Okay, I am just now getting into funk. Other than a few Brothers Johnson CDs, the one good Beastie Boys CD, and some others, I need to expand my collections. What albums should I get?
Keep in mind, I have tried Bootsy (just to childish for me) and Clinton (okay, but not enough hard core wa wa bar to keep me interested), but I am willing to try your suggestions.
I don’t have an answer for you, just seconding the need for a recommendation. I’ve been wanting to expland my funk knowledge, so count me in as wanting to be schooled.
Funk is difficult to pigeonhole, as there are so many examples of funk which also have elements of soul, jazz, hip-hop, rock, disco, etc. Here are a few, organized in no particular order - it’s an eclectic list:
George Clinton
Parliament
Bootsy Collins
Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns
Maceo Parker
James Brown
Rick James
Commodores
Isley Brothers
AWB (Average White Band)
Liquid Soul
Digital Underground
Jamiroquai
Herbie Hancock
Down to the Bone
Tower of Power
Victor Wooten
Agree with the previous recommendations.
Would add:
Prince
(Some) Living Colour
Earth Wind and Fire
Gil Scott-Heron
Make sure you find the Isley Brothers (home of the original Fight The Power)
Shuggie Otis
Can you have Acid Jazz with funk thrown in?? cause I think that’s what I like, not hard core funk.
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Congrats for gettin’ the funk. Now, if you caught some slack, you’d be in pretty good shape… 
The Pure Funk compilations would be a good starting point. Here’s the Allmusic page listing a bunch of funk compilations.
Adding to the list of must-have artists:
The Ohio Players (“Fire,” “Love Rollercoaster”)
re. Shuggie Otis, he wrote “Strawberry Letter 23,” which was a big hit for the Brothers Johnson when they covered it in '78. You might also want to check out some of the recordings (mostly blues and R&B, though) of his father, the musician, bandleader, and impressario Johnny Otis.
Hmmm…
stuff not already mentioned:
Sly & the Family Stone
Funkadelic
P-Funk
Curtis Mayfield
Did you also want reggae?
Funkadelic and Parliament are the same band.
I am no expert on the subject, but I have to question a few of the nominations so far.
Gil Scott Heron? Beastie Boys?
Not what I consider funk at all.
Might add…
KC & the Sunshine Band
Wild Cherry
Very fine line between funk (good) and disco (sucks…)
All the others listed before (my heros… 
)
“Pure Funk” is a GOOD suggestion. Lot’s of good stuff on there. Curtis, Issac, AWB, Chaka Khan, Ohio Players, on and on.
I think it all starts with the Godfather tho… 
You Sir need to pick up a copy of “The In Sound From Way Out!”
I don’t know from funk. Does **War **count? About 15 years ago a buddy of mine found a greatest-hits vinyl in the 25-cent bin at Woolworth’s and we rocked out for months. “War is Coming,” “Me and Baby Brother,” and my shaggy favorite, “Splinters”…that stuff was great! I’ve looked halfheartedly for whatever “Best of War” compilation this might have been, but I’ve been burned by their 80s cheese so I’m hesitant. Direction welcome.
War was a great, great band in their heyday and certainly qualify as funk in an Earth, Wind, and Fire sorta way. Their second and third albums as a “solo act”, All Day Music and The World is a Ghetto, are their strongest and I’d unreservedly recommend both ( not a bad track on either ) over a greatest hits collection. The first album ( simply titled War ) is a bit more tentative, though it has its moments, like “Sun, Oh Sun” and the odd little ditty “Fidel’s Fantasy” wherein percussionist Papa Dee Allen taunts Fidel Castro. The fourth, Why Can’t We be Friends has the well-known title-track and the even more famous “Lowrider”, but is a little weaker overall than the previous two IMO ( though still worth checking out ).
Of the two pre-solo albums done with Eric Burdon, the first Eric Burdon Declares War is pretty decent ( if you like Eric Budon, which I do ) - “Spill the Wine” was the standout cut, but the longer medleys like Tobacco Road and Blues for Memphis Slim are interesting. The second, Black Man’s Burdon is basically a double album of somewhat sloppy free-form jams ( which War tended towards left to their own devices - their live album tended towards that and many of the tight studio cuts on their solo albums were cut down from much longer in-studio jams ) that are very much an acquired taste.
Make sure that before you die, you hear the album “Back To Oakland” by Tower Of Power. It’s a certain kind of funk, but most of it can be described by the line from Cheech & Chong - it’s “so funky that if it moves in next door to you, your lawn is gonna die!” Especially the track “Don’t Change Horses (In The Middle Of A Stream).” Yow!
I would put forward Funkcronomicon by Axiom Funk. It’s a great collaboration of funk/hip-hop/etc including cover tracks and original material, all of them interesting. The bass lines are generally great and the sense of humour is abundant, a la Parliament: the chorus of “Under the Influence” repeats over and over the chant “Funk 'em just to see the look on their face”, and talks about a place so boring that “even pop machines close after dark”. There’s ultra-funky space bass played by Bootsie Collins, violins by Lili Haydn, guitar by Buckethead, and a mess of vocalists from George Clinton to Sly Stone to Maceo Parker, not to mention abundant electronica, organs, trumpets, sax, and whatnot.
If you’re looking for a modern introduction to and interpretation of funk and obviously do not have the original sources, this is a great place to start. It’s a two-disc set, well worth my money.
A couple of specific ones currently in my CD player:
Life On Planet Groove - Maceo Parker (also arranged horns for Parliament/George Clinton and James Brown.)
Headhunters - Herbie Hancock.
That’s what’s spinning now. There’s lots more.
Oh, and Maceo did the horns on Prince’s new one as well. The guy’s a funk legend.
I don’t really know a whole lot about funk, but I dabble here and there. One thing I can tell you though is that FISHBONE has to be one of the greatest funk…no…one of the greatest BANDS of all time.
A lot of the stuff recomended so far is funk-lite or <shudder> funky disco, but Fishbone is 100% cheese-free hard hitting funk rock power.
If you ever have a hankering for a little bit of punk/funk fusion, check out the 80s band the Big Boys, whose discography is available on Touch and Go Records IIRC.
I third the original post. I asked this question in a different message board and the answers I got were:
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Parliament Funkadelic
George Clinton
However, they’re not the type of funk I’m looking for. I’m trying to find instrumental funk with barely any vocals in it if it has to be in the song. An example of what I mean is the Odyssey Movements by Incubus. If anyone could give me suggestions of songs/bands that are similar to the Odyssey Movements, I would be very grateful.
Thanks.
Add the GAP Band to your list. Definately a must have for any decent funk collection.