The Brothers Johnson

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Brothers Johnson
Born = birth date |1953|5|17| ( George ) birth date |1955|4|13| ( Louis )


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Los Angeles, California
Instrument = bass guitar / electric guitar
Genre = R&B
Funk
Occupation =
Years_active = 1975 – Present
Label = A&M Records
Associated_acts = Passage / David Diggs / Quincy Jones / Billy Preston
URL =
Current_members = George Johnson
Louis Johnson
Past_members = Alex Weir
Richard Heath
Wayne Vaughn
Ricky Lawson
Richard Diamond
Michael "Patches" Stewart
Michael Perkins
Malcolm Robinson
Mark Johnson (not a relative)
Notable_instruments = Bass guitar
Guitar
Drum
Keyboard
Synthesizers
URL = [http://www.louisjohnson.net/ www.louisjohnson.net] Site Co-opted as of 9/08)

The Brothers Johnson is a band consisting of American musicians, and brothers, George ('Lightnin' Licks') and Louis Johnson ('Thunder Thumbs').

Career

Guitarist/vocalist George and bassist/vocalist Louis formed the band Johnson Three Plus One with older brother Tommy, and their cousin Alex Weir, while attending school in Los Angeles, California [ [http://www.discomuseum.com/BrothersJohnson.html The DiscoMuseum] ] . When they became professionals, the band backed such touring R&B acts as Bobby Womack and the Supremes. George and Louis Johnson later joined Billy Preston's band, and wrote "Music in My Life" and "The Kids and Me" for him before leaving his group in 1973. In 1976, The Brothers covered the Beatles' song, "Hey Jude", for the ephemeral musical documentary "All This and World War II".

Quincy Jones hired them to play on his LP "Mellow Madness", and recorded four of their songs, including "Is It Love That We're Missing?" and "Just a Taste of Me".

After touring with various artists like Bobby Womack and Billy Preston, Quincy Jones hired them for a tour in Japan and produced their debut album "Look Out For #1", released in March 1976 (#9 U.S.) Their "Right On Time" album was released in May 1977 and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 200. "Blam!!" came out in August 1978 and reached number 7 on the Billboard 200.

Two of the duo's songs were featured on the soundtrack of the 1976 film "Mother, Jugs & Speed". The instrumental track "Thunder Thumbs and Lightnin' Licks" refers to the brothers' nicknames and is a first-rate piece of funk. "Get the Funk Out Ma Face" was cowritten with Quincy Jones and is another hard-hitting funk romp.

Their popular album "Light Up The Night" was released in March 1980 and rose to number 5 on the Billboard 200. It was number 46 on the "Top 100 LPs of 1980" list in "Rolling Stone Magazine". The subsequent album, "Winners", was self-produced by the brothers and released in July 1981, but was less successful, going only as high as number 48 on the Billboard 200.

Among their most popular songs are "I'll Be Good to You" (Billboard Hot 100 #3 in 1976), "Strawberry Letter 23" (Hot 100 #5 in 1977), "Ain't We Funkin' Now" (1978), and "Stomp!" (Hot 100 #7 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play #1 in 1980). Their styles include funk, disco, and R&B ballads. The duo split up in 1982.

They started doing separate ventures; Louis Johnson played bass on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and recorded a gospel music album in 1981 with his own group Passage, including his then-wife Valerie Johnson and former Brothers Johnson percussionist/singer, Richard Heath; whilst George Johnson released one single in 1985, titled "Back Against The Wall", on Quincy Jones's own Qwest label. There seems to be a complete recorded but unreleased-album from that recording-session, which George himself confirmed when he and Louis were interviewed around 1987/1988 for the Blues & Soul magazine in the United Kingdom (see link below). Louis recorded a single in 1985 called "Kinky", released on Capitol Records. The track appears on his "Evolution" album, which was only released in Europe around the same year. Louis then started to register his bass skills on video, and accomplished about 3 instructional lesson-tapes for the Starlicks video-distribution company, from which the first release was also in 1985. He continued this initiative by starting his bass academy during the 1990s and giving workshop clinics to this day, via his own website. George delivered furthermore guitar work for Steve Arrington's album "Dancing In The Key Of Life" (1985), and ad-libbed vocals on the track "Think Back And Remember" from the "Galaxian" album by the Jeff Lorber Fusion, released in 1981 on Arista Records.

Leon Sylvers produced their 1984 return LP "Out of Control"; it did not equal their past success, but got them another R&B hit with "You Keep Me Coming Back". They recorded "Kickin"' in 1988, and co-wrote "Tomorrow" with Siedah Garrett for Quincy Jones' "Back on the Block" release. The album-title of the "Kickin" project was a collaboration with Irene Cara, who was then their neighbor.

In between those two albums, both George and Louis appeared on the "Street Shadows" album of keyboard-player/arranger David Diggs, who formerly provided horn and string arrangements for albums like "Winners", "Blast", and the "Passage" project of Louis. "Last Night", the opening track on that David Diggs album, shows George's versatility to perform on the bass guitar as well. He previously showed his bass skills on tracks like "Teaser" from "Winners" and "The Great Awaking" from "Blast", the same way that Louis shows his guitar skills on various compositions of the sibling duo.

In addition, Quincy Jones remade "I'll Be Good to You" in 1989, with Ray Charles and Chaka Khan, which also appeared on "Back on the Block".

The reunion tour

Besides a brief appearance of the brothers in Japan around 1994, and George making a guest-appearance in the 1990s on a concert in Japan (including a released double-CD) of the Graham Central Station, the duo launched an expanded US tour in 2002 which got good and wide exposure. It was visited by many fans and various artists in the entertainment business.Along with a website and discussion-forum, online visitors could share their experiences of the shows by reliving the hey-days of Funkadelala and wander through the Land of Ladies.A few years after that, a combi-release of live-CD + DVD came on the market under the name of "Strawberry Letter 23 : Live".

Until recently, the brothers have been doing performances on their own. In 2006, Louis gave a duo-show with a drummer, on the "Poetry In Motion 1 Festival", Maryland. In late 2007, George performed with his own band at a Detroit-Festival, including a persona called Sir Nose.George also performs these days with a special band, including Adina Howard, Cherrelle, Ray Parker Jr., and a few more artists, which is an initiative of Michael Henderson.

Discography

Videography

*1977 - Right On Time
*1980 - Stomp
*1981 - The Real Thing
*1988 - Kick It To The Curb

ee also

*List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart
* [http://www.daviddiggs.com Official Site of David Diggs, horns/strings arranger for the Brothers Johnson and Passage]

External links

* [http://onamrecords.com/gallery/view/Brothers%20Johnson Brothers Johnson career on A&M Records with gallery, international discography]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Brothers+Johnson Brothers Johnson @ Discogs]
* [http://www.soulandfunkmusic.com/content/view/277/102/ Blues & Soul-interview 1987/1988]
* [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:iys9kezt7q7m Allmusic Entry]

References