“Funky Nassau” by the Beginning of the End is today’s classic song of the day. A potent mix of soul with Latin American and Caribbean beats, this single was released in March of 1971 and made it all the way to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on Billboard’s Best Selling Soul Singles chart.
Nassau, of course, is the capital city of the Bahamas, and the Beginning of the End was a Nassau-based group that consisted of three brothers and two friends: guitarist Roy Munnings, organist Ray Munnings, drummer Bud Munnings, guitarist Livingston Colebrook, and bassist Fred Henfield. Brother Ray wrote “Funky Nassau” along with another friend, Tyrone Fitzgerald. The group pulled together $2000 and flew from Nassau to Miami to record the song (and the rest of the corresponding album) at Criteria Studios
Here’s what Mr. Munnings remembers about it:
“We wanted to create something new, something that was truly Bahamian. We loved funk but wanted to include elements of junkanoo, the indigenous music of the Bahamas.”
And that they did. “Funky Nassau” isn’t funk, but it is funky. It has a bouncy, Caribbean-inspired groove that just goes on for days. Try listening to this one and keeping your feet still.
Unfortunately, “Funky Nassau” was kind of the beginning of the end for the Beginning of the End. They released one more album but didn’t have any further hits, at least not here on the mainland. They broke up in 1972.
