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54 maconmagazine.com | June/July 2024 Follow MM on social media to see the Coleman video and join us for the Music Party on July 17, 2024. guess, it was Duane Allman. We proceeded to jam on some blues and R&B tunes. We had a real good time. One of the great honors of my life." But Coleman was just getting started. In 1970, James Brown came to town, recruiting for the JBs, and there was the young guitar player, dazzling the crowd. On "Hot Pants," Coleman was solely responsible for the guitar groove on the title track, establishing him as a founding father of funk, and he played on "Revolution of the Mind," recorded live at the Apollo Theater in New York City. His stylings also can be heard on the track "Make It Funky" from Brown's Soul Classics LP. The Godfather of Soul was a notorious perfectionist who would "fine" his musicians for missing a cue. Was Coleman ever penalized? "Two weeks in, yes," he says with a laugh. "But I learned." Coleman eventually left the JBs and returned home to Macon, where he joined organist Bob O'Dea in the house band at The Rookery, and he also toured with Larry Howard (Grinderswitch and Sanctified Blues) and later with Big Mike and the Booty Papas. "I played with Coleman in the Bobby O'Dea Group every weekend at The Rookery for a couple of years," says Scott Freeman, a slide player who is also the author of two books on Macon music – 'Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band', and Otis! The Otis Redding Story. "What a magnificent guitar player! He could play anything: jazz, blues, R&B, funk, and play it extremely well. He was always quiet and soft-spoken, almost mysterious. I knew he'd played with James [Brown], but not much else. At the time, he was playing a Guild acoustic with a pick-up on the soundhole and using it like an electric guitar. I used to watch his fingers flow up and down the fretboard, trying to figure out what he was playing. I know I soaked up a lot of Coleman influence on my own playing." In addition to his talent, Coleman is known for his humility – a rare quality in a scene characterized by big egos. "He happens to be one of the most modest musicians I have ever known," says Ira T. "Harmonica Man" White. "Robert Coleman would never tell you anything about his background, even though he is one of the greats. He lets his music do his talking for him. And because of what we call that 'life on the line' quality in it, you believe him." Coleman, always a self-contained, meditative man, moves just a little slower nowadays, but he has not lost a step. The eminence grise still rocks the house every Monday night at The Back Porch Lounge, and he has released two albums on the Music Maker label – One More Mile and What Left. In recent years, he has played festivals in Telluride and Europe, and he is gearing up for a gig in Savannah soon. "I want to see Robert keep on touring because he's so old-school, he was built for the Chitlin' Circuit back in the day," Collier says. Perhaps remembering his own childhood fascination with the guitar, Coleman also is quick to mentor any young protégé who is open to learning a lick or two from the master. Wyatt Pyles first joined him onstage when he was only 18. "Robert blew my mind!" says Pyles, now 27. "He has this very distinctive, very fiery way of playing that hits you right in the heart, right in the feels. I knew immediately I wanted to emulate whatever he did. It is like having our very own B.B. King here in Macon." Ben Wynne, author of "Something In the Water: A History of Music in Macon, Georgia, 1823-1980," says, "In a city that has produced many formidable musicians through the generations, Robert Lee Coleman is one of the best. In addition to being a wonderful performer, he is a living, breathing link to Macon's rich musical past. He is part guitarist and part historical figure. An elder statesman and standard bearer." Tuning up to play "When a Man Loves a Woman" for the umpteenth time at the Back Porch recently, Coleman mused, "Music ain't got no end. It just depends on how far your mind can take it." Then he bends a sweet note, and the lovers in the crowd get up to slow-dance. That apple tree can wait. LEFT Coleman shreds at The Capitol Theatre in 2016. Photo by Scott Corkery. The first time Corkery saw RLC live, he said, "I was a fresh Emory University grad with no clue what I was going to do with the rest of my life." He believes RLC stopped time that night with his guitar. Inspired by the local soul alive in Coleman's music, Corkery turned to tell his cousin, "I'm moving to Downtown Macon." Corkery had an apartment on High Street within a week. He remains a Maconite to this day.