Don King Mourns Godfather Of Soul, Mr. James Brown In NYC And Georgia

29.12.06 – By Michael Marley, BoxingConfidential.com: No doubt Don King, the hardest working man in boxing, always identified with the hardest working man in show business, Mr. James Brown. And, back in the day, King owned a nightclub in Cleveland where many black stars, including Little Milton and Dinah Washington, performed. So it is no surprise that King has taken time out to honor Mr. James Brown by attending the memorial service Thursday at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater where, as the announcer used to shout, JB and His Famous Flames were “a living rage upon the stage.”

King will also be at the Augusta, Ga., church services Brown’s family has scheduled. And King will be right next to Rev. Al Sharpton, who as a boy preacher got to meet his idol, Mr. James Brown, and who used to wear a JB-like pompadour hairstyle.

Some years ago, when Brown did a jail stint, he launched a musical comeback at a theater in Los Angeles. It was such a hot ticket that rock and roll pioneer Little Richard was in one of the front rows. I got to go because I got a ticket from fight promoter Butch Lewis, who you may recall as the handler of Michael Spinks.

King has always been intertwined with musical stars. In fact, once when I was his Minister Of Propaganda, I couldn’t believe my luck when at a Belfast TV station I met Edwin “War What Is It Good For” Starr. We started talking and Starr asked me why I was there. I mentioned boxing and King.

“Man,” Starr said, “Don King. I played at his club in Cleveland back in the day.”

King and Starr had a rollicking reunion that night in Northern Ireland.

All props and RIP, the inventor of “The Camel Walk,” the man who had ants in his pants and had to dance, yeah, yeah…but also the man who made it fashionable for people to say, “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.'”

James Brown was not just “a sex machine.” Remember that. And, yes, he was an ex-boxer. Where do you think that footwork came from? Well now, he and the Wicked Wicked Wilson Pickett can rap out together in the next Midnight Hour. Amen to that.