R.I.P. James Brown
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Sonic Youth
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James Brown returns to Apollo one last time
Thousands view legendary singer at Harlem theater that gave him his start
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:45 p.m. ET Dec 28, 2006
NEW YORK - Even in death, James Brown can move a crowd.
Thousands of people danced and sang in the streets outside the Apollo Theater on Thursday 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 out his nickname: Godfather.
It was maybe the first time the hardest-working man in show business graced a stage in stillness, but that didn’t stop his fans from partying.
“This is a celebration of his life,” said 41-year-old Bryant Preudhomme of suburban New York. “James Brown gave you heart. He lifted you up when you were down. He gave you hope.”
Brown, who died of heart failure Christmas morning at 73, lay in repose in the theater that helped catapult him to fame, and was the setting for a thrilling live album in 1962. A program for family and close friends was planned.
His body was carried to the theater through the streets of Harlem on a majestic 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 an energetic performer. As Norman Brand of Harlem waited for the procession to begin, the 55-year-old recalled hearing Brown’s “Say it Loud” anthem for the first time in his native Alabama.
“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,” Brand said. “Just one song and one word can change a whole situation.”
From Georgia to New York and back
Mourners came from far and wide to attend the first in a trio of services that will keep Brown almost as busy in death as he was in life.
His casket left a Georgia funeral parlor Wednesday for an all-night drive to New York. It arrived at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s Harlem headquarters just before noon, and was quickly transferred to the carriage for a 20-block procession to the theater.
Sharpton, a close friend of the singer’s, accompanied the body from Georgia and walked behind the carriage Thursday.
On Friday, a private ceremony is planned at a church near Augusta, Ga. A second public viewing of the singer’s body will be held Saturday at the James Brown Arena in Augusta.
Some fans arrived at the Apollo as early as midnight for a chance to pay their respects.
More than 100 people were in line outside the theater by 8 a.m., drawn to a man who left an indelible mark on soul, R&B, funk, disco and rap music. Later, the crowd swelled into the thousands and spilled over onto both sides of 125th Street. The line to get inside the Apollo stretched for blocks.
“He seemed like family, a friend of mine,” said Brenda Harper, who was the first to arrive, shortly after midnight. Fourteen years ago, the Harlem woman said: “I jumped on the stage and he danced with me. I danced with the Godfather that day.”
Edith Stewart of Atlanta flew to New York on Wednesday.
“I loved James Brown. He did a lot of things for people all over. Just a couple of days ago, in Augusta, he was passing out gifts. And then he’s gone,” she said.
Brown, who lived in Beech Island, S.C., continued to work to the end, dying less than a week before he was to perform New Year’s Eve in Manhattan at B.B. King’s blues club. Chaka Khan, the Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues performer, will play instead.
Thousands view legendary singer at Harlem theater that gave him his start
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:45 p.m. ET Dec 28, 2006
NEW YORK - Even in death, James Brown can move a crowd.
Thousands of people danced and sang in the streets outside the Apollo Theater on Thursday 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 out his nickname: Godfather.
It was maybe the first time the hardest-working man in show business graced a stage in stillness, but that didn’t stop his fans from partying.
“This is a celebration of his life,” said 41-year-old Bryant Preudhomme of suburban New York. “James Brown gave you heart. He lifted you up when you were down. He gave you hope.”
Brown, who died of heart failure Christmas morning at 73, lay in repose in the theater that helped catapult him to fame, and was the setting for a thrilling live album in 1962. A program for family and close friends was planned.
His body was carried to the theater through the streets of Harlem on a majestic 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 an energetic performer. As Norman Brand of Harlem waited for the procession to begin, the 55-year-old recalled hearing Brown’s “Say it Loud” anthem for the first time in his native Alabama.
“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,” Brand said. “Just one song and one word can change a whole situation.”
From Georgia to New York and back
Mourners came from far and wide to attend the first in a trio of services that will keep Brown almost as busy in death as he was in life.
His casket left a Georgia funeral parlor Wednesday for an all-night drive to New York. It arrived at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s Harlem headquarters just before noon, and was quickly transferred to the carriage for a 20-block procession to the theater.
Sharpton, a close friend of the singer’s, accompanied the body from Georgia and walked behind the carriage Thursday.
On Friday, a private ceremony is planned at a church near Augusta, Ga. A second public viewing of the singer’s body will be held Saturday at the James Brown Arena in Augusta.
