Come here sister, Papa's in the swing
He ain't too hip, about that new breed babe
He ain't no drag
Papa's got a brand new bag
Come here mama, and dig this crazy scene
He's not too fancy, but his line is pretty clean
He ain't no drag
Papa's got a brand new bag
He's doing the Jerk
He's doing the Fly
Don't play him cheap 'cause you know he ain't shy
He's doing the Monkey, the Mashed Potatoes
Jump back Jack, See you later alligator
From”Papa's Got a Brand New Bag” by James Brown
Everybody has heard of funk music, even the youngsters who didn't grow up listening and dancing to the popular genre know the term. Funky songs still draw public acclaim. For example, Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson had a monster hit with “Uptown Funk” in 2014. And, ever since funk music originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s, artists have recorded in the style and crafted songs with rhythms, names, and all kinds of references to “funk.”
Funk includes elements of soul, jazz and rhythm and blues, yet it is distinctive in that it de-emphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bass-line and a drum part. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel.
So, let's simplify this genre a little: you can't have “funk” without sweat, and the rhythm and dance associated with the music produces that sweat. You think I'm jiving you? The Encyclopædia Britannica cites the definition of the word “funk” as used to describe one’s odor, unpredictable style, or attitude.
The etymology of “funk” is "bad smell," 1620s, probably from the verb funk in the sense "blow smoke upon; stifle with offensive vapor" (though this is not recorded until later 17c.). It is from dialectal French funkière "to smoke," from Old French fungier "give off smoke; fill with smoke," and from Latin fumigare "to smoke.”
About a century later, the adjective “funky” was derived, meaning “musty.”
Enrich your “funky” understanding …
“Funk, rhythm-driven musical genre popular in the 1970s and early 1980s that linked soul to later African-American musical styles. Like many words emanating from the African-American oral tradition “funk” defies literal definition, for its usage varies with circumstance …
“The development of the terms “funk” and “funky” evolved through the vernacular of jazz improvisation in the 1950s as a reference to a performance style that was a passionate reflection of the black experience. The words signified an association with harsh realities (something that was earthy or deeply felt) – unpleasant odors, tales of tragedy and violence, erratic relationships, crushed aspirations, racial strife – and flights of imagination that expressed unsettling yet undeniable truths about life.”
(“History of Funk.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. From https://www.thefunkcenter.org/history.)
Beginnings And Cincy's King Records
Funk and Cincinnati and the Godfather of Soul – James Brown – will forever be linked. King Records, active from 1943-1971, was a record label and studio building, owned by founder Syd Nathan. It proved to be influential in many ways - to the city of Cincinnati and to the music industry across the world. At a time when segregation was still the norm around the country, King Records was fully integrated from the recording studio to the packaging plant.
“I only got seventh-grade education, but I have a doctorate in funk, and I like to put that to good use.”
– James Brown
Sydney Nathan was born in Cincinnati to Frieda and Nathaniel Nathan on April 27, 1903, suffering with asthma and poor eyesight. His vision was so bad that he quit school in the ninth grade. In 1943, he launched King Records in the community of Evanston in Cincinnati, Ohio, and built the company into one of the most important, successful, and influential record companies in history.
The label owned several divisions, recording such country luminaries as the Stanley Brothers, R&B doo-wop star Otis Williams, and funk pioneer James Brown. King Records was in operation until 1975.
The “New Bag”
Many music historians consider James Brown's “Papa's Got a Brand New Bag,” released by King Records as a two-part single in 1965 to be the quintessential beginning of new funk – the genre we have come to associate with the music. “Bag” was Brown's first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten, peaking at number eight, and was a number-one R&B hit, topping the charts for eight weeks. It won Brown his first Grammy Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording.
(Joel Whitburn. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. 2004,)
In this song, James Brown sings about coming up with a new "bag," meaning a completely different way of approaching music. Inspired by what he heard in church, he punctuated the music on the downbeat, creating his "brand new bag."
Historical Note:
The revolutionary move was Brown changing his focus to the downbeat. The older Afro-Cuban and Sub Saharan music focused on the upbeat, but Brown had shown if we focus on the downbeat, add in syncopated bass, and rhythm with 16th notes we get a highly infectious and danceable groove. Charles Connor helped invent rock with the 8th beat, but the 16th beat is what made funk.
The 16th is counted “1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a 3-e-and-a 4-e-and-a” and if you were to ask what makes funk funky some will say it’s the “e” and the “a” of the beat (of course it’s how all these notes play off one another). That downbeat emphasis with the other rhythms playing became the James Brown signature sound.
With funk it’s easy to sometimes misunderstand where the beat and offbeat is, people often switch them up. Even his saxophone player had trouble getting used to the change.
As for the listener though it’s easy to find the downbeat with James Brown because of that emphasis, as he said to his band at the start of a song, “on the one!” (Any fan of James Brown just read that in his voice!)
(Jordan Foster. “What the Funk is Funk?” Enjoy Life Music. November 23, 2019.)
In March 1965,
after a legal battle with King Records, Brown agreed to a new
contract with a higher royalty rate than their previous agreement,
plus Brown's own publishing company and complete artistic control.
Brown promptly went into a Charlotte, North Carolina, studio and cut
"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."
King Records executive
Syd Nathan gave a copy of this to New York DJ Frankie Cocker, who
hated the new James Brown style but was impressed with the response
when he put it on the air anyway. When King Records released the
track as a single, Smash Records, the label Brown had leased some of
his songs to that prompted the lawsuit, released an instrumental
version of the song. As part of the ruling, Smash Records could
release only instrumental versions of Brown's songs.
