"I Know You Got Soul" - Fred Wesley

"I Know You Got Soul" (PDF) by Bobby Byrd from the album James Brown’s Funky People (Part 2).

(2021 revision) :
Bobby Byrd was “The Arbiter of Soul.” As a gospel singer in Georgia and the leader of The Famous Flames, Byrd saw a spark within the troubled teenager who became James Brown. Their first hit, “Please, Please, Please” was followed by the group’s confirmation, Live at the Apollo. Upon his return to the James Brown organization in 1970, Byrd hired the Collins brothers on a whim to create the legendary Polydor-era funk sound. “Get on up!”

Mr. Brown’s “sideman” also established People Records to shine the spotlight on other members of the organization, such as Lyn Collins, The J.B.s, and his solo work. In 1971, Byrd recorded “I Know You Got Soul” with, most likely, Brown providing the background vocals and Fred Wesley on trombone. The recording’s success was cemented for being sampled in some of hip hop’s greatest works.

And when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Byrd was tuned into the soul music revival happening throughout Europe, and he organized the reunion tours that would sustain The J.B.s’ career into the twenty-first century.

Here is a YouTube video of Bobby Byrd with The J.B. All Stars featuring a Fred Wesley solo. “I Know You Got Soul” begins around the 5:30 mark:

Recommended Reading: Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman by Fred Wesley Jr. Published by Duke University Press.