Lasting Impacts of Funk and Disco
The Lasting Impacts of Funk and Disco
The transition from the 1960’s to the 1970’s was a rough one. A decade characterized by the supposed defeat of poverty and racism as well as the conquest of space, was subsequently and surprisingly followed by a decade of chaos and disorder in the world. The country was running out of promise, the troops were running out of Vietnam, and the President was running out of office. Luckily however, the emergence of great music simply could not be affected by the unfortunate economic and social issues going on in the world at the time. The surfacing of both funk and disco characterized the time period starting from the late 1960’s into the 1970’s, and although each music movement had its own style, its own rhythms, and its own artists, both were similar in a plethora of different ways. Let’s start with funk, with its distinctive characteristics rooted in West African musical traditions and influences from early expressions such as praise shouts, spirituals, and gospel and blues. Funk, some might say, was also a mixture of soul music, R & B, and soul jazz. However, there were distinct differences that separated funk from the music that had preceded and succeeded it. This was exemplified by the fact that this style completely abandoned chord changes, creating static and single chord vamps with little harmonic movement, but with a driving and complex rhythmic feel. The term funk, surprisingly, “comes from the Ki-Kongo word ‘lu-fuki,’ which means foul body odor. But insofar as this odor is produced from perspiration that is induced by vigorous exertion.” (Bolden 15) They used the word to praise other people’s music, acknowledging the time and effort each had put into such musical pieces. When one talks about the emergence of such a large musical movement, one must not leave out the influence of James Brown, who many regard to be one of the founding fathers of funk. His music in the late 1960’s was perhaps the “single most
The transition from the 1960’s to the 1970’s was a rough one. A decade characterized by the supposed defeat of poverty and racism as well as the conquest of space, was subsequently and surprisingly followed by a decade of chaos and disorder in the world. The country was running out of promise, the troops were running out of Vietnam, and the President was running out of office. Luckily however, the emergence of great music simply could not be affected by the unfortunate economic and social issues going on in the world at the time. The surfacing of both funk and disco characterized the time period starting from the late 1960’s into the 1970’s, and although each music movement had its own style, its own rhythms, and its own artists, both were similar in a plethora of different ways. Let’s start with funk, with its distinctive characteristics rooted in West African musical traditions and influences from early expressions such as praise shouts, spirituals, and gospel and blues. Funk, some might say, was also a mixture of soul music, R & B, and soul jazz. However, there were distinct differences that separated funk from the music that had preceded and succeeded it. This was exemplified by the fact that this style completely abandoned chord changes, creating static and single chord vamps with little harmonic movement, but with a driving and complex rhythmic feel. The term funk, surprisingly, “comes from the Ki-Kongo word ‘lu-fuki,’ which means foul body odor. But insofar as this odor is produced from perspiration that is induced by vigorous exertion.” (Bolden 15) They used the word to praise other people’s music, acknowledging the time and effort each had put into such musical pieces. When one talks about the emergence of such a large musical movement, one must not leave out the influence of James Brown, who many regard to be one of the founding fathers of funk. His music in the late 1960’s was perhaps the “single most
Cited: Estrella, Espie. "What is Disco Music." Music Education. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Apr Shapiro, Peter. Turn The Beat Around. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2005. Print.