Bobby Byrd’s “I Know You Got Soul” is one of the many, many Funky Bboy tracks from James Brown’s original mentor and leader of The Famous Flames, James Brown’s first outfit that later launched the Godfather of Soul to fame.
Whether you’ve heard the original “I Know You Got Soul” or just samples in various Hip-hop jams over the years, this is an undisputed standard in Bboy Music:
While Bobby Byrd is often overlooked and overshadowed by the high profile career and story of James Brown, Byrd was in fact the enabler of James Brown’s career.
After years of disputes over royalties, especially after so many Classic Hip-hop tracks featuring samples of Bobby Byrd’s voice, i.e. “I Know You Got Soul” by Eric B & Rakim, as well as every track that sampled Lyn Collins’ seminal “Think About It”, in which Bobby Byrd was the voice of many key samples.
Rest in Peace to Bobby Byrd, who passed away in 2007. From a Washington Post obituary:
Bobby Byrd, 73, a singer, pianist and songwriter credited with discovering James Brown and who was one of his most important collaborators for two decades, died Sept. 12 at his home in Loganville, Ga. He had lung cancer.
Without Mr. Byrd, it has been asserted by some music scholars, Brown might not have become famous beyond the walls of a Georgia youth detention facility, much less become the “godfather of soul.” Mr. Byrd was dubbed by some “the godfather’s godfather.”
In the early 1950s, Mr. Byrd’s family helped secure Brown’s early release from a juvenile detention facility in Georgia. The Byrds provided a home for Brown, who hitched himself to Mr. Byrd’s gospel group, which morphed into a much more secular vocal band. The Famous Flames were led by Brown, who strutted his way to international funk stardom as the “hardest-working man in show business.”
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