James Brown's friends hope documentary will preserve his legacy
By LEE TANT, T&D Staff Writer Saturday, July 04, 2009

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Two members of the late James Brown’s entourage are hoping to preserve the legacy of the era that their old boss helped create.

They say that positive legacy is in danger of becoming extinct because of the negative influence of today’s pop culture.

Brown’s emcee, Danny Ray, and band director, Tyrone Jefferson, hope a documentary titled “The King and the Cape” can assist in reversing the situation.

The duo recently visited South Carolina State University to be part of the documentary. While there, they toured a Brown exhibit at S.C. State’s I.P. Stanback Planetarium and Museum.

Jefferson expects the documentary will showcase African American culture, music and dance from Brown’s era. He said pop culture is now dominated by coarse language and violence instead of artistry. He feels that trend is not reflective of the African American community today.

“People I know have mortgages. They’ve got children they’re trying to send to school. I don’t know too many thugs,” Jefferson said.

He points to smoothly-dressed Ray to illustrate the need for a return to the old school.

“He is dressed like this all the time – shoes shined, with a tie. And they could play,” Jefferson said.

Ray is dismayed by the negative role models for kids in music and movies. He said that has to change to keep kids away from prison or the undertaker.

He believes today’s kids need to be encouraged and loved more. In addition, they need role models in their everyday lives to set examples for them, Ray said.

Ray said if someone mentors a young kid, that child will grow up to steer future generations in the right direction.

“They’ll live a long time like that,” he said.

Ray also believes the vital lesson of hard work has escaped the current generation. Jefferson added his belief that children today feel the world owes them something.

“It doesn’t. You’ve got to work hard if you want something,” Jefferson said.

Ray said he learned a lot about hard work during his decades with Brown, who was known as the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.”

He started as a valet for Brown’s band before ascending to a more prominent role in the entourage.

Jefferson said Ray may have been the second hardest working man in show business.

“We never took off. It was a violation to take off,” Ray said.

Because of his past association with Brown, Ray was a globetrotter. His passport has been stamped so many times that there isn’t much room left on it.

Ray said the band traveled so extensively that there probably isn’t a city in America he hasn’t been to at least twice.

Ray introduced Brown on stage. Backstage, he would ensure everything was in place from start to finish during a show.

He said Brown would discretely signal different portions of his band to perform specific actions much like a quarterback does on the football field.

“You had to dance, play and sing, and he’s leading the pack,” Ray said of the perfectionist Brown.

On May 5, 1979, Jefferson got in the game.

That night he received a call at 3 a.m. from Brown’s percussionist Johnny Greer asking if he wanted to play the horn in the band.

“I kind of thought it was a joke so I went back to sleep,” Jefferson said.

Greer called right back and said it wasn’t a joke.

A mere 15 minutes later, Jefferson was on the tour bus and his musical odyssey with Brown began.

Several years and many concerts later, Jefferson would get another 3 a.m. call, but this one was from Brown himself. Brown called him up to sing a new tune he crafted in his mind. Jefferson spent the remainder of the night composing the song.

“He had the whole concept in his head, and the band put it together,” Jefferson said.

Brown’s approach to song writing was very complex, Ray said.

“When he put it all together, it made a lot of sense,” he said.

Jefferson said Brown once asked him to read a page in a book. He asked how many song ideas Jefferson could come up with after reading the page. Brown said he could come up with a song for each word in a given sentence, Jefferson recalled.

He said his former boss often synthesized political and social themes and would turn them into entire songs.

“He’d blow your mind,” Ray said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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