Bootsy Collins, collaborator with James Brown and former member of Parliament-Funkadelic, is a prominent member of the Cincinnati community. |
Cincinnati Soul
Cincinnati has a deep and distinctive musical history thanks in large part to King Records, the trailblazing local record label started in 1943 by Syd Nathan. A King subsidiary called Federal Records recorded James Brown's first hit in 1956. Titled "Please, Please, Please," that single launched the career of the master showman variously known as "Soul Brother No. 1" and the "Hardest Working Man in Show Business." Brown eventually began recording on the King Records parent label, where he produced a long list of chart-topping R&B singles and did to popular music what he often encouraged his matchless band to do: "Make it funky."
There's currently a move afoot in Cincinnati to restore the King Records studio - now a storage facility in the city's Walnut Hills neighborhood - to its former glory as a museum in honor of its storied past. The list of other notable R&B artists who recorded at King Records includes: Hank Ballard, Johnny Guitar Watson and Bootsy Collins.
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