James Brown & His Money Man

James Brown and his Money Man is the Real Story of James Brown, The Godfather Of Soul. This hilarious and heartwarming narrative is told in a casual, conversational style by his best friend, Fred Daviss – a good ol’ boy from south Georgia.

It’s not a biography of James Brown – it’s the story of two very different men working together through Brown’s four marriages and his descent and recovery from drug addiction during the racially turbulent times of the civil rights movement.

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This is the definitive book about James Brown and his world – a must read book.

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Stories

Early Years

Fred Daviss first met James Brown in 1962 when Fred worked in an Atlanta bank.

At Work in the Augusta Office

Fred soon became James Brown’s Money Man and not only acted as Brown’s Executive Vice President and Comptroller but also managed his radio stations, publishing houses and advised him in the production of the films The Blues Brothers and Dr. Detroit.

Mr. Brown in His Office

Fred was also the producer of Future Shock, James Brown’s weekly TV dance show and also James Brown – Live at Piedmont Park, a concert video.

Mr. Brown at the Grand Ol’ Opry with Porter Wagoner

Mr. Brown at the Grand Ol’ Opry with Porter Wagoner. This is the only time James Brown got stage fright.

Fred and Mr. Brown in their Augusta office parking lot. This is where the infamous police chase began which led to Brown’s time in jail. (Jet Magazine)

With up to 300 concerts a year, Fred and Mr. Brown were always on the move – in the U.S. and around the world.

Fred with One of Brown’s Jets

Fred's Relationships with President Nixon, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley

Over a 40-year-long friendship with Brown, Fred also developed fascinating relationships with President Nixon, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Mr. Brown Developed Increasing Paranoia About his Privacy

Because of Brown’s many visits to the Oval Office, Mr. Brown became increasingly paranoid about his privacy. It didn’t help that his office shared common walls with The Phone Company and also a company that administered lie detector tests. The way Brown saw it, The Phone Company could tap into his conversations and work with the lie detector guys to determine if he was telling the truth.

James Brown and Fred Visit Elvis’s Coffin

James Brown and Fred stood by Elvis’s coffin for four hours as family members and celebrities drifted in and out –including Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie.

Daviss Receives a Bessing in the Vatican

Bigger Than The Pope – James Brown and Fred Daviss receive a blessing in the Vatican.

The Pope Meeting James Brown

According to Mr. Brown, this wasn’t James Brown meeting the Pope - it was the Pope meeting James Brown!

The Dangers of the Music Business

The music business is dangerous - violent angry mobs... frantic adoring mobs ... the Italian Mafia... the KKK ... and then there was that incident in Liberia when Fred Daviss confronted the mass murderer who decapitated both opponents and foreigners.

Brown’s Bulletproof Mafia Limo

Brown’s bulletproof Mafia limo. His chauffeur took Fred’s girls, Kelley and Pepper, to school.

Limos Can Attract the Wrong Kind of Attention

Limos can also attract the wrong kind of attention like the time when James Brown propositioned a transvestite in the back of a NY limo.

Dee Dee Brown, Fred Daviss and James Brown outside a Baltimore courthouse after Fred and Mr. Brown narrowly avoided jail time.

Dee Dee Brown, Fred Daviss and James Brown outside a Baltimore courthouse after Fred and Mr. Brown narrowly avoided jail time.
These stories have never been publicized. Some are funny, some are sad – even horrifying.

Mr. Brown takes a Go-Cart Ride

Riverdale, Georgia, July, 1977, several weeks before Elvis’s death

James Brown and Poodle, Pudjy

Extreme wealth makes people crazy. When the tiny poodle, Pudjy, suffered a tragic death from a swinging kitchen door accident, he received a Christian funeral and was buried in a $5700 coffin. (Michael Ochs/Corbis)

Mr. Brown and I were best friends until his death. All these stories are true, and this book will always exist as the most reliable first person story of James Brown, The Godfather of Soul.

Charles Bobbit, Jones DeVere and Fred Daviss at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame

Kelley and Pepper with Mr. Brown

Mr. Brown kept Kelley and Pepper's school photos in his wallet.

Mr. Brown had a soft spot for kids – including my daughter Kelley.

Fred Daviss finally gets in the last word with James Brown.

This book is written by Fred Daviss, a man who served as Brown's Executive Vice President and Comptroller. But he was far more than that, he was perhaps Brown's best and only friend. The story he weaves about James Brown is one that made me want to learn more about the man and legend. Daviss tells it like it is and shares intimate stories of not only Brown but many who made entertainment of the 1960's and 70's what it was. I must admit I knew little about James Brown except what I had read in magazines or seen on television. So I didn't know what to expect when I received "James Brown and His Money Man" by Fred Daviss. I expected the book would be another standard biography about Brown and might shed a few details that I didn't know. Instead, this book is the definitive book about James Brown and his world. The book introduced me to a James Brown and world far away from my Bronx roots. It was one of talent, a man far different from the man the media presented. A man who presented one face to the world but in private was someone different. "James Brown and His Money Man" is a must read book and the book to read for fall of 2021.

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