Table of Contents

4 – Funk

In 1967, James Brown started a revolution in music and rhythm.  He gave the drums the most important role of the song and basically turned the entire band into a drum set (or machine, if you will).

A) Funk Influences

1 – Soul – Soul veterans like Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye had several masterpiece albums each,

2 – Psychedelic Soul – A new revamped Temptations with masterpiece songs like “Papa was a Rolling Stone”, Isaac Hayes had “Theme from Shaft”.

B) Funk Pioneers

Starting off with James Brown, there came in rapid succession and almost all at once Sly & the Family Stone, George Clinton and Funkadelic, these three first artists I refer to as the “Funk Triumvirate”.

1 – James Brown-  On the One – The rhythm concept of funk. James Brown changed the emphasis of the pulse from a backbeat to emphasizing the “One” of each 4 or 8-bar measure.

2 –  Sly & the Family Stone

3- George Clinton

A – Funkadelic

B – Parliament

c – P-Funk

4 –  Other Funk Pioneer Bands – There were newcomers Dyke & the Blazers, War (starting off with Eric Burdon from the Animals), The JB’s (James Browns back up band featuring Fred Wesley & Maceo Parker and related artists like Bobby Byrd and Lynn Collins),  and another important band made up of session players the Meters helped to shape the new genre,

C) Mainstream Funk

Then other bands went on to turn Funk into the pop music of the day in the early 70s with acts like Al Green, the Dramatics,  Kool & the Gang, Average White Band, the Soul Searchers the Commodores and Heatwave.

1 – Funky Bass – The bass guitar became more innovative during this period and would change the sound of modern music and the role of the bass guitar as a lead, forever.

2 – Funk Influence

a – Mainstream Rock –

b – Disco –

c –  Hip Hop

3 – Major Funk Acts – in Tower of Power, Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Earth Wind & Fire.

D) Modern Funk Music