Funk

Funk is a vigorous African American style of music developed mainly by James Brown and his band members (especially Maceo and Melvin Parker) on the one hand and groups like The Meters on the other hand. In the 1970s, George Clinton developed a new kind of funk he termed P Funk. Other prominent representatives of the genre in the 1970s: Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, Ohio Players, The Commodores, War, Earth, Wind and Fire, Mass Production, Slave, Lakeside, and many more. In the 1980s, funk lost some of its audience as bands became more commercial and music more electronic. Today, hip hop artists regularly sample old funk tunes, sometimes for the purpose of waking them up to new recognition.

Funk can be best recognized by syncopated rhythm, thick bass line (often based on "on one" beat), razor-sharp rhythm guitars, yowlish vocals (as that of Cameo or Bar-Kays), strong rhythm-oriented brass section, percussion instruments, happiness in style, African tones, dance floor audience, and strong jazzy influences (e.g. as in Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Eddie Harries, and others).

Disco music owes a great deal to funk.

Most famous/typical funky songs of all time:

1. Commodores - "Brick House"
2. James Brown - "Sex Machine"
3. Parliament - "Give Up the Funk"
4. Earth, Wind and Fire - "Jupiter"
5. Ohio Players - "Fire"
6. Temptations - "Shakey Ground"
7. Tower of Power - "Love Bug"
8. Tower of Power - "This Is Hip"
9. Lakeside - "Fantastic Voyage"

Funk music was exported back to Africa in the mid to late 1960s, and melded with African singing and rhthyms to form Afrobeat.

Funk musicians:

• The Average White Band
• The Bar-Kays
• The Blackbyrds
• Bloodstone
• Bootsy's Rubber Band
• Brass Construction
• The Brecker Brothers
• Brick
• The Brides of Funkenstein
• The Brothers Johnson
• Brown, James
• B.T. Express
• Cameo
• Chaka Khan
• Chic
• The Commodores
• Con Funk Shun
• Dazz Band
• Donald Byrd
• Earth, Wind & Fire
• Eddie Hazel
• Fatback
• Funkadelic
• The Gap Band
• Graham Central Station
• Hancock, Herbie
• Hot Chocolate
• The Impressions
• The Isley Brothers
• Jackson, Michael
• Jimmy Castor
• Joe Tex
• Kool & the Gang
• LaBelle
• Lakeside
• Mandrill
• Mayfield, Curtis
• The Meters
• Morris Day
• The Neville Brothers
• Parker, Maceo
• Parlet
• Parliament
• Prince
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Rick James
• Slave
• The Temptations
• The Time
• Tower of Power
• Shuggie Otis
• Sly & the Family Stone
• War
• Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
• Wild Cherry
• Wonder, Stevie
• Zapp

Note: Despite its name, Grand Funk Railroad is not a funk band; it is a straight rock band.