There’s something strangely appropriate about James Brown and Gerald Ford dying within days of each other. Ford was first elected House Minority Leader in 1965, the same year that Brown released his first Top 10 pop hits, “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” And Brown actually wrote a song that is (sort of) about Ford, the 1974 hit Funky President (People It’s Bad).