Brown
recorded this song in one take - the released version was merely
supposed to be a run-through, but sounded so good it was kept anyway.
Brown, who still hadn't memorized the song's lyrics, read from a
sheet in front of him; at the beginning of the original take, he can
be heard saying "There's a lot of words here, man." He also
can be heard exclaiming "This is a hit!" just before the
band kicks in.
(“Papa's Got A Brand New Bag” by James Brown. www.songfacts.com.)
Of course, you can't talk about funk without giving credit to Clyde Stubblefield (1943-2017), the mid-60’s drummer for James Brown. He is one of the most influential musicians ever and has made notable contributions to funk.
He is the personn mainly responsible for the rhythm pattern in “Funky Drummer” which has become one of the most sampled songs ever. This groove pulled from New Orleans cemented what funk drumming was and how it had evolved.
This particular song's samples have been used for decades by hip-hop groups and rappers such as Public Enemy, Run-DMC, N.W.A, Raekwon, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Prince, and has also been used in other genres. Though the sole creator of his patterns, Stubblefield was not credited for the use of the samples.
(Ben Sisario. "Living Legend Tries to Make a Living." The New York Times. March 29, 2022.)
Stubblefield was featured in the 2009 PBS documentary, Copyright Criminals, which addressed the creative and legal aspects of sampling in the music industry.
And, it was around this time that the guitar section became mostly syncopated vamps. Vamping is where you play a few chords over and over for a long time.
Even the grunts and screams were used by Brown as a percussive and rhythmic effect. James Brown and his drummers put New Orleans funk on the world stage, and there was no shortage of musicians ready to make the funk their own.
Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat,” "I Got the Feelin',” "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud,” "Mother Popcorn,” and many others.
To the Mainstream and Beyond
In the 60s and 70s funk exploded. Sly and the Family Stone and the Isley Brothers greatly contributed to its advancement and experimentation. These and many other groups began to use funk rhythms as their musical foundation while their lyrics took on themes of urgent social commentary.
In the early 1970s funk became the musical standard for bands such as the Ohio Players and Kool and the Gang and soul singers such as the Temptations and Stevie Wonder. Parliament-Funkadelic and other bands sang the praises of funk as a means of self-development and personal liberation, while established jazz artists such as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock adapted and explored the funk groove. Disco music evolved from the rhythmic and social foundation of funk.
In the 1980s the sexually expressive aspects of funk were popularized through the works of Rick James and Prince, while the funk beat became the primary rhythm in black popular music. The influence of funk spread to other styles in the 1980s—mixing with the gritty realism of hard rock and punk and the experimentation of much of the electronic music of the time.
With the rise of rap music in the 1980s and its “sampling” of 1970s funk songs, funk grew in stature and significance in hip-hop culture. It became associated with ancient mysteries in the black tradition, providing hip-hop with a historical link to artists and cultural movements of the past. As part of hip-hop’s influence on popular culture, funk provided the rhythmic basis for most American dance music of the 1990s.
(“History of Funk.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. From https://www.thefunkcenter.org/history
Conclusion
So, what's that dance music you smell that emphasizes the first beat of four/four on THE ONE? It may well be black, but it's not blues, rhythm & blues, or soul. It's funk. And, it's the “sweat” associated with the genre that will help you understand its appeal. Not recognized for its smooth, romantic flow or its beautiful melodic lyrics, funk relies on the sensual essence of sex to get your booty on the floor and make you get down. You know what I mean – to get “funky.” Imagine where we would be without it and all its roots that evolved into that brand new bag.
A world without funk … nope, that would be just too vanilla and pasteurized … kind of like listening to “"Tutti Frutti" by Pat Boone instead of by Little Richard. "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!"
Some Famous Artists and Bands of Funk
Famous Artists
James Brown
George Clinton
Bootsy Collins
Herbie Hancock
Rick James
Chaka Khan
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Famous Funk Bands
Dyke and the Blazers
Funkadelic
The Isley Brothers
Kool and the Gang
The Meters
The Ohio Players
Parliament
Sly & The Family Stone
The Temptations
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band
Another view of funkiness in the South:
“They are thin brown girls who have looked long at hollyhocks in the backyards of Meridian, Mobile, Aiken, and Baton Rouge … They do not drink, smoke, or swear, and they still call sex "nookey." They sing second soprano in the choir, and although their voices are clear and steady, they are never picked to solo. They are in the second row, white blouses starched, blue skirts almost purple from ironing …
"They go to land-grant colleges, normal schools, and learn how to do the white man's work with refinement: home economics to prepare his food; teacher education to instruct black children in obedience; music to soothe the weary master and entertain his blunted soul.Here they learn the rest of the lesson begun in those soft houses with porch swings and pots of bleeding heart: how to behave. The careful development of thrift, patience, high morals, and good manners. In short, how to get rid of the funkiness. The dreadful funkiness of passion, the funkiness of nature, the funkiness of the wide range of human emotions.
“Wherever it erupts, this Funk, they wipe it away; where it crusts, they dissolve it; wherever it drips, flowers, or clings, they find it and fight it until it dies. They fight this battle all the way to the grave. The laugh that is a little too loud; the enunciation a little too round; the gesture a little too generous. They hold their behind in for fear of a sway too free; when they wear lipstick, they never cover the entire mouth for fear of lips too thick, and they worry, worry, worry, about the edges of their hair.”
―
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
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