James Brown died today on Christmas Day, Allah yarhamhu. 

I saw James Brown perform a handful of times when I was still living in Los Angeles.  I saw him right up next to the stage at these awful little clubs with hardly any attendance [Come to think of it that was around the same time I saw Tina Turner perform at Magic Mountain (an amusement park)].  Even without a full audience, in a small club, he was tremendous.  He was "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business." The whole entourage was on stage.  He walked in and bended one knee, lowered his head before all of us, and a member of his band came and removed his cloak with great reverance.  The Godfather of Soul was before us.  He was an extraordinarly generous performer.  God bless his soul and give him ease.