The Brothers Johnson

The Brothers Johnson
General information
Genre (s)	Funk , disco , R&B
founding	1975
Founding members
Vocals , guitar	George Johnson
Bass , vocals	Louis Johnson

The Brothers Johnson were an American radio - and disco - duo , which recorded several successful albums in the second half of the 1970s.

history

The brothers George (born May 17, 1953 in Los Angeles ) and Louis Johnson (born April 13, 1955 in Los Angeles; † May 21, 2015) founded their first band, Johnson Three Plus One, in which their older one was at school Brother Tommy and her cousin Alex Weir played along. The band accompanied artists such as Bobby Womack and The Supremes on their concert tours. Johnson Three Plus One broke up in 1971 when George and Louis Johnson joined Billy Preston's backing band . Weir later worked as a guitarist with Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club .

When George and Louis Johnson left Preston's band in 1973, they were already established songwriters and session musicians . In 1974 they played in Quincy Jones ' band on his US tour. Jones became a mentor to the Johnson brothers. They played on his 1975 album Mellow Madness , to which they also contributed four compositions.

In 1976 Quincy Jones signed the Johnson Brothers to the A&M Records label . He produced her debut album Look Out for # 1 , which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and topped the R&B album chart. In the same year, her single I'll Be Good to You reached # 1 on the R&B charts and # 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 .

In 1977 the album Right on Time followed with the top 5 hit Strawberry Letter 23 . That of Shuggie Otis written title was later several times as a sample used in other titles, including the single Ms. Jackson by OutKast . The Brothers Johnson received a Grammy for the instrumental track Q in 1978 . While Right on Time only reached number 2 on the R&B album charts, The Brothers Johnson succeeded in 1978 with their third album, Blam !! another number one hit.

The 1980 album Light Up the Night was the last collaboration between The Brothers Johnson and Quincy Jones. The release Stomp! became the band's biggest hit, in addition to a number one placement in the R&B and dance charts, the title reached top 10 placements on the Billboard Hot 100 , the UK charts and in Norway . The title was also the only number one hit for the Johnson Brothers in New Zealand and also the only hit in the German single charts (number 24). Another notable feature of Light Up the Night was the composition This Had to Be , which the Johnson brothers wrote with Michael Jackson . Jackson can also be heard in the background.

The Brothers Johnson couldn't repeat the success of Light Up the Light with their first self-produced album, Winners , released in 1981 . Due to the participation of the Toto musicians Jeff Porcaro (drums), Steve Porcaro (synthesizers), Steve Lukather (guitars) and David Paich (keyboards), the album had become much more rock-heavy. A year later the brothers separated to realize solo projects. Louis Johnson released a gospel album and became a sought-after bassist as a guest musician. He worked on Michael Jackson's albums Off the Wall , Thriller and Dangerous as well as Aretha Franklin's Through the Storm . George Johnson also worked as a session musician, among others for Steve Arrington .

During the 1980s there were repeated reunions of the brothers. In 1984 Leon Sylvers produced the album Out of Control , followed in 1988 by the album Kickin ' , with which the brothers missed a chart position. In addition, Louis and George Johnson continued to be active as composers together. In 1989 she co-wrote with Siedah Garrett titled Tomorrow for Quincy Jones' album Back on the block on which Jones also with Ray Charles and Chaka Khan the Brothers Johnson Title I'll Be Good to You gecovert had.

After The Brothers Johnson only appeared occasionally together in the 1990s, a longer joint tour followed in the United States in 2002.

Discography

Albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	UK	US	R&B
1976	Look Out for # 1 A&M 4567	-	-	US9 platinum (49 weeks)US	R&B1 (38 weeks) R&B	First published: February 1976 Producer: Quincy Jones
1977	Right on Time A&M 4644	-	-	US13 platinum (31 weeks)US	R&B2 (32 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1977 Producer: Quincy Jones
1978	Shame !! A&M 4714	-	UK48 (8 weeks) UK	US7th platinum (24 weeks)US	R&B1 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1978 Producer: Quincy Jones
1980	Light Up the Night A&M 3716	-	UK22 (12 weeks) UK	US5 platinum (30 weeks)US	R&B1 (32 weeks) R&B	First published: February 1980 Producer: Quincy Jones
1981	Winners A&M 3724	-	UK42 (2 weeks) UK	US48 (13 weeks) US	R&B10 (16 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1981 Producer: The Brothers Johnson
1983	Blast !: The Latest and the Greatest A&M 4927	-	-	US138 (5 weeks) US	R&B23 (14 weeks) R&B	First published: December 1982 A-side: new tracks / B-side: Greatest Hits Producers: George Johnson, Louis Johnson / Quincy Jones
1984	Out of Control A&M 4965	-	-	US91 (11 weeks) US	R&B20 (15 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1984 Producers: The Brothers Johnson, Keg Johnson , Leon Sylvers, George Johnson, Hawk Wolinski

More albums

• 1988: Kickin ' (A&M 5162)
• 2004: Strawberry Letter 23 Live (live album; Cleopatra 1435)

