Chicago Falcon
They bill themselves as “the unheralded emperors of Instrumental Staten Island Afro-Soul”. They are white, they are bearded, and they know how to get down in that old school “Dirty Harry” kinda way (this could fit right into ‘The Enforcer‘). Check ’em out….
The Budos Band – Chicago Falcon (mp3)
From….
Links: Official Site | MySpace
Sly’s Fillmore Funk
It is time. It is time to be funked.
Here we have Sly and the Family Stone, live at the Fillmore East, October of 1968. The quality is great, and the funk is flyin’. So wake the neighbors, eat a pork sandwich and call yourself Jim (or Wanda). Yes, that made no sense.
Sly & the Family Stone
Live at the Fillmore East, New York City
October 5th, 1968M’Lady
Life
Are You Ready
It Won’t Be Long
Color Me True
Dance To The Music
Love City
Turn Me Loose
OutroOhmega’s Platypus Strut
Ohmega Watts is a hip-hop producer / MC from Brooklyn. Nestled within his impressive most recent release, Watts Happening, is this funky, old-school, afrobeat-licious instrumental groove called “The Platypus Strut”.
Everyone should have a personal theme song or two to play in their head (or iPod) while they’re walking down the street. For me, this may have to join the Commodores’ “Machine Gun”, Kool & the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie”, and Prince’s “Sexy MF” in my list of “walk down the street like a bad-ass” theme songs.
What’s your theme song?
Ohmega Watts – The Platypus Strut (mp3)
Buy Watts Happening
OhmegaWatts.com | myspace.com/ohmegawatts
On the Road: Ohmega Watts is spending February on the road with New Orleans funk-jam-meisters Galactic. Details here.
The Heavy: Funk from the Land of Noid
Here’s a nice one that came through the inbox recently. The Heavy hails from a small town outside Bath, England called Noid. Their U.S. debut, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire, will be released on April 8th. In the meantime, you can preview one of their funk-rock hybrids here. It sounds like they went with the Spinal Tap technique and turned their amps up to 11 in the studio. Funky horns, bangin’ drums, and what could pass as a jet engine backing them up.
The Heavy – That Kind of Man (mp3)
The Heavy’s Official Site | MySpace
KC Funk with KLT
Funk. Kansas City Funk.
Kenny Carter is a KC-area musician very much influenced by Uncle Geroge and the P-Funk Universe. One of Kenny’s projects in recent years was KLT – a sort of KC area funk collective. In 2003, they dropped KLT Presents…Butch. Knowing my penchant for Prince and all things Funky, one of my readers, Steve, passed along a link to this album on CD Baby. I enjoyed it from the first minute of the first song I listened to: “Lamblast”. I believe it was the System who so wisely said, “Don’t Disturb This Groove”….
Butch is an orphaned stick figure superhero from the planet Grunt. One day, ol’ Butch is transformed into “a big, black mass of muscle with giant hands that can crush just about anything”. This album is the first in a trilogy, detailing the stories and adventures behind Butch.
Now, the album was released in late 2003, and – well – there isn’t a whole lot that’s been updated on their web sites since. But the album is funky and entertaining enough to merit a listen… and maybe we can coax Kenny and KLT back from the planet Grunt or whatever galaxy they’ve zipped off too, and demand some more!
Thanks Steve for the tip. Always glad to be tipped to the f-u-n-k.
Funk it up now.
KLT – Lamblast (mp3)
- BUY KLT Presents…Butch on CD Baby or eMusic.
- Visit: KLT’s Official Site | MySpace
Santa Smokes Mistletoe! Christmas with Rotary Connection
A guest post coming to you from reader & fellow funk brother # 1, Jshua…..
Happy Holidays Brothers and Sisters (or as I like to say–Happy Holy Daze….)
But I digress….
Today’s topic of discussion comes from the legendary Rotary Connection, who discovered way back in 68′ the secret behind Santa Claus’ is….
(gasp) HE SMOKES MISTLETOE!!!
Actually, it makes all of the sense in the world.
1) Living at the north pole.
2) Riding HIGH on his sleigh.
3) Leaving milk and cookies for him (aka the munchies).
4) His JOLLY behavior.Think about it ( I mean, really think about it and tell me I’m wrong…)
Three points of interest which makes this particular song/album/and legacy of interest.
1) Sidney Barnes is the lead singer on the cut, and is also the one of the legendary songwriting partners of George Clinton and the Parliafunkadelicment Thang Inc, a huge part of the “northern soul” movement. Never mind the stuff that he did at Golden World.
2) That female voice is the legenday Minnie Ripperton and if you’re not familiar with her, you should be! Start with Come to my Garden (1970) with the Ramsey Lewis Trio as the backing band (featuring a very young Maurice White on drums).
and
3) Charles Stepney (arranger, composer and producer) – Now, if y’all don’t know about Charles, then you wouldn’t know that Charles is the secret behind Earth, Wind & Fire, period. Check out every Rotary Connection album and the first Minnie album and you’ll find out why Maurice (as EWF alumni would suggest) was the quarterback and Charles was the coach of that band until his untimely death in 76′.
But then again, never mind me….I hope you enjoy the music.
– J
Rotary Connection –
Peace at Last(mp3)Buy Peace
.
P-Funk: Um, Yeah, I’ll Have Some of What They’re Having
I have one of these sweet little Apple Airport Express gizmos that allows me to play my iTunes on any stereo inside or outside my house. So when it was time to string up the Christmas lights this past weekend, my 4 year old girl and I fired up the iTunes, set it to shuffle, and took to the front yard with wild holiday abandon.
