Best Funk Album Ever

[throwdown]

whatcha got?

Cameosis by Cameo

 

[OnTheOneBaby]

Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy,Baby came first to my mind. It is my first love and I happened to listen it just recently and it amazes me even after 35 years due to its positive vibes, silly serious arrangements and of course due to Bootsy's totally musical bass playing.

I checked my records to find what there is outside P-Funk territory.
I have always liked Superfunk by Funk,Inc..
Labelle's Chameleon is very tight set.
Rick James' Bustin' Out Of L Seven is another favourite.
Wattstax The Living World double LP is also full of funky stuff.
To me Earth, Wind & Fire's Gratitude is also a great album.

Could it be said that 70's was just great time to funkify oneself?

 

[Andy D]

Betty Davis' eponymous debut was great, as was all of Kool & the Gang's '70s stuff.

 

[Bo0tsy]

Far too many favourites to mention, but here's a choice few:
Bootsy - Live in Louisville 1978 - the best live funk album ever IMHO, in fact his first 3 studio albums Stretchin' Out In, Ahh..The Name Is, Bootsy? Player of the Year are all works of funk genius, (Ultra Wave and The One Giveth, the Count Taketh Away ain't too shabby either!)
George Clinton - Computer Games and You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish are my two personal 80's funk fav's
Parliament - already mentioned previously, but whilst Mothership Connection and Funkentelechy are undisputed masterpieces I would also put both The Motor Booty Affair & The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein just behind that.
Funkadelic - it's got to be One Nation Under a Groove
James Brown - Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang - is the greatest JB album I've ever heard.
Not sure which individual albums are best but there are also some great anthologies on Kleeer, Slave, & Cameo out there.

 

[bass geetarist]

I don't consider it to be the Best Funk Album at all, as some great albums have already been mentioned, but, to add to the list;
Miles Davis On The Corner

 

[DWBass]

Stone Jam by Slave is another album with great song after song.

Gotta go with this. For several albums, Slave put out some of the most consistant, nasty funk, ever laid down, IMHO!

Bottom line is depends on your flavor of funk! I like that deep down, dirty, sweat dripping, nasty funk! Slave was it for me!

 

[OnTheOneBaby]

Gotta go with this. For several albums, Slave put out some of the most consistant, nasty funk, ever laid down, IMHO!

Bottom line is depends on your flavor of funk! I like that deep down, dirty, sweat dripping, nasty funk! Slave was it for me!

Hi DW, define nasty funk. To me it is uptempo, tight, serious, maybe a little bit rockish something like Shake Your Pants by Cameo.

And thanks for reminding me about Slave. I have Slave's first one right there amongst other funk records, but haven't listened it for ages. I admit not being much of a fan of 'Slide' (though I'm a fan of 'Bop Gun'). Fortunately nowadays It is easy to listen music on the web and so I listened casually Slave's earlier albums. I'm quite ashamed, because I haven't noticed Mark Adams' talent before, for he was one of the truly great funk bassists.
To correct my mistake I'm gonna acquire that Original Album Series which contains five first albums by Slave.
Checked Mark Adams on internet and found this informative site.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[MonetBass]

Here's one from an Arkansas band that never made it big but should have:

You can download the MP3 tracks from Amazon. I was listening to this album yesterday, and it still amazes me the incredible amount of talent this band clearly had.

 

[Pandastylebass]

Might not be the "Best" but it is one of my favorites

 

[DWBass]

Hi DW, define nasty funk. To me it is uptempo, tight, serious, maybe a little bit rockish something like Shake Your Pants by Cameo.

Early Cameo...yes! Quite funky!! I stopped listening when they went pop and chopped the band down from 15 to 3! LOL!

Cymande was more of a funky, reggae hybrid band. I have that album, by the way.

 

[Joebone]

IMO Fela’s best recordings are roughly 1972-1978. This was when he worked with his tightest and leanest band, including master drummer and afrobeat originator Tony Allen. (I saw Tony Allen with his band earlier this year – IMO, even at 70+ years-old, there is no, and never has been, a funkier drummer on the planet.)

I’m not big on compilations, but in this case, I’ll recommend one as a starting place: The Best of the Black President on Knitting Factory Records. It has much of Fela’s best work from the seventies and a few tracks from the eighties.

The reason I’m recommending a compilation is because most of Fela’s pieces run long, so the original vinyl pressings of his “albums” usually had only two or three tracks, each often as long as 10-15 minutes (sometimes longer). Unfortunately, this means the casual listener, needs to buy a lot of albums to put together a basic collection of Fela and Africa 70’s best work.

