Bobby Byrd, a longtime James Brown collaborator and a co-founder of the Famous Flames, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Loganville, Ga. He was 73.

Mr. Byrd, one of the chief architects of the musical style that became known as the James Brown sound,made contributions that can be heard not only on the early Brown soul tracks but also on genre-bending songs such as Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, which became the blueprint for funk. In fact, the punctuating phrase "get on up," which repeats throughout that song, was in fact sung by Mr. Byrd.

Mr. Byrd's professional association with Brown began in 1953, when the Byrd family petitioned for Mr. Brown's parole from a Georgia juvenile correctional facility with the understanding that the soul singer would have a job and a home. Shortly thereafter, he began a gospel group with Mr. Byrd that quickly morphed into his first backing band, the Famous Flames.

Mr. Byrd stayed with the Famous Flames, and the JBs after that, until 1973. Later, he would have a string of modest R&B hits, and pioneering rap act Eric B. & Rakim would score a 1987 hit with a cover of his tune I Know You Got Soul.

In his later years, Mr. Byrd became closely associated with Brown once again. Brown often made public appearances with his former musical partner by his side, and Mr. Byrd was last seen in Augusta performing at James Brown Arena during Brown's memorial service.

Reach Steven Uhles at 706-823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com