Generating page narration, please wait...

Overview

This lesson focuses on African American dance music styles following the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many of these music styles had signature dances as well. These styles include but are not limited to funk, go-go, and disco, while popular dances were the funky chicken, mashed potato, camel walk, hustle, James Brown, and others. We will look at all of them in this lesson. On the social front, during the 1970s, more tangible steps towards proper racial integration and gender equality were happening than before. Besides the style of music itself, because of these steps toward equality, this lesson categorizes this music as contemporary. However, we will also see that the music industry often coopted popular Black dance music and dances to varying degrees of economic success during this era.

Be ready to:

Discuss the significance of rhythm and terms such as riff, groove, syncopation, and four-on-the-floor.

Identify dances that occurred during the late 1960s through the 1970s and venues that aided in disseminating them to the general American population.

Identify instruments such as synthesizer, slap bass, and scratch guitar and their use within funk, go-go, and disco.

Explain the role of music in raising people's level of social consciousness.

Discuss how the demographics among Black Washingtonians influenced the development of go-go.

Articulate the role of the DJ in the development and dissemination of disco music.

Discover Music

Discover Video

Keywords

Listening Guides

References

Funk 3

Additionally, soul music draws heavily from gospel music. Soul influenced funk, but so too does funk incorporate gospel characteristics. As seen in the table above, Brown uses the voice to excite and draw attention to the lyrics, syncopation, and rhythmical continuity, all key characteristics of gospel music. Call-and-response also regularly occur between the lead singer and other singers. It is interesting to note in " I Got You♫ ," and " Papa's Got a Brand New Bag♫ ," the singer gives calls while brass and woodwind instruments respond. As James Brown mentions in his autobiography (1986), the 1965 recording of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" was the "original" funk groove because it features an atypical rhythmic foundation combined with:

Brown's urgent vocals (00:00-00:46)

Guitarist Jimmy Nolen's percussive style of choppy rhythm-playing (00:21-00:23 and 00:43-00:45),

The rhythmically tight, and open-closed hi-hat sound of drummer Melvin Parker (00:02-00:19 and 00:25-00:41)

James Brown performing live in Hamburg, Germany, February 1973.

The innovations of the James Brown band began to influence the work of other artists of the soul era, as seen in Aretha Franklin's " Respect♫ " (1967) and Dyke and the Blazers' " Funky Broadway♫ " (1967). In 1968 Sly and the Family Stone emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area to impact dance music with their hit " Dance to the Music♫."

Sly & The Family Stone "Everyday People & Dance To The Music" on The Ed Sullivan Show

The track featured a relentless, pounding drum track, a driving "fuzz"-toned bass, and vocals from each player as they introduced themselves. Sly and the Family Stone produced dance music that fused the psychedelics, loud guitars, and themes of peace and love associated with Bay Area rock music and the hard rhythms of James Brown funk to reflect ideals of realism, unity, and hope.

Don Cornelius

You can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey.

Don Cornelius

As always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!