"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 ...

-style song written by Arlester "Dyke" Christian. In 1966, he recorded it with his band, Dyke & the Blazers. 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 label. The single performed well on both the Top Selling R&B Singles and Hot 100 charts compiled by ''Billboard'' magazine, reaching numbers 17 and 65 respectively.

Wilson Pickett rendition

In 1967, several months after the original, Wilson Pickett recorded "Funky Broadway". Produced by Jerry Wexler 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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, the session took place in Muscle Shoals, 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'' album, issued by Atlantic in 1967. The session personnel on the Pickett recording included Charles Chalmers and James Mitchell on tenor sax, Tommy Cogbill on bass, Roger Hawkins on drums, Jimmy Johnson and Chips Moman on guitar, Gene "Bowlegs" Miller on trumpet,

Floyd Newman Floyd Newman (August 17, 1931 – May 23, 2023) was an American saxophonist, session musician and bandleader. As a baritone sax player, he was long associated with Stax Records, and as a member of The Mar-Keys’ horn section and the Memphis Ho ...

on baritone sax, and Spooner Oldham on keyboards.Peter Grendysa and Robert Pruter, ''Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947–1974'' booklet notes (CD edition), Atlantic Records, 1991

References

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