Personnel :
Louis Madison
J.W. Archer
Willie "Snake" Johnson
Bill Hollings
Several members came and went over the next several months, including Willie Johnson , Big Bill Hollings, J.W.Archer, Louis Madison and others. One of the bigger bust-ups occurred in the spring of 1959. Hollings, Madison and Archer, who had sung on 'Try Me', had a big confusion out in Oakland, California following a show at the Oakland auditorium at which they opened for Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, and Hank Ballard & the Midnighters and James Brown left 'em all out there. The then-Flames claimed that Brown refused to pay them, while Brown claimed it was because of alcohol and drug use on the road.
It led to one of the many confusing backwaters of Famous Flames discography Of the marooned ex-Flames, Madison was the busier, forming a group called The Fabulous Flames . They recorded three singles in 1959 for the Bay-Tone, a San Franciscan outlet started by Bradley Taylor. Either way, they were fired by Brown, who, by this time, had assumed full literal and financial control of the Famous Flames following the departure of group founder Bobby Byrd.
Lloyd was recruited as a replacement member of the group one year later, along with Bobby Bennett, and returning members Bobby Byrd and Johnny Terry.These men, along with Brown, became the permanent Famous Flames lineup.