A Funky Situation was released in 1978 on Big Tree Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic. The album marked Pickett's attempt to adapt to the disco and funk sounds of the late seventies.
Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama, the album was co-produced by Pickett and Brad Shapiro. It includes covers of songs by artists such as The Isley Brothers.
Although it did not achieve the massive success of his earlier Atlantic work, the album kept Pickett in the soul music circuit, blending ballads with danceable rhythms.