(Except from Funk by Rickey Vincent)

Black music has continued to innovate; from the first slave songs, to the latest street-corner raps, the mission has been the same: to tell it like it is. The Funk is no exception, yet it hasn't been placed in its proper context in music history. With an understanding of the black music evolution from West African music, to slave songs, blues, sprituals, and later jazz and soul, a framework can be organized for the inevitable convergence of styles which led to the birth of The Funk.

While the musical evolution is more complex than illustrated here, the basic historical, structural analysis is consistent with the majority of other musical histories. For example, soul music is often regarded as a blend of rhythm and blues and gospel music, with a large number of crossover gospel artists moving into soul music, such as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke and Al Green. This is the fundamental theme in the birth of soul music in the 1960s.

Funk
by Rickey Vincent
$11.17