Play That Funky Music responsibilities

[rockit31]

My band wants to pick this up and I really don't hear any keys or synths,  there is occasional brass.   Just wondering if anyone has ever covered this one and what did you do?,  Besides the brass fills?   

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

2 minutes ago, rockit31 said:

My band wants to pick this up and I really don't hear any keys or synths,  there is occasional brass.   Just wondering if anyone has ever covered this one and what did you do?,  Besides the brass fills?   

 

 

How many pieces/what instrumentation in your band?

[MAJUSCULE]

It's in the name!

[mate stubb]

I played cowbell.

[Docbop]

Be like horn player nothing to play time to sneak off stage and get another drink. 

[Delaware Dave]

Play this song EVERY gig.  I use a D6 to carry the groove and also cover the brass/horns.  I also get a lead at the end of the song .....

 

https://www.facebook.com/100063501882266/posts/591397789653612/

[drawback]

Accentuate the bass lines with clav. 

[Stokely]

^ That's pretty much what I do, clav sometimes playing with the bass but other times doing that climb down brass/guitar bit.   but it changes as the whim hits me.  Often it's clavinet and a bare minimum of horns that I feel I can get away with...I just don't like keyboard horns.   I've  been known to throw some funky (well, an attempt at it) synth comping or mono lines in there.   If I get my vocoder working I'll be using it on this tune and probably everything else, look out!

We medley a few other tunes into the groove in the middle and by that time I'm generally playing organ and I end playing organ.   Our version is a little faster and rocked up, which I don't really like but trying to change that after we've played it hundreds of times now would be like changing the orbit of the sun.   It's one of those tunes where the studio original version comes on the radio and you say..."ohhhhh....that's how that song goes...."

 

[rockit31]

56 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

How many pieces/what instrumentation in your band?

we are 6 piece,  2 guitars and a female vocalist.      I like the clav idea, was already thinking that would sound cool.    

35 minutes ago, Delaware Dave said:

Play this song EVERY gig.  I use a D6 to carry the groove and cover the brass/horns.  I also get a lead at the end of the song .....

 

https://www.facebook.com/100063501882266/posts/591397789653612/

Inspiring!    

[rockit31]

26 minutes ago, Stokely said:

^ That's pretty much what I do, clav sometimes playing with the bass but other times doing that climb down brass/guitar bit.   but it changes as the whim hits me.  Often it's clavinet and a bare minimum of horns that I feel I can get away with...I just don't like keyboard horns.   I've  been known to throw some funky (well, an attempt at it) synth comping or mono lines in there.   If I get my vocoder working I'll be using it on this tune and probably everything else, look out!

We medley a few other tunes into the groove in the middle and by that time I'm generally playing organ and I end playing organ.   Our version is a little faster and rocked up, which I don't really like but trying to change that after we've played it hundreds of times now would be like changing the orbit of the sun.   It's one of those tunes where the studio original version comes on the radio and you say..."ohhhhh....that's how that song goes...."

 

I hear ya on the keyboard brass!  

[ElmerJFudd]

5 minutes ago, rockit31 said:

we are 6 piece,  2 guitars and a female vocalist.      I like the clav idea, was already thinking that would sound cool.    

Inspiring!    

Then you don't want to play any more guitar lines that's for sure.  I like the clav on the bass line idea. And I would play the missing horn lines.  What timbre you use for them, that's up to you.  

[MathOfInsects]

FWIW, everyone always plays the horn lines anyway (meaning, everyone in the band). I usually just play clav, since, you know, "funk," and "white boys." But I don't think it matters. Just 1) groove and 2) avoid not grooving.

[retrokeys]

Find a clav voice and get funky with your bad self.

 

[dazzjazz]

I no longer play this tune, but I would like to collect the royalties. 

[Baldwin Funster]

If I recall correctly in the video for this song the keys player stands with arms outstretched between 2 boards and grinds his hips. Do that. 

[TommyRude]

This song screams for talkbox

[nadroj]

Double the bass line with left hand, comping on the right. On a clav or EP, depends on band setup and what I feel like on the night. Occasionally throw wah in for fun. If I get a solo (depends on the band) I’ll just jump on an EP or organ. It’s a fun song to jam, so long as you don’t get in the way the guitars. Not that I care about guitarists, but you want to serve the song 😁

[stoken6]

I throw some Hammond chords in to support the guitar solo. Not too much, but it helps differentiate that section.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[DJkeys]

I have played this for years.  Guitar player starts song, then when I come in with the vocal, I play the funky riff with a clav sound and the guitar player takes over the complex rhythm part.  I play the riff during his guitar solo, and at the end, I take a synth solo and he plays the riff behind me.  I use horns only on the chorus.

