Hotel Receipt Signed by James Brown, 1970

The Downtowner Motor Inn was a chain of mid-priced hotels located in urban city centers, which operated across the United States between the early 1960s and mid-’70s. On the night of Sept. 6, 1970, the Richmond, Virginia location provided accommodations for the J.B.’s, following a tour stop that night with James Brown. This receipt from the stay lists Bootsy’s birth name, William Collins, as the guest and includes a signature from James Brown himself!

By Bootsy’s account, a good time was had by all — or most. “A lot of times [James would] like for us just to leave town right after the gig… He would do anything to keep us from having a good time, without him… So we loved it when we got a chance to stay overnight, and this particular hotel, we got a chance to stay overnight, and we had a blast. Yeah, that's what I remember…”