So I was listening to a relatively obscure hit from New Brunswick made in 1965. The one thing I noticed about the song was that while it was clearly rock, the bassline was funky. As in, the bassline, at least in specific passages, was what you would expect in a funk song and not in a rock song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ9etqgYeSs
Now, I'm a big fan of funk. I will listen to more funk than I listen to rock. So I like this tune. But I thought to myself. . . hey, this is pretty darn early for that bass figure. So I listened to the James Brown recordings from 1959 to 1967 and the only moment I can hear the bass guitarist doing the familiar funk bass figures is around 1966-1967. Prior to that point, the funk was in the singer, the drummer, the horns and maybe the guitarist. Perhaps there was a change in bass guitarist that I haven't read up on yet, but I'm not hearing it in say the recordings from 1964-1965.
But I'm also thinking that this can't be the first example. New Brunswick has a strong connection with Louisiana, so musicians do talk with each other. So I expect to maybe encounter something similar if I dig deep into Swamp Rock or Delta blues. But I haven't heard it.
Does anyone know of the older examples of funk bass figures?
