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Where'd you get your Funk from?

#144
My brother, who is 5 years older, is the culprit. He always came in with a new LP, so the first years of my bass playing were all centered around Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament Funkadelics, Bootsy's Rubberband, Larry Graham's, Graham Central Station, New Birth, and others. Later on he rolled in with the first Brother's Johnson album. Larry Graham's usage of the fuzz pedal spawned me into the Rock arena. After that, I began to learn my place in life :-)
 
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#145
Brother Goose said:
Oh hell yes!!! I wore my church suit to see Maceo at a small venue at age 15. Probably lost ten lbs of sweat! Fred Thomas was playing a dual P BC Rich bass and destroyed worlds with it!
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He is.from a small town just south of me. He has literally "swung by" a couple of local venues and jumped up on stage some years back. Rumor has it there was one band (WITH A HORN SECTION) who tried to get him kicked off the stage because they didn't know who he was.
:banghead:
 
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#147
I don't know if I can cite one source, a lot of listening over the years. For me funk is finger funk. Three things come to mind, one is Rocco Prestia, who I took note of,ironically, in the interim years I wasn't even playing. Another was on the SITSOM doc where Pistol Allen talked about Jamerson thinking in double time, and an interview with somebody, maybe Marcus Miller, about the concept of ghost notes. It all clicked in my brain, not that I can hang with any of the above, of course.
 
#149
Brother Goose said:
In the interest of expediting the process of Funkentelechy and creation of a higher/lower groove awareness, I hope this thread can serve as an invaluable resource for new players and refresher for fellow funkateers.

Where should be begin?

One!

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Where did I get my funk? Well at the beginning (1977/78 I was a kid) from the music listened to by my sisters that is Chic, , Diana Ross, Strvie Wonder, Sister Sledge, K. C. & the Sunshine Band, Micheal Jackson, EW&F etc.. (Yes I know the OP will opine that most of this is disco ... Yes but for me this is the quintessence of well played funk).
I was also very influenced by the sound of popular late 70s movies such as those which OST was written by a famous Italian composer, Mr. Piero Piccioni.
Later on when I started playing from Herbie Hancock (with and without the Headhunters), Jaco Pastorius, Bob James, Lee Ritenour, Crusaders, Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies etc. (jazz funk? Yes but this is what I naturally lean towards).

PS

Fender Amwrican Elite Precision bass Vs. Rest of the world = 1 - 0
 
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#150
Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Where did I get my funk? Well at the beginning (1977/78 I was a kid) from the music listened to by my sisters that is Chic, , Diana Ross, Strvie Wonder, Sister Sledge, K. C. & the Sunshine Band, Micheal Jackson, EW&F etc.. (Yes I know the OP will opine that most of this is disco ... Yes but for me this is the quintessence of well played funk).
I was also very influenced by the sound of popular late 70s movies such as those which OST was written by a famous Italian composer, Mr. Piero Piccioni.
Later on when I started playing from Herbie Hancock (with and without the Headhunters), Jaco Pastorius, Bob James, Lee Ritenour, Crusaders, Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies etc. (jazz funk? Yes but this is what I naturally lean towards).

PS

Fender Amwrican Elite Precision bass Vs. Rest of the world = 1 - 0
Click to expand...
Forgot Average White Band ...
 
#158
two fingers said:
He is.from a small town just south of me. He has literally "swung by" a couple of local venues and jumped up on stage some years back. Rumor has it there was one band (WITH A HORN SECTION) who tried to get him kicked off the stage because they didn't know who he was.
:banghead:
Click to expand...

Oh my Lord! My older sister was good friends with a venue owner and wound up hanging with Maceo in the green room before a show back in the 90s- one thing led to another and my sister wound up singing a few songs with the band! They came back the next year and he asked her to do it again! (why does all the cool stuff happen before we're all carrying pocket computer/camera super phones?)
 
#160
PauFerro said:
I got it from Standing in the Shadows of Motown -- the book on James Jamerson and the Funk Brothers at Motown. I learned "it's a shame" by the Spinners using Jamerson's transcription and it changed my playing totally. People thought I was funky and groovin and in the pocket. All because of a few hammer-ons and pull-offs. That, taken with the theory behind chord/note relationships in Building Walking Basslines by Ed Friedland totally propelled me into a new strata of funk, groove, and musical quality.
Click to expand...

I learned funk by osmosis, growing up in the 50's and 60's. I absorbed it from James Jamerson and all his Motown tunes. I didn't know his name, but I knew his style and it was, and still is, my idea of funk.
 

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