Folk's the picture above, you know iz James Brown
I tell you no lie, I loved him as the man he was, and as the Entertainer the WORLD loved'
I was around 10 or 13 year's old, I was in my bed room playing records on my record player.
I would play records that my Mother had around the house, I would leard these records and sing them right over the singer's
voice, Singing came so easy for me, I never thought I would ever sing in front of people.
One day my Mother was playing a record down stairs that made me stop in my tracks, That song was Bewilderd, I took that
record too my bed room and i played it over & over, I remember asking My Mother who was James Brown, I could not get enought
of James, I would get all the 45's that would come out on him, I was on the boy' i don't know why i said boy James and
my Mother where the same age both born in 1933 James May 3rd.~my Mother September 8th. I would sing those song's and people
would say supe i can't tell you from James Brown, I would smile from ear to ear.
I remember one day my friend's and i where just walking around, It was summertime we where down on south potomac st,
By south potomac jr high school, across the street on the cornner was a small junk yard and a few greenhouse's, I remember
seeing something in my little hometown of Hagerstown, Md that i would regret not takeing a picture of, it was an old broken
down yellow school bus and on the side in black letter's it read "The James Brown Revue" im so sorry
i did not think of takeing a picture.
I never though i would be as close to James as i came to be.
Now I remember when i was 13 year's old for sure, Walking through Hagerstow's Big summer fair
Amusments of America checking out the girly show's, I noticed one called "The Coppertone Revue" The
other show's were all White people, but The Coppertone show was all Black people, Hanging around there i saw this man come
out that looked so differnt to me, part of him looked like a man, and part of him looked like a woman, I stairred and stairred,
he said what you looking at you little FRICK, I ran away, The next day i went back i dident see him again till later
that night, I saw anothr man who said young man you want a job, I said yes, man i had a summer job at the Coppertone Revue. I
was a soda boy i would walk around under the Big Top when people came in to see the show, I would say soda's ice cold
soda's (soda's where only 10 cent a 10 oz bottle back then i sold them for 15 cent ea.) I was good i made Mr.Bob lot's
of money, and when ever the fair would come to town i would go out there and Mr.Bob would be waiting for me, I
was really good, i'm now 16 year's old i was makeing my own school clothes money that was fun, Mr. Bob Porter and his
wife Ms. Rose went to my Mother's house to ask her if they could take me to Canada with the show to sell soda's she got to
know them over the year's as my employer's so she said ok. They told her they would get me back home in time for school,
Up there i met lot's of friendly kid's my age that i have misssed over the year's, Up there
when i was 16 i met Bob Hope and the next year i met Red Skelton, they had a soda up there that had not come to Amercia
yet it came in all flavor's and i sold alot of it up there, It was Mountain Dew.
Now that man that called me a Frick back when i was 13 year's old was the man that
i became real good friend's with for 43 year's until he died a few year's back his name was Mr. Sammy Fitzhugh.
Let me tell you this then i'm gonna close, One day when the fair was here in Hagerstown
and the boss of the Coppertone wanted to put on a teen show for us teen's His star singer Mr. Sammy Fitzhugh did
not show up boy was Bishop mad, the show girl's told Bishop that they heard me sing along with the band befor why not
get the soda boy to sing, to make a long story short Bishop said i want you to sing on the teen show, I said
ok.
Mr.Fitzhugh got really mad, I rocked that place, a year later Mr. Fitzhugh and i became
best of friend's and i've been entertaining folk's every since Bye.
Supe!
