Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Rob Instigator
T&B, funk music is not rock n roll. it is it's own monster. I try to define rock n roll as riff-based. a band without guitars like Morphine is rock n roll (or "low-rock" as Mr. Sandman would describe it, RIP) because the tunes are based on riffs.
other genre's, funk, ska, reggae, eetc, while sharing instrumentation with rock and cohabitating with rock, are not about the riff.
James Brown was never rock. he was a soul singer who helped create the genre of FUNK.
|
The only reason reggae can be sometimes lumped into the rock and roll category is old rock and roll bands were a huge influence over the earl 1960s reggae scene in the Caribbean. Reggae incorporates many elements of rock and roll bands, indeed I actually learned to play the up-stroke reggae "skank" strum patterns from having previously played Chuck Berry songs in a blues band I was in. Before that I could not even attempt reggae.. Also the lead work, fills, and riffs are heavily influenced by rock and roll bands.. Just listen to some Burning Spear or mid-70s Bob Marley and Wailers and you can hear the rock and roll influence bleeding through.. Possibly my bias as an instrument player of both reggae and old rock and roll, I can see it structurally underlying the very music itself, but perhaps the sound is pushed back a bit.
To be sure, I don't think it matters by "rock and roll HOF" standards, the realer issue is recognizing black contributions to music as a whole, which are extensive across every genre.