"He was dramatic to the end, dying on Christmas Day"

Jill is registering the girls' Firefly mini-cell phones and other family members are investigating the varied gifts received for Christmas.
I'm sitting here listening to "Cold Sweat, Parts 1 & 2" and thinking about all the great times I have had associated with the music of James Brown.
"The Godfather of Soul" has died age 73.
I always felt a certain affinity for Brown because he was born on May 3 -- that's my birthday, too!
I never saw him on stage, where his electrifying presence became part of the legend. Electrifying as well were recorded performances such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)." Brown seems to jump out of the speakers during these songs, his voice soaring through the emotions -- from everything from elation to despair.
Today, in the wake of Brown's death, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said it best: "He was dramatic to the end, dying on Christmas Day."
His latter days were punctuated by assaults and other unseemly crimes marked by ludicrously hideous police mug shots. To me, though, those troubles never threatened to overshadow his great, funky work -- songs that will never age.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, in particular, nobody could touch James Brown.