Spotlite: James Brown

[kia027]

check

[Tropicana]

are you condemning someone for practicing something that you also practice?

As usual attack someone who expresses an opinion instead of focusing on the topic and this is encouraged by an admin and moderators.

I suggest you get your facts straight so that your cheap shots land. Conks are not even the same process used for relaxers:

In the 1920s through the 1960s African American men wore the 'conk' hairstyle. This hairstyle was worn by men who had naturally kinky hair. Nearly every Black-owned and operated barbershop in the United States had at least one barber who specialized in conking hair. The name conk is derived from congolene.  Congolene is a gel-like substance that was made from potatoes, eggs and lye. Lye is very corrosive so it had to be washed  out quickly and hairdressers also had to wear protective gloves while applying congolene.  This chemical relaxer, which was sometimes nothing more than pure lye) was applied to the hair so it could be styled in certain ways.

http://www.jazma.com/black-hair-history

I guess this comment will also be censored so I am going to take a screen capture of it.

[Emperah]

that was a question, not an attack, how ya get suh soff as of late

[Tropicana]

Blugiant, this is what you said a while back in your thread called

• sellouts wannabee mzungu

  bakk pon tapikk

bye sellout mii chattinn bout blakk wey ave been brainwashed fii idoliezed mzungu tings ann despised blakk tings

mii chattinn bout blakk men wey marry mzungu oomen

mii chattinn bout mzungu playting

mii chattinn bout blakk peeps wey waan fe be mzungu

This is not the only time you've said this.

By your definition, James Brown is a sell-out so it seems that you're being inconsistent.

[Peasie]

Soul Brother #1 earned the right to wear his hair any which way he wanted. Respect the icon. He is now in a place where, who knows, everyone is conking and he is but the norm.

[Tropicana]

One point I forgot to raise and that people keep forgetting is that while Black men and since we are talking about an entertainer Black male entertainers do not face discrimination for wearing natural hair (I am not talking locks). So while women may face the option of straighten your hair or don't work in some fields or straighten your hair or miss out on some business opportunities, Black men don't face that. It was and is absolutely inexcusable for ANY Black male entertainer to conk his hair past around 1965. Once he sported an Afro and recorded I am Black and I am Proud in 1968, James Brown should never have gone back to conking.

No he doesn't get a pass because he was talented. In fact, since he is an icon we should an even hotter fire for him.

It shows the hypocrisy of some of the participants in this discussion. They are willing to give James Brown who was earning millions of dollars a pass even though he faced no discrimination when he had the Afro. Yet these same boardites make nasty and hostile remarks condemning and putting down Black women who DO face discrimination for making the tough choice to change from natural hair to another style in order to earn a living.

These same individuals by their own admission have never even once called or written a movie producer, TV producer, casting director, sponsor, or advertiser to express disapproval of the casting of women with straightened hair and weaves. They've never contacted a beauty pageant organizer to bout the pressure they put on women to wear weaves. (Pageants are the only arena in which a Black woman is unlikely to be successful without a weave and White women are pressured to have super long hair. Why is no one about this and contacting pageant organizers?) In other fields there is no excuse for any woman to wear a weave.

We don't support each other and then when are forced to make tough choices it's attack, attack attack while bigging up James Brown for all of his choices. How dispicable. It's much easier to be petty, nasty and blame the victims. Den onoo wondah why as a people we cyaan prospah.

By wearing the Afro, James Brown and other entertainers who were established and making big bucks helped bring the style and natural hair into the mainstream. They helped many who were facing discrimination. (At the time the hairstyle was perceived as "militant" and people who wore them did face job discrimination. HR managers from the 1960s are on record as saying they would not hire someone who wore an Afro.) Fortunately, enough Black men in the public eye wore natural hair and Afros that the style became mainstream.

While not taking away from James Brown's talent and many contributions, he was off the mark w.r.t. the conk. When entertainers who have "made it" make these choices, they continue to make it tough for individuals in other walks of life. Like it or not, prominent entertainers do shape perceptions and set the standard in terms of fashion and hair. If more successful Black female entertainers opted for natural hair, we wouldn't still be having this conversation in 2013. With success and money comes responsibility.