Compilations

• 1984: Stomp! The Brothers Johnson's Greatest Hits
• 1987: Classics Volume 11
• 1994: Funkadelia
• 1996: Greatest Hits
• 1998: The Best of the Brothers Johnson
• 2000: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Brothers Johnson
• 2001: Classic
• 2003: The Very Best of the Brothers Johnson / Strawberry Letter 23
• 2009: Best of Funk (Live-DVD)
• 2011: Recorded Live: SOUL
• 2013: Stomp: The Best of the Brothers Johnson (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	UK	US	R&B	Dance
1975	Is It Love That We're Missin ' Mellow Madness	-	-	US70 (10 weeks) US	R&B18 (13 weeks) R&B	-	First release: September 1975 Quincy Jones feat. The Brothers Johnson Authors: Debbie Smith, George Johnson
1976	I'll Be Good to You Look Out for # 1	-	-	US3 gold (16 weeks)US	R&B1 (17 weeks) R&B	-	First published: April 1976 Authors: George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Senora Sam
	Get the Funk Out Ma Face Look Out for # 1	-	-	US30 (15 weeks) US	R&B4 (14 weeks) R&B	Dance15 (1 week) Dance	First published: August 1976 Authors: George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones
	Free and Single Look Out for # 1	-	-	-	R&B25 (10 weeks) R&B	-	First published: November 1976 George Johnson, Louis Johnson
1977	Strawberry Letter 23 Right on Time	-	UK35 (5 weeks) UK	US5 gold (19 weeks)US	R&B1 (19 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1977 Author and original: Shuggie Otis , 1971
	Runnin 'for Your Lovin' Right on Time	-	-	-	R&B20 (12 weeks) R&B	-	First published: October 1977 George Johnson, Louis Johnson
1978	Love is right on time	-	-	-	R&B50 (7 weeks) R&B	-	First published: February 1978 George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones, Peggy Jones
	Ain't We Funkin 'Now Blam !!	-	UK43 (6 weeks) UK	-	R&B45 (8 weeks) R&B	-	First published: August 1978 George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones
	Ride-O-Rocket Blam !!	-	UK50 (4 weeks) UK	-	R&B45 (9 weeks) R&B	-	First published: September 1978 Authors: Ashford & Simpson
1980	Stomp! Light up the night	DE24 (14 weeks) DE	UK6 (12 weeks) UK	US7 (19 weeks) US	R&B1 (18 weeks) R&B	Dance1 (22 weeks) Dance	First published: February 1980 George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Valerie Johnson, Rod Temperton
	Light Up the Night Light Up the Night	-	UK47 (4 weeks) UK	-	R&B16 (11 weeks) R&B	-	First published: May 1980 Authors: George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Rod Temperton
	Treasure Light Up the Night	-	-	US73 (4 weeks) US	R&B36 (10 weeks) R&B	-	First published: July 1980 Author: Rod Temperton
1981	The Real Thing Winners	-	UK50 (3 weeks) UK	US67 (6 weeks) US	R&B11 (14 weeks) R&B	-	First published: June 1981 Authors: George Johnson, Louis Johnson
	Dancin 'Free Winners	-	-	-	R&B51 (9 weeks) R&B	-	First published: September 1981 Author: Louis Johnson
1982	Welcome to the Club Blast!	-	-	-	R&B13 (11 weeks) R&B	-	First published: November 1982 Authors: Louis Johnson, Valerie Johnson
1983	I'm Giving You All My Love Blast!	-	-	-	R&B75 (5 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1983 Authors: George Johnson, Eddie Noble
1984	You Keep Me Coming Back Out of Control	-	UK77 (3 weeks) UK	-	R&B12 (15 weeks) R&B	Dance22 (7 weeks) Dance	First published: June 1984 Authors: Dana Marshall, Leon Sylvers, Rickey Smith, Wardell Potts Jr.
1988	Kick it to the curb kickin '	-	-	-	R&B52 (9 weeks) R&B	-	First published: March 1988 Authors: George Johnson, Irene Cara

More singles

• 1976: Sometimes ( Lesley Gore feat. The Brothers Johnson; Release: June)
• 1979: It's You Girl (release: February)
• 1984: Lovers Forever (release: November)
• 1988: Party Avenue (released June)

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE  UK  US  R&B Number one albums DE-DE UK-UK US-US R&B3R&B Top 10 albums DE-DE UK-UK US3US R&B5R&B Albums in the charts DE-DE UK3UK US7thUS R&B7thR&B

DE  UK  US  R&B  Dance Number one singles DE-DE UK-UK US-US R&B3R&B Dance1Dance Top 10 singles DE-DE UK1UK US3US R&B4thR&B Dance1Dance Singles in the charts DE1DE UK7thUK US7thUS R&B18thR&B Dance3Dance

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	2 × gold2	4 × platinum4th	6,000,000	riaa.com
All in all	2 × gold2	4 × platinum4th

literature

• Frank Laufenberg, Ingrid Laufenberg: Frank Laufenberg's rock and pop lexicon . ECON Taschenbuch Verlag, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-612-26206-8 .

swell

1. ↑ http://www.drfunkenberry.com/2015/05/22/bass-legend-louis-johnson-of-the-brothers-johnson-passes-away/
2. ↑ David Nathan: Quincy Jones, The Producer . Billboard , Dec 16, 1995, p. 30.
3. ↑ Chart placements on hitparade.ch, accessed on June 28, 2010.
4. ^ The New York Times : POP FUNK: BROTHERS JOHNSON , Nov. 1, 1981.
5. ^ The Washington Post : Oh Brothers , Feb.15, 2002.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE UK Billboard Hot 100 Billboard 200
7. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
8. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .
9. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7 .

Web links

Commons : The Brothers Johnson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The Brothers Johnson at Allmusic (English)
• The Brothers Johnson at Discogs (English)