The Famous Flames Brown's ascension and the group's decline What happened in the group's decline? Brown's solo aspirations led to the further dissension in the group, who felt they weren't When did this begin to occur? 1965, What was Brown's ascension? a solo artist Did his solo career take off? reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. What were some singles he made during his solo career? "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", Why did Brown go solo? solo aspirations Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? In 1968, King released the group's Live at the Apollo, Volume II but edited out the Famous Flames' introduction, Did a lawsuit occur because of this? I don't know.
Did the other group members continue on with Brown?
Aside from the Famous Flames, did the other group members continue on with Brown?
In 1964, 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. After the release of "Out of Sight", however, King Records stopped Brown from releasing any more recordings since he had not obtained the label's consent. This resulted in Brown not releasing any recordings for a year. In 1965, King released Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", which became Brown's first number 1 as a solo artist on the R&B charts, as well reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The song also provided one of the first glimpses into a new sound cultivated by Brown and the James Brown Band that would later be labeled as funk.  The group performed in Hollywood movies such as Ski Party and appearing twice on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966 (where The Flames were uncredited). The group also began to perform overseas and became a major attraction. About their success outside America, Famous Flame Bobby Bennett said, in an 2012 interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer; "We were drawing crowds everywhere we went," says Bennett. "Not just in America. We'd go to London or Paris and we couldn't even leave the hotel to go sightseeing because we were getting mobbed by people."  Brown's solo aspirations led to the further dissension in the group, who felt they weren't being compensated properly. Lloyd Stallworth left the Flames shortly after the group's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in early 1966, leaving Brown, Byrd, and Bennett. Dissension continued to grow throughout 1966 and 1967, and in 1968 the rest of the members of the Famous Flames decided to go on with their own separate careers, and the group quietly disappeared. In 1968, King released the group's Live at the Apollo, Volume II but edited out the Famous Flames' introduction, since the group had left Brown by then. The 2003 CD re-release of the album corrected that by restoring The Famous Flames' name credit. CANNOTANSWER
since the group had left Brown
The Famous Flames were an American rhythm and blues vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first appearance professional recording, "Please, Please, Please", in 1956.

On hit songs such as "Try Me", "Bewildered", "Think", "I Don't Mind", and "I'll Go Crazy", the Flames' smooth backing harmonies contrasted strikingly with Brown's raw, impassioned singing, and their synchronized dance steps were a prominent feature of their live shows. Altogether, James Brown and the Famous Flames numerous R&B hit songs reached the Top 40 on the R&B and pop charts.They also appeared in the Hollywood films T.A.M.I. Show (1964) and Ski Party. Members of the Flames also contributed as songwriters and choreographers. In 2012 the Flames were retroactively inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside Brown. On their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame page, they are described as "a group of singers, performers and dancers that created the complementary elements of one of the greatest stage shows of all time."
As of  2020, The Famous Flames were also inducted into The National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.

The Famous Flames are sometimes erroneously identified as James Brown's "band", a confusion partly fostered by their record companies' inconsistent labeling credit practices. Although members of the group did play instruments in some of their earliest shows and recordings, by 1959 Brown had hired a touring band and from that point on, the Flames contributed primarily as backing vocalists and dancers. The band was billed separately as the James Brown Band, and later as the James Brown Orchestra.

History

Origins
James Brown began singing with the R&B group the Cremona Trio while growing up in Toccoa, Georgia. In 1949, Brown, then sixteen, was sent to a juvenile detention center after committing several offenses of armed robbery. While at the detention center, he formed a group called the Swanees, which included Johnny Terry. The band made their own instruments, including a comb and paper, a washtub bass and a drum kit made from lard tubs, while Brown himself played "a sort of mandolin [made] out of a wooden box." This led to Brown's first nickname, "Music Box".

In 1952, Brown's reform school baseball team played another team that featured Bobby Byrd and they soon became friends. Shortly after, Byrd and his family offered to be Brown's sponsors for an early prison release. Brown was paroled on June 14, 1952, on the condition he not return to his hometown. In response, Brown moved into Byrd's parents' home in Toccoa, finding work as a dishwasher and also trying short careers as a boxer.

Around this time, Byrd had formed the gospel vocal group, the Gospel Starlighters. Within a year, the group wanted to perform R&B but was afraid of being confronted by church leaders for "singing the Devil's music". This led the group to perform R&B under the name The Avons, which included members such as Troy Collins, Doyle Oglesby, Sylvester Keels and Willie Johnson. After deciding to focus primarily on R&B, the Starlighters ended and formed new R&B group the Avons.