Also, who a man marries speaks volumes. This wasn't a case of a man and a woman meeting and happening to fall in love. Despite singing I'm Black and I'm Proud, his lust for White flesh tells us about his mindset and where his heart and his loyalties lay.

[RichD]

Also, who a man marries speaks volumes. This wasn't a case of a man and a woman meeting and happening to fall in love. Despite singing I'm Black and I'm Proud, his lust for White flesh tells us about his mindset and where his heart and his loyalties lay.

maybe he was just evening the playing field

sticking it to the man....showing him can get what dem get too

[blugiant]

Because of his talent and because he recorded one song that said "I'm Black and I'm proud, are you giving him a free pass on the nasty looking conk that he wore for decades after other entertainers had abandoned it?

It looked lowdown and greasy and gave him a pimpish demeanour. Ditto for Snoop Dawg and his conk.

Are you giving him a pass on the White woman he married?



Are you giving him a pass on wife assault?

Are you giving him a pass on going to the pimp bawl and being friends with the biggest pimp of all Don Magic Juan who his trashy looking wife ended up dating after he died?







I say big up the man for his talent, his art, hard work and charity work but call him out on his shortcomings and his clear issues with being Black. No one who is proud to be Black would carry themselves like that.

You blugiant have called many others out for far less (e.g. Soledad O'Brien ) At least be consistent.

ar yuh seyinn cah blakk man ave a conk hairstyle dem look like a pimp. stereotypikkal view aff blakk men as pimp yuh pushinn. iff imm like y shood imm give itt upp cah addar artists gave itt upp. iff yuh kno james brown yuh wood realized imm set trends nuh fallaw fashion monkey

was james brown furst wife blakk ann mii tink imm lass wife was latino. da pitcha aff oyinbo wife iss da wan dat de media push y? so tropi wear da pitcha aff imm blakk wife. realitee iss dat imm divorce imm mzungu wife natt surprisinn. so y yuh tink mii givinn imm a free pass cah imm marry wan oyinbo ooman? frederick douglass was married to wan blakk ooman wen imm took upp widd oyinbo mistrress. da oyinbo mistressed later commited suicide wen frederick married wan younger oyinbo ooman. frederick douglass sed imm married ooman fram boat side aff imm heritage. da realitee iss mii recognized wat frerick douglass didd fe try fe uplift blakks wild mii bunn fiyah pon imm sellinng out. same ting widd james brown.

mii juss recognized dat even dough imm married wan oyinbo ooman imm gitt credit fe imm effart fe uplift blakks. so tropi yuh ask mii wat does soledad marriage to wan oyinbo man affii do widd qwestianinn ar abilitee fe fe define blakkness fe oyinbo? james brown xxperiences made imm a blakk man even iff imm married ann divorced wan oyinbo ooman

wife assualt ting - two addicted juggies partyinn. imm wass iigh ann out aff imm mind ann natt inn imm rite mind.

wan aff mii friend wen imm was yungar was a rent-a-dred shood mii condemn imm now dat imm a phd. everee thyme mii laff knowinn imm histaree. doan kno don magic jaun histaree butt iff imm a pimp oww cum imm nuh inn jail. does he force oomen to sell demselves ar does he gitt lowdown oomen woo willinglee sex fe money? oww yuh know james woo was an x-com was natt tryinn fe lead don magic jaun pon a new path? mii neva figgit wan oldar ex-con woo came to mii rescue wen wanted fe fite sum hoods ann imm told mii dat mii wan aff da smart wan so doan gitt mixxed upp ann go to school. so since yuh doan kno da basis aff james brown friendship widd don juan magic ar yuh usinn guiltee by assocceehateshan fe condemn. look at james brown settinn upp imm estate fe provide future scholarship to imm yuths ann addar blakk yuths. wood yuh condemn james brown cah imm wass force to drop out aff school hanginn rund at risk yuths tellinn dem fe stay inn school

wat issue didd james brown ave widd being blakk cah wen mii lissen to imm being interviewed imm was a proud blakk man. tropi sum aff da best xxample aff blakk men woo ar blakk ann proud ar da wan woo ar infamous

[blugiant]

Blugiant, this is what you said a while back in your thread called [LIST][*]sellouts wannabee mzungu[URL="http://www.jamaicans.com/forums/showthread.php?15928-sellouts-wannabee-mzungu&p=299514#post299514"][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Verdana]

This is not the only time you've said this.

