Listening to stuff like James Brown and learning to play along with it will be great fun and it's easy stuff to get into when you're learning to be funky. Just try to pick out the main notes that are being played a bit at a time and then find out where to play them on your bass - that's how many of us learned early on. Focus on making each note you play clean and clear at first, then work on playing along in time when your fingering becomes more confident and accurate. Tap your foot when you play!
Here's a great tune for you to learn and play. It's simple but good fun. There's loads of Internet resources are out there for learning - tabs, chord charts, YouTube "bass cover" vids - use any and all of them to find out how to make basslines that work in real music.
‪Elvis Presley - A Little Less Conversation (JXL Remix) (Long Version)‬‏ - YouTube
Don't get too bogged down with scales early on, though they're essential a bit later. Focus on basslines would be my advice. You should, though, learn the notes on your fretboard as soon as you can.
There's a thread started yesterday by me in this forum with a free download of a nice little theory book that would be a useful read for you. Take it a page at a time. And learn to read music as early as possible, it's indispensible in my view.
Online Bass Lessons at StudyBass.com
Don't worry too much about "direction", just try to learn a bit more music each day. You'll absorb the theory you need as you go along just by taking an interest in it. You should think about finding a teacher, too, as this can really help progress when you find you're getting stuck a bit.
Have fun and good luck!
