Funk The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One

by Vincent, Rickey; Clinton, George

• ISBN13: 9780312134990
• ISBN10: 0312134991
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-04-15
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

Funk: It's the only musical genre ever to have transformed the nation into a throbbing army of bell-bottomed, hoop-earringed, rainbow-Afro'd warriors on the dance floor. Its rhythms and lyrics turned bleak urban realties inside out with distinctive, danceable, downright irresistable music. Funk hasn't received the critical attention that rock, jazz, and the blues have-until now. Colorful, intelligent, and in-you-face, Rickey Vincent's Funk celebrates the songs, the musicians, the philosophy, and the meaning of funk. The book spans from the early work of James Brown (the Godfather of Funk) through today, covering funky soul (Stevie Wonder, the Temptations), so-called "black rock" (Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, the Isely Brothers), jazz-funk (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock), monster funk (Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band), naked funk (Rick James, Gap Band), disco-funk (Chic, K.C. and the Sunshine Band), funky pop (Kook & the Gang, Chaka Khan), P-Funk Hip Hop (Digital Underground, De La Soul), funk-sampling rap (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre), funk rock (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus), and more. Funk tells a vital, vibrant history-the history of a uniquely American music born out of tradition and community, filled with energy, attitude, anger, hope, and an irrepressible spirit.

Author Biography

Rickey Vincent has written about music for Vibe, Mondo 2000, and elsewhere. An instructor at San Francisco State University, he is known among Bay Area funkateers as the Uhuru Maggot, thanks to his all-funk radio show on KPFA. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and son.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
George Clinton
Preface: On the One	xvii
PART 1---INTRODUCTION TO FUNK: THE BOMB
Introduction to Funk: The Bomb	3	(10)
Funk Music: Dance Wit Me	13	(10)
Myths About Funk: All That Is Good Is Nasty	23	(8)
Roots: Where'd You Get Your Funk From?	31	(16)
PART 2---THE ORIGINAL FUNK DYNASTY (1965-72): SLIPPIN' INTO DARKNESS
The 1960S: If 6 Was 9	47	(13)
The Rhythm Revolution: Tighten Up	60	(12)
The Godfather: Soul Power	72	(17)
The Family Stoned: I Wanna Take You Higher	89	(14)
PART 3---SEARCHING FOR THE FUNK: COME TOGETHER
Black Rock: Givin' it Back	103	(17)
Funky Soul: Express Yourself	120	(17)
Jazz-Funk Fusion: The Chameleon	137	(16)
PART 4---THE UNITED FUNK DYNASTY (1972-76): THE SHINING STAR
Power to the People: It's Just Begun	153	(13)
Those Funky Seventies: Livin' for the City	166	(12)
United Funk: The Shining Star	178	(27)
PART 5---THE P-FUNK DYNASTY (1976-79): ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE
Disco Fever: The (Real) Hustle	205	(11)
Dance Funk: Do You Wanna get Funky with Me?	216	(15)
The P-Funk Empire: Tear the Roof off the Sucker	231	(22)
The Metaphysics of P: The Mothership Connection	253	(14)
PART 6---THE NAKED FUNK DYNASTY (1980-87): DANCE, MUSIC, SEX...
Funk in the 1980s: Super Freaks	267	(19)
Hip Hop and Black Noise: Raising Hell	286	(19)
PART 7---THE HIP HOP NATION: AMERIKKKA'S MOST WANTED
Funk in the Nineties: Return of the Funk	305	(15)
Postscript on the Funk: Sons of the P	320	(43)
APPENDICES
Essential Funk Recordings	325	(22)
Sources and Notes	347	(16)
Index	363