Brown is celebrated at Apollo
NEW YORK — Even in death, James Brown can move a crowd.
Thousands of people danced and sang in the streets outside the Apollo Theater yesterday in raucous celebration of the music legend’s life as his body was displayed to the public on the stage where he made his 1956 debut.
Music thumped from storefronts and portable stereos. Brown’s wails and growls even blasted inside the auditorium as fans marched quietly, single-file past his open gold coffin.
Brown lay resplendent in a blue suit, white gloves, and silver shoes. Flanking the casket were giant photographs of the singer performing. An arrangement of red flowers on a white background spelled his nickname: Godfather.
Brown, who died of heart failure Christmas morning at 73, lay in the theater that helped launch him to fame and was the setting for his 1962 live album . His body was carried there through the streets of Harlem on a white carriage drawn by two white horses.
Hundreds of fans followed behind the caisson singing the chorus of Brown’s anthem, “Say it Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
To many, Brown was more than just a performer. Norman Brand, 55, of Harlem recalled hearing “Say it Loud” for the first time . “It really changed the attitude of most black people. It was like a wake - up call. Before that, if you were called black, it was like an insult,” he said. “Just one song and one word can change a whole situation.”
Mourners came from far and wide to attend the first in a trio of services. Brown’s casket left Georgia Wednesday . It arrived at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s Harlem headquarters just before noon yesterday and was quickly transferred to the carriage for a 20-block procession to the theater. Today, a private ceremony is planned at a church near Augusta, Ga. A second public viewing will be held tomorrow at the James Brown Arena in Augusta.© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.More:Globe Living/Arts stories