Family Endorsed & Led Tours Examine The Hometown Of The Godfather Of Soul in Augusta, Georgia
When James Brown, the legendary Godfather of Soul, moved his family back to Augusta, Georgia in late 1969, they settled on The Hill, in one of the city’s most prestigious and - up until then - all-white neighborhoods. “We were the first African American family on The Hill,” Deanna Brown Thomas, Brown’s daughter, recalls. “The only black family on Walton Way.”
But James Brown hadn’t always found a place among the town’s elite. As a young child, he struggled to earn pennies any way he could, shining shoes, carrying shopping bags, dancing and singing for the soldiers from nearby Camp Gordon, now Fort Gordon, located on the outskirts of town. During WWII his father was away in the Navy, leaving James with his Aunt Honey, known around town for running a brothel in the rough section of town down by the Augusta Canal known as “The Terry” (for territory, meaning the African American district). But even then he hungered for music, and cleaned floors at the Trinity C.M.E. Church, where a friendly organist gave him his first lessons on piano.
“My father came to town from a shack in the woods and was exposed to so many experiences - good and bad - that shaped his music,” Deanna tells The Buzz. “He came from nothing to being known all over the world.”
Starting this year, Deanna and other members of the James Brown Family Foundation are sharing the performer’s remarkable journey through a guided tour of Augusta. The bus tour follows the Godfather of Soul’s life story from his earliest days in the Terry, where the streets weren’t even paved, to his current position as one of Augusta’s most honored sons.
“After much prayer about it and discussion with my husband, it felt like it was the right time,” Deanna says.
Taefa Ayers, another member of the Brown family, is director of the weekly tours. She especially enjoys sharing personal stories about visits the already-famous entertainer made to town during her childhood when he would come by to see his mother, Taefa’s great aunt, who lived next door. “People would always know he was here and would line both sides of the road next to my house to catch a glimpse of him,” she says. “And somebody always had to fry up some chicken. That man loved his fried chicken.”
Taefa finds that many people aren’t aware of how closely James Brown was connected with the Augusta community during his younger days. The tour passes many spots important to Brown’s early life, including his aunt’s brothel, the church where he learned to play piano, the Hilas X. Floyd School that he attended through the seventh grade, and the United House of Prayer for All People. There James fell under the powerful spell of Daddy Grace, known for his flamboyant stage presence and glitzy outfits, and first felt his spirit raised up by the sound of brass horns playing in the church’s “shout” band.'
Ayers even points out the spot where the young James broke his ankle while rollerskating. “The kids called him ‘crip’ because he didn’t have the money to get it set,” she said, “but that didn’t seem to slow down his dancing any.”
The tour moves on to sites associated with Brown after he returned to his hometown from New York City as a superstar... the house he bought for his father, the mansion on The Hill, and the historic old Imperial Theatre where Brown and his band rehearsed before world tours. The bus stops at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, a charming house museum, to see its exhibit of James Brown memorabilia.
One of the tour’s most illuminating stops is at the Augusta Museum of History. The James family has entrusted the museum with many of its personal photos and mementos, including Brown’s private collection of costumes, his famous capes, instruments, awards, and records. The one of a kind collection is highlighted by interactive kiosks which play the music that Brown made famous. Admission to the museum is included in the price of the tour, to give fans plenty of time to browse the treasures here.
Another landmark recalls an often forgotten chapter of Brown’s life, that of radio mogul. During the 1970s, he bought several radio stations. The first of them, WRDW, was headquartered in downtown Augusta right at the corner of Broad Street and 9th Street, now renamed James Brown Boulevard. The building was a former department store where Brown had helped ladies with their bags to earn a few pennies back in the day. Before long, his daughter found herself sitting in the store’s big display window spinning discs.
“My father decided I should be a disc jockey,” Deanna recalls. “He was very serious about communicating with the black community, giving them information they weren’t getting from the mainstream media.” Brown took to the airwaves himself in 1970 to calm the wave of riots that was sweeping across the city.
James Brown was a tireless contributor to the Augusta community. At Christmas he gave away toys, at Thanksgiving he gave away turkeys, both traditions that the James Brown Family Foundation continues. “He wanted to give kids what he didn’t have growing up,” Taefa explains.
The city of Augusta and its citizens honor James Brown in many ways. On May 3, 2016, the James Brown Birthday Concert will be held in at the James Brown Arena in downtown Augusta. Once a yearly affair starring Brown himself, the birthday concerts haven’t been held since 2007, the year after the singer’s death. All of the former members of Brown’s band will get together for the first time since then, joined by a stellar list of special guests including Sharon Jones, Ivan Neville, and Ty Taylor of Vintage Trouble. Also performing at the concert will be the students of J.A.M.P., the James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils, a program for young musicians that fulfills the singer’s belief in the power of music to change young lives, as it did his. The concert is organized by Friends With Benefits, an Augusta-based production company dedicated to raising cultural awareness through music, which hopes to make this a yearly event.
The impact of Brown's legacy can be seen everywhere in the city. A stretch of 9th Street, once part of “The Terry,” was renamed James Brown Boulevard in 1993 and, in 2005, a life-size bronze statue, complete with cape and microphone, was installed on Broad Street, the city’s main drag. It’s a favorite spot for selfies these days, or the James Brown Cam will take your picture with the statue and send it to your phone.
Taefa Ayers says visiting the statue is one of the high points of her presentation.”It’s a way that Augusta honors him. They’re doing right by Mr. Brown!”
Sharing both sides of the James Brown story, that of the wealthy philanthropist and the determined youngster, hungry but talented, is the aim of the James Brown Family Historical Tour. The story it tells is of the power of music to create change and of a man who never forgot his roots and whose generosity continues beyond the grave.