In 1954, Brown again turned his attention to music with the group the Ever Ready Gospel Singers, which included his old reform school friend, Johnny Terry, who had been paroled at approximately the same time as Brown. However, when the group failed to get a recording deal they disbanded, leading Brown to return to Toccoa. Later in 1954, the Avons faced a tragedy when Troy Collins died in a car accident. Byrd asked Brown to replace Collins. At first, lead vocals were split between Byrd, Keels and Brown. Johnny Terry was also asked to join and he brought in a guitarist, Nafloyd Scott, and Fred Pulliam replaced Willie Johnson. It was around this time that the Avons changed their name to The Toccoa Band in order to avoid confusion with two other groups also named the Avons. Under their manager, Barry Tremier, the group began playing instruments, with Brown playing drums and Byrd the piano.

Early success and initial breakup
By 1955, after seeing a performance by Little Richard, the group left gospel behind and again changed their name, to The Flames. While performing at his club in Macon, Georgia, Clint Brantley (agent for Little Richard) advised the group to add "Famous" to their name. That year, Doyle Oglesby and Fred Pulliam left the group and were replaced by Nashpendle "Nash" Knox. When Little Richard left Macon for Los Angeles after the September 1955 release of "Tutti Frutti".

The group began composing and performing their own songs during this time including a James Brown composition called "Goin' Back to Rome" and a ballad Brown co-wrote with Johnny Terry titled "Please, Please, Please". Before Christmas 1955, Brantley had the group record a demo of "Please, Please, Please" for a local Macon radio station. "Please, Please, Please" came together in two pieces, first, Etta James stated that during the first time she met with Brown in Macon, Brown "used to carry around an old tattered napkin with him, because Little Richard had written the words, 'please, please, please' on it and James was determined to make a song out of it...". The second part of the song's conception came together after Brown and Terry heard The Orioles' rock 'n' roll version of Big Joe Williams' hit, "Baby Please Don't Go", where they got the melody.

"Please, Please, Please" was played on Macon radio stations, making it a regional hit by the end of 1955. The recording was sent to several record labels, who promptly passed on the record, though two labels, owned by Cincinnati-based King Records, pursued the group. Ralph Bass of Federal Records eventually won the bidding war, signing the Famous Flames in February 1956. A month later, they re-recorded the song in Cincinnati. Upon hearing it, King Records founder Syd Nathan deemed it unreleasable due to Brown's vocals, and almost fired Ralph Bass on the spot.

"Please, Please, Please" was released in May 1956 and by September, the record had reached number 6 on the R&B charts. Constant performing with the song while the group performed on the Chitlin' Circuit kept the record on the charts for a year, and by 1957, it had sold well over 5,000 copies. The record eventually sold between one million and three million. Most of the original Flames' releases after "Please, Please, Please" failed to generate any follow-up success, including "I Don't Know", "No No No", "Just Won't Do Right" and "Chonnie-On-Chon". The group had changed managers and were now with Ben Bart, chief of the Universal Attractions Agency(talent agency). Bart advised the group to change their name to The Famous Flames with James Brown. Brown and Bart hired members of the vocal group the Dominions to replace the original Flames, after the group quit en masse when they had discovered that James Brown was to be given top billing over the other members.

Success

After several other recordings failed to chart, the Famous Flames were in danger of being dropped by Federal in 1958. Johnny Terry gave Brown a ballad that was based on the song "For Your Precious Love" by Jerry Butler & The Impressions titled "Try Me". The song became the Famous Flames' first number-one R&B hit in early 1959. Following the song's success, Brown suddenly fired the interim group members of the Dominions/Flames, "Big Bill" Hollings, J.W. Archer, and Louis Madison. These men, along with the returning Willie Johnson, another interim member, went on to form a San Francisco-based splinter group, The Fabulous Flames. This group issued several unsuccessful singles on the tiny "Bay-Tone Records" label, before fading into obscurity. By then, Brown and Terry had asked Bobby Byrd to return, which he did, and they added new Flames members Bobby Bennett and Lloyd Stallworth. This was the longest-lasting lineup of The Famous Flames, which became a straight vocal group at this point, as Brown, with Byrd's help, had employed the old J.C. Davis outfit, The Bucketheads, as his instrumental backup band. The group (now James Brown and The Famous Flames) then performed at the Apollo Theater in April 1959, Brown's first performance there, opening for Little Willie John.

