In 1964,when the Flames where still together, James Brown and Bobby Byrd formed their own production company, Fair Deal, in an attempt to promote their recordings to a crossover audience. As a result, Brown signed a contract with Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury to distribute the records and Brown released 8 albums from Smash Records.
In 1964, when the Flames were still intact, James Brown and Bobby Byrd formed Fair Deal Productions to promote their music to a more diverse audience. This led to Brown signing a contract with Smash Records, a Mercury subsidiary, which ultimately resulted in the release of eight albums by Brown.