It's been on my mind...
Los Angeles is seeing a resurgence in Funk and Soul bands! I never thought I would see the day. I continue to see bands on the scene that are honing their sound and taking on Soul and Funk progressions. I have always enjoyed collaborating with Hip Hop artist like MC Robbery, MC Apoetnomadali, MC Boss Hog, MC Beach, MC Prose to name a few. I have to say thank you to the Hip Hop cats for continuing to breath life into the style. I am of the opinion that Soul and Funk have stayed on the pop radar thanks to Hip Hop Producers. Name me a hit Hip Hop track that hit number #1 and I will tell you what Funk or Soul tune they sampled. Hip Hop has a tradition of sampling the grooves laid down by Funk and Soul bands. So I say embrace it and marry the two on the scene and see what fusions may come. The beauty of the marriage between Hip Hop and Funk/Soul music has allowed songwriters who saw little success at the time of release to have a 2nd life and enjoy commercial success later in life. .
We all have heard the Honeydrippers' "Impeach the president", sampled by just about every top 40 Hip Hop crew on the planet and maybe evens some on Mars. (EPMD, NWA, the Wu-tang, Shaggy, just to name a few).
An article about Sly Johnson came out today in the Los Angeles Times about Grammy Nomination ( http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/02/entertainment/la-et-syl-johnson-20120202) Sly Johnson used to record for HI Records in Memphis, which was also Al Green's label. He spent most of his career in Al Green's shadow, both commercially and artistically, and had to wait until the early 90's sample craze to be regarded as a classic Soul Front Man. "Different Strokes" is an intense display of Soul - one wonders how it could have been forgotten for almost 20 years until De La Soul sampled it in the song "Magic Number".
I fell in love with this style of music long ago and my songwriting has reflected that over the years. If you want to explore some great tracks check these out. Buy them if possible but whatever you do share this stuff if you like it. There are many gifted and talented Los Angeles artist who are making a push to bring this back up to the forefront of pop awareness.The tracklist is:
Bob & Earl - Harlem Shuffle, 1963
Syl Johnson - Is It Because I'm Black, 1969
Al Hirt - Harlem Hendoo, 1967
The Chefs - Mr. Machine, 1971
Syl Johnson - Different Strokes, 1969
Melvin Van Peebles ft. Earth, Wind & Fire - Hoppin' John, 1971
Eugene McDaniels - The Lord Is Back, 1971
Earth, Wind & Fire - Bad Tune, 1971
The Fabulous Originals - It Ain't Fair But It's Fun, 1971
Jimmy Castor Bunch - Its Just Begun, 1972
Ernie Hines - Our Generation, 1972
The Honeydrippers - Impeach the President, 1973
24 Carat Black - Ghetto Misfortune's Wealth, 1973
Billy Brooks - Fourty Days, 1974
The Heath Brothers - Smiling Billy suite pt 2, 1975
Cymande - Brothers on the Slide, 1974
Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Darkest Light Band,1975
Magnum - Evolution, 1975
Travis Biggs - Tibetian Serenity, 1979
The Mighty Ryeders - Evil vibrations, 1978
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