By your definition, James Brown is a sell-out so it seems that you're being inconsistent.

james brown was natt brainwashed fe idolieszed mzungu ting ann despised blakk tings. james brown add a strong reason fe imm hairstyle ann y imm kept wearinn itt butt itt was ann interview pon blakk radio da mii cyaan find.

james brown married ann divorce wan oyinbo ooman ann wan latino butt imm furst wife was blakk. wan aff james brown song iss revenge ann da bigg paybackk iss dat de reason imm married da oyinbo ooman. itt wood bee intarestinn to delve inna dem blakk radicals woo gave da reason fe mzungu playting as gittinn paybakk

again tropi iff yuh studee james brown yuh will see imm neva waan fe bee oyinbo

[Tropicana]

ar yuh seyinn cah blakk man ave a conk hairstyle dem look like a pimp. stereotypikkal view aff blakk men as pimp yuh pushinn.

Usually.

I can think of very few who don't.... I stlll don't approve of the conk for Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. (also a sellout). They come to mind as two who did not look like pimps even though they had conks. I think it is a matter of how much grease they used or did not use, what they wore including hats and other wardrobe choices plus the jewellry.



Bottom line is that I have never liked or approved of conks.

iff imm like y shood imm give itt upp cah addar artists gave itt upp. iff yuh kno james brown yuh wood realized imm set trends nuh fallaw fashion monkeyn

Are you for real? This is 2013. Can you not see that when Black people "make it" they have a responsibility to project an image that embraces Blackness? I don't believe that you cannot see it. Don't even come with the some Black people are born with straight or straightish hair....that may be true but they don't cake it with grease and make themselves look ridiculous.

was james brown furst wife blakk ann mii tink imm lass wife was latino. da pitcha aff oyinbo wife iss da wan dat de media push y? so tropi wear da pitcha aff imm blakk wife.

Picture of his Black wives is not relevant to this discussion. As for the photos of his wives, read my keystrokes, I am not the paparazzi. I can only post photos based on what is available on-line. News flash...this is an on-line forum. I am not going to go out, spend money buy books and scan photos to please you. This is not a paid work assignment.

James Brown left his Black wife of wives and picked 2 very thrashy looking women. Those are the facts. Not sure why I have to do your homework for you:

- 1st wife Velma Warren - Black they divorced
- 2nd wife Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins - divorced after a short while - not sure if she was Black or white
- 3rd wife Adrianne (Adrienne) Rodriguez - she died
- 4th wife Tomi (Tommie, Tommi, Tommy) Rae Hynie - White not Latina - he filed for annulment, she later filed for divorce

This is the first I am hearing that his last "wife" ....really a shack up honey as there is a debate as to whether or not they were legally married...was Latina. You are so intent on defending this guy at all costs you seem to be making things up now. They did get married and 150 people attended the ceremony but later James Brown claimed that she had never divorced her first husband and he filed for an anulment. She claims they were legally married.

realitee iss dat imm divorce imm mzungu wife natt surprisinn.

Nope his 3rd wife died...the 4th one was a complicated matter but they never divorced.

so y yuh tink mii givinn imm a free pass cah imm marry wan oyinbo ooman?

Yup for that and the conk you are giving him a pass and being inconsistent with other views you have expressed. You seem to regard him as St. James Brown who can do no wrong.

frederick douglass was married to wan blakk ooman wen imm took upp widd oyinbo mistrress. da oyinbo mistressed later commited suicide wen frederick married wan younger oyinbo ooman. frederick douglass sed imm married ooman fram boat side aff imm heritage. da realitee iss mii recognized wat frerick douglass didd fe try fe uplift blakks wild mii bunn fiyah pon imm sellinng out. same ting widd james brown.

you have not pon James Brown yet. Inveigled by another boardite intent on making mischief you started this thread because you objected to the fact that mi did pon James Brown sake a im nasty looking conk and marriages to trashy looking white women. I am the one who said he was very talented made valuable contributions (e.g. artistic plus his extensive charity work) but he had some serious flaws.

mii juss recognized dat even dough imm married wan oyinbo ooman imm gitt credit fe imm effart fe uplift blakks.

