Singer's possessions go up for sale Thursday - maybe

0 Comments | Augusta Chronicle, The, Jul 13, 2008 | by Sandi Martin

AIKEN - Although the date is in dispute, if legal issues are resolved you could have the chance to own a bit of local and rock 'n' roll history.

New York-based Christie's plans to auction hundreds of items owned, worn, used or played by James Brown.

The Thursday auction - which could be delayed by a pending court challenge - has drawn considerable interest both nationally and internationally, said Simeon Lipman, the head of Christie's pop culture department.

But what makes this auction different from other celebrity sales, he said, is that Mr. Brown stayed settled in the area for a significant part of his life.

So the auction, Mr. Lipman explained, is like an "encyclopedia of him, not only from his childhood, but through his career and death."

Buyers from Asia, South Amer-ica and Europe have expressed interest. Some items appear to be more desired, he said, such as the Grammy Award Mr. Brown won for Living in America. Other items of interest on Christie's Web site include a poem by Muhammad Ali for Mr. Brown, and Mr. Brown's Kennedy Center medal, worth an estimated $10,000 to $15,000.

Lisa Love, the director of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, is definitely going to be bidding. But she doesn't think she'll be successful in acquiring the items she would like to display in the museum.

"Certainly some of the items we would love to have," Ms. Love said. "But our foundation has a limited budget for acquisitions, and we cannot compete with private collectors."

She said she's interested in the band receipt book and childhood photo.

All items for sale are pictured at www.christies.com, which will take bids for free, said Sara Fox, a spokeswoman for the auction house.

There are several ways interested buyers can bid: In person at the sale at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, online, over the phone or via absentee bidding.

Interested buyers can call Christie's to get a "condition report" on any item.

Bidding is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday on Lots 1 through 168. After a break in the middle of the day, the auction will be held for lots 169 through 329.

Christie's was hired earlier this year to auction off the music legend's belongings after the court-appointed attorneys trying to settle his estate warned that they needed money to pay legal bills and estate taxes.

Although Mr. Brown's music royalties are expected to ultimately earn the estate millions, the fight over his will - along with other outstanding bills and alleged financial misconduct by the singer's former advisers - has left his bank accounts virtually empty, the advisers have testified.

Documents filed in Aiken CountyCourt show Mr. Brown's estate owed $400,000 in overdue taxes, was behind on filing papers with the IRS and couldn't pay legal fees accumulating in at least two states.

Some of Mr. Brown's children have objected to the sale, but Judge Jack Early warned that anyone who interfered with it could pay up to $2 million in losses.

The New York Times reported last week that a state appeals court judge in South Carolina approved an emergency stay of the sale as requested by former business managers Albert H. Dallas and Alfred A. Bradley. According to The Times, current trustees have until Monday to explain why the sale should continue. Sara Fox, a spokeswoman for Christie's, said in an e-mail to The Chronicle on Saturday that Christie's is planning to go ahead with the Thursday auction, expecting a ruling in favor of the sale.

Reach Sandi Martin at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or sandi.martin@augustachronicle.com