Some fans arrived at the Apollo as early as midnight for a chance to pay their respects.
More than 100 people were in line outside the theater by 8 a.m., drawn to a man who left an indelible mark on soul, R&B, funk, disco and rap music. Later, the crowd swelled into the thousands and spilled over onto both sides of 125th Street. The line to get inside the Apollo stretched for blocks.
“He seemed like family, a friend of mine,” said Brenda Harper, who was the first to arrive, shortly after midnight. Fourteen years ago, the Harlem woman said: “I jumped on the stage and he danced with me. I danced with the Godfather that day.”
Edith Stewart of Atlanta flew to New York on Wednesday.
“I loved James Brown. He did a lot of things for people all over. Just a couple of days ago, in Augusta, he was passing out gifts. And then he’s gone,” she said.
Brown, who lived in Beech Island, S.C., continued to work to the end, dying less than a week before he was to perform New Year’s Eve in Manhattan at B.B. King’s blues club. Chaka Khan, the Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues performer, will play instead.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
Damien wrote:Sonic Youth wrote:Fess up, Damien. You're resentful because you never learned to dance, right?
Actually, truth to tell, I'm a great dancer. My black friends tell me I must have some African blood in me lol. Used to go to Studio, New York New York, Trude Hellers, Paradise Garage and all the other disco era icons. Oh all the coke!
Damien, maybe you ran into my parents at Studio 54. Both of them used to go there when they were living in New York City from 1975-77 before they moved to D.C. and had me. My dad's friend used to go down to the basement area and snort coke off of a girl's stomach and then well, keep going, I guess. Ah! Sounds like some crazy fun.
Edited By flipp525 on 1167239482
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Sonic Youth wrote:Fess up, Damien. You're resentful because you never learned to dance, right?
Actually, truth to tell, I'm a great dancer. My black friends tell me I must have some African blood in me lol. Used to go to Studio, New York New York, Trude Hellers, Paradise Garage and all the other disco era icons. Oh all the coke!
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Sonic Youth
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I guess it depends on how much JB means to someone. Al Sharpton seems to have overlooked this aspect.Damien wrote:Sonic Youth wrote:Damien wrote:The guy who sang "I'm Black And I'm Proud" lost me when he supported Nixon in 1972. Ass hole
That was petty.
Fortunately, his legacy will be so much larger than that.
I dunno, maybe you had to be around back then. But we all picked sides in '72, and those of whom who were on the wrong side lost all credibility and respect. And I never liked James Brown from then on. Just as I didn't like Ray Bolger, Charlton Heston, Lainie Kazan, Jim Brown, Red Skelton, Rudy Vallee, Johnny Mathis.
Fess up, Damien. You're resentful because you never learned to dance, right?
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
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At least after Ray Charles died, the lawyers had the grace to wait a couple of months before starting up.
This sordidness is going to go on for years.
Brown's Partner Denied Access to Home
Dec 26 6:05 PM US/Eastern
By HARRY R. WEBER
Associated Press Writer
James Brown's lawyer said the late singer and his partner weren't legally married and that she was locked out of his South Carolina home for estate legal reasons. "It's not a reflection on her as an individual," lawyer Buddy Dallas told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I have not even been in the house, nor will I until appropriate protocol is followed."
Brown's partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, was already married to a Texas man in 2001 when she married Brown, thus making her marriage to the "Godfather of Soul" null, Dallas said. He said Hynie later annulled the previous marriage, but she and Brown never remarried.
"I suppose it would mean she was, from time to time, a guest in Mr. Brown's home," Dallas said.
Brown, 73, died at an Atlanta hospital Monday. After his death, Hynie, 36, found the gates to the singer's Beech Island, S.C., home padlocked and said she was denied access.
Hynie argued that she has a legal right to live in the home with the couple's 5-year-old son. "This is my home," she told a reporter outside the house. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."
In a phone interview with The Associated Press from an Augusta hotel Tuesday, Hynie said she had documentation to prove she was legally married to Brown.
Hynie said the couple had planned to renew their vows but not remarry. She indicated that while annulment papers relating to her previous marriage initially may not have been filed properly, a judge had told her she was legally married to Brown.
"I just want this resolved," Hynie said.
Dallas said legal formalities needed to be followed, adding that Brown's estate was left in trust for his children. He declined to elaborate on Brown's final instructions.
"Ms. Hynie has a home a few blocks away from Mr. Brown's home where she resides periodically when she is not with Mr. Brown," Dallas said. "She is not without housing or home."
