Fact #147538
When:
Short story:
James Brown fires several members of his band who have threatened to quit because he works the men too hard and pays too little. Brown will form a new band with Bootsy Collins.
Full article:
Bootsy Collins : We were rehearsing one afternoon at the Wine Bar on Gilbert Avenue (in Cincinnati) and all of a sudden we got a call from Bobby Byrd.
At first I thought It was someone trying to play a joke but, sure enough, it was him. He told me they needed us right away and that he'd be there in forty five minutes to an hour. “Don't worry 'bout a thing, just come like you are”, he said. So I said, "Okay, cool".
I told the fellas what was happening but nobody really believed me until he picked us up and took us to the airport. We flew to Columbus, Georgia, on James Brown's private jet and went straight to his gig. We didn't have any idea about what was going on.
Once inside, Bobby tried to rush us past the band and into James's dressing room but the first person I saw was Kush (trumpeter Richard "Kush" Griffith). He was standing over James and he wasn't smiling. I knew then there was gonna be some serious trouble that night. I thought, "Oh, man what have we walked into?"
The idea of us playing with James was so incredible, we didn't know which way to turn until he came and kinda settled us into it. The crowd was chantin' because the show was late. We didn't have any rehearsal and James just called the songs off. I remember the crowd was pretty much into it and the way James pulled it off, I don't even think they knew what was going on.
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At first I thought It was someone trying to play a joke but, sure enough, it was him. He told me they needed us right away and that he'd be there in forty five minutes to an hour. “Don't worry 'bout a thing, just come like you are”, he said. So I said, "Okay, cool".
I told the fellas what was happening but nobody really believed me until he picked us up and took us to the airport. We flew to Columbus, Georgia, on James Brown's private jet and went straight to his gig. We didn't have any idea about what was going on.
Once inside, Bobby tried to rush us past the band and into James's dressing room but the first person I saw was Kush (trumpeter Richard "Kush" Griffith). He was standing over James and he wasn't smiling. I knew then there was gonna be some serious trouble that night. I thought, "Oh, man what have we walked into?"
The idea of us playing with James was so incredible, we didn't know which way to turn until he came and kinda settled us into it. The crowd was chantin' because the show was late. We didn't have any rehearsal and James just called the songs off. I remember the crowd was pretty much into it and the way James pulled it off, I don't even think they knew what was going on.