I have already given him credit for his contributions. I am not disagreeing with you about that.

so tropi yuh ask mii wat does soledad marriage to wan oyinbo man affii do widd qwestianinn ar abilitee fe fe define blakkness fe oyinbo? james brown xxperiences made imm a blakk man even iff imm married ann divorced wan oyinbo ooman

First off Soledad does not define Blackness. If we look at both of these individuals and let's through Harry Belafonte into the mix they have all made positive contributions despite the sellout behaviour of marrying white people. Remember you are the one who defined marrying a White person as "sellout" behaviour.

wife assualt ting - two addicted juggies partyinn. imm wass iigh ann out aff imm mind ann natt inn imm rite mind.

Yet another one of his faults....so you do admit he had faults. Being drunk or high does not give anyone a pass for assault, rape or any other crime.

wan aff mii friend wen imm was yungar was a rent-a-dred shood mii condemn imm now dat imm a phd.

Yes.

everee thyme mii laff knowinn imm histaree. doan kno don magic jaun histaree butt iff imm a pimp oww cum imm nuh inn jail. does he force oomen to sell demselves ar does he gitt lowdown oomen woo willinglee sex fe money?

I haven't researched Don Magic Juan but I have read that he was a pimp and that hte throws the pimp ball every year and he certainly does have a pimpish demeanour...totally lowdown just like Snoop Dogg.

oww yuh know james woo was an x-com was natt tryinn fe lead don magic jaun pon a new path?

By attending a ball for pimps? That sounds like de argument de dawgasaurus parson did use when he went to a prostituted, whipped it out and then claimed he was trying to convert her. I wrote about it in the faith and reason section.

mii neva figgit wan oldar ex-con woo came to mii rescue wen wanted fe fite sum hoods ann imm told mii dat mii wan aff da smart wan so doan gitt mixxed upp ann go to school. so since yuh doan kno da basis aff james brown friendship widd don juan magic ar yuh usinn guiltee by assocceehateshan fe condemn.

I repeat he attended the pimp's ball that would seem to imply he approved of this behaviour.

look at james brown settinn upp imm estate fe provide future scholarship to imm yuths ann addar blakk yuths. wood yuh condemn james brown cah imm wass force to drop out aff school hanginn rund at risk yuths tellinn dem fe stay inn school

Of course not. Many black people did not have the benefit of education.

wat issue didd james brown ave widd being blakk cah wen mii lissen to imm being interviewed imm was a proud blakk man.

A man who is proud to be Black does not conk his hair. Black men have never faced discrimination or been denied career opportunities because of wearing natural hair so there is no excuse. I'll grand you Black men did face discrimination for wearing Afros initially and still do face discrimination for wearing locks.

tropi sum aff da best xxample aff blakk men woo ar blakk ann proud ar da wan woo ar infamous

No one is perfect. What I take exception with is the idol worship and thinking that some people get a pass because of their career achievements. You and others on here seem to be of that mindset yet a journalist who makes it in the mainstream media is automatically dismissed as sellout.

[Tropicana]

james brown was natt brainwashed fe idolieszed mzungu ting ann despised blakk tings. james brown add a strong reason fe imm hairstyle ann y imm kept wearinn itt butt itt was ann interview pon blakk radio da mii cyaan find.

james brown married ann divorce wan oyinbo ooman ann wan latino butt imm furst wife was blakk.

Get your facts straight...the 3rd wife who was Latina died. Not sure if his second wife was Black or white. The fourth wife was white and he never divorced her.

wan aff james brown song iss revenge ann da bigg paybackk iss dat de reason imm married da oyinbo ooman.

Total and utter garbage... I am surprised that a supposedly intelligent man like you would spew such garbage.

itt wood bee intarestinn to delve ina dem blakk radicals woo gave da reason fe mzungu playting as gittinn paybakk

again tropi iff yuh studee james brown yuh will see imm neva waan fe bee oyinbo

Disagree.

[blugiant]

Usually. I can think of very few who don't....Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. (also a sellout) come to mind. I think it is a matter of how much grease their use and other wardrobe choices plus the jewellry.


Are you for real? This is 2013. Can you not see that when Black people "make it" they have a responsibility to project an image that embraces Blackness? I don't believe that you cannot see it. Don't even come with the some Black people are born with straight or straightish hair....that may be true but they don't cake it with grease and make themselves look ridiculous.