Nonetheless, key titles from Fela’s output in the seventies (I’m sure I’m forgetting quite a few) include:

Na Poi
Lady
Shakara
Roforofo Fight
Gentleman
Alagbon Close
Everything Scatter
He Miss Road
Expesive $hit
Kalakuta Show
Zombie
Yellow Fever
No Agreement
Sorrow, Tears, and Blood
Shuffering and Shmiling

If you decide you want to get deeper into the Fela story and his catalog, check out Fela: The Life And Times Of An African Musical Icon by Michael Veal (a bassist and music professor at Yale).

Happy hunting!

Good info here. The Africa '70 bands were the best, IMHO, and big +1 re Tony Allen.

"Upside Down" would be my recommended starting album. Killer groove, killer lyrics, better recording quality than most other Fela sessions, and the horn section is very well-organized.

I had the good fortune to hear this, as my first Fela in the mid-'70s, and it was a gamechanger for me.

I'd also add "Coffin for Head of State." Not well-recorded, but incredibly powerful stuff, about Fela delivering his mom's coffin to a police barrack after some typical repressive-junta Nigerian BS.

And no question that there was some great back-and-forth among US funk bands, Salsa bands, and African bands in the '60s and '70s. Everybody influenced everyone else - Africa probably was the mother lode, but cross-cultral re-invention and absorption were extraordinary.

Back to Upside Down - The lyrics:

Upside down

Insturmetal.....

Open that book them call dictionary
Open am make you see
Open that book them call dictionary
Open am make you see
Upside down dey there proper
Open am make you see
Them recognize who work for show yes
Open am make you see
Because him get him meaning too
Legs for down yansh for up
Because him get him meaning too
Legs for down yansh for up
Upside down get him meaning too
Legs for down yansh for up
Upside down get him meaning too
Legs for down yansh for up

I don travel I don see
I'm beginning to vex up for this land
The thing wey I see I go talk
About upside up and downside down
For oversea, wey I seeeee

Communication organize
Patapata
Agriculture organize
Patapata
Electric organize
Patapata
Them system organize
Patapata
Them people organize
Patapata
Them people organize
Patapata

English man get English name
American man get American name
German man get German name
Russian man get Russian name
Chinese man get Chinese name

For African man outside don't see
I'm beginning to vex up for this land
I no to travel anywhere
Everything dey under my nose
For African man outside don't see
Fillings boku road no dey
Land boku food no dey
Area boku house no dey
People no dey bear African name
People no dey think African style
People no know Africa great
For African man outside don't seeeeeee e e

Communication disorganize
Patapata
Agriculture disorganize
Patapata
Electric disorganize
Patapata
Everything is upside down
Patapata
Everything is upside down
Patapata
disorganize
Patapata
Disorganize
Patapata
Everything is upside down
Patapata
Everything is upside down
Patapata
Disorganize
Patapata
Disorganize
Patapata.....

Insturmental........

 

[divetone]

James Brown is the GODFATHER !
Rejuvenation rules w/ Porter and Zigaboo
Fela also ranks
Dyke and the Blazers are worth a mention. Looking forward to checking out KCRL

 

[zon6c-f]

Most of the album..not all ..

Frankly, some of the cuts are quite funky..although dated..came out 1971? I believe.

Listen to "Black Cloud or "Your Love Is Alright".

Pretty good for a 3-piece band.

Also, Glenn Hughes is one of the best bassist/ vocalists ever, in my opinion.

 

[divetone]

I have a 45 on the Amy label of Lee Dorsey doing Four Corners Pts 1&2. Gotta be The Meters backing, unlike any other Lee Dorsey cut I've heard. Awesome funk.

 

[DWBass]

Mandrill

 

[BassyBill]

Pretty much anything with Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers on it, if disco/funk is your bag.

 

[Sir Sly Ry]

So I've come to realize I won't find anything quite like Parliament. As my brother says, they are an anomaly. And it's hard for me to find whole funk albums that I like. But I made a long list of most things that were mentioned in this thread. I have a lot to check out! I'm listening to KC Robets, Parkdale Funk 1 right now. A bit too jazzy and mellow for my taste but it's still quite nice. I am looking for some stuff I can dance to though, something a bit more lively.

 

[Driven Crane]

So what about Larry Graham and Graham Central Station?

 

[N.F.A.]

Can't pick just one. Either James Brown or some p Funk.

 

[adi77]

def leppard - hysteria
sorry couldn't resist
R H Factor - Hard Groove