That year, Brown had his first solo hit, "I Want You So Bad", which peaked in the top twenty on the R&B charts. In 1960, Brown and the Flames had a string of successful songs such as "Think", "Bewildered","I Don't Mind", "This Old Heart", and "I'll Go Crazy". By 1962, three versions of "The James Brown Show" were recorded: James with the Famous Flames, James with his instrumental band, and James as a solo act. In 1962, the Famous Flames had a hit with "Shout and Shimmy", which was their rendition of The Isley Brothers' "Shout", but the song was dismissed by at least one critic as "a truly shameless ripoff of [the song]... basically the fast parts of "Shout" with the gospel inflections removed and the word 'shimmy' added.". Nevertheless,"Shout and Shimmy" was a hit, and James and The Famous Flames sang and performed this song on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, on a telecast dated June 11, 1962. Their 1963 live recording at the Apollo Theater was released as Live at the Apollo, which peaked at number-two on the pop album chart. It sold over a million copies and stayed on the charts for fourteen months, a feat unprecedented for an R&B album at that time. In 1964, the group reached a peak in its popularity when they appeared in the 1964 American International Pictures concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show. Brown & The Flames (Byrd, Bennett, and Stallworth), debuted their landmark performance of "Please, Please, Please" during that concert, where Brown collapsed on his knees, causing Bobby Bennett and MC Danny Ray to drape a cape (or towel) on him and walk him off before Brown decided to return to the microphone. This became a trademark in Brown's shows for the remainder of his career.

In 1964, the group recorded another successful live album, Pure Dynamite! Live at the Royal, which like Live at The Apollo, reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Pop Album chart. The Flames also contributed to the recording of the 1964 studio album, Showtime. During this time, the record label's inconsistent billing on various records and albums, led many fans of Brown to believe that the Famous Flames were actually Brown's backing band, instead of the stand-alone vocal group that they actually were. In 1964, James & the Flames had another top 40 hit with the powerful soul/blues ballad "Oh Baby, Don't You Weep", which reached number 23 on the pop chart, and number four on the Cashbox R&B chart. Later that year they released their last recording together, "Maybe the Last Time", which was a B-side of James Brown's recording "Out of Sight". On this last studio release, as on all of their Smash recordings, The Flames did not receive label credit.

Brown's ascension and the group's decline
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.  After the release of first funk song "Out of Sight", however, King Records stopped Brown from releasing any more recordings since he had not obtained the label's consent. After that year-long standoff, King Records (who couldn't afford to lose him, as by then Brown had become the label's biggest star), offered him a new contract, which gave him full creative control over his recordings Upon his return to King, Brown recorded by himself, without The Famous Flames' vocal backing, though they continued to receive label credit, and continued performing with Brown on live appearances (and on live albums) through 1968. In 1965, King released Brown's "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", which became Brown's first number 1 as a solo artist on the R&B charts, as well reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Hit singles such as "I Got You" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" followed his hit song "Out of Sight".

The group performed in Hollywood movies such as Ski Party and appearing twice on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966 (where The Flames were uncredited). The group also began to perform overseas and became a major attraction. About their success outside America, Famous Flame Bobby Bennett said, in a 2012 interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer;
"We were drawing crowds everywhere we went," says Bennett. "Not just in America. We'd go to London or Paris and we couldn't even leave the hotel to go sightseeing because we were getting mobbed by people."

Brown's solo aspirations led to further dissension within the group, who felt they weren't being compensated properly. Lloyd Stallworth left the Flames shortly after the group's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in early 1966, leaving Brown, Byrd, and Bennett. Dissension continued to grow throughout 1966 and 1967, and in 1968 the rest of the members of the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd and Bobby Bennett),decided to go on with their own separate careers, and the group quietly disappeared. In 1968, King released the group's Live at the Apollo, Volume II but edited out the Famous Flames' introduction, since the group had left Brown by then.However, years later, on the 2001 Deluxe Edition CD release,the complete introduction by MC Frankie Crocker, including The Famous Flames' name, was restored.

Later years and litigation
Although Byrd reunited with Brown on several occasions in the ensuing decades, the Famous Flames never performed with him as a group again. Brown wrote dismissively of them in his 1986 autobiography, claiming that though "they were a good stage act, [they] couldn't really sing all that good." However, elsewhere he referred to them favorably as "a bunch of real fine quartet singers".

