Ten fresh and fantabulous funk songs from the 1970s

“Use Me,” by Bill Withers (1972)

Withers seemingly came out of nowhere in the early ‘70s with two monster hits, “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me.” They were beautiful pop-soul songs that took every advantage of the navy veteran's powerful baritone. He would go on to record several other pop standards like “Beautiful Day” and “Just the Two of Us” before tiring of the music industry. All of those songs were vocal standouts.

But Withers could write the funkiest of songs as well, as he did on “Use Me” from his sophomore album Still Bill. Withers does some of the vocal gymnastics he was noted for, but the life force of “Use Me” comes from the session players – Melvin Dunlap’s popping bass line and James Gadsen’s skittish drums provide the floor while Ray Jackson’s keyboards add the color to the simple, irrepressible beat.

“Superfly” by Curtis Mayfield (1972)

Isaac Hayes’ soundtrack for Shaft had its one monster hit. The rest of the soundtrack was more ambient and atmospheric. When veteran soul singer Curtis Mayfield got a shot at scoring a movie of his own, he produced arguably the greatest movie soundtrack album of all time.

The Superfly soundtrack had standout soul/funk tracks like the horn-powered “Little Child Runnin’ Wild,” the bass and drums-driven “Pusherman” and the haunting “Freddie’s Dead,” which showed off Mayfield’s exquisite delivery. The song “Superfly” had all of it. The bass and drums, provided by longtime Mayfield collaborators Joseph Scott and Henry Gibson, are legendary in the world of funk and hip-hop.