Dallas said Brown and Hynie hadn't seen each other for several weeks before his death.
Hynie said Brown had sent her to California for a few weeks to relax on the beach after a recent concert tour.
"I was taking antidepressants," she said. "My job, marriage was difficult. So he sent me to the beach. He paid $24,000 for me to go."
"He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man," she said. "I was the only one who could handle James."
Hynie said she believes Brown's representatives were trying to discredit her so that his estate wouldn't have to be shared with her. She acknowledged that the bulk of the estate was left to Brown's children, but said Brown had told her she could live in his home with their child as long as she wanted.
"That was James Brown's wishes," Hynie said as she broke down in tears.
Hynie and Brown had a sometimes tumultuous relationship. Brown pleaded guilty in 2004 to a domestic violence charge stemming from an argument with Hynie and was let off with a $1,087 fine. He was accused of pushing Hynie to the floor at the home and threatening to kill her.
Brown is survived by at least four children.
This sordidness is going to go on for years.
Brown's Partner Denied Access to Home
Dec 26 6:05 PM US/Eastern
By HARRY R. WEBER
Associated Press Writer
James Brown's lawyer said the late singer and his partner weren't legally married and that she was locked out of his South Carolina home for estate legal reasons. "It's not a reflection on her as an individual," lawyer Buddy Dallas told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I have not even been in the house, nor will I until appropriate protocol is followed."
Brown's partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, was already married to a Texas man in 2001 when she married Brown, thus making her marriage to the "Godfather of Soul" null, Dallas said. He said Hynie later annulled the previous marriage, but she and Brown never remarried.
"I suppose it would mean she was, from time to time, a guest in Mr. Brown's home," Dallas said.
Brown, 73, died at an Atlanta hospital Monday. After his death, Hynie, 36, found the gates to the singer's Beech Island, S.C., home padlocked and said she was denied access.
Hynie argued that she has a legal right to live in the home with the couple's 5-year-old son. "This is my home," she told a reporter outside the house. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."
In a phone interview with The Associated Press from an Augusta hotel Tuesday, Hynie said she had documentation to prove she was legally married to Brown.
Hynie said the couple had planned to renew their vows but not remarry. She indicated that while annulment papers relating to her previous marriage initially may not have been filed properly, a judge had told her she was legally married to Brown.
"I just want this resolved," Hynie said.
Dallas said legal formalities needed to be followed, adding that Brown's estate was left in trust for his children. He declined to elaborate on Brown's final instructions.
"Ms. Hynie has a home a few blocks away from Mr. Brown's home where she resides periodically when she is not with Mr. Brown," Dallas said. "She is not without housing or home."
Dallas said Brown and Hynie hadn't seen each other for several weeks before his death.
Hynie said Brown had sent her to California for a few weeks to relax on the beach after a recent concert tour.
"I was taking antidepressants," she said. "My job, marriage was difficult. So he sent me to the beach. He paid $24,000 for me to go."
"He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man," she said. "I was the only one who could handle James."
Hynie said she believes Brown's representatives were trying to discredit her so that his estate wouldn't have to be shared with her. She acknowledged that the bulk of the estate was left to Brown's children, but said Brown had told her she could live in his home with their child as long as she wanted.
"That was James Brown's wishes," Hynie said as she broke down in tears.
Hynie and Brown had a sometimes tumultuous relationship. Brown pleaded guilty in 2004 to a domestic violence charge stemming from an argument with Hynie and was let off with a $1,087 fine. He was accused of pushing Hynie to the floor at the home and threatening to kill her.
Brown is survived by at least four children.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
Reza wrote:Damien, surely it is the season to forgive and forget??
Nah. George McGovern is still my hero (I was 17 and so full of idealism and hope
) James Brown was a Republican wife-beater with bad hair."Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Damien, surely it is the season to forgive and forget??Damien wrote:Sonic Youth wrote:Damien wrote:The guy who sang "I'm Black And I'm Proud" lost me when he supported Nixon in 1972. Ass hole
That was petty.
Fortunately, his legacy will be so much larger than that.
I dunno, maybe you had to be around back then. But we all picked sides in '72, and those of whom who were on the wrong side lost all credibility and respect. And I never liked James Brown from then on. Just as I didn't like Ray Bolger, Charlton Heston, Lainie Kazan, Jim Brown, Red Skelton, Rudy Vallee.
