I remember as a small child getting under the kitchen table to hide from my dad and his buddies as they played and sang. Kids were not to be up this late at night, nor should they up around grown folks when they were drinkings. My dad played the guitar, my mom and my dad's buddies sang, and they sang the blues!!!

Now as I got older and began to notice the music of my time (Beatles, Motown) I didn't hear on the radio much blues like my dad played. I listened to R&B, rock and funk.
Now r&b is still around and rock is still around, but where is funk?

Has funk died off like the blues in regard to popularity?

jw1914 said:

Blues and jazz flourished until rock and roll came along. Funk enjoyed a glorious commercial run but has been overshadowed by MTV (how many funk bands have made video hits?), pop and now hip-pop. Why sign new funk bands when you can sample old ones and make more money?

Funk is now either incorporated into other sounds, or is played in "niche markets" catering to smaller audiences.

namepeace said:

... or co-opted, with varying degrees of success and credibility, by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 and Jamiroquai.

namepeace said:

Eventhough I have problems with most of your opinions, I think the opnion I highlighted above best fits artist like Kanye West and the Puffy's of the world. Of course, that shit is going to play out eventually b/c the Org Funkologist knows good Funk and Blues don't die baby, it lingers.

jw1914 said:

Musicianship has died off like the blues in regard to poularity.

Stax said:

I beg to differ.

Hotlegs said:

Don't get me wrong. There are great muscians out there, but not nearly as many and the pool is getting smaller. With music programs getting cut from school budgets across the country, it's not going to get better. Support VH1 Save the Music!!!

Hotlegs said:

TALK!!!

Can't wait for vainandy's response.

Musicianship has died off like the blues in regard to poularity.[/quote]

Record companies reduce everything to it's LCD.

"Hey, we don't need all those guys in LTD. Let's focus on Jeffery and make him a star. We'll get him some songs that fit the AC format. Have him record 'On The Wings Of Love' The band? Let them go play casinos."

"Hey, kids don't need to learn music. Just let them rap. We own the rights to the music they sample. Who needs musicianship? We have Pro Tools. Make sure they look good and want to be a star."

(Pop version) "Sign their little brother/sister too. When they get too old or wise up their sister/brother is next in line.

(Rap version) "Take out a million dollar insurance policy on him. Have him record as many tracks possible. If he gets shot, we'll make a bigger mint."

Hotlegs said:

As George would say: "Everything Is On The One".

cranshaw62 said:

Preach

That's what I want to know. Where the hell is it!? It's been gone for years. It's rediculous!




Blues is very much alive and well. It's just according to where you live though. Here in Mississippi, it is extemely popular. Hip hop may dominate the younger generation, but down here, the blues seems to dominate the older generation. Of course, most of the artists live and record down here on Malaco Records.

Here in Philly you can count on one hand all the gigging funk bands. If you went out to all the venues in Philly in a given month you might see one black funk band. Now that's pretty bad,

vainandy said:

Vain Baby, I know you're speaking the truth b/c I grew in the north but Blues artist are very well know in Ohio. That's a fact. Probably, the person that made this comment was from a younger 20 ish generation and that would make a difference b/c the media has brainwashed them against the Blues.

Hotlegs said:

I guess it is a matter of where you live at, because where I live at near Philly there is only one blues club (Warmdaddys) and 95% of those who get booked there do not have a current recording deal, and 100% of those get no radio airplay or media coverage what so ever.

Blues and Funk originated from black musicians, but talented black musicians who are still true to the art are rare and the media are making rarer still with little or no media exposure.

Hotlegs said:

[b]Thanks for the compliment ("younger 20 ish generation") but I believe I just might be the oldest orger on this site. I was born in 1957

jw1914 said:

[b]Age is only a state of mind remember that JW. Also, you should never assume anything.

Hotlegs said:

[b]No, age is often used as a measuring stick to determine someones level of experience or maturity. That is why the law sets age requirements in many activities (driving an automobile, voting, purchasing alcohol, cigarettes,etc). Sometimes age can be used to help to determine someones musical knowlegde and experience, again I said sometimes. A 15 year old avid music lover could not possibly had the time to listen to the same amount of music as a 40 year old music lover.

Age can be more than a state of mind. [/b]

jw1914 said:

[b]Ok with this thought in mind, you can see I thought your younger based on younger based on your musical knoweledge and that's a bad assumption. Of course, my knowledge is more extensive not only b/c of my age but due to extensive my background in music (vocalist).

Let's pray that some new funk bands will get signed.

jw1914 said:

Down here in Mississippi, it is the exact opposite. All the clubs for black people over the age of 35 are hole in the wall neighborhood blues clubs and there a ton of them. There are also a few upscale blues clubs with live entertainment but not many. There are countless outdoor blues festivals each year also.

Unfortunately, the majority of these artists live and record right here in Jackson on the same record label. A lot of them have the same producers so that means that there is not much variety in the sound and a lot of it sounds alike.

I used to listen to a little blues back in the 1980s, but in the 1990s, when rap took over, everyone started clinging to blues and absolutely wore it out. Almost everyone down here that used to listen to funk and R&B, now listen to blues exclusively because it's the only new music being made except for hip hop. Blues is all you hear down here to the point that it makes you want to scream.

My sister went to a convention in Milwaukee with one of her ex-boyfriends. This guy ate, slept, and drank blues 24/7 to the point that she, as well as the rest of us, were sick of hearing it.

On their trip up there, once they made it up North past Tennessee, he couldn't find one blues station on the radio. When they made it to Milwaukee, the club they were in was playing nothing but R&B (this was the very early 1990s) and no blues. They left and found a club that had a blues band but it was old stuff. It wasn't the new current blues that he was used to hearing day after day down here. He was pissed but she came back all happy because she had a vacation away from the blues.

vainandy said:

Well looks like I need to make a trip to Mississippi.

jw1914 said:

They should just start record companies of their own then.