In 2003, Byrd and his wife, Vicki Anderson, along with Famous Flames Bobby Bennett and Lloyd Stallworth, sued Brown and Universal Records (which now owned the King Records catalogue), claiming they were cheated out of royalties from samples of Byrd's 1971 hit "I Know You Got Soul" and numerous other Famous Flames hits over the years. Despite rumors of bad blood, Byrd contended he "still loved" Brown and felt the matter was more due to issues with Universal than with Brown.

Lloyd Stallworth died in 2001, followed by Johnny Terry in 2005 and James Brown died December 25 in 2006. Bobby Byrd performed at Brown's public funeral in Augusta, Georgia. Byrd died nine months later, in September 2007. Bobby Bennett, the last living member of The Famous Flames, lived long enough to see the group inducted into the 2012 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, before himself dying on January 18, 2013. The Famous Flames were posthumously inducted into The National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in two separate inductions: James Brown in 2013, and the remaining Flames, Byrd, Bennett, Stallworth, and Johnny Terry, in 2020.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame controversy and 2012 induction
In 1986, the first committee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced that James Brown would be one of the Hall of Fame's first charter members to be inducted. However, Brown's former singing group, the Famous Flames, were not included in this induction. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's criterion states that only artists whose first recording had been out for more than 25 years were eligible for induction. Brown's first solo recording did not meet that criterion. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame president and chief executive officer Terry Stewart contended that Brown was indeed eligible for induction but as a member of The Famous Flames. Concerning the Hall of Fame's failure to induct The Flames with Brown back in 1986, Stewart went on to say: "There was no legislative intent why they weren't included; somehow they just got overlooked."

In 2011, a special committee was set up to correct exclusions which might have occurred during the first two years of Rock Hall inductions (1986 and 1987) due to the impact of the bands' lead singers or front men. The Famous Flames (Byrd, Bennett, Terry and Stallworth) were inducted in April 2012 alongside other "backing groups" such as The Midnighters (Hank Ballard), The Comets (Bill Haley), The Crickets (Buddy Holly), The Blue Caps (Gene Vincent) and The Miracles (Smokey Robinson). Since all these lead singers were actually members of these groups, these were not really "backing groups" at all. This was highlighted by Smokey Robinson, who did the induction honors for all of the groups, including his own Miracles, who stated, "These people do not stand behind you. They stand with you."  "These are not backing groups. These are the groups." Bennett, as the Famous Flames' only surviving member, accepted the honor in person in Cleveland on April 14, 2012. Bennett further stated the induction was not only a correction for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee's mishap in 1986 but also a reunion: "For years, I felt like we were all separated," said Bennett. "I feel like we're whole again, I wish we could all be here as one group. Yes, James Brown was the most famous of the Flames, but we were all Famous Flames."

Onstage, during the induction ceremony, Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, said, "If James Brown was the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, The Famous Flames were the hardest-working group".

In 1993, James Brown and The Famous Flames as a group were awarded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award by Foundation co-founder Ruth Brown and Bonnie Raitt .
in 1998, Famous Flames founder Bobby Byrd received the Pioneer Award from the same organization.

The Famous Flames did appear in the James Brown biopic Get on Up, which was released in U.S. theatres nationwide on August 1, 2014.

In May 2012, the oldies music magazine Goldmine inducted James Brown & The Famous Flames into their first class of The Goldmine Hall of Fame.

Lineup

 James Brown
 Bobby Byrd
 Johnny Terry
 Sylvester 'King' Keels
 Nash Knox
 Nafloyd Scott
 Bobby Bennett
 "Baby Lloyd" Stallworth

 Troy Collins
 Fred Pulliam
 Roy Scott
 Doyle Oglesby
 Robert Gram
 JW Archer 
 Louis Madison 
 Bill Hollings 
 Willie Johnson

Discography
 1958: Please Please Please
 1959: Try Me (re-released as: 16 Hits:The Unbeatable James Brown & The Famous Flames)
 1960: Think!
 1961: The Amazing James Brown
 1962: "Shout and Shimmy"
 1962: "Excitement (Mr. Dynamite)"
 1962: "James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the USA"
 1963: "Live at the Apollo"
 1963: "Pure Dynamite! Live at the Royal"
 1964: "Showtime"
 1967: "James Brown & The Famous Flames Live at The Garden"
 1968: Live at the Apollo, Volume II

