The Famous Flames
The Famous Flames | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | The Avons, The Toccoa Band, The Flames, James Brown and The Famous Flames, James Brown and His Famous Flames, The Fabulous Flames |
Origin | Toccoa, Georgia, U.S. |
Genres | Rhythm and blues, soul, funk |
Years active | 1953–1968 |
Labels | Federal, King, Smash |
Past members | James Brown Bobby Byrd Johnny Terry Sylvester 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 |
The Famous Flames were an American rhythm and blues, soul vocal group[1] 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 in a professional recording, "Please, Please, Please", in 1956.
On hit songs such as "
The Famous Flames are sometimes erroneously identified as James Brown's "band",
History
Origins
James Brown began singing with the R&B group the Cremona Trio while growing up in
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.[13]
Around this time, Byrd had formed the gospel vocal group, the Gospel Starlighters.[14] 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.[11] Later in 1954, the Avons faced a tragedy when Troy Collins died in a car accident.[11] 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,[11] 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.[11] Under their manager, Barry Tremier, the group began playing instruments, with Brown playing drums and Byrd the piano.[11]
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.[15] While performing at his club in Macon, Georgia, Clint Brantley (agent for Little Richard)[16] advised the group to add "Famous" to their name.[11] 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" 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. Constantly performing the song while the group toured 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.[18][19] 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".[11] 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.[11] 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.[20] At this point, The Famous Flames became a vocal group exclusively, with no instrumental members...as Brown had hired the JC Davis outfit as his instrumental backup band.
Success
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2014) |
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 "
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 "
In 1964, the group recorded another successful live album,
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.[27][28] As a result, Brown signed a contract with Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury to distribute the records[29] and Brown released 8 albums from Smash Records.[29] 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[30] 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".[31]
The group performed in Hollywood movies such as
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.[36] 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."[37] However, elsewhere he referred to them favorably as "a bunch of real fine quartet singers".[38]
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[39][40] and felt the matter was more due to issues with Universal than with Brown.[41]
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 controversy and 2012 induction
In 1986, the first committee of the
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
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".[48][49][50][51]
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.[52] 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
In May 2012, the oldies music magazine Goldmine inducted James Brown & The Famous Flames into their first class of The Goldmine Hall of Fame.[55]
Lineup
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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[56]
- 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)[57]
- "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)[58][59]
- Goldmine (magazine) Hall of Fame – James Brown & The Famous Flames (Inducted 2012)[60]
- 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) [61]
- "Rhythm and Blues Foundation" Pioneer Award - (Bobby Byrd alone) - 1998.
- "National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame" The Famous Flames (Inducted 2020) [44](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)[62]
- Billboard – "Try Me" – James Brown & The Famous Flames
See also
References
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- ^ "BBC Arts - BBC Arts, James Brown: Dynamite Soul". BBC.
- ^ a b ""I Feel Good" | James Brown & The Famous Flames (1965)". YouTube. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Adds Six Backing Groups to the Class of 2012". Rolling Stone. February 9, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^ "The Famous Flames Biography". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- ^ "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
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- ^ Obituary: James Brown. (December 25, 2006). BBC News. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ "Get On Up True Story vs. Movie - Real James Brown, Bobby Byrd". HistoryvsHollywood.com.
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- ^ White 1985, p. 231.
- ^ Merlis, Bob; Seay, Davin; James, Etta (1997), p. foreword. Heart and Soul – A Celebration of Black Music Style in America 1930–1975. Stewart Tabori & Chang.
- ^ White 1991, p. 55.
- ISBN 9781615300563. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Louis Madison : The Fleetingly Famous Flame" (PDF). Opalnations.com. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ "Two Five & J". Vmsoul.com. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ Wolk, Douglas. (2004)
- ^ "American Bandstand: AB-1276: James Brown & The Famous Flames". TV.com. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ Live at the Apollo, 30–31. New York: Continuum Books.
- ^ "Famous Flame Bobby Bennett recalls life with James Brown". Goldminemag.com. August 3, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "James Brown And His Orchestra – Out of Sight". 45cat.com. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "James Brown". History-of-rock.com. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
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- ^ "James Brown | Biography & History". AllMusic.
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- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "The Famous Flames: James Brown was their leader, but they were R&B legends, too (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2012)". Cleveland.com. April 6, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ '00s Grits & Soul (December 4, 2015). "James Brown ed sullivan show 1966". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Brown, James, with Bruce Tucker. James Brown: The Godfather of Soul (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986), 149.
- ^ Hirshey, Gerri (1994). Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music. Cambridge: Da Capo Press.
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- ^ "The FAMOUS FLAMES !!! James Brown's Original Singing Group 1953–1968 in Top of the Charts Forum". Ourrockandrollhalloffame71305.yuku.com. March 26, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "BUSHES UPDATING THE ADAMS FAMILY". Nydailynews.com. November 27, 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ "2012 Hall of Fame Inductee Bobby Bennett of the Famous Flames". YouTube. Retrieved January 9, 2002.
- ^ "2012 Group Inductions". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2002.
- ^ a b "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
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- ^ The Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 15, 2012, Page A-13
- ^ "Smokey Robinson Inducts The Famous Flames at the 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021.
- ^ YouTube.com.Rock and Roll Hall Induction Ceremony, April 14, 2012
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- ^ "Miss Rhythm: The Autobiography of Ruth Brown", pg 328 .
- ^ "Mick Jagger – Talks James Brown Movie 'Get on Up' – MSNBC 3-6-14". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
- ^ "Get on Up Official Trailer (2014) James Brown Biopic HD". YouTube. March 13, 2014. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
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- ^ "Amazing: Music". Amazon.com. January 29, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
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- ^ "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Rocklistmusic.co.uk.
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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.