 

-dj

[AnotherScott]

15 hours ago, rockit31 said:

we are 6 piece,  2 guitars 

 

I've never played it in a band with two guitarists. In a band with one guitarist, since there are two guitar parts, I cover one of those. I play the opening guitar riff on clav (we're usually coming out of Superstition) and then the guitarist comes in with the other guitar part (the rhythm/chords that come in with the bass and drums). If we had two guitarists, I wouldn't be averse to sitting this one out. ;-)

[jerrythek]

I'll use a dry, non-bell tone Rhodes or a wurlie and play funk. Support the main riff plus a few well-placed chord hits, double the rhythm guitar figures etc. The E-D-E hit going into the hook I'll do with a brass section. Then I tend to go for organ for the chorus/hook.

 

Open funk in E is prime territory to have some fun, just don't overplay.

 

This video gives a great lesson in playing funky Rhodes (in E!):

 

 

[timwat]

Reference the lyric - the song's about a rock singer finding the funk. So I've approached it as the KB player is the one to lead the way to funky town.

 

In more conservative "we tend to stick to the record" bands, I've played clav and rhodes. In bands that allow more creative freedom, I've tried to answer the question, "What would Bernie Worrell do?" and that can include synth, synth bass, organ supporting the chorus, all kinds of additional grease and funkiness (think Flashlight).

 

A lot of it has to do with how much experience / familiarity you already have playing funk.

 

Also, an important thing to note - funk feels the pulse differently than rock. Rock guys tend to just hear syncopation in funk - but they sometimes miss the subtle swing that's built into the time feeling 2 & 4 rather than 1 & 3. For example, listen to a lot of Parliament Funkadelic and slow it down, or dig Stevie's swing on Supersition. A LOT of cover bands get that feel all wrong. So whatever you play (especially if you're playing 8th and 16th note funky clav), maybe soak your ears in Stevie or Dilla, then sit on the back end of the 1 with your funky clav work.

 

 

[Stokely]

I like the non-bell rhodes idea, I had actually considered trying that out and the post above reminded me.

My band definitely doesn't funk correctly on this one, we are the definition of "rocked up version" and as I say I much prefer the original.  But it aint a gonna change at this point, and nobody is complaining but me, so I'll worry about other things.   We do a much better job grooving on songs like Brick House and Peg for whatever reason, probably because our guitarist doesn't go rock rhythm on those and our drummer sits back a bit.

[linwood]

Herbie button ending...

[Cliffk]

6 hours ago, timwat said:

Solid advice, especially ‘sitting on the back end of the one’. I call that the afterburn. 🏎️💨

 

 

[Adan]

While there’s some great advice in this thread, I also think there’s something to be said for not thinking about it, and instead just let your mind be a tabula rasa and play what you feel on the moment.  Overplaying might be the only serious mistake.  A song with no original keys is your canvas to create.  

[Spider76]

I keep reading the thread title as 

"Play that funky music responsibly"

[ProfD]

Do not play clav parts if swing deficient or otherwise rhythmically challenged.

 

For those who like to drink or smoke, see if that loosens up any latent rigidity and  adds palm grease to your mojo. 😎

[Stokely]

4 hours ago, Adan said:

While there’s some great advice in this thread, I also think there’s something to be said for not thinking about it, and instead just let your mind be a tabula rasa and play what you feel on the moment.  Overplaying might be the only serious mistake.  A song with no original keys is your canvas to create.  

OMG, "overplaying" is what we tend to do.  I didn't realize it until I heard and mixed a multi-track recording of it.  It's something many bands do on many songs, non-pro ones at least   You forget that space can be good.  I was not immune either.  Recordings like this make me realize that somtimes holding a chord or note for a while, or not playing at all, is what is needed and I don't need to be playing like a spastic monkey the whole time.   And when the whole band is doing it...oi.

I think some of that is poor monitoring, when you can't really hear "the song" you feel you need to fill in the emptiness.  

[PianoMan51]

As someone who played that song in a cover band when it first came out, I’m stunned that it’s still on anyone’s playlist. I mean seriously stunned.
 

Jungle Boogie (for example) was out three years earlier, and was part of the destruction of the rock-based set list for bands playing clubs on the East Coast. PTFM was (in my ears) way late to the party, and way un-hip. Lol. I feel the same way today playing Artie Shaw charts!

 

But I have a certain pride in my fellow keyboard players on this forum, because of the “respect” that we give to playing even the most puerile songs. IMHO we as players can only perform well when we love what we do. This often means finding something to love in the ugliest dog. (Actually this is a characteristic that transcends, and approaches the spiritual nature of being a musician).