Talking to James Brown in Jail, 1989

In Prison in South Carolina, He Was Soul Brother No. 155413

It had to be the strangest call from a publicist ever. Would I like to do a phone interview with James Brown, then serving a six year sentence at the State Park Correctional Institute in South Carolina?

On Sept. 24, 1988, James Brown had a very bad day. Native to both Augusta, Ga., and the nearby black community across the river in South Carolina, Mr. Brown, as he preferred to be addressed, was accused of waving some guns around an insurance seminar in Augusta in an office building he owned, or once owned, then led a chase over into South Carolina, where state police officers shot out his tires. Already on probation for carrying a pistol and possession of PCP earlier that year, Brown entered prison on Dec. 15, 1998. (He was released after serving three years.)

But they didn't call him the Hardest Working Man in Show Business for nothing. A cable TV show was in the works, and Mr. Brown was allowed to promote it in a few interviews from jail.

Mr. Brown had to be patched from the prison (wh…