Bootsy & Catfish Collins audition for James Brown’s band was a trip — to their surprise, the whole band was escorted from a near-empty $14 gig in Ohio, flown by private jet to Georgia & immediately placed on stage in front of thousands of people to play behind Brown with no forewarning. They were immediately hired & henceforth called The J.B’s. Before that, they had no idea James Brown knew they existed.