Date: Dec 28 / 2006 / 12:57 PM
Horse-drawn carriage carrying the coffin of James Brown makes its way to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, where Brown made his debut, December 28, 2006. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Fans to bid farewell to singer James Brown
Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:39 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of James Brown fans lined up on Thursday in New York's Harlem neighborhood for the chance to say farewell to the late "Godfather of Soul" at a public viewing of his body.
The 73-year-old entertainer -- whose voice, showmanship and bold rhythms brought funk into the mainstream and influenced a generation of black music -- died on Christmas of congestive heart failure in Atlanta.....
Brown's body will be laid out for a public viewing on the stage at Harlem's Apollo Theater on Thursday. A Brown look-alike kept the crowds entertained by giving an impromptu street performance.
"I felt his music was great, phenomenal. He's going to be well missed," boxer Iran "The Blade" Barkley told New York television as he stood in line for the public viewing. "I met him at one of my fights, and now I am just coming to pay my respects to him."
Brown's body will be taken to his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for a private service on Friday. Another public viewing is planned for Saturday before Brown is buried.
The Grammy-award winning singer was one of America's great showmen and band leaders. He created a revolutionary sound that mixed funky rhythms and staccato horns behind his own often explosive vocals.
Hip hop and rap artists revered him and extensively used his beats as the backdrop for their own music, while singers like Michael Jackson drew on his dance style.
Brown, the self-proclaimed "hardest working man in show business," performed more than 100 live shows this year and had been scheduled to perform in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve...
Brown had more than 119 singles on the charts and recorded over 50 albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a lifetime Grammy achievement award.
His big hits included "Please, Please, Please," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine)" and "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World."
Charles Bradley, a James Brown look-a-like, walks through a crowd waiting for the arrival of Brown's body at the Apollo Theater in New York December 28, 2006. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn
Brown emerged from a boyhood of poverty and petty crime in Augusta in the era when the South was still segregated and began his music career in jail as a juvenile offender.
He personal life remained turbulent. He was jailed in 1988 for drug, weapons and vehicular charges after a car chase through Georgia and South Carolina that ended when police shot out the tires of his truck. He left prison in 1991.
He was named to President Reagan's council against drugs, but was arrested several times in the mid-1980s and 1990s and charged with drug and weapons possession.
They performed his anthem Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud, as a horse-drawn carriage took the gold casket through the streets of Harlem.
He is to lie in state at the Apollo theatre, one of his favourite venues.
His friend Reverend Al Sharpton will deliver a prayer and eulogy to the singer, who died on Monday aged 73. --> -->
"He was a superstar for common people, and I wanted to make sure that common people got to see him one last time," the civil rights leader told the Associated Press.
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He promised "the kind of homecoming we haven't seen in a long time - if ever - in the Harlem community". 
James Brown made his debut at the Apollo Theater in 1956
Among the fans waiting outside the venue was Norman Brand, 55, from Alabama.
The song Say it Loud "really changed the attitude of most black people", he claimed.
"It was like a wake-up call. Before that, if you were called black, it was like an insult. Just one song and one word can change a whole situation."
'Empowering'
Another wellwisher, Amino Hyman described how Brown "made black people feel proud to be black and enjoy our roots".
"When we had nothing else to look forward to or look up to, we always had our music. James Brown was definitely one of the ones that empowered us," he told local television network CW-11. 
Reverend Al Sharpton (r) will oversee all of the funeral services
Brown's body will be taken to his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for a private ceremony on Friday.
A viewing for fans will be held at the city's 8,500-seat James Brown Arena on Saturday, before another public service, again overseen by Reverend Sharpton.
Meanwhile it has been confirmed that singer Chaka Khan will perform in place of Brown at a special New Year's Eve show at BB King's Blues Club in New York.NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of James Brown fans lined up on Thursday in New York's Harlem neighborhood for the chance to say farewell to the late "Godfather of Soul" at a public viewing of his body.
The 73-year-old entertainer -- whose voice, showmanship and bold rhythms brought funk into the mainstream and influenced a generation of black music -- died on Christmas of congestive heart failure in Atlanta.
Brown's body will be laid out for a public viewing on the stage at Harlem's Apollo Theater on Thursday. A Brown look-alike kept the crowds entertained by giving an impromptu street performance.
"I felt his music was great, phenomenal. He's going to be well missed," boxer Iran "The Blade" Barkley told New York television as he stood in line for the public viewing. "I met him at one of my fights, and now I am just coming to pay my respects to him."
Brown's body will be taken to his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, for a private service on Friday. Another public viewing is planned for Saturday before Brown is buried.
The Grammy-award winning singer was one of America's great showmen and band leaders. He created a revolutionary sound that mixed funky rhythms and staccato horns behind his own often explosive vocals. Hip hop and rap artists revered him and extensively used his beats as the backdrop for their own music, while singers like Michael Jackson drew on his dance style. Brown, the self-proclaimed "hardest working man in show business," performed more than 100 live shows this year and had been scheduled to perform in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve. Brown had more than 119 singles on the charts and recorded over 50 albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a lifetime Grammy achievement award. His big hits included "Please, Please, Please," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine)" and "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World." Brown emerged from a boyhood of poverty and petty crime in Augusta in the era when the South was still segregated and began his music career in jail as a juvenile offender. He personal life remained turbulent. He was jailed in 1988 for drug, weapons and vehicular charges after a car chase through Georgia and South Carolina that ended when police shot out the tires of his truck. He left prison in 1991. He was named to President Reagan's council against drugs, but was arrested several times in the mid-1980s and 1990s and charged with drug and weapons possession. Lee will rewrite a draft recently turned in by Jezz and John Henry Butterworth. Script has been through several drafts since Steve Baigelman wrote the original. Brown was an active part of the development of the biopic project. The singer met with Baigelman, and gave the Butterworth brothers access to his camp. Brown's longtime sideman Bobby Byrd also was interviewed for two days by the Butterworth duo. The rights package includes Brown's life rights, and also access to all his music rights. "Like everybody, I was surprised and saddened that James Brown died," Grazer said Tuesday. "Having known him well, and after spending lots of time with him and researching his life, it's somehow not surprising that he died on Christmas Day. He was the ultimate showman, all the way to the end." Lee has two other projects with Grazer. He will next direct a John Ridley-scripted film on the L.A. riots for Universal and Imagine. He will either follow with the Brown film or an "Inside Man" sequel, which Russell Gewirtz is scripting. Fans pay tribute to James Brown
James Brown biopic in the works
Lee signs on for Godfather of Soul film
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Lee
Spike Lee has signed on to direct a feature on the life of James Brown for Paramount and Imagine Entertainment. Brian Grazer is producing, and the pic could be in production by late next year, though 2008 is more likely.
