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53 albums · 1967–2017

Funk, from James Brown and Sly Stone to New Orleans, P-Funk, Minneapolis and today

· 2 min read · by 1001 Albums

James Brown in a light suit with a zip-front top, dancing with his fists clenched beside a microphone stand, a guitarist and a drum kit behind him, in a black and white photograph
A silver spaceship with coloured lights in its portholes and two clear domes on its arms, standing on angled legs in a museum gallerySharon Jones in a blue fringed dress singing and dancing at the front of the stage, a drummer, a conga player and a bass player behind her under a Daptone Records banner
James Brown in concert in Hamburg, February 1973. Photo: Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · The P-Funk Mothership at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, 2016. Photo: Fuzheado, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at South by Southwest in Austin, 2013. Photo: Kent Wang, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Funk grew out of soul and rhythm and blues in the United States in the mid-sixties. James Brown's band built songs on one or two chords and a hard first beat, with the bass, the drums and a chopped rhythm guitar at the front.

Sly and the Family Stone mixed it with rock in San Francisco, the Meters played it in New Orleans, and George Clinton's Parliament and Funkadelic gave it long jams and space-age stage shows as P-Funk. In Lagos Fela Kuti joined it to highlife and jazz as Afrobeat. In the disco years Chic and Earth, Wind & Fire played it for the dance floor, Chuck Brown made go-go of it in Washington, and Prince and the Time made the Minneapolis sound with synthesizers and drum machines. Later come D'Angelo, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Thundercat.

The list has 53 records from 1967 to 2017. It leaves out compilations of singles, the funk of Brazil and Europe and most of Africa's beyond Fela and Manu Dibango, and takes one to three records of each band. About 38 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Soul & R&B 79%Rock 7%Jazz 6%Other 8%
  • Soul & R&B 79%
  • Rock 7%
  • Jazz 6%
  • Other 8%

The genres named most: funk, soul, p-funk, jazz, r&b, disco.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 3 countries: United States 48, United Kingdom 2, Cameroon 1. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

More lists

Lists of Genres first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.