It’s Your Thing!

Isley Brothers!!!

A FUNK MASTERPIECE ….VERY RARE FILMED PERFORMANCE

Bunch ‘O’ Funk

props to MOFUNK1… peep his youtube channel for a playlist of funky gems!!!

MOFUNK1

Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003) was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit “War”.

Starr was born Charles Edwin Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee in 1942. He and his cousins (soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher) moved to Cleveland, Ohio where they were raised.

In 1957, Starr formed a doo-wop group, The Future Tones, and began his singing career. Starr lived in Detroit, Michigan in the 1960s and recorded at first for the small record label Ric-Tic, and later for the famed Motown after it absorbed Ric-Tic in 1968.

Johnny “Guitar” Watson

Johnny “Guitar” Watson

(February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996)

His seminal blues album Gangster of Love was recorded in 1953 or ’54, and first released on Keen Records (his labelmates included Sam Cooke) in 1957. It was not especially heralded at the time—the title song in particular was deemed too fast, too raw, and too witty, especially compared to the likes of the then-kingpins of blues Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Watson’s ferocious “Space Guitar” of 1954 pioneered guitar feedback and reverb. Watson would later influence a subsequent generation of guitarists. Frank Zappa, for example, would cite Watson as one of his all-time favorite guitarists.

He toured and recorded with his friend Larry Williams, as well as Little Richard, Don & Dewey, The Olympics , Johnny Otis and, in the mid 1970′s with David Axelrod. He also played with Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert and George Duke. But as the popularity of blues declined and the era of soul music ascended in the 1960s, Watson, in his inimitable style, transformed himself from the southern blues singer with pompadour into the urban soul singer with pimp hat. He went all out – the gold teeth, broad-brimmed hats, fly suits, designer sunglasses, and ostentatious jewellery made him one of the most colorful figures in the West Coast funk circle.

He modified his music accordingly. His LPs Ain’t That a Bitch (from which the successful singles Superman Lover and I Need It were taken) and Real Mother For Ya were landmark recordings of ’70s funk. “Telephone Bill” (on Love Jones 1980) featured complex, rapid-fire lyrics that foreshadowed rap music. His subsequent LPs employed and popularized the modern “computer sound”

In his exhaustively researched book Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke (2005), Peter Guralnick claims that Watson was an actual pimp, as well as a performer. Watson himself, however, reportedly felt “ambivalent” about prostituting women, even though it “paid better” than music.

DOWNLOAD THE DELMOS COVER of

Johnny Guitar Watson’s Superman Lover!!!!

Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop Live 1973

Talk Box

A talk box is an effects device that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument. The musician controls the modification by lip syncing, or by changing the shape of their mouth. The effect can be used to shape the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto a musical instrument

Dexter Wansel

A keyboardist/producer/vocalist, Dexter Wansel was a major force in the explosion of the Philadelphia sound during the ’70s and’80s. He formed his first groups with Stanley Clarke during highschool. Wansel signed a solo deal with Philadelphia International Records in 1976 and the company issued his debut LP “Life on Mars”. The title cut was a favorite on the fusion circuit. Wansel recorded other LPs in the same style during the late ’70s. He is recognized for his impact as a writer, producer, conductor and arranger. He worked closely with M.F.S.B, and their 1980 release ” Mysteries of the World”. Wansel worked with a variety of recording legends as a writer and/or producer. Such artists as Patti Labelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul, Jerry Butler, The Stylistics, Jean Carne, Stevie Wonder, The Jacksons , and the late Phyllis Hyman and Grover Washington Jr. His music has influenced and been used by more recent artist such as Jay-Z, The Lox, Jamiroquai, Incognito,! Junior, Loose Ends and many others.

Life on Mars

The Sweetest Pain

Here is a new group Biblio who sampled “the sweetest pain” to get something special of their own goin!
Bibio – Lovers’ Carvings (Leatherette remix)

East Harlem Bus Stop – Let’s get it on FUNK 1976

This is the year I was born…. Rep it up for the kids of 76!

Donny Hathaway

Documentary

Thank You