James Brown Auction Nets $800,000

A lot full of items from James Brown's South Carolina home went to auction yesterday at Christie's, under protest from the soul singer's children and business managers. Among the 350-odd items that sold were Brown's medical bracelet, which was bought for $32,500 by Letterman musician Paul Shaffer, and an autographed Snoop Dogg picture that's signed "2 Uncle James Brown." That item got a winning bid of $875. Brown's famed Hammond organ only sold for $10,000, while the Godfather of Soul's embossed black cape got a winning bid of $47,500. The house cleaning continued with a $40,000 sale of Brown's pink leather couches from the home. Also going was his stereo system, clothing and framed photographs. The auction reportedly took in a total of $800,000 (short of the projected two million Christie's was anticipating), with the money expected to be used to pay Brown's outstanding tax bills.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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