"Deep funk revival"

[evan]

I stumbled upon this genre a couple days ago, after investigating a few cited bands in the AMG review of Connie Price & The Keystones' record (a good one, by the way). The genre is largely an outgrowth of DJ and record collector culture, with musicians who pay tribute to "deep" (obscure) soul and funk by recreating it impeccably.

A good example is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, a former prison guard who's a convincing female James-Brown-like singer. She put out a LP three years ago, but you could easily be mistaken -- there's a fake-live introduction, bristly vocals, a name-of-the-dance song ("The Dap-Dip"), and a tight backing band to hold it all up. (more samples on her artist page)

Another one of my personal favorites is an instrumental outfit called the Whitefield Brothers, who, while obviously taking the Meters as a reference point, move beyond simple impersonation and create some intensely seductive grooves. (samples of "Thunderbird", "In The Raw", and others on their Emusic.com page)

Of course, one of the most entertaining aspects of this kind of music as a recordist is the way it's rendered to tape -- like I said, they aspire to recreate it impeccably. Some shoot for the gritty, sparkly crack of more lo-fi funk, and others try for a more polished, even dynamism, but in either case they do it surprisingly well.

All in all, I think it's a fascinating genre, raises interesting questions about musical authenticity, and is pretty fun to listen to and imagine how they pulled it off.

[horacesqueeze]

If you get the chance, Sharon Jones is NOT to be missed live. Simply amazing!

[joel hamilton]

The Dap kings crew is right around the corner from my studio.
Those guys are making some great stuff. It totally reminds me of the preacher Lynn Collins "think" with the JB's. Amazing sounds.

I just did a session with adam deitch, and he was referencing that stuff as how he wanted one of the room mics to sound!

We wound up with an old tube pre, and a 1950's tannoy ribbon mic I have, just sitting on a lleslie cabnet near the drums. Sounds so good. I printed like 15 tracks of drums (breakbeat record) so he could choose later, but that was one of our favorites.

[evan]

That's great that Sharon Jones is doing live shows. I'll be all over it if I ever get the chance, guaranteed.

The Dap kings crew is right around the corner from my studio.
Those guys are making some great stuff. It totally reminds me of the preacher Lynn Collins "think" with the JB's. Amazing sounds.

I just did a session with adam deitch, and he was referencing that stuff as how he wanted one of the room mics to sound!

We wound up with an old tube pre, and a 1850's tannoy ribbon mic I have, just sitting on a lleslie cabnet near the drums. Sounds so good. I printed like 15 tracks of drums (breakbeat record) so he could choose later, but that was one of our favorites.

So cool. The best thing about those recordings are that they just sound so fun to make. With that kind of music I'd think it would be very easy to tell if you're getting it right.

[jmoose]

What's the difference between "deep funk revival" and plain 'ol funk? Is it just another offshoot of funk with real musicians or some kind of electronica/sampled funk?

[evan]

Deep funk revival is exactly that -- a revival, of what a certain group of bands and musicians think is the classic period of funk and soul. There's nothing that distinguishes the genre from other funk, except that they're very particular about their influences.

[jmoose]

So bands like the Meters & Poppa Grows Funk would be included? Weird man because they laid the ROOTS for funk and now to be part of the "revival". Huh, go figure! I didn't think that as style funk ever went away, it just ebbs & flows up to the mainstream once in a while and then disappears. Kinda like Prince, Fishbone & 24-7 Spyz...still out there but just not at the "top" of the mainstream.

[evan]

I think there's been a bit of confusion. The Meters aren't part of deep funk revival, because they aren't revivalists -- they were one of the founders, as you said. However, groups like Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, the Whitefield Brothers, Calypso King and the Soul Investigators, et al. -- they're revivalists, modern groups that have all started up and put out records within the last decade, seeking to start where James Brown, Stax Records, and others had left off thirty years ago. They're "second-wave" (or whatever wave), in the same respect that Madness and The Specials are second-wave ska to their predecessors.

[jmoose]

I guess I'm just confused by the "revival" bit because I didn't think that funk ever really went away. It just started to smell funky! But yah...I guess that makes sense, though I still don't see the point having sub-genres of sub genres. When did music cease to be music? I have three catagorys or genres if you will; good, bad and stuff I don't like.

[evan]

Music never ceased being music. We've just complicated talking about it (or simplified it, depending on who you ask) by distinguishing it by style to the minutiae. I personally think it's useful, because it gives you another reference point when you discuss music. It's just another way to communicate to people the aesthetic details of an album or artist, along side "sounds like" riffage and adjectives.

[computronic2040]

Wow, a post about Soul Fire Recs.! Does anyone have any info on how this stuff was recorded? I've heard Radio Shack mikes 'n such sent to tape really hot. (Did I use the term hot correctly? Not in the blingy sense of the word e.g. Lil' Wayne: The Block is Hot") But Soul Fire is "hot", nonetheless.

[EasyGo]

Wow, a post about Soul Fire Recs.! Does anyone have any info on how this stuff was recorded?

There was an article a few years back in this UK magazine called 'Big Daddy' witha big feature on Gabriel Roth and Phillipe Lehman focusing on the Soul Fire and Desco labels. There was a side article with one of them describing in detail how their recordings were made (at the time) - pretty much driving a 4-track into the red, using cheap mics and bad techniques. 'Shitty is pretty' was the point IIRC.

And no, I can't find the article; I looked for it back when this thread first appeared.

[segaface]

Picked up Naturally by Sharon Jones last week and I love it. Can you guys make any more recommendations along these lines?

Andy

[evan]

I don't know of any contemporaries of hers that sound similar -- there are far more instrumental outfits than ones with singers. Obviously this kind of music takes its directions from older music. If you haven't heard her already, you should check out Marva Whitney, who worked closely with James Brown and was backed by the J.B.'s as well. There's other standards as well like Otis Redding (King & Queen is a nice kicker of an album), Aretha (Lady Soul is a great record), The Meters, and The T.S.U. Toronados (sic spelling). Again, these are in a similar vein, but are definitely different. You might also look for some Northern soul compilations (I like Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities, for one), which have a lot of singles of more obscure American soul and R&B tracks that were popular mostly in Northern England clubs in the 60's but not in the United States, which is why its distinguished from mainstream soul.

[computronic2040]

Me and friend were joking around and did some stuff in this vein. It was a LOT fun despite our limited musicianship, we just turned on the four track and recorded it in my girlfriends living room. It might still be on MySpace, look for The RegalTips.