This site was put together to teach people about the depth and range of all things funky. In the following excerpts from the BBC documentary series Soul Deep: The History of Black Popular Music, you’ll learn about the origins of funk and how it ties into various other strains of music.
Soul Deep: The History of Black Popular Music was a six-part BBC music documentary series produced in 2005.
Here’s the episode breakdown:
1. The Birth Of Soul
2. The Gospel Highway
3. The Sound Of Young America
4. Southern Soul
5. Ain’t It Funky
6. From Ghetto to Fabulous
Now sit back and enjoy Episode 5 - Ain’t It Funky.
Listen to James Brown, George Clinton, The Temptations and others explain how passionate, honest and raw funky music revolutionized an entire decade. This one-hour installment of Soul Deep is broken into eight, easily consumable YouTube clips.
Alrighty funk fans, there’s a crazy combo of funksters rolling out of the center of Deutschland — it’s the 1-2 punch of Jackie Treehorn and Black Belt Jones! Also known as The Two Team, these two funksters put together quality funk mixes with funny Photoshop action shots.
Their latest mix, The Booze Connection, is a solid set of funky jams that’ll take you through a saucey, action-packed Jackie Treehorn adventure. Check out the track list, it’s full of some seriously funky tunes: Read the rest…
You gotta love Cameo. These guys have dropped funky goodness since the mid-70s. Band members may have come and gone, but the group continues to perform. Most people remember Cameo’s 1986 smash hit track “Word Up,” but “I Just Want To Be” will always be a classic funky jam that never gets old.
Here’s a clip of one of our all-time favorite bands. The Bar-Kays put down funky album after funky album starting in the mid-60’s. This innovative funk band got all electro with it in the 80s, but here’s a look at how these guys performed back in 1972. This live “Son of Shaft” video is from a 1972 performance in Los Angeles. The Bar-Kays funkd out over 100,000 people at the L.A. Coliseum during the Wattstax concert festival. If only L.A. still had a massive funk scene like this…
On Monday, DJ Blueprint put up a guest mix from DJ Smoove on his blog This Is Tomorrow. Anyone who likes funky breaks will enjoy the skilled mixing abilities and funky music selections that DJ Smoove put on display in this solid 35 minute mix.
We’ve really been enjoying this Cosmo Baker mix over the last few days. Cosmo Baker’s Feeling Good mix features a bunch of classic, mood-changing tracks. Here’s a look at the track list: Read the rest…
Here’s a taste of what you’ll get when you see Galactic jam out with Chali 2na at The Depot in Salt Lake City. This track is called “Think Back,” and it’s off Galactic’s new album From The Corner To The Block. This short, funky video clip is a live performance from Galactic and Chali 2na at Bonnaroo in 2007.
Utah needs more funk, and tonight, Salt Lake City is gonna get a heavy dose of funky music. Galactic, an intensely funky band from New Orleans and Chali 2na, the innovative rapper of Jurassic 5 fame will be performing tonight at The Depot in Salt Lake. Ohmega Watts, another versatile, funk-inspired rap artist, will also be in the mix. This show is guaranteed to be a foot-stompin’ good time.
Galactic is a band that’s loaded with talented musicians who can jam out funky licks for hours at a time. Galactic just released their sixth album From the Corner to the Block. It features contributions from many of hip hop’s most talented lyricists — artists like Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, Mr. Lif, Ladybug Mecca, Juvenile, Boots Riley and Lyrics Born.
The doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are available for $22. The Depot is located on 400 West South Temple in Salt Lake City.
The Hard Sell Tour features innovative multimedia displays along with funky, 45-inch mixing journeys from DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. If you wanna find out what you can expect at a Hard Sell Tour event, here’s a video that should get you fired up. This funky video introduction is from DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist’s performance at the Ogden Theater in Denver earlier this month.
Anyone who regularly digs through the Prelinger vault of ephemeral films at Archive.org will recognize the some imagery on display at DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist’s Hard Sell Tour performances. This intro is pure genius.
