My James Brown experience was to be invited to just watch a session in the mid-70's.
What i was amazed at was when they sat down to mix, and James would sit at the desk and say "Now the guitars!" and he'd LITERALLY push the guitar fader ALL the way up, then a few bars later he'd exclaim "and now the CONGAS" and sure enough he'd yank the guitar fader and shove the conga fader ALL the way up.
it was wild.
and yet, at the end of the night it sounded like a James Brown record.
When they were actually recording, the players were just amazing together.
Grooving from beat one.
but my FAVOURITE James Brown story, i heard only second hand:
Apparently one day Joe Beck (who is a terrific guitar player) was hired for a James Brown session.
Predictably enough, the players sat around for hours waiting, and eventually James Brown, and his entourage, stroll in.
The man walks into the studio in a grand entrance and says "Hi everybody. I'm James Brown, you can all call me Mr. Brown."
at which point Joe yells out "Right On, James!"
James simply points and says "YOU! OUT!"
and that's that.