Funk, Inc. -

Funk, Inc. was an American soul-funk band from Indianapolis that released five albums between 1971 and 1974 on Prestige Records.

Members: Bobby Watley (organ, vocals), Steve Weakley (guitar), Gene Barr (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Munford (drums, vocals), Cecil Hunt (conga), Teddy Patterson (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone), Doug Swanigan (guitar), Phil Brines (drums)

Background

Funk, Inc. formed in 1969 in Indianapolis when organist Bobby Watley assembled tenor saxophonist Eugene Barr, guitarist Steve Weakley, drummer Jimmy Munford, and conguero Cecil Hunt as the house band for vocalists at the Surf Side Seven.

Watley was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in Steubenville, Ohio. He started on drums at age fifteen and joined the rhythm-and-blues quartet of saxophonist Sammy Bryant, the house band at Gleason’s Musical Bar in Cleveland. The group backed visiting singers including Etta James, the Coasters, Major Lance, Ben E. King, Big Maybelle, and Jimmy Reed. Watley remained with Bryant for five years and later worked alongside organists Winston Walls, Manuel Riggins, and Lonnie Smith. He bought a Hammond B-3 while based in New York City and taught himself the instrument with guidance from Jack McDuff.

Weakley attended Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis and played cello in the school orchestra. He moved to guitar as a teenager and played in the Soul Citations, a local rock-and-R&B group. Weakley later worked with the Girl Watchers, which included saxophonist Hank Hankerson. He entered jazz with the Don Austin Organ Trio alongside Chico Crawford.

Hunt, a fellow Crispus Attucks alumnus, gigged as a teenager with the Be-Boppers, an Indianapolis R&B vocal group. By the late 1950s, he performed with an Afro-Cuban dance ensemble on Indiana Avenue. Barr played his first professional gig with Little Milton and later led his own band. Munford worked drummed for Etta James, Jerry Butler, and James Brown.

Funk, Inc. backed singers at the Surf Side Seven while Watley developed his Hammond work at the Indianapolis club. The quintet drew the attention of McDuff and tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who passed word to producer Bob Porter, who signed the quintet to Prestige Records. Funk, Inc. entered Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in June 1971 for the sessions that became the self-titled debut on Prestige.

Discography: