James Brown spoke of his difficult childhood on Dinah Shore's NBC-TV morning show in November 1971: I was a juvenile delinquent. I was in and out of trouble...My turning point was when I was confined [in jail]. I wrote a letter to the parole board..I explained I was a kid and made mistakes, but wanted to change.... He had already done some singing and took music as the best way out of his problems. He started with gospel groups in the 1940s and, while touring with them, learned to play drums and organ. Becoming aware of rhe potential of rhythm and blues in the 1950s he went out on his own. His powerful deep-throated singing voice caught on with the black patrons of the clubs and theaters of the R & B circuit and he gained a considerable following. By the mid 1950s word of his potential..reached the ears of King Record executives.. In 1956, Brown remembered ..we were on stage..we saw over the corner a white face amid a whole bunch of black ones.. this turned out to be Ralph Bass a talent scout for King Records who signed him up.