Picture of his Black wives is not relevant to this discussion. As for the photos of his wives, read my keystrokes, I am not the paparazzi. I can only post photos based on what is available on-line. News flash...this is an on-line forum. I am not going to go out, spend money buy books and scan photos to please you. This is not a paid work assignment.

James Brown left his Black wife of wives and picked 2 very thrashy looking women. Those are the facts. Not sure why I have to do your homework for you:

- 1st wife Velma Warren - Black they divorced
- 2nd wife Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins - divorced after a short while - not sure if she was Black or white
- 3rd wife Adrianne (Adrienne) Rodriguez - she died
- 4th wife Tomi (Tommie, Tommi, Tommy) Rae Hynie - White not Latina - he filed for annulment, she later filed for divorce

This is the first I am hearing that his last "wife" ....really a shack up honey as there is a debate as to whether or not they were legally married...was Latina. You are so intent on defending this guy at all costs you seem to be making things up now. They did get married and 150 people attended the ceremony but later James Brown claimed that she had never divorced her first husband and he filed for an anulment. She claims they were legally married.

Nope his 3rd wife died...the 4th one was a complicated matter but they never divorced.


.

tropi wan intarestinn tredd wood bee fe show peeps oww diffarant afrikkans look fore oyinbo was inn afrikka. latt aff diffarant shade ann looks

nat king cole politrixx cancern mii. tropi mii taught yuh wood ave bring upp james brown politrixx ann imm relationship widd strom thurman.

tropi itt natt simple aff projectinn blakk images. mixxed race man projekk blakk image wild doinn nuttinn fe blakk. look pon mj woo idolized james brown ann projected wan canfused image wild claiminn to be blakk butt imm funded tings fe uplift blakk. mii natt inna symbolism ting. mii more inna substantive results tings.

yuh poas pitchas aff oyinbo wife butt nun aff imm blakk wife ann itt nuh revalent. yuh doan find itt strange dat yuh cyaan find pitcha aff james brown widd imm blakk ex-wife woo imm remained close friend widd

tropi iff imm lass marriage was annulled cah shi was married to sumwan else den shi was natt legallee imm wife so shi doan count as wife. imm onlee married tree thymes. adrianne rodriguez iss da wan mi assume was latino cah aff ar lass name woo died. died natt divorce mii tekk yu wurd so mii wrang deer

neva add fe divorce iff dem was natt legallee married. dat y dem lock ar out aff da house

mii pint tand onlee wan oyinbo wifee dat imm divorced

[Tropicana]

tropi wan intarestinn tredd wood bee fe show peeps oww diffarant afrikkans look fore oyinbo was inn afrikka. latt aff diffarant shade ann looks

nat king cole politrixx cancern mii. tropi mii taught yuh wood ave bring upp james brown politrixx ann imm relationship widd strom thurman.

tropi itt natt simple aff projectinn blakk images. mixxed race man projekk blakk image wild doinn nuttinn fe blakk. look pon mj woo idolized james brown ann projected wan canfused image wild claiminn to be blakk butt imm funded tings fe uplift blakk. mii natt inna symbolism ting. mii more inna substantive results tings.

yuh poas pitchas aff oyinbo wife butt nun aff imm blakk wife ann itt nuh revalent. yuh doan find itt strange dat yuh cyaan find pitcha aff james brown widd imm blakk ex-wife woo imm remained close friend widd

I have not searched for photos of James Brown and his Black wife. We were discussing his White wives. A lot of content from the pre-Internet era has not made it on-line. If you are so intent on having a picture of her, why dont you post it? Why do I have to do everything?

tropi iff imm lass marriage was annulled cah shi was married to sumwan else den shi was natt legallee imm wife so shi doan count as wife.

I read he filed for an annulment. If the marriage was annulled why would she have later filed for a divorce.

imm onlee married tree thymes. adrianne rodriguez iss da wan mi assume was latino cah aff ar lass name woo died. died natt divorce mii tekk yu wurd so mii wrang deer

Okay cool no problem.

neva add fe divorce iff dem was natt legallee married. dat y dem lock ar out aff da house

mii pint tand onlee wan oyinbo wifee dat imm divorced

I have already said he did not divorce the 4th woman....who knows if she was a wife. Which White wife did he divorce? Was Deidre (Deedee) Jenkins White? I have not found any photos of her.