What I didn’t realize was that earlier in the day I had filtered my iTunes to show me only “parliament”. So what ensued was 90 minutes of the P-Funk discography on shuffle. Okay, no one – not my 4-year old or my passing neighbors – realized the intensity of this Spontaneous P-Funk Christmas Light Hanging Ceremony, but I sure funked out in delight for an hour and a half.
It made me rediscover some of the gems of their catalog, including some tunes that jumped out at me for their uncharacteristic qualities. Like this song. This isn’t the P-Funk your ears expect. You hear it, and you’re wondering what it is you’re listening to. A mellow, otherworldly, fantasy-like rhythm; Peter Chase’s melodic, bird-like whistling solos. What a cool little P-Funk nugget.
Parliament –
I Just Got Back (from the Fantasy, Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet)[mp3]Buy: Up for the Down Stroke
(1974)
Thank You, Danke, Merci, Grazie, Gracias…
I wanted to take the opportunity on this day of thanks to extend my warmest wishes to the friends of Ickmusic. I also want to thank Pete for allowing me to take up space on his little corner of the internet. And I’d be remiss if I did not thank all the friends and folks who read and leave the occasional comment. To share my thanks and spread the love here is the brilliant Robert Randolph & The Family Band performing “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” live.
Robert Randolph & The Family Band – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (MP3)
[audio:ThankYou.mp3]Link: Official Site
Funkcronomicon
The list of people involved in producer Bill Laswell’s 1995 Axiom Funk project is almost laugh-out-loud ridiculous, it’s so good: George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, Herbie Hancock, Sly & Robbie, Sly Stone, Buckethead, Eddie Hazel, Maceo Parker, and a host of others. Reworked previously released tracks mix it up with new creations from Laswell and co.’s brilliantly imaginative minds.
The album is out of print, but can be found if you poke around online (including Amazon) – or if you know cool people like The Swiss Funkmaster – thanks b. 😉
You want a funky rhythm? Look no further…
Axiom Funk –
Animal Behavior(mp3)Bootsy Collins: Lead Vocal / Space Bass
Buckethead: Guitar
Bernie Worrell: Hammond B-3 Organ
Bill Laswell: Samples
Af Next Man Flip: Turntables
Brain: DrumsAxiom Funk –
Under the Influence (Jes Grew)[mp3]George Clinton: Vocals
Gary “Mudbone” Cooper: Vocals
Bootsy Collins: Vocals / Guitar
Herbie Hancock: Piano
Robbie Shakespeare: Bass
Sly Dunbar: Drum Programming
Anton Fier: Drums
Daniel Ponce: Congas
Aiyb Dieng: Cowbells / Percussion
Michael “Clip” Payne: Vocals
Debra Barsha: Vocals
Zhana Saunders: Vocals
Edwin Rodriguez: Tuba
Joe Daly: Baritone Horn
Ted Daniel: Trumpet / Flugelhorn
Janet Grice: Bassoon
J.D. Parron: Tenor Saxophon / Flute
Horns arranged and conducted by Henry ThreadgillBuy Funkcronomicon
on Amazon.
All Music’s review of Funkcronomicon.
Check out a video from the album. Watch Bootsy & Buckethead cover Jimi’s “If 6 Was 9″…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntyOO9Z-p4Y 336 278]
Playing on “If 6..”
Bootsy Collins: Lead Vocals / Space Bass
Blackbyrd McKnight: Guitar
Nicky Skopelitis: Guitar
Robert Musso: Backward Guitar
Buckethead: Intro Guitar
Lili Haydn: ViolinRemembering Rick James
When Rick James died unexpectedly on August 6th, 2004, he was writing an autobiography, and working on a new album. Luckily, he had enough completed tracks to put together the posthumous and final studio album, Deeper Still, which was released earlier this year. The album includes some classic Rick James funk, some introspective tunes, and a cover – Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s “Guinnevere”. While it may look strange at first glance, there’s a connection there. What do CS&N and Rick James have in common? Many of you know the answer already. It’s Neil Young.
In the mid 60’s, When his musical ambitions outweighed his desire to fulfill his duty in the U.S. Naval Reserves, Rick left his hometown of Buffalo, NY, and went AWOL. He was off to Toronto with the stage name Ricky Matthews to pursue a career in music. It was there he formed a band called the Mynah Birds, which would soon enough add Neil Young as a member. The Mynah Birds ended up recording one album with Motown. The whole thing blew up when their manager pocketed the label’s advance money. The manager was fired, and in turn notified the authorities of Rick’s AWOL status. The album was shelved, and Rick spent a year in the Brooklyn Brig.
He moved to L.A. in 1969. During his eight years there, one of the bands he was involved in was Great White Cane. You can hear the song “Mother Earth”, with Rick on vocals, below.
It was 1978, with his debut Motown album Come Get It!, when the Rick James we all know emerged. The breakout single was the eight minute “You and I”. The album also included his ode to the green: “Mary Jane”. From there, it was smooth sailing for the next 10 years or so, as Rick busted out the hits on Motown. His peak came of course with “Superfreak”, from 1981’s Street Songs.
His dark years with cocaine abuse and legal problems are well documented. And of course, the Chappelle Show turned him into a cult hero for a new generation with the “I’m Rick James, bitch!” sketches. But it all comes back to the music. Rick James’ run on Motown in the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s was full of some classic funk jams and tender R&B ballads. We can forget his involvement in producing Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time” though, can’t we??
Great White Cane – Mother Earth (mp3) – from their 1972 out of print album
Rick James – Cold Blooded (mp3) – from Cold Blooded and The Definitive Collection
Rick James – Guinnevere (mp3) – from Deeper Still
- Rick’s Official Site.
- Rick James on
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