Need Some funk Music Advice, Ladies and Gents

[Thor]

I got this email from a young fellow who Evaporated my bass
recently...


He is interested in the Ruins, Erase Errata,
eX-Girl, the Flying Luttenbachers, DAT Politics,
Arab on Radar, Orthrelm, and so forth.


I also got this request which I need your advice on:

and if Dad knows any good funk music with good basslines, that would be cool. I heard the song "Tear the Roof Off" by George Clinton recently and I liked it, so maybe something by him? I don't really know anything about funk music though, which is why I'm asking Dad to find something I might like. It doesn't have to be all progressive or experimental, just FUNKY.

Well, that's cool!

Any ideas for that?

[NJL]

O, i can't believe it's coming up on a year from the original abduction! BTW, Y is sitting next to me, she sends her love...we just finished painting for tonight, but we are still not done....

in re the funk:

Screaming Headless Torsos (www.torsos.com)
Andy Milne (also search Cosmic Dapp Theory)
Aquarium Rescue Unit (most is out of print - this is with Oteil Burbridge, one of my idols)
Dave Weckl Band
Earth Wind and Fire
Tower of Power
Los Blues
Dennis Chambers (drummer, but his first album was the bomb)
Gary Willis
Larry Graham and Graham Central Station
Lonnit Plaxico
Maceo Parker
Mattew Garrison
Me'shell Ndgeocello
Parliament
Roy Hargrone Factor (RH Factor)
Soulive (B3)
Stevie Wonder
Robert Walker's Congress (or something like this)
Groove Collective
The Meters
The Funky Meters
Vida Blue

[secretdonkey]

Who was it that said, "help is on the way?" I forget.

I'm putting together a CD to send you right now. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, just grabbed some pretty diverse stuff... how's this for a playlist?

[Thor]

You guys rock!

I mean, you guys funk!

[Roark Haver]

Any James Brown CDs you can get your hands on.

[bryan bailey]

I Wish rules!

I got to play that when I went to music camp over the summer.

Great song. Groovin' bassline.

[odie]

Comodores(sp?) the old stuff.

Newer stuff....Weapon of Choice. Sort a more funky RHCP with a Parliment vibe.

[mikemulcahy]

Throw in a little Brides of Funkenstein, Ohio Players, Brothers Johnson, Confunkshun(sp), Bootsy's Rubberband, ThE Barkays, The OJays.


Mike

[NJL]

Originally Posted by mikemulcahy

Throw in a little Brides of Funkenstein, Ohio Players, Brothers Johnson, Confunkshun(sp), Bootsy's Rubberband, ThE Barkays, The OJays.


Mike

did you see "the apprentice" last night? the ojays were on!!!

[PlayTheBass]

Originally Posted by bryan bailey

I Wish rules!

I got to play that when I went to music camp over the summer.

Great song. Groovin' bassline.

It definitely is! I'd been playing it for years in bands, always loved it as I played it... then one time at a corporate party we let some guys who worked for the company and played for fun get up and play that song because they'd been working on it. When the guy who played bass got off stage, he was so pumped because it was his first time on stage. And he tells me, "Ever try that song with an octave pedal? It's pretty cool."

So I try it out on a gig -- and damn if that wasn't a great tip. I now always play "I Wish" an octave higher with the Octabass on, and it kicks. Duh!!

Sean Mc

[Bayou_Brawler]

MACEO PARKER. "LIFE ON PLANET GROOVE"


ohio players
p-funk
zapp
rick james

[mikemulcahy]

Originally Posted by NJL

did you see "the apprentice" last night? the ojays were on!!!

Nope...missed it. Was elbow deep in a chest most of the night. What did they play?


Mike

[bryan bailey]

Also forgot.

Jaco Pastorius - Come on Come over.


Great tune.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by NJL

did you see "the apprentice" last night? the ojays were on!!!

You got to get a L.I.F.E. !

Like, isn't your life already a reality show?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by PlayTheBass

It definitely is! I'd been playing it for years in bands, always loved it as I played it... then one time at a corporate party we let some guys who worked for the company and played for fun get up and play that song because they'd been working on it. When the guy who played bass got off stage, he was so pumped because it was his first time on stage. And he tells me, "Ever try that song with an octave pedal? It's pretty cool."

So I try it out on a gig -- and damn if that wasn't a great tip. I now always play "I Wish" an octave higher with the Octabass on, and it kicks. Duh!!

Sean Mc

Nice tip, PTB !

BTW, Welcome to TB, great place !!

[PlayTheBass]

Originally Posted by Thor

Nice tip, PTB !

BTW, Welcome to TB, great place !!

Right on! Thanks, Thor (great name). I'm diggin' this whole TB thing... It's been a great source of info, and like the rest of the Internet, a wonderful distraction when you really should be practicing.

PTB Me

[Thor]

I got some additional feedback from the young feller that
impressed me, he is starting to get it on the bass!

Hmmm, out of that list,(NJL and Donkey list) I don't know all that much. I just listened to the Torsos on their website, and the one song they had an mp3 of was Santana-esque, and the other sounded sort of like modern R&B, but with good guitar. But I dunno whether I could GET DOWN (and/or GET UP) to it, which is of course the critical factor here. The Parliament I have heard was cool ("Tear the Roof Off" has great bass and great vocals), and I liked most of the Stevie Wonder stuff I've heard on Mom's FFF album (although I have heard that his later stuff was wimpier, but I'll hold out judgment until I hear it). I have only heard Earth, Wind, and Fire once on B101 or something, and they were good. Gladys Knight and the Pips were never really my thing. I've liked the James Brown I've heard (great horns and great screaming). (Did you ever see Weird Al's parody of him in the video of "Living With a Hernia" where he yells out the names of the most common types of hernias to a bunch of medical students?) '70s Herbie Hancock is also pretty funky (I only have "Thrust"); I think Paul Jackson is one of my favorite bassists. I guess what I'm looking for is something with really strong bass where it always has that in-the-pocket sound. "Cool Jerk" by the Capitols was also a good song for that, although I'm not all that into Motown otherwise (well, I guess that song wasn't technically Motown, but the Funk Brothers played on it). Oh yeah, and I liked Sly and the Family Stone a lot too, judging from their Monterey Pop and Woodstock appearances.

So I'm not telling you what to pick out because I'm hoping you can find something good, but there's some indication of what I like in funky things.

Right on, kid! Time to bop off to the store!

{ PTB, love that Avatar and thanks for becoming a Supporting Member! }

[PlayTheBass]

Originally Posted by Thor

{ PTB, love that Avatar and thanks for becoming a Supporting Member! }

Thanks, man! My whole license plate is "P5 FUNK" -- P5 from Protege5, and, well, you know the rest... nice to not have to fully explain it for once. It's amazing how hard it is to explain "P-Funk" to the 84-year-old widow living next door! "Uh, you know, funk music? George Clinton??" "Oh sure, is that Bill's little brother, playing saxophone music?"

And one nerdy engineer type I work with came into the office one time and said "'I-5 Punk', what does THAT mean?" I cracked up, as I like that one too, and told him it meant if he ever saw it on I-5, it meant he just got punked by a bass player.

[Thor]

d00d, this keeps up you will become a regular post whore like all the rest of us !!!

[cassanova]

Barry White - Satin Soul
Parliment - Atomic Dog
KC & The Sunshine Band - Boogie Man
Was Not Was - Walk The Dinosaur