Gotta Be Funky / Big Water Bed
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Album Summary
Monk Higgins — born Milton Bland — was a man who wore many hats, and baby, he wore every single one of them well. A saxophonist, arranger, and producer with his roots planted deep in the fertile soil of Chicago's recording scene, Higgins brought all of that hard-won craft to 'Gotta Be Funky / Big Water Bed,' a single released in 1972 through United Artists Records. Working squarely within the soul-funk idiom that had become his calling card, Higgins leaned into the horn-driven, rhythm-locked sound that was reshaping Black music at the dawn of that decade. The record stands as a testament to his instincts as both a performer and a studio architect — a man who understood that funk wasn't just a genre, it was a conversation between every instrument on the floor.
Reception
- The single found its audience on the R&B and funk circuit, where Higgins had long been a respected and familiar name among genre devotees and the DJs who kept those grooves alive on the airwaves.
- Like much of Higgins' work from this period, the release spoke most powerfully to dedicated soul and funk collectors rather than crossing over to mainstream pop audiences — a testament to its uncompromising, street-level authenticity.
Significance
- 'Gotta Be Funky' stands as a tight, purposeful example of early 1970s instrumental funk, with Higgins deploying his signature horn arrangements over a rhythmic foundation that was built to move bodies and shake floors.
- The single reflects the broader industry shift occurring in Black music at the time — a movement away from lush orchestral soul toward leaner, harder-hitting funk productions that put the groove front and center.
- Higgins' recordings from this era became treasured finds among crate-digging collectors, with this release earning a place in the canon of raw, unpolished funk that defined an era and laid groundwork for generations of music to come.
Samples
- "Gotta Be Funky" — sampled and sought after by hip-hop producers drawn to its raw horn stabs and driving rhythmic energy, becoming one of the more recognized titles in Higgins' catalog among beat-diggers and sample-based producers.
Tracklist
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A Gotta Be Funky 81
3:15
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B Big Water Bed 81
2:46
Artist Details
Monk Higgins was the working name of Milton Bland, a Chicago-based saxophonist, arranger, and producer who was cooking up some of the smoothest soul-jazz and funk grooves coming out of the Windy City from the mid-1960s through the 1970s, recording for labels like Chess, United Artists, and Solid State. His real gift was that big, lush orchestral sound he'd wrap around a funky backbeat, making records that felt equally at home in a smoky lounge or a packed dance hall, and his production and arrangement work touched countless sessions across soul, blues, and R&B. Monk Higgins stands as one of those unsung architects of the Chicago soul sound, a behind-the-scenes heavyweight whose fingerprints are all over an era of music that still makes folks move their feet and close their eyes.
