Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535953
Holloway. One more note: The show featured a little known twenty-seven-year-old announcer/sidekick, Bill Maher. All six of these programs are available on YouTube. Here is a link to number five, probably the best of the bunch. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=u_IV5u3099A JAMES BROWN! JAMES BROWN! JAMES BROWN! In 1991, James Brown and his band did a live concert for broadcast at The Wiltern Theatre. Now, for anybody my age, and you know who you are even if you don't admit it, James Brown was a big deal. I remember the T.A.M.I. Show where James and the Famous Flames blew the doors off the place much to the chagrin of the Rolling Stones. So, getting to work with him on a live TV show was a huge treat. We were in the middle of rehearsal, the band was pumping and suddenly, James cut off the music. His band was well rehearsed and clearly knew how to follow directions. Then James turned and walked over to me. He spoke quickly but I got it. He turned and as he addressed some musical issue, one of his guys walked behind me and asked if I knew what he said. I answered in the affirmative. James thought the guitar amp had too much high end and was aimed too directly at his vocal mic. I rotated the offending amp just a little off-stage, covered it with a light cloth, and asked the guitar player if he would take a tiny bit of treble out of his amp. On the next pass, James turned and nodded, and his guy came back to say that it was good. Then I asked if I could learn the proper way to prepare his mic, cable, and stand. The prep, attaching the cable to the mic stand with wraps of electrical tape was important for an integral part of his performance. I did the mic preparation for that live show and several other James Brown performances proudly earning my J.B. Mic Prep merit badge. Like many of you, The Music Man is one of my favorite Broadway musicals. Many years ago, when I was new to California and trying to become a trombone player with a pager, I got a call to play in the pit orchestra for a Beverly Hills summer stock theater run of that show. On opening night, an older man James Brown mic, stand, and cable Kennedy Center Orchestra in rehearsal.