Awards
Grammy Hall of Fame:
 "Live at The Apollo" (King Records, 1963) -James Brown & The Famous Flames* (Inducted 1998)
"Please Please Please"-James Brown & The Famous Flames (Federal (King) Records, 1956 R&B Single) – Inducted 2001
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" – The Famous Flames (Inducted 2012) James Brown (Inducted 1986)
Goldmine (magazine) Hall of Fame  – James Brown & The Famous Flames (Inducted 2012)
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"Live at The Apollo" (1963) – James Brown & The Famous Flames*  (Awarded 2003)
"United States Library of Congress-National Recording Registry"
"Rhythm and Blues Foundation" Lifetime Achievement Award (James Brown & The Famous Flames-1993)  
"Rhythm and Blues Foundation" Pioneer Award - (Bobby Byrd alone) - 1998.
"National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame" The Famous Flames (Inducted 2020)  (James Brown inducted solo in 2013).
"Live at The Apollo" (1963) –  James Brown & The Famous Flames*  (Awarded 2004)
"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's"
"500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll"
"Please Please Please" – James Brown & The Famous Flames* (Federal (King) Records, 1956
R&B Single (list compiled 2004)
Billboard – "Try Me" – James Brown & The Famous Flames
48 Pop, #1 R&B, and the Best-Selling R&B Hit Song of 1958, .
Incorrectly credited solely to James Brown.*

See also
 Marva Whitney
 Lyn Collins

References

Other sources
 White, Cliff and Weinger, Harry (1991). Are You Ready for Star Time?. In Star Time [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.
 Wolk, Douglas. (2004). Live at the Apollo. New York: Continuum Books.

External links

 "Keep On Doin'What You're Doin" Bobby Byrd, James Brown, and The Famous Flames
 Bobby Byrd (of The Famous Flames) bio and eulogy- The Washington Post September 15, 2007
 The Famous Flames' Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Site
 The Famous Flames on the Future Rock Hall website
 The Official Facebook Page of The Famous Flames
 The Famous Flames on the Soulful Detroit website
 I'll Go Crazy from "Live at The Apollo" (1962) by James Brown & The Famous Flames -from YouTube
 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Bobby Bennett, The last surviving member of The Famous Flames, talks to The Rock Hall.
 Famous Flame Gets His Chance to Shine-from The Burlington Times-News-by Molly McGowan
 YouTube video- James Brown on David Letterman Show (1982)- verifies that The Famous Flames were a singing group NOT backup musicians
 YouTube Video-James Brown & The Famous Flames LIVE at The Olympia Theatre in Paris, France- mid 1960s
 YouTube Video: James Brown & The Famous Flames in the 1965 American International Pictures film "Ski Party"(1965).

African-American dancers
American dancers
African-American musical groups
American rhythm and blues musical groups
American soul musical groups
American vocal groups
James Brown vocalists
Federal Records artists
King Records artists
Musical groups established in 1953
Musical groups disestablished in 1968
Musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state)
Fred Thomas is an American bassist best known for his work with singer James Brown for over thirty years. He performed on many R&B hits of the 1970s. His last recording is on the 2018 album We Came to Play.

Career
Thomas grew up in the US state of Georgia. He moved to New York City in 1965 and co-founded his own band with guitarist Hearlon "Cheese" Martin. He was the bassist as well as the lead vocalist of the group. He said: "I did my own thing, which is to keep a nice bottom in the pocket. I never bothered with any fancy stuff because I always did the singing in my bands, and you can't be fancy and sing".

In 1971 James Brown saw the band at Smalls Paradise club in Harlem. Brown was in search of new musicians for his own band. He did an impromptu performance with the band and decided to hire the whole group. Thomas said his band used to cover Brown's songs and that joining Brown was a smooth transition for them. He recorded on Brown's releases during 1970s. The first album titled Hot Pants was in 1971. He also recorded on releases by The J.B.'s. Many of these recordings were later sampled in hip hop music, such as "Pass the Peas", "Gimme Some More", and "Escape-ism".

Thomas performed with Brown for more than thirty years, longer than other bassists in that position. He recorded on several R&B number one hits such as "Hot Pants", "Make It Funky", and "Papa Don't Take No Mess". In a 2005 interview he expressed satisfaction with his work, stating: "I've been involved in one of the biggest, most legendary acts in the world. It's gone on for a long time – 33 years, on and off – and I feel good about the musicians I've played with".

