Brothers Johnson

The Brothers Johnson
Brothers Johnson in 1976
Background information
Also known as	Brothers Johnson
Origin	Los Angeles, United States
Genres	R&B, funk, Motown
Years active	1975–1982, 1984–2015
Labels	A&M, Capitol
Associated acts	Passage, David Diggs, Quincy Jones, Billy Preston
Members	George Johnson
Past members	Alex Weir Richard Heath Bobby Rodriguez Wayne Vaughn Ricky Lawson Richard Diamond Michael "Patches" Stewart Michael Perkins Malcolm Robinson Mark Johnson Louis Johnson (deceased) Arthur Arnold

The Brothers Johnson were an American funk, Motown and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). 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!").

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. 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 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 (#9 US) 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 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.