Funky Worm

from the LP Pleasure, Westbound Records, 1972



“Me and the Ohio Players gonna tell you about a worm; he’s the funkiest worm in the world…” So speaks Granny, a character who popped up in the Players’ discography over the years, and who is apparently late for some sort of show appearance in the context of this song; the bustling footsteps of the band are a nice touch, I can see them running to their positions on the stage behind Granny. The Ohio Players sprang forth with their jungle-basement-funk from the inexplicable musical hotbed of Dayton, Ohio. This was their third album, and although they were no where near as popular as they would become a few years later than this, they had built a sizable reputation for being a truly ferocious live act, bottom-heavy and brassy as all get out; in fact, this song bucks the trend of their sound a bit, as the horns are pushed somewhat to the back here. No worries though, the band holds it down really tight, encouraged along by the comical Granny, “…get it baby…that’s it…don’t fight the feeling baby…” It thumps along, a cool enough funk track on its own, until about 45 seconds into the track when our ears meet the funky worm of which they have spoken---a gnarly monosynth squeals out an Egyptian sounding solo which is, as Granny puts it, “…funky, like nine cans of shaving powder, that’s funky…” This synthline will instantly sound familiar to anyone that listened to Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre in life, as they both sampled this particular track to much fame and adulation; indeed, one could make a firm argument that it was P-Funk & the Players’ synthesizer sounds which defined said acts and others in the early ‘90s milieu of gangsta rappers. Though clearly out of her mind, Granny stays on point, being the self-proclaimed manager and all, “…do we get paid for this? I want to know...we do? okay, okay, alright.” I have no idea if there is some hidden meaning to all this silliness; I kind of doubt it, as it all comes across more as just a stoned day in the studio turned into a track. The Ohio Players normally sounded much harder, faster, and more horn-laden, but this song lets you know they could also chill out and goof around.