warrrreagl

I want some FUNK all up in this thread. No disco. No R&B. No soul.

FUNK, baby. On the one.


EDIT: Uh oh. I just now noticed Woods' thread from last Fall (http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/tilted-...time-funk.html). Maybe a kindly old admin elf will come along and fold this thread into that one?

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Punk.of.Ages

Here's some newer funk from the five white boys that make up "The Aggrolites". They're mainly a reggae/ska band, but this is a pretty funky track.

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Baraka_Guru

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warrrreagl

Flashlight!

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Martian

The defining characteristic of funk music is, of course, the bass line. I've never taken the time to define what makes a bass line funky, but much like pornography I know it when I see it.

Now for some funky contributions:

Classic funk rock:

And one my soul brothers in the chat room may recognize:

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warrrreagl

The defining characteristic of funk is a beat that is "on the one" according to James Brown. Unlike R&B or soul, which emphasizes the backbeat pattern of 2 and 4, funk brings the entire band back together on the one - the first beat of every measure. Funk still utilizes the backbeat, but it also slams down hard on the one, which is what sets it apart from other music.

Bootsy and James Brown co-developed this type of feel, which Bootsy took to George Clinton when his career moved on in that direction, so you're exactly right about the bass line. At the same time Bootsy and JB were being innovative with their funk, Larry Graham independently created a similar "one the one" bass feel for Sly Stone, and funk split off into fantastic diversity.

But it still all comes back to the bass line and "on the one."

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