Bobby Byrd was crucial to the career of James Brown, eventuating Brown's prison parole in the early 1950s, putting together Brown's first band, and working as his backing vocalist and co-writer. When original Brown vehicle the Famous Flames gave way to the funk-oriented JBs in the late '60s, the sole holdover was the stalwart singer/pianist/songwriter. Such key tracks in Brown's repertoire as “Sex Machine,” “Licking Stick,” and “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” bear Byrd's stamp. Byrd also scored a number of solo R&B hits from the mid-'60s through the early '70s, sampled years later by numerous hip-hop artists.