SHORT TAKES : Brown OKd for Work-Release

Imprisoned soul singer James Brown has been approved to participate in a work-release program, but details still must be worked out, officials say.

Several radio stations and the Benedict College music department are interested in the singer’s talents.

But the “Godfather of Soul” is leaning toward educating young people about the evils of drugs, said his attorney, Richard Crane of Nashville, Tenn., who was busy fielding numerous job offers for Brown on Tuesday.

“Radio stations in Columbia, Charleston and North Augusta are interested in him as a disc jockey,” Crane said, and Benedict College “has expressed interest in James working in the music department.”

Corrections Department spokesman Bennish Brown confirmed Tuesday that Brown’s application for work release has been granted.

Crane said, “Now all he needs is a bed and a job.”

The spokesman said there are waiting lists for beds at the department’s seven work-release centers, including those in Richland and Aiken counties, where Brown has expressed a preference.

Brown is serving a six-year sentence in State Park Correctional Center in Columbia for failing to stop for police, aggravated assault and weapons violations in connection with a 1988 two-state car chase that began in Georgia.