Bobby Byrd - Legacy

Legacy

Numerous songs in rap music over the years used Byrd-associated songs such as "I Know You Got Soul", "Think About It" (his screaming voice in the song - he's the one saying "yeah!" followed by Brown's "woo!" and his words in the song "you bet it ain't" were sampled), "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine", "Soul Power", "Make It Funky" and "I'm Not to Blame" among others.Byrd's music has had a huge and lasting influence on numerous Soul, R&B, Rap, and Hip-Hop Artists.

For years following his departure from Brown, several history revisionists have sometimes neglected to mention Byrd's impact in Brown's career even suggesting that Brown had started out as a solo artist when the record, "Please, Please, Please" was released in 1956 but in truth, it was actually a recording by the Famous Flames as a group of its own. In truth, it was Bobby Byrd and The Famous Flames that launched Brown's career, not the other way around. In fact, the majority of Brown's early recordings between 1956 and 1962 weren't solo recordings at all but recordings as a member of the Famous Flames, which made his 1986 solo induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame controversial as his first official solo recording was the cover of the instrumental R&B standard, "Night Train". Though the late 1961 recording, "Lost Someone", was sung by Brown alone, the song was credited as a Famous Flames recording and featured Byrd and fellow member Lloyd Stallworth as co-writers, and Byrd also played organ on the recording .

Although the passing of time, and attempts made by certain groups and individuals to re-write history, (not to mention many uninformed DeeJays nationwide) who have in recent years unfairly tended to credit James Brown as the sole artist on their songs, it should be made clear that they were recorded and made hits by the entire group, "James Brown and The Famous Flames",. These were the songs that established Brown's career, and they were recorded by all of them ...not just him. The Famous Flames were a "group", and Brown was initially just one of the members...just like all of the rest. In addition, claims made by uninformed individuals that the Famous Flames were a "band" or were backup musicians are also incorrect . The Famous Flames were a singing group . The "band" was the James Brown Orchestra...a totally separate entity from The Famous Flames.

The early songs, most of which Byrd participated with the exception of "Try Me", featured Byrd and contributed a great deal to establishing his career before he finally became a full-fledged solo artist with the release of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in 1965. Though Brown asserted himself as the full-fledged leader, he was still just a member of the group until the group left him in 1968. In addition, it was Byrd, who later saved Brown's career numerous times, starting with him returning to the Famous Flames at Brown's request after the group's initial breakup in 1957,helping him to coach the re-formed group,and also re-joining them at that point, and later hiring Bootsy and Phelps Collins to back Brown up in 1970 and co-produced the hit recording, "Sex Machine", later helping with other artists on People Records. 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 Bobby 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.