Max Bernstein
Gavin Steingo
04/22/16
Music in Africa
Funk and P-Funk’s Influence on African-American Music
If you look up funk in the dictionary, definitions will include: a state of depression; and to avoid something out of fear. People like James Brown, George Clinton, and Bootsy Collins gave funk a whole new meaning based in social commentary, black pride, and fun living. It is generally accepted that funk’s creator was James Brown. Brown had started a musical revolution in the black communities of America that ultimately shaped pop culture today. Funk originated out of desire for a more confrontational approach to protest music (Morant 71-82). Songs like “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” were Brown’s way of empowering black people through funk music. Many core players from Brown’s band, including William “Bootsy” Collins along with his brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins, were recruited by George Clinton into Parliament-Funkadelic, where they helped to incorporate James Brown’s style and soul to create the most influential funk super-group (Bettison). Parliament-Funkadelic incorporated funky rhythmic grooves, lengthy instrumental jams, shocking showmanship, and a superior level of social consciousness, enabling them to spread messages of peace, protest, and intellectualism in black communities through decades of a changing during social and political landscape.
A few concepts play into what makes funk, but generally the funk is about two things: the groove and the message (Bettison). The groove is referring to whether a song is danceable. The syncopated style of funk rhythm sections is intended to make people move. A later genre derived from funk is disco, which intended to accentuate the dancing and movement aspect of funk. Though disco is intended for dancing, funk has a more primal feel, which is exactly what James Brown, and other musicians, intended and is what still gives listeners the sense that funk is a rediscovered link to earlier, earthier music (Bettison). The term that is used to instill this danceability into funk music is the “One”, which was coined by James Brown and was subsequently handed down from Brown to his bandmates who eventually joined Parliament-Funkadelic. The “One”, in its most superficial sense, refers to the downbeat, or the first pulse in any given measure or phrase, and suggests that this is the most important beat in funk (Gutkovich). The “One” provides the basis for a heavy, steady pulse for dancing, which is what enables the listener to dance and participate in the funk experience (Gutkovich).
The other central theme of funk, the ability to provoke thought in the listener, is the true differentiator between disco and funk. Brown’s “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” is a prime example of a socially conscious and danceable song. It enabled the listener to dance while listening to deliberately provocative lyrics about black pride, black advancement, and about what it meant to be black in America during the late 1960’s (Bettison). There are also some funk songs which are deliberately un-danceable, which alludes to the fact that social commentary in a song is just as important as its danceability (Bettison). Another example of an album with substantial social commentary is “Chocolate City” by Parliament-Funkadelic. “Chocolate City” (CC for short) broke boundaries and instilled Parliament-Funkadelic as a major voice in the civil rights movement (Gutkovich). The concept of the album was the blackification of Washington D.C. With a shout chorus saying “Gainin’ on ya! We’re gainin’ on ya!” the lyrics were nothing short of revolutionary, suggesting the imminent black takeover of America (Gutkovich).
Another core ingredient in funk is the call-and-response dynamic, which is familiar to blues, and is linked to African musical roots (Gutkovich). From slave songs to gospel, and Dixieland to bebop, they all incorporate call and response, whether it is within form, improvisation, or vocals (Gutkovich). James Brown, like most of Parliament-Funkadelics’s members, was exposed to call-and-response in black church tradition between the minister and the congregation, and experienced the power and joy it would be able to bring to an audience of funk listeners (Gutkovich).
Parliament-Funkadelic, as had been mentioned previously, had a major voice in the civil rights movement. Parliament and Funkadelic could be referred to as sister groups. Funkadelic was formed by George Clinton when he lost the rights to the name “The Parliaments”, a doo-wop group named after the cigarette brand (Bettison). By the time Clinton had regained the rights to Parliament, Funkadelic had already released five albums, and had made a significant following and an established sound for themselves (Bettison). Essentially the only difference between Parliament and Funkadelic, as time went on, was the lack of a horn section in Funkadelic, while Parliament had an entire horn section (Bettison). Parliament became a super-group precisely because they were able to incorporate, or in some cases steal, musicians from other groups (Bettison). This first happened in the case of bassist William “Bootsy” Collins and his guitarist brother, Phelps ‘Catfish’ Collins, who were recruited from James Brown’s band (Bettison). Later on, Parliament was able to get James Brown’s entire horn section, adding Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker to its lineup (Bettison). Parliament became so big (both in terms of sales and the ability to sell out venues, and in terms of the number of members of the band) that the band was able to split into sub-groups of Clinton’s making, including the Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band (Bettison). Thus, by the mid- to late 1970s, Parliament had become a collective or a pool of musicians that Clinton could call on, which is visually illustrated by Parliament’s live shows, which often featured up to forty people on stage at any one time (Bettison).
The post-civil rights era was an interesting time for funk as disco was becoming more popular and as the lives of many black people were changing. By the mid-1970s, the apparent need for communality and unity that had dominated the black community just a few years prior seemed to dissipate (Morant 71-82). Many black people who obtained government jobs believed that they had arrived and no longer saw the need for united protest. While the civil rights movement and later the Black power movement were successful in many ways, both failed to develop a plan of continuity (Morant 71-82). This failure left the black community disheveled and scattered, and the complacency and individually focused direction of African Americans following the civil rights and black power movements left a horrific impact on the black community (Morant 71-82). The success of the civil rights movement raised the expectations of racial equality and economic and political empowerment within the black community (Morant 71-82). Funk stands out among other forms of music during this period because it paralleled the transition of American society from the era of sanctioned racial segregation known as Jim Crow to the 1970s, a decade of integration and equal opportunity (Morant 71-82). For many African Americans, the 1970’s represented a paradox of social unrest and ubiquitous optimism, therefore, as a discourse of social protest, more than any other genre of music, funk expressed the immediate after-the-movement frustrations of the people (Morant 71-82).