“Wow is that Luther Vandross?” she asked.
“No,” I replied to Karen, my wife.
“Then it must be George Benson, Barry White or someone else,” she said.
“No, try again,” as I pushed up the volume.
“Then it must be Lou Rawls,” she countered.
“No, it’s a CD that my high school classmate James Funches sent me, “I explained.
“Wow, he’s good,” she said.
“Too bad that none of his talent rubbed off on me,” I quipped.
Now little did I know that the kid sitting next to me in Mr. Walker’s English class would one day travel the world as a singer on cruise ships. And neither did he.
I mean who could have imagined that that kid, James Funches, who could be found every day pecking away on a piano on the stage behind the high school gym would one day perform on the “Chitlin Circuit” across the nation and amass millions of “frequent cruising miles” on ships entertaining millions across the world for over 50 years.
Funches is among the links to an era that’s fading into memory, old school songs and soul singers who mesmerized their audiences with soothing, hip swaying rhythms in event sites across the nation.
The self-taught “Funch” honed his keyboard and vocal wizardry as a boy growing up in segregated Staunton, Virginia. Now we’ll get to his five-decade career performing on cruise ships in a moment. But first, let’s delve a little into his childhood.
One of four brothers, James grew up in a small city that reminds the visitor of Thorton Wilder’s “Our Town” and the bucolic paintings of Norman Rockwell that frequented the cover of The Saturday Evening Post for years. At that time and before integration, like many small southern towns, Staunton was vibrant with pride around its three Black schools, churches, small businesses and hugely popular park.
For the most part, African Americans in the area were employed as cooks and custodians at the local college and military school and as teachers, preachers, domestic workers and farmers. A few doctors and dentists served the city. Black owned restaurants, beauty and barber shops were integral parts of the rich fabric of the community.
Often well-known singers like James Brown, Otis Redding, the Sherrills and Rufus Thomas would come through on the famous “Chitlin Circuit” where they performed at the armory and were housed at the city’s only Black owned hotel.
Now young Funches developed an interest in music by age five. The choir and band director at the high school recognized his talent and encouraged him to join her band and choir. “Because of the shortage of musicians back then, it was not at all unusual for her to bring in talent from elementary schools,” said Funches. The band director was not the only person who spotted young Funches’ enormous talent. One of the earliest was Mr. Wilbur Johnson, a local barber who managed his own band.
“I started attending band rehearsals at Mr. Johnson’s barber shop and was paid a few dollars to sweep up hair from the floor,” recalls Funches.
“It was at the barber shop where I first became infatuated with the bass. I learned to play the bass at the band’s bass player’s home and later replaced him when he left the group.” When he went off to high school Funch immediately began making his mark as a member of the choir and marching band.
It was at that school, Booker T. Washington High School that birthed a wide range of talent in business, journalism, sports, entertainment and education, where Funches found his niche.’
After a few years with his band, Johnson negotiated for Funch to Join “The Little Royal Show,” and he soon boarded a Greyhound bus to Washington, D.C., the band’s home base and began performing on the Chitlin Circuit every week in different cities across the nation.
After a year on the road, Funches was drafted into the Army. He remembers that while finishing performing in Montreal and driving to other engagements in the band’s five car entourage, his mom called him and instructed him to return home because he’d been drafted.
After basic training stateside and while in Vietnam he was selected to join the group “In Crowd,” that entertained troops throughout Saigon, often five stops by helicopter a day. The threat of being attacked by the Viet Cong was always a reality.
In preparation for this piece you’re now reading, I listened to Funches’ renditions of many of his songs to get an appreciation for his enormous talent, among them Otis Redding’s “Sitting on the dock of the bay,” Luther Vandross’ “Dancing with my father,” and Lou Rawls’ “You’ll never find.” With little effort, he brilliantly segued from one rendition to another, from one genre to another without missing a beat.
With the last song on one of his YouTube videos cast in the stairwell of a cruise ship, “I’ll be home for Christmas,” Funch takes the listener on a nostalgic tour back to those days of colorful images of sights, smells and sounds of merriment and happiness that characterized those never forgotten holidays and simplicity in small town America.
Reflecting on his life and career, Funches acknowledges that he has been truly
blessed. “I must say that through every up and down in my life it was music along with my friendships, family, mentors and hometown upbringing that carried me through. Performing is the only job I’ve ever had…and wanted to have.
In the end, the James Funches story is the largely untold story of those hidden gems that can spring up from small town America.
And there are many!
© Terry Howard is an award-winning writer and storyteller, a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The Douglas County Sentinel, The American Diversity Report, The BlackMarket.com and recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award.