After Brown's death in 2006, Thomas transitioned back to fronting his own group and collaborating with various bands. His later recordings are with Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens in 2014 and The J.B.'s in 2018.

Discography
Credits adapted in part from AllMusic.

With James Brown
Revolution of the Mind (1971)
Hot Pants (1971)
Get on the Good Foot (1972)
The Payback (1973)
Hell (1974)

With The J.B.'s
Food for Thought (1972)
Doing It to Death (1973)
Funky Good Time: The Anthology (1995)
Pass the Peas: The Best of the J.B.'s (2000)
Bring the Funk on Down (2002)
The Lost Album (2011)
We Came to Play (2018)

With Culture
Good Things (1989)

With Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens
Cold World (2014)

Notes

References

External links
Fred Thomas at MusicRadar by Rob Power, 2017
The J.B.'s members 2019 at archive.org

Living people
American funk bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
American rhythm and blues bass guitarists
James Brown Orchestra members
American male guitarists
Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Musicians from New York City
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century bass guitarists
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth missing (living people) Bobby Howard Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, bandleader, talent scout, record producer, and musician, who played an integral and important part in the development of soul and funk music in association with James Brown.

Byrd began his career in 1952 as member of the gospel group the Gospel Starlighters, who later changed their name to the Avons in 1953 and the Five Royals in 1954, before settling on the name the Flames in 1955 prior to Brown's joining the group; their agent later changed it to The Famous Flames. Byrd was the founder of The Flames, is credited with the discovery of James Brown, and also claimed responsibility for writing most of James Brown's hits.  As group founder, and one of the longest-serving members of the group, Byrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame posthumously in 2012. Byrd was also a 1998 recipient of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award.

Early life and career
Byrd was born in Toccoa, Georgia, to a religiously devout family, where they were respected members of the church congregation and active in their neighborhood there. Byrd started being active in his local church choir with the group, the Zioneers, later making a name for himself as member of the Gospel Starlighters, which included his sister Sarah. At a time when church elders disapproved of secular singing, the band members would leave their home state and perform in South Carolina as the R&B group the Avons. Eventually they left gospel behind and went on as the Avons. The original group consisted of Byrd, who played piano, organ and sang lead vocals; and Nafloyd Scott, Fred Pulliam and Doyle Oglesby.

Meeting James Brown and the formation of The Famous Flames

In 1952 Bobby Byrd formed and sang with a gospel group called the Gospel Starlighters. During a friendly baseball match at a juvenile prison, he met a young James Brown who was serving time there on robbery charges. Byrd befriended him and arranged for Byrd's family to oversee Brown's parole. This began a personal and professional association that lasted until 1973.

Although Byrd would eventually have over twenty years as a solo performer, it is his association with James Brown for which he is chiefly remembered. Contrary to belief, the group had already changed its name to the Flames when Brown asked Byrd for a spot in the group, with Brown first settling as a drummer. Eventually Brown was driven to perform as lead singer, as he felt lead vocalists got more attention from women. Byrd recognized early that Brown was unique and that it would be impossible to control him: "I didn't need him in competition, I needed him with me, that's why I worked so hard to get him over to my group." In 1956, Clint Brantley signed on as the group's manager. With Johnny Terry and Nash Knox on board, the group became "The Famous Flames" and won a deal with Ralph Bass' Federal label, which was a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records, in February 1956. Their first record, "Please, Please, Please", which Byrd said he wrote with Johnny Terry, featured a lead vocal by James Brown and was issued with the billing, "James Brown and the Famous Flames", which did not go well with the rest of the group. After three sessions, the original Flames broke up.

The Flames without Brown changed their name to Byrd's Drops of Joy. However, they found little success; when Brown approached them to reform the Flames they agreed. At this point, The Famous Flames ceased being a vocal/instrumental group, and became a straight vocal group, since Brown had begun to employ the old J.C. Davis outfit as his road band. Original Flames members Bobby Byrd and Johnny Terry returned, and new Flames members Bobby Bennett and Baby Lloyd Stallworth were added. Along with Brown, these four men comprised the longest-lasting lineup of The Famous Flames. Original Flames guitarist Nafloyd Scott also returned and was added to the band. The rest of the original Flames faded into obscurity.

