How the hell would I know? I’m just a white boy/girl with no rythym.
Other, please explain.
0voters
I admit – I’m just a white boy from the 'burbs. I’m about as funky as Mister Rogers. So I’d be curious to hear from some funky forumosans: who’s the funkiest musician of all time and what’s the greatest funk album?
Parliament: Mothership Connection
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain
James Brown: Live at the Apollo II
Herbie Hancock: Head Hunters
Bootsie Collins: Back in the Day
Rick James: Ultimate Collection
Ohio Players: Fire
Commodores: Commodores
Rufus & Chaka Khan; Kool & the Gang; Earth Wind & Fire; Brothers Johnson; Prince . . .
Edit: Oops, I can’t edit the poll. Parliament/Funkadelic should also include George Clinton. And unfortunately, if I can’t edit the poll I can’t add obvious choices that i omitted, which you will hopefully bring to my attention.
So, what’s your pick for best artist – best album?
Wow, and I thought I was picking some oldies. You guys must be ancient.
Sly and the Family Stone? Not for me. Too cheery and peppy like the soundtrack to a 1970 musical and not all that FUNKy if you ask me. As for “Everyday People,” if I never hear that song again I won’t miss it (although that’s true of most songs that have been played a billion times on the radio). But music is subjective. I know Sly had his fans.
As for Joe Tex and Archie Drell, yes, great and influential musicians and they definitely deserve plenty of credit, but my grandmother was probably listening to them. Surely music has gotten funkier in the decades since they shuffled off to their retirement homes.
Take George Clinton and Parliament, for instance. Heck, even the names of their songs and albums were funky: Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication, Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples, Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome. And the music. They make your old-timers seem as funky as Pete Seeger.
Or James Brown. Joe Tex might have preceded his grunting, but James Browwwwwn got it down to an art form. Or Rick James with Super Freak and the Commodores with Brick House – damn those songs were funky.
And Herbie Hancock. Sure, he just plays the keyboard, doesn’t dance around in a fancy outfit, grind his hips and talk nasty, but he’s a genius whose impact on jazz was immense, particularly with his incredibly funky album “Headhunters,” which I might nominate for funkiest album of all time. But, I have limited knowledge of the genre and am very interested in your views.
How about The Meters? One of the pioneers of Funk, from New Orleans (I wonder how they fared wrt Katrina). Outstanding rythym, and their sound includes a little bit of everything from America’s rich musical heritage, with special emphasis on that Southern southern sound.
Or you must be in diapers. Given the ageist slant, maybe even a Taiwanese new jack (where “old” is a codeword for “not so good.”).
Archie BELL (not Drell, which kinda proves that maybe you don’t know much ‘bout whatya talkin’ bout, Willis) still performs.
Such dismissive statements further lead me to believe you couldn’t identify a Joe Tex classic without having to look it up.
Um, George Clinton is OLDER than Archie BELL.
I adore P-Funk. However, most people celibrating them tend to know ONLY them. Most fresh out of uni types with little in terms of deep appreciation for music in general, let alone funk would overlook such a fact. Just a bunch of misguided notions about “old” as in “bad,” or “passe.”
Kinda reminds me of the poser punks who’d throw around “hardcore” and spite the likes of the Dead Boys, Ramones or X - even though they pretty much created the genre on their own.
I believe, “cutting off one’s nose to spite their face,” and, “missing the forrest for the trees,” both apply here.
No disrespect to Brown’s legacy, but being more commercially successful does not mean the same as “getting it down to an art form,” since Brown’s dancing, 'hey," and “grunting” and style are totally lifted from Joe Tex, with brown having acknowledged so several times. Then again, if you knew that you wouldn’t have made such a silly statement in the first place…
Oh yes, the urban FM radio rotation has “educated” you about funk… :loco:
Clearly!
It’s good that you like what you like, but there is much more for you to learn.
Frankly, there hasn’t been a good funk outfit in 20 years. Many try, the more successful are great imitations that are worth enjoying, but few innovate anymore. Why go for a knockoff when you can go back and enjoy the real deals for the same price…?
I admitted that I’m no expert on funk not because I wanted to get bashed for my views, but because I meant it and was curious to hear others’ views.
You act as though I bashed Joe Tex and Archie Bell, but in fact I agreed with your mention of them and said. …
You also bash me for ignorance of Joe Tex, pointing out that. . .
I’ve got no quarrel with that at all. I admitted as much before:
Anyway I didn’t wish to argue. Just curious for some discussion. I also acknowledged before that musical taste is subjective and I appreciate your views. Heck, even Sandman can pitch in with his vote for the Average White Band (they were Scottish, weren’t they?), though that might be pushing the line of subjectivity.
Well, James Brown is a prophet. George Clinton, Parliament, Boostie Collins are all top choices as well. I’ve never actually listened to a funk album, so I couldn’t say what the best one was. All my funk I got from the radio, mix tapes and now the net. Graham Central Station also produced some good funk.
James Brown last night . . . the man . . . I’m speachless . . he is so brilliant in fact that after playing Living in America, I swear it suddenly all made sense; I’ll never rubbish that country again . . .
Apparently when he met my company’s head of marketting after getting off the plane, the first thing he said was, “can you get me a Chinese ho and a bag of weed?” My only regeret is he didn’t he ask me.
