The Brothers Johnson
The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of the American brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs").[1] They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, with three singles topping the R&B charts ("I'll Be Good to You", "Strawberry Letter 23", and "Stomp!").[2]
The Brothers Johnson
Brothers Johnson
Los Angeles, California, United States
1975–1982, 1984–2015
George Johnson
Louis Johnson
Alex Weir
Richard Heath
Bobby Rodriguez
Wayne Vaughn
Ricky Lawson
Richard Diamond
Michael "Patches" Stewart
Michael Perkins
Malcolm Robinson
Mark Johnson
Arthur Arnold
Background[edit]
Formation[edit]
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.[3] 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 selections for his albums Music Is My Life and The Kids & Me before leaving his group in 1973.[2] In 1976, the Brothers covered the Beatles' song, "Hey Jude", for the 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 Missin'?" and "Just a Taste of Me".[2]
After touring with various artists including Bobby Womack and Billy Preston, they were hired by Quincy Jones for a tour in Japan and produced their debut album Look Out for #1, released in March 1976, which went to number 9 on the U.S. Billboard chart. Their Right on Time album was released in May 1977 and reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 200.[4] Blam!! came out in August 1978 and reached number 7 on the Billboard 200.[4]
Two of the band's songs were featured on the soundtrack of the 1976 film Mother, Jugs & Speed and one on the 1997 film Jackie Brown. The instrumental track "Thunder Thumbs and Lightnin' Licks" refers to the brothers' nicknames. "Get the Funk Out Ma Face" was cowritten with Quincy Jones.
Their popular album Light Up the Night was released in March 1980 and rose to #5 on the Billboard 200.[4] It was number 46 on the "Top 100 LPs of 1980" list in Rolling Stone. The brothers self-produced the subsequent album, Winners; released in July 1981, it only reached #48 on the Billboard 200.[4]
Among their most popular songs are "I'll Be Good to You" (Billboard Hot 100 #3 in 1976)[4] which prominently featured Syreeta Wright, "Strawberry Letter 23" (Hot 100 #5 in 1977, originally recorded by Shuggie Otis), "Ain't We Funkin' Now" (1978), and "Stomp!" (Hot 100 #7 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play #1 in 1980). Their styles include funk, and R&B ballads. Each album also included at least one instrumental cut that would either be considered light jazz ("Tomorrow", 1976; "Q", 1977; "Streetwave", 1978; "Smilin' On Ya", 1980; "Tokyo", 1984) or funk ("Thunder Thumbs & Lightnin' Licks", 1976; "Brother Man", 1977; "Mista' Cool", 1978; "Celebrations", 1980).
Louis' solo work[edit]
Louis Johnson recorded a gospel music album in 1981 with his own group Passage, which included his then-wife Valerie Johnson and former Brothers Johnson percussionist/singer Richard Heath. He played bass on Michael Jackson's Thriller.[2] In 1985 he recorded a single, "Kinky", on Capitol Records; it appears on his Evolution album which was exclusively released in Europe that year. Louis then made 3 instructional videotapes for the Starlicks video-distribution company in which he shared his bass-playing skills. The first was released in 1985. He then settled down to enjoy family life with his wife and son, but by 1988 his then-manager Diane Taren talked him into going back into the recording studio. He started his bass academy during the 1990s and gave workshop clinics via his own Website. Louis Johnson died on May 21, 2015, age 60.[2] His last performance was in 2013.
Tommy Johnson left the group and had a 29-year career with the LAFD.
George's solo work[edit]
George Johnson released one single in 1985, "Back Against the Wall", on Quincy Jones' own Qwest label. A complete album (recorded but unreleased) came from that session, as George confirmed when he and Louis were interviewed around 1987/88 for Blues & Soul Magazine in the United Kingdom (see link below). George also delivered guitar work for Steve Arrington's album Dancing in the Key of Life (1985) and had 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.