James Brown's final recordings locked in legal battle
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - January 1, 2008 Brown cut an album in Los Angeles the summer before he died in
December 2006, but the songs are not being released because of
courtroom disputes about who should benefit from his legacy and
music royalties, said attorney Buddy Dallas. There are also between
50 and 60 other previously recorded songs in vaults, Dallas said.
Brown's fourth son, Daryl, is one of five heirs trying to have
their father's will voided because they say his former advisers -
including Dallas - used undue influence to get the singer to create
charitable trusts from which the advisers would profit. The other
advisers named in the lawsuit are Alford Bradley and David Cannon.
Dallas quit as an estate trustee in November but now is trying
to retract his resignation.
Daryl Brown, who is lead guitarist for his father's backing
band, the Soul Generals, says he is not aware of any recordings
done in California in 2006. Brown and the Soul Generals were
working on an album at a studio in Georgia, but they only finished
two songs before the singer died, his son said.
But he said there are dozens of unreleased songs stored in
vaults and on master tapes at Brown's Beech Island, S.C., estate.
Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 of heart failure. He was 73.