"Funky Broadway" is an early

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

-style song written by Arlester "Dyke" Christian. In 1966, he recorded it with his band,

Dyke & the Blazers Dyke and the Blazers was an American funk band led by Arlester Christian. The band was formed in 1965, and recorded up until Christian's death in 1971. Among their most successful records were the original version of "Funky Broadway" (1966) and " L ...

. The small, Phoenix, Arizona-based, Artco Records first issued it as a two-part single; when it was unable to keep up with the demand, the distribution was picked up by the

Original Sound Original Sound is a Los Angeles, California-based record label. It was founded in the early 1950s by KTNQ, KPOP deejay Art Laboe. It began as a small label that specialized in compiling and re-releasing "oldies" R&B and rock 'n' roll songs. Histor ...

label. The single performed well on both the Top Selling R&B Singles and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

charts compiled by ''Billboard'' magazine, reaching numbers 17 and 65 respectively.

Wilson Pickett rendition

In 1967, several months after the original,

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

recorded "Funky Broadway". Produced by

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, the session took place in

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

, Alabama. Pickett only recorded the first half of the song, with "I'm Sorry About That" used as the B-side. Whereas the original made a decent showing on the charts, Pickett's version "became the definitive hit version", which reached numbers one and eight on the R&B and Hot 100 charts. Described as a "funky tune" and an "absolutely classic, wailing read", it is also included on ''

The Sound of Wilson Pickett ''The Sound of Wilson Pickett'' is a studio album by Wilson Pickett, released in 1967. Track listing Personnel *Wilson Pickett – vocals *Spooner Oldham – keyboards, piano, organ *Chips Moman – lead guitar * Jimmy Johnson - rhythm guitar ...

'' album, issued by Atlantic in 1967.

References

{{authority control 1966 songs 1966 singles Wilson Pickett songs 1967 singles Atlantic Records singles Funk songs The Blues Brothers songs