Sonic Youth wrote:Damien wrote:The guy who sang "I'm Black And I'm Proud" lost me when he supported Nixon in 1972. Ass hole
That was petty.
Fortunately, his legacy will be so much larger than that.
I dunno, maybe you had to be around back then. But we all picked sides in '72, and those of whom who were on the wrong side lost all credibility and respect. And I never liked James Brown from then on. Just as I didn't like Ray Bolger, Charlton Heston, Lainie Kazan, Jim Brown, Red Skelton, Rudy Vallee, Johnny Mathis.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Sonic Youth
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Sonic Youth
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Brown widow locked out of home by husband's associates
By Donnie Fetter | Staff Writer
Monday, Dec. 25, 2006 6:54 p.m.
Augusta Chronicle
BEECH ISLAND -- James Brown's widow, Tomi Raye, knelt and banged at the iron gate she could not pass through Monday.
The padlocked gate blocked the entrance to her Beech Island home of the past 10 years with Mr. Brown, who died Monday.
James Brown's widow, Tomi Raye, clutches the gate at the front of the home she shares with Mr. Brown. She arrived back in Beech Island to find she had been locked out of the house and the guards had been told to refuse her entrance.Mr. Brown's lawyer, Buddy Dallas, and accountant, David Cannon, would not allow Mrs. Brown access to the home, she said.
"They've been robbing from him all of his life and they'll do it in death," she said.
Mrs. Brown said she does not own the deed to the home on the 400 block of Douglas Drive. However, she said she had a legal right to live there with her and Mr. Brown's 5-year-old son, James Jr.
Mrs. Brown said she intends to hire a lawyer and fight Mr. Cannon's and Mr. Dallas' block to her home in a courtroom.
Contacted at home, Mr. Cannon would not comment on the situation on Monday.
Security guards at the Brown residence said they were instructed not to comment to the media by Mr. Dallas. A phone message left for Mr. Dallas was not immediately returned on Monday.
Mrs. Brown and her son were to spend the night with her mother on Monday.
"This is my home," Mrs. Brown said outside the gate of the house. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."
Today , Mrs. Brown said she plans to meet Mr. Dallas at the home to retrieve personal property.
Burned out from touring, Mrs. Brown said she was attending a retreat at a beachat the time of her husband's death in Atlanta.
The family planned to reuniteat their home on Monday.
"The last thing he said to me was, 'I love you baby and I'll see you soon,'" Mrs. Brown said.
By Donnie Fetter | Staff Writer
Monday, Dec. 25, 2006 6:54 p.m.
Augusta Chronicle
BEECH ISLAND -- James Brown's widow, Tomi Raye, knelt and banged at the iron gate she could not pass through Monday.
The padlocked gate blocked the entrance to her Beech Island home of the past 10 years with Mr. Brown, who died Monday.
James Brown's widow, Tomi Raye, clutches the gate at the front of the home she shares with Mr. Brown. She arrived back in Beech Island to find she had been locked out of the house and the guards had been told to refuse her entrance.Mr. Brown's lawyer, Buddy Dallas, and accountant, David Cannon, would not allow Mrs. Brown access to the home, she said.
"They've been robbing from him all of his life and they'll do it in death," she said.
Mrs. Brown said she does not own the deed to the home on the 400 block of Douglas Drive. However, she said she had a legal right to live there with her and Mr. Brown's 5-year-old son, James Jr.
Mrs. Brown said she intends to hire a lawyer and fight Mr. Cannon's and Mr. Dallas' block to her home in a courtroom.
Contacted at home, Mr. Cannon would not comment on the situation on Monday.
Security guards at the Brown residence said they were instructed not to comment to the media by Mr. Dallas. A phone message left for Mr. Dallas was not immediately returned on Monday.
Mrs. Brown and her son were to spend the night with her mother on Monday.
"This is my home," Mrs. Brown said outside the gate of the house. "I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to go."
Today , Mrs. Brown said she plans to meet Mr. Dallas at the home to retrieve personal property.
Burned out from touring, Mrs. Brown said she was attending a retreat at a beachat the time of her husband's death in Atlanta.
The family planned to reuniteat their home on Monday.
"The last thing he said to me was, 'I love you baby and I'll see you soon,'" Mrs. Brown said.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
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I find it utterly ironic that the day Dreamgirls (which has Jimmie T. Early, a loose incarnation of James Brown) opens wide, he dies...maybe the film did it (and anyone who's seen the film knows what I'm talkin' about)
Wesley Lovell
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
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