[1] The technique was popularized by the music of James Brown, later spreading to other genres and performers.
Chanking was developed by James Brown band guitarist Jimmy Nolen as a part of his signature "chicken scratch" sound.
The technique appeared first with a double-chank on the first backbeat of each bar in "Out of Sight" (1964),[2] and in "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965), a song that typified much of Brown's subsequent work.
[4] In particular, Brown used chanking against syncopated bass to produce a unique blend of sounds.
[3][5] Alan Warner, then of The Foundations, also utilized the technique, which left its sound legacy in Europop.