I remember the first time I saw him. It was the mid-60s in Detroit and soul was where it was at. He was always swinging through ground zero of the soul movement and he was always on the local dance shows. This dude with the crazy hair and the dancing feet screaming, "Heeeeeeeeyyyy!!" singing about Cold Sweat, I Feel Good, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag. By the 70s when he was doing Sex Machine, Hot Pants, Funky President, The Payback, he was the man you went to when you needed to cop a super-duper bass line or guitar riff because nobody else did it that way--though god knows they tried.

Hard to believe he's gone now. But thank you, James, for the ride. RIP (Rockin In Paradise) Soul Brutha #1.