psychedelic funk
{{Short description|Music genre}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name = Psychedelic funk
| other_names ={{hlist|Funkadelia|P-FunkLauren Cochrane, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/jun/23/georgeclintonthebestdresse "George Clinton: the best dressed man in music"], The Guardian, June 23, 2008.}}
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Funk|psychedelic rock|psychedelic soul|acid rock}}
| cultural_origins = Late 1970s
| instruments =
| derivatives = {{hlist|Funk rock|G-funk}}
| subgenres =
| fusiongenres = {{hlist|Jazz fusion}}
| regional_scenes =
| other_topics = {{hlist|Progressive soul|psychedelic music}}
| image =
| caption =
| subgenrelist =
}}
Psychedelic funk (also called P-funk or funkadelia, and sometimes conflated with psychedelic soul) is a music genre that combines funk music with elements of psychedelic rock.{{cite book|editor-last1=Scott|editor-first1=Derek B.|chapter=Dayton Street Funk: The Layering of Musical Identities|title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology|page=275|isbn=9780754664765|year=2009|publisher=Ashgate Publishing }} It was pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by American acts like Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. It would influence subsequent styles including 1970s jazz fusion and the 1990s West Coast hip hop style G-funk.
File:George Clinton in Centreville.jpg performs with Parliament-Funkadelic in 2007.]]
History
=Origins: Late 1960s=
Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and psychedelic culture, the psychedelic soul group Sly and the Family Stone borrowed techniques from psychedelic rock music, including wah pedals, fuzz boxes, echo chambers, and vocal distorters. On albums such as Life (1968) and Stand (1969), the band pioneered a "multiculturalist, integrationist" psychedelic funk style.{{cite book|last=Hanson|first=Michael Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ChPAQAAMAAJ|title=People Get Ready: Race, Place and Political Identity in Post-civil Rights Black Popular Music, 1965-1975|date=2004|publisher=UC Berkeley|page=124}} This psychedelic sound would also be reflected in the late 1960s output of iconic Detroit label Motown. Producer Norman Whitfield drew on this sound for popular Motown recordings such as The Temptations' "Cloud Nine" and Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," both released in October 1968. Hendrix's November 1968 single "Crosstown Traffic" has been described as an early example of the psychedelic funk subgenre.{{cite book |last1=Dave |first1=Moskowitz |title=The Words and Music of Jimi Hendrix |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=43}}
=Development: 1970s and later=
In 1970, Hendrix released the trio album Band of Gypsys, described as "ground zero" for psychedelic funk.{{cite web |last1=Drozdowski |first1=Ted |title=Remembering Jimi Hendrix: His Top 10 Live Recordings |url=http://es.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/jimi-hendrix-0915-2011.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917115751/http://es.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/jimi-hendrix-0915-2011.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-09-17 |website=Gibson |access-date=9 May 2020}} The Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed the sensibility, employing acid rock-oriented guitar and synthesizers into open-ended funk jams.{{cite book|last1=Edmondson|first1=Jacqueline|title=Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture [4 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture|date=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=474}} Funkadelic's 1971 album Maggot Brain was labeled a monument in the genre by Pitchfork.{{cite magazine|last=Segal|first=Dave|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/funkadelic-maggot-brain/|title=Funkadelic: Maggot Brain |magazine=Pitchfork|access-date=June 20, 2020|date=June 20, 2020}} Led by George Clinton, P-Funk would shift the genre away from song-form and toward groove and texture, emphasizing the abject elements of psychedelia.{{cite book|last1=Echard|first1=William|title=Psychedelic Popular Music: A History through Musical Topic Theory|date=2017|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=123–125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJoqDwAAQBAJ&q=psychedelic+funk+funkadelia|access-date=26 January 2018|isbn=9780253026590}} The Isley Brothers and Bobby Womack would be influenced by Funkadelic and draw on this sound. Womack also contributed to Sly and the Family Stone's landmark 1971 album There's a Riot Goin' On, described as a "masterpiece of darkly psychedelic funk" by AllMusic.{{cite web|last1=Huey|first1=Steve|title=Bobby Womack – Biography|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bobby-womack-mn0000064509/biography|website=AllMusic}}