Seems like total confusion to me. Not even the family can sort it out.

[jah_yout]

I suggest you get your facts straight so that your cheap shots land. Conks are not even the same process used for relaxers:

same thing basically--- a chemical process for "relaxing" hair...

[Tropicana]

Blu what are your reactions to this?

James Brown spent last days tortured by 'old age and fading libido'

James Brown's widow reveals how, crippled with arthritis, the entertainer spent his last days tortured by old age and a fading libido.


To his millions of fans around the world he was the Godfather of Soul, the Sex Machine and the hardest working man in showbusiness.


So the outpouring of grief and the flood of tributes that followed the death of veteran rock 'n' roller James Brown on Christmas Day were genuine and fitting.


But away from the stage, Brown was a very different character from the flamboyant lover man the fans adored.
Far from being a sex machine, he was a sick old man struggling to come to terms with his fading libido.


He was tortured by bouts of paranoia and was deeply insecure. And he subjected those closest to him to violence and cruel threats of emotional blackmail.


The truth is revealed by the person who knew Brown best in his later years - his wife Tomi Rae Hynie, his partner for nine years.


She saw him at his best - but also experienced him at his worst. And today, in her first interview since his death, she shatters the myth of a soul legend.

See what I mean. Why did she feel the need to do that?

CROCK 'N' ROLL
She said: 'There was this public image he'd spent years creating and there was the real James Brown I lived with for nine years. I was the only person to see the real him.


'By the end, he was suffering terribly from arthritis in his legs. I had to massage him.


'The last time he did the splits on stage he was so sore he couldn't get out of bed for 24 hours.


'He had diabetes but was scared of needles so I had to monitor him taking his drugs three times a day. He hated growing old.


'He wanted to always be the young virile man from his glory days but by the end he was using Viagra. There were times he could not even make love.'

Now why was it neccesary for her to speak of this?

Tomi Rae is mother to James Junior, Brown's sixth child, and the only one after four marriages that the superstar appears to have had any time for. At five years old, James looks the image of his father, who called him Little Man.

For the past week, mother and son have been living at a shabby hotel in Augusta, Georgia - she claims Brown's lawyers have made them destitute and locked them out of his 230-acre South Carolina estate at Beech Island.


She bursts into tears as she recounts her turbulent life with the superstar. They met in 1997 in Las Vegas. Brown was already a musical legend while she was a struggling back-up singer scratching a living as a Janis Joplin impersonator.


Tomi Rae, then just 25, said the 64-year-old thrice-married star became her 'teacher, tutor and lover'. But she soon became aware of how strange the world of James Brown could be.


'He was a control freak. People around him were frightened of him.


'He insisted on being called Mr Brown. If someone did not call him Mr Brown he would never talk to them again.


'The house always had to be spotless and I had to be in by sundown every night because he was so jealous and possessive.


'Only his own music was played at home. James was the king of his world and everyone had to bow down to him, including me.


'He once fined me $50 for running on stage late for a curtain call. We had been married two years.'


COUCH POTATO


Despite his well-documented reputation for enjoying copious amounts of drugs, drink and women, at home Brown was a TV-loving couch potato.


'He loved watching Westerns. John Wayne was his idol but his favourite film was To Hell And Back, an old film starring Audie Murphy.'


And he was addicted to the Playboy channel, but not because it showed soft-porn. Tomi Rae said: 'He watched it to get ideas for stage costumes.

'VIOLENCE WAS SOMETHING I GOT USED TO'
'He was often violent with me. Violence was part of that world. I put up with it because I loved him.'
Two years ago, after Brown threatened to kill her with a metal chair, Tomi Rae called police and filed domestic violence charges, but later dropped them.


She said: 'Violence was something I got used to. That was just James. One minute he was loving, passionate and romantic, the next he was a monster. I couldn't live without him. I loved that man.'


She also tolerated the other women in Brown's life. 'In the rock 'n' roll business you learn to put up with that side of things.


'I was with a legend. Women threw themselves at him. When we were on tour he'd sleep with the make-up girls or hairstylists but I knew I was his true love. Even when he got sick, he needed women.