With this lineup the group would have a series of hits between 1959 and 1964 and participated on many of the albums that helped to bring R&B to a crossover audience, including the landmark million-selling 1963 live album, Live at the Apollo. Byrd and the Famous Flames also performed together on a few episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show, made a brief appearance in the film, Ski Party and upstaged headliners The Rolling Stones on the landmark 1964 rock concert/motion picture, The T.A.M.I. Show. Byrd (and fellow Famous Flame Lloyd Stallworth) were credited as songwriters on the Flames hit, "Lost Someone," though Brown was the only member who sang on the recording. Its success led Brown to record more songs on his own but the majority of his early hits were as a member of the Famous Flames including songs such as "Try Me", "I'll Go Crazy", "Bewildered", "Think", "Baby You're Right", "I Don't Mind", "This Old Heart",  "Shout and Shimmy", and "Oh Baby Don't You Weep". As was the case with some recordings, the Famous Flames were often not credited on album covers though ironically enough on recordings in which Brown appeared by himself, the group was credited, leaving fans to erroneously believe the Famous Flames were actually Brown's backing band, instead of the singing group that they actually were. The group continued performing together until 1968 when they left over monetary issues. The last Flames-associated recording to be released was the pre-funk soul hit, "Licking Stick - Licking Stick", to which Byrd contributed vocals without the other members, who had departed before Byrd did that summer.

Solo career and continual work with Brown
After two years away, Byrd reunited with Brown in 1970. He hired, on the spot and without rehearsal, Bootsy Collins, Bootsy's brother Catfish, and their band to fill in for Brown's former band after they left him before a gig. After that performance, Byrd and Brown brought the band to a studio session where they recorded the famous funk hit, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine".

When The Famous Flames were still together, Byrd and Brown co-formed the production company, Fair Deal, to distribute The Famous Flames' recordings – and Brown's own solo recordings – to mainstream markets after years solely on the rhythm and blues circuit. This led to both Byrd and Brown's signing solo deals with Smash Records. In 1964, Byrd recorded his first solo hit, "Baby, Baby, Baby" with Anna King. A year later he had a bigger R&B hit with "We Are in Love", which reached #14. Later in the late 1960s, as Byrd and Brown together began working under the yet-to-be-named genre of funk, Byrd had a funky song "I Need Help (I Can't Do It Alone)"(1970).

In 1971, when Brown signed with Polydor Records, he and Byrd formed the label People Records, and issued several records by other artists, including Byrd himself, who recorded the funk hit, "I Know You Got Soul"(1971). Byrd appeared onstage with Brown from 1970 until leaving his band again in 1973 due to a combination of issues, including uncredited compositions on some Brown hits, Brown's issues with singer Vicki Anderson, whom Byrd eventually married and remained with until his death, and wanting to start a family with Anderson. Though he remained in contact with Brown following this final split, this departure ended Byrd's 21-year professional association with Brown, who now went by the nickname "Godfather of Soul", after composing the soundtrack to the film, Black Caesar (1973). Without Byrd's help, however, Brown began struggling with production of the music on People and soon began experiencing financial troubles. Byrd recorded the song "Back From The Dead" in 1975.

In 1993, Byrd recorded a solo album, On the Move, on the German record Label, Soulciety Records. After a few more live performances, Byrd decided to retire in 1996, though he occasionally re-emerged with the assistance of Brown. Following Brown's parole from drug and weapons charges in 1991, he hired Byrd to join him on stage for his pay-per-view 1992 concert. Byrd would occasionally perform with Brown in some venues. They would also collaborate on the song "Killing Is Out, School Is In" from Brown's final studio album, 2002's The Next Step. At his funeral in December 2006, Byrd sung "Sex Machine" with Brown's other band mates paying homage to his late estranged friend and former performing partner.

In 2003, a few years before his death, Bobby, his wife Vicki, and Famous Flames Bobby Bennett and Lloyd Stallworth, sued lead singer James Brown and Universal Music for non-payment of royalties, stating that monies that rightfully belong to them for numerous Famous Flames hits, and Byrd's hit "I Know You Got Soul", which was sampled by numerous rappers, including Eric B. & Rakim, were sent by Universal to James Brown instead, who allegedly kept them. The suit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations having run out. However, rapper Jay-Z, who sampled Byrd's song "I'm Not to Blame" for his recording, "U Don't Know", on his 2001 multi million-selling The Blueprint, paid Byrd 65% of the royalties for the song, allowing Byrd and his family to secure a mortgage for their home, which was worth about $250,000.

