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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 05 > Entry
Singers share memories of James Brown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two far-flung local performers have been recalling their experiences with the departed Godfather of Soul this week.
Atlanta vocalist Francine Reed, who is performing nightly in the Cirque-esque dinner theater extravaganza Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco, opened James Brown’s final show here at Chastain Park in 2003.
“If I hadn’t been working here, you know I would have been down there in Augusta with bells on, baby!” Reed told us Thursday from California. The singer says the Atlanta Mayor’s Office sent her a picture of Reed with the Godfather as a memento of their gig together.
Reed also fondly recalled how Brown inadvertently helped her get settled when she first moved to Atlanta in 1994.
Reed had recorded a version of “I Got You (I Feel Good)” for a popular Senokot laxative TV spot that ended up, well, running for years.
“That monthly check really got me set up in Atlanta,” Reed reflected. “Whether he knew it or not, James Brown helped a girl to get settled in his state. I went out yesterday and bought his ‘50th Anniversary’ CD set. I’ve been shaking it up and down the streets of San Francisco singing his praises.”
When she returns to Fuzzy’s Place on Feb. 23, Reed says her Atlanta fans can expect a medley of Brown’s tunes in her act.
Stone Mountain-based soul singer Candi Staton, meanwhile, sent us an e-mail from London, where she recently performed in the “David Gest Soul Spectacular” with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Billy Paul, the Stylistics and Deniece Williams.
“I did a tour with James Brown around the time that my ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ was a hit in 1976,” Staton wrote. “That was a little slump period for James. The audience was maybe half-full each night. Still, he performed every night like he was singing to 10,000 people. He totally dominated the stage. It really impressed me.”
Stork report
Taurus restaurant owner and executive chef Gary Mennie and wife Karen celebrated baby No. 3 on Wednesday with the birth of Bennett Lawrence Mennie. Little Bennett weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches in length.
CNN’s King series
In advance of Martin Luther King Day, we’re told that CNN’s Soledad O’Brien is assembling a five-part exclusive look at King’s private papers, set to air next week. Former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Congressman John Lewis are among those interviewed for the series, set to air Monday-Jan. 12. On Jan. 15, the papers will debut in the eagerly anticipated exhibit “I Have a Dream: The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection” at the Atlanta History Center.
AUCTION ITEM OF THE DAY
Still deliberating about whether you want to fork over $100 just to get into next week’s court-ordered Whitney Houston warehouse auction in New Jersey? This week, Buzz is flipping through the auction catalog to provide a preview.
Today’s item: No. 186, a 36-inch vertical band saw. According to the photo, in an attempt to stave off any sawing-related fatigue, the large piece of machinery comes with its own stool.
Sick bay
“Young Frankenstein” actress Teri Garr, 58, is recovering from surgery to repair an aneurysm she suffered at her Los Angeles home on Dec. 21.
Doctors expect the actress to make a full recovery, says publicist Heidi Schaeffer. Garr, who also suffers from multiple sclerosis, is alert and talking, Schaeffer added.
Celebrity docket
Rapper Busta Rhymes was busta-ed Thursday in New York City on a misdemeanor assault, stemming from a man’s complaint that the hip-hop star had whooped him in a dispute over money.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Neil Ross set bail at $3,500 for the third-degree assault charge, and set Rhymes’ next court date for Feb. 20.
The rapper later made bail and left the courthouse, away from the media’s view. One of his lawyers, Scott Leeman, said Rhymes was taken away on a Corrections Department bus. His sport utility vehicle was still parked outside the courthouse.
Rhymes, 34, turned himself in and was booked on the misdemeanor charge at a Manhattan police station Wednesday night, police Lt. John Grimpel said.
Grimpel said a man told police that Rhymes had punched and kicked him numerous times in a confrontation outside a lower Manhattan building on Dec. 26. The man, whose name wasn’t released, was treated at a hospital after the incident, Grimpel said.
“I can tell you, judge, my client is innocent, and I rarely say this in a courtroom,” said Robert Kalina, another of Rhymes’ lawyers. He added that the alleged victim had no discernible injuries other than one red mark on his face.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Robert Duvall is 76. Talk-show host Charlie Rose is 65. Actress Diane Keaton is 61.
HIGH FIVE
Top 5 downloaded ring tones:
1) Koji Kondo
“Super Mario Brothers Theme”
2) Ne-Yo
“Sexy Love ”
3) Nickelback
“Rockstar”
4) Buckcherry
“Crazy [expletive]”
5) Henry Mancini
“Pink Panther”
Source: Billboard magazine, Jan. 13 issue
Contributing: news services.
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