During the early 1970s, the main elements of psychedelic funk were adopted as signifiers of "urban blackness" and incorporated into blaxploitation films. The 1971 James Brown instrumental album Sho Is Funky Down Here, directed by bandleader David Matthews, explored "fuzzy" psychedelic funk.{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=James Brown - Sho Is Funky Down Here |url=https://waxmuseumrecords.com/products/jamesbrown-shoisfunkydownlp |website=Wax Museum |access-date=3 February 2022}} Jazz musician Miles Davis, newly influenced by Sly Stone and Brown,{{cite book|last1=Chambers|first1=Jack|title=Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis|date=1998|publisher=Da Capo Press|pages=235–38}} explored the genre on his 1972 album On the Corner.{{cite news|title=Miles Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHVUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22psychedelic+funk%22|access-date=March 16, 2017|work=Juxtapoz|issue=48–53|publisher=High Speed Productions|date=2004}} The group War recorded in a psychedelic funk-rock style alongside lyrics protesting racism and police brutality.{{cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Melissa Ursula Dawn |title=Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre |date=2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=59}} The 1974 album Inspiration Information by Shuggie Otis explored psychedelic funk and soul, and despite receiving little attention upon release, it later achieved acclaim when it was reissued by the Luaka Bop label.{{cite web |last1=Mirkin |first1=Steven |title=Reviews: Shuggie Otis |url=https://variety.com/2001/music/reviews/shuggie-otis-2-1200469199/ |website=Variety |date=8 July 2001 |access-date=5 April 2020}}
In the late 1970s, new wave band Talking Heads explored psychedelic funk, influenced by George Clinton and P-Funk, on a trilogy of acclaimed albums.{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Simon|title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984|url=https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno|url-access=registration|date=2005|publisher=Penguin|page=[https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno/page/163 163]|isbn=9780143036722}}{{cite book |last1=Bowman |first1=David |title=This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the 20th Century |date=2009 |publisher=Harper Collins}} Prince drew on the style, recording in a "richly melodic vein of psychedelic funk" on his 1985 album Around the World in a Day.{{cite web|last1=Hasted|first1=Nick|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/prince-dead-obituary-in-appreciation-of-a-virtuoso-enduring-genius-a6995736.html|title=Prince: In appreciation of a virtuoso, enduring genius|website=The Independent|date=22 April 2016 |access-date=8 December 2016}} Author Michaelangelo Matos described Prince's 1987 track “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” as psychedelic funk, “not in the sense of Funkadelic or Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, but in the sense that its rhythms and textures achieve a molten-lava sense without surrendering the groove.{{cite book |last1=Matos |first1=Michaelangelo |title=Prince's Sign 'O' the Times |date=2004 |publisher=33 1/3 |page=105}}
=International artists=
The West German band Can played psychedelic funk as part of that country's 1970s krautrock scene.{{cite web |last1=Maconie |first1=Stuart |title=Krautrock: Germany's coolest export that no one can quite define |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/08/krautrock-germany-s-coolest-export-no-one-can-quite-define |website=New Statesman |date=22 August 2014 |access-date=19 January 2022}} West African groups such as Blo and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou played forms of psychedelic funk in the mid-1970s, both drawing on the Afrobeat of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Africa 100: The Indestructible Beat |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/6007-africa-100-the-indestructible-beat/?page=4 |website=Pitchfork |access-date=5 April 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Andy |title=Reviews: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/06603-orchestre-poly-rythmo-de-cotonou-the-first-album-review |website=The Quietus |access-date=5 April 2020}} Turkey's Anatolian rock scene featured psychedelic funk by artists such as Barış Manço.{{cite web |last1=Byrne |first1=David |title=David Byrne hooked on Turkish Psychedelica |url=https://www.abconcerts.be/en/news/david-byrne-hooked-on-turkish-psychedelica/a1e5J000000x6ULQAY |website=Ancient Belgique |access-date=19 January 2022}} The British band Happy Mondays played a form of "stiff" psychedelic funk on their 1988 album Bummed.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bummed-mw0000203094|title=Bummed – Happy Mondays|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=9 February 2014|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|archive-date=12 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212091920/https://www.allmusic.com/album/bummed-mw0000203094|url-status=live}}
