In the 70's the king's of Funk were James Brown and the J.B.'s, Sly and the Family Stones and George Clinton's Paraiment / Funkadelic crew. While they were doing their thing, The Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang and Earth Wind & Fire were not to far behind them practicing the same craft.

While all three legendary groups were great, who was the better sounding Funk crew and who would be right the 3 Kings of Funk; The Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang or Earth Wind & Fire

I love them all, but it's EWF for me. As much as I love their funky jams, their ballads are just as hot! I've started listening to Ohio Players more lately. Their ballads just aren't as strong for me, but they give EWF a run for their money on the funk.

1. EWF...
2. Ohio Players
3. Kool & The Gang....

All three groups are great but I guess I preferred Kool & The Gang better because they were a little faster and had more disco in their music at that time. I was heavy into disco back then. Funk was around at this time and I was into it but I didn't get heavy into it until disco died.

If you're talking about raw funk, the Pre-JT Kool and the Gang and you've admitted that James Brown is the King...

"They're the second-baddest out there...They make such bad records that you got to be careful when you play a new tape on the way home from the record store. Their groove is so strong you could wreck."
~~James Brown

...straight from the horse's mouth.

Next thread.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

I enjoy all three , but if forced to choose, I would pick the Ohio Players , mainly because of Sugarfoot's ridiculously funky vocals. "Ffop" is deadly....

MrTation said:

And lop-sided wig.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

The genius of Earth Wind and Fire,no contest here for me.

vainandy said:

how old are you? and if thats a recent pic, wow your aging well...

My vote goes to EWF but i'm partial to the Ohio Players, I've gotten the chance to keys play with Billy Beck (keyboardist, songwriter) for OH P's, at a local church a few years ago, He's a freakin' Genius!!! The old folks Baptist church we were playin at didn't know what was goin on, but we had a great time.

I'm 37, it's recent, and I'm absolutely handsome as hell! Seriously though, that's not me. There's no way I would place my own picture over the internet.

They all have their unique sound.
I'm a huge fan of "Ohio players" tho'.
Sugarfoot's singing & Diamond's drumplaying!!!!
Albums like "Fire" "Skin tight" & "Honey".
Really incredible albums.
/peace Manki

if you judge on the "funk" content alone, the vote should probably go to Kool & the Gang... however, I for my part wouldn't define EWF as a straight funk group. So as an overall artist they are No.1 in MY book, light years ahead of anyone else!

Dancelot said:

-----
Sorry any of James Browns bands are better than EWF and Kool and the Gang. I will not even go into how awful the disco Kool and the Gang are. I would put
Funkdelic behind James and Sly.

laurarichardson said:

for the funk-content I agree, but from the thread topic JB was not an option to choose from

however, many JB tracks are more groove-based, and concerning songwriting EWF are still ahead in my book (but NOT as a "funk" artists as I said)

MANDRILL beats them all.
MANDRILL scared the shit out of all of them back in the day.

However, I dig all of them. Especially their early stuff:

Ohio Players: "Ecstasy", "Pain", "Pleasure" and the wonderful "Climax"
EW&F: Self-titles first album ("Fan the fire" is a classic)
Kool & the Gang: "Live at the Sex Machine" and "Live at P.J.'s"

Beautiful music.

MANDRILL beats them all.
MANDRILL scared the shit out of all of them back in the day.
U know U got that right!
/peace Manki

JB is straight funk...you're not going to get a torch ballad out of him.
EWF represented more than "funk". They were soul,r&b, spiritual and funk in one huge artistic package! EWF needs a new category...

cnutty77 said:

Word!

I'm with cnutty77 on this.

No one thinks of EWF as a funk group, like the OPs, Mandrill, James Brown/JBs, and pre-JT K&TG. No one thinks of EWF as a disco group, like post-JT K&TG. EWF is a pure soul band, in every sense of the word. EWF could stay with most of those bands (except James/JBs) on any given night. But the others, not even James, couldn't do ballads like "Love's Holiday," "Reasons," and "After The Love Has Gone."

EWF is the choice for me.

I would have to go with EWF, even though the Players and the Gang produced some hard-cut funk as well.

don't be silly...Earth Wind and Fire rules!

A lot of youse guys are side-stepping the question.

"In the 70's the king's of Funk were James Brown and the J.B.'s..."

"...who was the better sounding Funk crew..."

Not who was the overall better group of the 3.
(That's a no-brainer, EWF hands down.)

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

Another thing is, EWF had the baddest horn section. Come on now.

cnutty77 said:

Don't forget jazz.EW&F could have easily been a jazz group,if they had chosen to pursue that direction.They also dabbled in Latin/Brazilian music styles as well.You're right...they do need a new category

theAudience said:

namepeace said:

Listen to "Symphonic Revolution", "The man who never smiles", "Khdija", "Solid", "Love Song", "Closer to you" etc by Mandrill. Carlos Wilson clearly is one of the most soulful singers ever.

theAudience said:

oh, is THAT what he was doing that caused the police chase?

Ubiquity said:

Not doubting Mandrill's greatness, but they weren't among the choices. And I'd still choose EWF out of ignorance. I don't know enough of Mandrill's work.

namepeace said:

Well, you had them included in your last post, so I brought it up again.
I love EW&F, but if you are familar with Mandrill`s work .. they are on a different level. In fact, it was Mandrill who`s got EW&F to use all these percussive instruments .. and EW&F used to OPEN for Mandrill...

Here I go again, comparing two great bands .. But this thread was a competitive thread anyway...