'When I went into rehab I arranged for a woman to visit the house to please him. James was a very sexual man.'

Tomi Rae refused to talk about his drug use but Brown was once famously arrested after leading police on a chase while under the influence of PCP, or 'angel dust'. He also used cocaine and marijuana.


Eventually, Brown found himself being forced to slow down and Tomi Rae revealed how old age began to take its toll.


'His legs would swell and I'd rub them for hours. His body was arthritic and he was finding it hard to move. For the last year or so he needed a wheelchair.


'He made me order a wheelchair too and be pushed alongside him because he was so embarrassed.


'I would spend hours doing his hair because he wouldn't leave the house until he had his 'James Brown hair', just so.'


Brown successfully beat prostate cancer in 2004 but was forced to use Viagra after radiation treatment left him impotent.


'He used Viagra, he had to. Sometimes he couldn't do it, which was difficult for him. But even if he couldn't do he would still try to do it.


'Everyone talks about his energy but he was really tired for the last couple of years. He kept working because he loved his band and they were too old to get any other stage work without him.


'But after every concert he'd sit on the end of the bed and go, 'Baby, I can't do this any more'.


'His legs would swell and he'd complain about the pain from his arthritis. His body hurt, everything hurt.'


REHAB


At the time of his death, Tomi Rae was in a rehab clinic in California being treated for addiction to painkillers.
She said: 'James paid for the treatment. He wanted me to get clean. He apologised to me. He felt responsible for me being messed up. Just before I went away he told me, 'Let's make this Christmas a good one. I think this will be my last Christmas.'


On the Friday before Christmas, Brown went to his dentist for surgery to replace false teeth he had had implanted in his lower jaw.


Tomi Rae says: 'He called me and said, 'Baby, I'm in the dentist's chair and I sure feel tired.'


Brown told her he was having trouble breathing and his legs had swollen up again. 'I told him he had to see a doctor. He told me I was getting too emotional. That was the last time I spoke to him.'


Later that night, Brown was admitted to an Atlanta hospital. His longtime personal manager Charles Bobbitt was with him.


Tomi Rae said: 'I had a call from Mr Bobbitt saying, Mrs Brown, your husband's in the hospital. I begged to speak to him and that's when he said, 'You can't, he's unconscious.'


'I told him to whisper to James that I loved him, that I was beside him and I would be there in a minute and to just hold on.


'I was due to fly home on Christmas Day. I asked if I should come home straightaway and was told, 'No, he doesn't want you to see him this way.'


At 6.45am on Christmas morning James Brown died. His final words to Bobbitt were: 'I'm going away tonight.'


OUT IN THE COLD


Tomi Rae flew back to Georgia and discovered eight padlocks on the gate of their £1.5million mansion.


'I begged him to make peace. I would invite them for Christmas and Thanksgiving. They were nice to me then but since he died, they have treated me like dirt.


'They refused to even let me see his body. The first time I saw him was at the public viewing in New York.
'Even at the private memorial on Friday I was treated like dirt. I sat down with little James in the front row and I was told to move. I had the humiliation of having to stand up and move to a pew further back. James would be rolling in his grave.'


Now Tomi Rae faces a battle with her husband's legal team for the right to a share of whatever Brown has left.
The lawyers are saying that a brief marriage to a Pakistani man six months before she met Brown was never properly annulled, meaning she was a bigamist when she wed the star.


They say that this means she is not legally his widow or entitled to a share of his estate. In fact, Brown's longtime lawyer Buddy Dallas has dismissed Tomi Rae as a mere 'occasional guest', and claimed their marriage was never valid.


Tomi Rae says the man she married was a 'conman' and part of an immigration scam. She says she filed for annulment as soon as she found out.


She said: 'I can prove I am Mrs Brown and I will see them in court.


'I loved James with all my heart but I felt sick when I heard all the eulogies from his so-called family and friends.


'I was his wife and we have a beautiful son together and yet they are trying to erase us both from the official James Brown story.


'The man I knew was nothing like this myth of a person they have been talking about. I loved him but he was just a human, not a god.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...#ixzz2kmUyRAZi


Well she has had it rough. I actually feel sorry for her but man she really didn't have to go into all of that detail about the private intimate aspects of their life.