Since James Brown and Elvis Presley were very close friends, it doesn't seem such a stretch that J.B. would want his Beech Island, S.C., estate turned into something like Graceland.

"James and I talked about that all the time," Tomi Rae Hynie Brown told The Chronicle after his death. "That's what he wanted. He wanted a Graceland."

By all indications, his fourth wife and his children all want Mr. Brown to be entombed or buried at his Beech Island home where fans could tour the former home and visit his final resting place.

That's how fans pay homage to the late rock and roll king who died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., in 1977.

Right now, Mr. Brown's body is in a temporary mausoleum at the nearby Beech Island ranch of his daughter, Deanna Brown Thomas.

"He wanted his house to be like a Graceland. Soul-land," Mr. Brown's daughter, Venisha Brown, recently told The Augusta Chronicle . "And when people come to see the house that James Brown lived in, of course James Brown is going to be at rest there, too. So people all over the world can come and see daddy."

Ms. Brown said there's a lot of things in the house, such as outfits he wore during performances, that even his children hadn't seen in years. She said fans will be able to see the personal side of her father when the estate is eventually opened to the public.

"There are different outfits that he wore when we were little and stuff and I'm like, "Whoa, you remember that? Me and Deanna were like, Wow,'" she said. "And I said look at us. We're his kids and we're in awe. I said can you imagine the people who just love the Godfather of Soul, what that will mean to them. Dad had a vision back then, and I said as his kids, we have to make sure that it's done."

Most observers familiar with the transformation of Graceland from a private home to a public mecca understand it was far easier than the present situation of trying to transform Mr. Brown's private home to a public memorial.

For one thing, there was no squabbling over Mr. Presley's will which simply named his father, Vernon, as the executor, and his beneficiaries as his father; his grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley; and his only child, Lisa Marie Presley. When Vernon died, the executors became the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis; Joseph Hanks, who had been Elvis and Vernon's accountant; and Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, who had divorced Elvis in 1973 but had stayed his close friend as well as legal guardian of their daughter, Lisa Marie.

Elvis' estate was not left without money but there was a cash flow problem since it was costing $500,000 a year to maintain the large estate including taxes. That led Priscilla and the other executors into opening it up to the public. They hired Jack Soden, a Kansas City, Mo., investment counselor in late 1981 to work toward that goal, and Graceland was opened to the public for tours on June 7, 1982.

Others point out that Graceland was able to attract a large number of tourists immediately with Memphis already being a tourist destination as a blues music center and with Graceland being extremely visible and already known worldwide to Presley fans.

However, museums to other artists in towns far smaller than Augusta do continue to attract fans of those artists, so it is not far fetched that Brown fans would find their way to Brown Land, Soul Land or whatever it may be called. It actually originally was called Jaydee Ranch after J. (Jay) B. and the first of Brown's wives to live on the estate, Deidre "Dee Dee" Brown.

According to various reports, James Brown first met Mr. Presley at a party at the Continental Hyatt in Hollywood, Calif. They would go see each other in concerts with Mr. Presley known to wear a disguise so as to sneak into Brown shows without causing a riot.

"I wasn't just a fan, I was his brother," Mr. Brown was quoted as saying. "He said I was good and I said he was good. We never argued about that. ... The last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There'll never be another like that soul brother."

Larry Brown said his father and Mr. Presley talked for hours at that party, which helped dispel rumors that they were bitter rivals.

"They embraced, shook hands, sat in the middle and talked and laughed for hours, and nobody could figure out what they were talking about. They were having a hell of a great time together," he said. "Just talking about basics, what they could do to help the course of music, did he like this sound. And he said that one encounter changed the course of his life.

"Elvis became one of his best friends after that, because he knew where (Elvis) came from musically and (Elvis) knew where he came from musically."

There are many, many similarities between Mr. Brown and Mr. Presley including these:

Both were born in the South with Mr. Brown in South Carolina in 1933 and Mr. Presley in Mississippi in 1935.

Both were raised as poor, only children. Mr. Presley had a twin who died at birth. J.B. was an only child.

Both had aunts who helped take care of them: Mr. Presley by his aunt Delta Mae Biggs; Mr. Brown by his aunt Minnie Walker. Mr. Presley had a grandmother named Minnie (Minnie Mae Presley).

Mr. Brown was a real life boxer who fought matches in Bell Auditorium. Mr. Presley was a movie boxer in the film Kid Galahad .

Both began their recordings at tiny studios: Mr. Brown at WIBB radio station in Macon, Ga. Mr. Presley at Memphis Recording Service which produced recordings under the Sun records label.

Both had their career-making singles released in 1956 with Mr. Presley's RCA Records hit Heartbreak Hotel released in January and Mr. Brown's Federal/King Records single Please, Please, Please released in March.

Both traveled in their own private jet planes long before most other entertainers owned private custom jets or even custom made tour buses.

Both had ranches with horses and loved to dress in western clothes including hats, boots and neck scarves.

Both dated Adrienne Rodriguez. Mr. Brown made her his third wife.

Both loved guns, with Mr. Presley known to shoot up a television set when Robert Goulet was singing on it, and Mr. Brown laying Adrienne's expensive fur coat on the ground and shooting it full of holes.

Both were guest artists on the Grand Ole Opry show in Nashville, each making one-time appearances.

Both had gospel music groups traveling with them with Mr. Brown using The Jordanaires, The Imperials and also J.D. Sumner and The Stamps and Mr. Brown using Augusta's own Swanee Quintet.

Both had well-known female backup groups with Mr. Presley having The Sweet Inspirations and Mr. Brown having The Bittersweets.

Both traveled with large orchestras that produced stars of their own.

Both were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the same night of January 23, 1986, in New York City at the first induction dinner.

Both employed their fathers on their office staffs.

Both recorded famous live albums with Mr. Brown recording James Brown Live At The Apollo in 1962 and Mr. Presley recording his Aloha Hawaii satellite TV special in 1973.

Both wore flashy stage outfits and loved capes.

Both had a problem with drugs: Mr. Presley with prescription pills and Mr. Brown with PCP (also known as angel dust).

Both had a passion for Southern food with Mr. Presley especially loving fried bananas and peanut butter sandwiches and Mr. Brown loving chicken wings.

Both have statues in their honor with Mr. Presley's being on Beale Street in Memphis and Mr. Brown's being on Broad Street in Augusta.

Mrs. Thomas said one of her childhood memories was of her father leaving home to pay final respects to his friend.

"I remember as a young girl dad leaving the house to go to Elvis's funeral," she said. "I remember him leaving the house and kissing (Yamma) goodbye and going off to Memphis. He liked Elvis. He loved Elvis."

Additional information supplied by staff writer Mike Wynn.