James Brown Auction Nets $800,000

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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

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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