Personal life
After splitting from Brown in 1973, Byrd and Vicki Anderson, who left Brown's band at the same time as Byrd, got married. Byrd had three children with his first wife, Gail Byrd,  (Walda, Orrin and Ruthie) in Toccoa, Georgia. He also had two children from another relationship. Byrd raised Anderson's children including Carleen. The couple remained married throughout Byrd's lifetime. Though he had moved to Cincinnati after the Famous Flames signed with Federal/King, Byrd retained residences in Georgia and after leaving Brown, settled at Loganville for the remainder of his life.

Death
Bobby Byrd died on September 12, 2007, of cancer; he was 73 years old.

Legacy
Numerous songs in hip hop music have sampled Byrd-associated songs such as "I Know You Got Soul", "Think (About It)", "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", "Soul Power", "Make It Funky" and "I'm Not to Blame". Byrd's music has had a lasting influence on numerous soul, R&B, and hip hop artists.

In the Famous Flames' Rock & Roll Hall of Fame page, Byrd is regarded as "one of the more important auxiliary figures in the career of a major artist in music history."

In October 2004, Byrd's songs "I Know You Got Soul" and "Hot Pants" were featured on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, playing on fictional radio station Master Sounds 98.3. In September 2005 his song "Try It Again" appeared on the soundtrack of Indigo Prophecy.

Byrd was portrayed by actor Nelsan Ellis in the 2014 James Brown bio film Get on Up.

Induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and initial controversy
In 1986 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame officials announced that James Brown would be included in a list of the first nine musicians to be inducted by the organization. However, James Brown did not meet the Hall of Fame's criteria for induction at that time which required an artist to have released their first single as a solo artist at least 25 years prior to induction.  Brown's first solo release in 1965 was only 21 years before, although Brown had been active in the industry and released songs as part of The Famous Flames prior to 1965. For Brown to be inducted by the organization in 1986, inclusion of the other members of The Famous Flames was required. It is not known why this oversight occurred, but it has been surmised that the organization felt Brown's solo work warranted his induction at the Hall of Fame's initial ceremonies.

Brown's inclusion as a solo artist without the other Flames members was met with criticism but was not amended until years later. In late 2011, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame formed a special committee to discuss several pioneering groups they felt deserved to be inducted but were initially excluded in error, due to the impact of their lead singers, who were incorrectly inducted as solo artists.  This committee's decision led to the induction of The Famous Flames and its members. This was an amending gesture which did not require nomination or voting, under the premise that they should have been inducted with Brown back in 1986, since, according to Rock Hall CEO Terry Stewart, Brown's first solo recording missed the 25-year criterion for performing musicians. Brown, Byrd, Stallworth, and Terry had long been deceased by this point, and Bobby Bennett, the Flames' only surviving member, accepted the honor on behalf of the group in Cleveland, on April 14, 2012. Less than one year after the induction, Bennett himself died on January 18, 2013.

In 2015, Bobby Byrd was nominated for a second induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame  as a member of The J.B.'s, a group which he actually discovered in 1970 to replace the Original James Brown Band, who left Brown in 1970 (as the Famous Flames left him in 1968) due to salary disputes.

In 2020, Bobby Byrd was posthumously inducted with the rest of The Famous Flames' members Baby Lloyd Stallworth, Bobby Bennett, and Johnny Terry into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame, some seven years after the induction of Flames lead singer James Brown into the same organization.

References

External links
Bobby Byrd, James Brown, and The Famous Flames from Last FM
 Bobby Byrd Discography
The Times Obituary for Bobby Byrd

Bobby Byrd – Condolence book (Hungarian)
Bobby Byrd eulogy from Rolling Stone.
Bobby Byrd page on Future Rock Legends
The Famous Flames' page on Future Rock Legends
 Bobby Byrd page on the Soul Walking U.K. website
The Famous Flames Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction site
The official Facebook page of The Famous Flames

1934 births
2007 deaths
African-American pianists
African-American record producers
American baritones
American funk keyboardists
American funk singers
American male organists
American soul keyboardists
Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state)
James Brown Orchestra members
James Brown vocalists
Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state)
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
The Famous Flames members
The J.B.'s members
People from Loganville, Georgia
People from Toccoa, Georgia
Rhythm and blues pianists
Smash Records artists
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
King Records artists
American male pianists
20th-century American keyboardists
African-American songwriters
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)