Bobby Byrd

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bobby Byrd was an American soul and funk singer, pianist and songwriter from Toccoa, Georgia. He grew up in the church and from 1952 sang in the gospel group the Gospel Starlighters. At a baseball game in a juvenile detention centre he met the young James Brown. Byrd saw to it that his family supervised Brown's parole, and so began a partnership that would last until 1973.

Music and breakthrough

Byrd's group was by now called the Flames, and Brown first became the drummer and then the lead singer. As the Famous Flames they signed in 1956 with Federal, a subsidiary label of King Records. Their first record was Please, Please, Please. Between 1959 and 1964 hits followed such as Try Me, Think and Lost Someone, and the group appeared on the live album Live at the Apollo from 1963. On the records Brown's name stood out more and more, while Byrd and the others sang the backing vocals and responses.

Influence

In 1970 Byrd brought in the young Bootsy Collins, his brother Catfish and their band when Brown's regular musicians had walked out. With that new band Brown immediately recorded Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine. Byrd also made solo work, such as We Are in Love from 1965. His role was that of the steady partner next to the star: he discovered Brown, held the group together and helped lay the foundations of soul and funk. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Famous Flames. He died in 2007.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1988Finally Getting Paid
• 1993On the Move (I Can't Get Enough)

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 6: Fear of a Black Planet^NL Reader