Korean Funky

He6-Mulsae-ae Norae (Water Song)


He6-Sing a Simple Song

No. This one is not about kimchi. This one is about some bad Korean soul brothers from way back who put out some tasty records in a time when things were hectic and the Korean peninsula needed a little funk. The band is He 6, led by guitarist Kim Hong-Tak (who is now president of the Seoul Jazz Academy...and a very nice man I must say) and they paved the way for other bands during a period in Korean Pop when "group sound" was becoming steadily popular.

The Korean War of the 1950's brought a significant American presence to the Korean Peninsula. Like most contries that had a western community during this time (eg. Ghana, Nigera, the list goes on), local Korean bands began to play funk and psyche rock covers to cater to the G.I. and ex-pat audiences-bringing about the "group sound" era in Korea. Naturally, Kim and his boys earned their chops in Itaewon entertaining the large ex-pat community with their version of American and British funk and psyche rock covers. Although Kim and He 6 are not considered the best "group sound" band (that title goes to Shin Jung-Hyun and his band Add 4), the group is acknowledged as the second funkiest Koreans on the peninsula.

Their first album is solid, but is mostly covers of Beatles and other well known rock groups. It was't until later albums that they began to play around a little more and rock out with some original tracks in Korean (this is what eventually made them popular throughout S. Korea). The cuts on this post come from the second album titled Vol.2. The first, "Mulsae-ae Norae", is perhaps one of the best Korean tracks from the album. But what really sold this record to me was their cover of "Sing a Simple Song." Admittedly it's not as good as The Meters version, but it's still pretty damn good. In any case-I went bonkers over the simple fact that I found a Korean funk group, which just further proves my theory that no one can resist the funk. Listen to these and enjoy.