive really kept ’em goin’ for awhile.  Did you ever have that as an intent?

Well it was my intent to contribute to humanity and I didn’t want it to be just black people.  But however I wanted to do what I could for people ’cause people made me what I am today.  I think that’s everyone’s duty.  However, I think God give me a talent to entertain people to try to make them forget their problems and whatever and kind of help them to get themself goin’ and reorganize themself or what have you.  So that’s really where I’m at about entertainin’ and tryin’ to give back and keep the energy goin’.

Matthew Berg:  A lot of people came through your band like Bootsie and Fred Wesley and the horns.  What do you think about the kind of music they’re making now, the younger people or even someone like James Chance.  Have you heard him?

No I haven’t, but what it is, you fellas, youngsters just kind of come along a little late.  We were talkin’ about it earlier with the owner of this club who I’ve known for quite awhile.  Naturally, being young at heart or bein’ people at heart, human, if you see me around the house, you’d see how I feel because I would probably come with my boots on and western hat my denims and things.  I know I’m in a lot of bags, so sometimes I put my suit on, bust the collar open and sometimes I’ll take you inside, I’ll take you up in how I look my most sophisticated but what Bootsy and them is doin’ is just some of the things they learned from me.  And they went in a direction that they wanted to go into.  I talked to Fred a while back, he would like to come back and rejoin the group because he sees some things he’d like to do he don’t get a chance to do ’em out there because he went out, he took something out there to do his own thing, but he also wanted to find something when he went out there and he wasn’t able to find anything because what he took out there he was the only one at it, comin’ from this group and all so he kind of wanted to get back to the street.  He had a little bit more energy.

Other person:  Your heyday, when you were as big as you’ve ever been was during the time of Motown music, Diana Ross and the Supremes and music like that.  A lot of the people in the industry at that time, Little Anthony and people like that have sort of fallen off as far as giving performances and cutting albums, but you’re still cookin’.  What do you attribute that to?

Well I don’t believe in heydays.  

Other person:  Everything’s a heyday.

No it’s not.  Every day is a heyday.  It’s according to how you feel.  What I did, I curved myself to the movie industry because then that’s the next step.  It’s like being a district leader, then you’re a city councilman, from there to state representative, from there to governor or what have you, you just wanna graduate.  And I just keep tryin’ to graduate from different things.  I’m goin’ heavy into films.  

Other person: You have film projects cooking?

A lot of ’em.  Like I’m like a guarantee for a major film conglomerate like 20th Century, Warner Brothers, or Columbia, what have you who are diversified in the recordings of the world.  If you put me in a film. what you have right away is a multi-million dollar soundtrack.  So the picture can’t be a flop because if I do the soundtrack, (laughs) then you got the records goin’ for you.  See?  So what you have, you have the audio, visual and video at the same time.  And this is more for you.  I think all entertainers should try to develop themselves and organize themselves into a point where they can graduate from just bein’.... what I did 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, five years ago, and some of the promotion things that I’m doin’ now is just like buildin’ myself.  It’s kind of a training ground for where I’m going ’cause when you walk on a set, you gotta be able to memorize and sight-read and (snaps fingers) keep it flowin’ and still be able to maintain your rhythm and some of the other things involved.  See if you just get into business, can you imagine a disco person tryin’ to be an actor?  They never get a chance to learn how to perform on-stage.  That’s what I was tellin’ you guys.  You see, you missed the best part of it you know ’cause when people perform and really do it, like when you see this band out there tonight, you’ll see what I’m talkin’ about.  When you see us perform, you see a production.  You gonna see James Brown.  You gonna see James Brown period.

Other person:  So there isn’t a fundamental change in the kind of energy you put out in as much as I might hear a slicker sound on the records, I’m not gonna necessarily see a more soft-pedaled version of what you used to do at the Uptown Theater.

No.  You’re gonna see the James Brown that you remember and you may see one that be a little bit more... I may have a little bit better idea of what I’m gonna do.  You see me do bit pieces in films today and a year from now you’ll see me doin’ leads.  It just takes time.  And I don’t mind.  I just thank God we got a country that we can do that in, that gives you that opportunity ’cause it could be the other way around.  

Another person:  I just understand you did a film with the Blues Brothers, Ackroyd and Belushi.

Fantastic man.  I’m fortunate.  I thank God.  I’m probably, they figure it’s gonna be an all-time thing.  They believe they’re gonna have, and I think so too, but one thing it is it’s gonna be a world film and that’s good you know.  That’s what I was talkin’ about myself.  It was good for me, the fact that I’m known all over the world.  When I walk out on-stage here, it’s about ten percent of the reception that I get in Italy or Israel or Africa or Germany, France, Australia, like I’m 100 percent bigger there than I am here.

Another person:  Is that because you haven’t been there that much and people are so much more accustomed to you here?

Uh, they are taught music appreciation in depth.  

PSB:  Could you talk about the routine you have in closing your shows, how that came out?

We ran into it by luck.  Strictly from the soul it came and then after that it become a documented part that always went over real good.  It came by accident.  I was doin’ real well and a fellow through a towel around my shoulder and I threw it off and ran back and it kind of got to the people, so then we decided we’d get robes and it kept gettin’ better and better and it become a legendary part of the act and it’s kind of hard to quit.  At one point I got kind of tired and wouldn’t do it, like at one point I quite doin’ “Please Please.”  That was kind of a mistake.  But you livin’ your life, it’s a trainin’ ground.  And you find out the strong things that you need to do, so you keep on doin’ it.  

How many weeks of the year have you been working?

The past couple of years I’ve been averaging five, six months out of the year.  But I work all th