Examples of psychedelic funk from world music scenes have been collected on compilations issued on the World Psychedelic Funk Classics label,All Music [http://www.allmusic.com/album/psych-funk-sa-re-ga!-seminar-aesthetic-expressions-of-psychedelic-funk-music-in-india-1970-1983-mw0002082661 Various Artists, Psych-Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music in India 1970-1983, AllMusic Review by John Bush] including the 2009 compilation Psych-Funk 101: 1968-1975.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Marissa |title=Various Artists - Psych-Funk 101: 1968-1975 |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/psych-funk-101-1968-1975-mw0000829858 |website=AllMusic |access-date=18 January 2022}} A collection of 1970s psychedelic funk recordings from Ghana and Togo was released in 2010 as Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves by the Analog Africa label.{{cite web |last1=Kazbek |first1=Katya |title=Music: Afro-Beat Airways, West African Shock Waves: Ghana & Togo 1972-1978, 2010 |url=https://supamodu.com/2019/africa/afro-beat-airways-west-african-shock-waves-ghana-togo/ |website=SupaModu |date=2 July 2019 |access-date=5 April 2020}} Music from Nigeria's 1970s psychedelic funk scene was later documented on the compilation Wake Up You! The Rise & Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977, released in 2016.{{cite web |last1=Killakam |title=The Best 1970s Nigerian Psychedelic Funk Gets Compiled In 'Wake Up You! The Rise & Fall Of Nigerian Rock' |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/nigerian-psychedelic-funk-wake-up-you-rise-fall-nigerian-rock/ |website=OkayAfrica |date=28 January 2016 |access-date=5 April 2020}}
Influence and later developments
In the early 1970s, jazz artists such as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, influenced by Sly Stone, combined elements of psychedelic funk with urban jazz to pioneer jazz fusion.{{cite news|last1=Lien|first1=James|title=In the Bins|work=CMJ New Music Monthly|agency=CMJ Network|issue=49|date=September 1997}}{{cite book|last1=Dean|first1=Matt|title=The Drum: A History|date=December 29, 2011|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=292}} In the 1990s, the popular psychedelic funk style known as G-funk emerged from the West Coast hip hop scene, represented by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Warren G.{{cite web|last1=Hunter|first1=Christopher|title=WARREN G IS RELEASING A DOCUMENTARY ON THE HISTORY OF G-FUNK|website=XXL Mag|date=16 March 2017 |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/warren-g-documentary-g-funk/}} Many G-funk recordings sampled tracks by earlier psychedelic funk bands, most prominently Parliament-Funkadelic.{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=Gus |title=We Want The Funk: From P-Funk To G-Funk & Beyond, A Brief History |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/we-want-the-funk-from-p-funk-to-g-funk-and-beyond-a-brief-history-news.55637.html |website=Hot New Hip Hop |date=25 July 2018 |access-date=25 January 2022}}
The 1990s hip hop duo OutKast were also influenced by black psychedelic musicians such as Sly Stone and Clinton.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/outkast|title=Outkast|magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{cite web |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=Review: Oldies and newbies at Lollapalooza 2014 |url=https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/chi-lollapalooza-2014-review-20140803-story.html |website=The Morning Call |access-date=22 January 2022 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Their 2000 album Stankonia was described as "a trippy sort of techno-psychedelic funk" composed of "programmed percussion, otherworldly synthesizers, and surreal sound effects."{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/stankonia-mw0000252371|title=Stankonia – OutKast|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=March 31, 2010|last=Huey|first=Steve}} The experimental indie pop band of Montreal developed a psychedelic funk sound,{{cite web |last1=Perpetua |first1=Matthew |title=Review: Of Montreal - thecontrollersphere EP |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15360-thecontrollersphere-ep/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=22 January 2022}} particularly on their 2008 album Skeletal Lamping.{{cite web |last1=Fink |first1=Matt |title=of Montreal's Kevin Barnes Discusses New Country Music Influenced Album, "Lousy with Sylvianbriar": Twisting Tradition |url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/of_montreal_kevin_barnes |website=Under the Radar |access-date=22 January 2022}} The 2016 album Awaken, My Love! by Childish Gambino borrowed the psychedelic funk sound of Clinton and Bootsy Collins, with Vice negatively describing it as "pure Funkadelic cosplay."{{cite web |last1=Daramola |first1=Israel |title=Can Funk Give Childish Gambino What He Needs? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/can-funk-give-childish-gambino-what-he-needs/ |website=Vice |date=5 December 2016 |access-date=5 April 2020}}