James Brown became my father. He would talk to me the way a father talked to a son. He became the father I never had.

If it weren't for the mentorship and guidance from people like my mother, James Brown and others, I wouldn't have been able to make something of my life.

I was a James Brown junkie as a kid.

James Brown died owing me $50,000. But I loved James Brown.

In the '60s, you know, you had this -- you'd have, you know, James Brown on the same show with Alan King, and that was -- that made perfect sense, and it still makes perfect sense,

When I started playing, I played in R&B bands. I played James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and all that.