I am reading a new book by James McBride called:
Kill ‘em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul
It is interesting to see a biography of an African American musician researched and written by an African American musician!! Also one that lived a mile from James Brown’s mansion when he was a little kid. Just getting into it, I saw a lot of parallels with all the recent news about Prince and his estate.
It seems strange that someone who was such a great businessman would pass away without a will, leaving his music, which he fought so hard for during his lifetime, up for grabs by greedy relatives (and even a kid who says that he is Prince’s son). If a paternity test proves it, under Minneapolis law, the son wins. So all that money and all that great music changes hands to people that might not know how to curate it.
This brings to mind a passage from the forward of the James Brown book:
James Brown, The Godfather of Soul, America’s Greatest Soul Singer, left most of his wealth, conservatively estimated at $100 million, to educate poor children in South Carolina and Georgia. Te years after his death on December 25th, 2006, not a dime of it had reached a single kid. Untold millions have been frittered away by lawyers and politicians who have been loosed on one another by various factions of his destroyed family.
I hope the same thing doesn’t happen with Prince’s estate.
