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Wild early Funkadelic video for ‘You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks’ will melt your face
04.15.2016
12:33 pm
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Hole-ee-shit… There’s really not all that much footage in existence of the early years of Funkadelic, but what there is tends to be pretty fucking amazing. And so it’s my pleasure to whip this one on you, dear Dangerous Minds reader, because this short promo film was a totally new one on me as of this early AM. Not only that, it’s for one of my very top favorite Funkadelic tracks, “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks.”
 

 
The lead vocalist here is William “Billy Bass” Nelson the original bassist for Funkadelic, and also the first band member to get pissed off enough about money—or lack of it making it into his pocket—to tell George Clinton where to stick it (the first of many, of course). Nelson was originally going to be the group’s guitarist, but opted for the bass post instead when his pal the amazing Eddie Hazel came aboard the Mothership.

According to the Maggot Brain Wikipedia page, the class conscious lyrics of “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks,” one of the album’s singles, might’ve been inspired by an old folk rhyme first published in Thomas W. Talley’s book Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise or Otherwise) in 1922:

If you and your folks love me and my folks
Like me and my folks love you and your folks
If there ever was folks
That ever ever was poor.

 

 
One of the YouTube commenters speculates that this was shot in Bermuda and mentions something about the band causing a stir there by performing naked onstage!
 

 
As an added bonus—because I love you, I really, really love you—there are some other primo examples of early Funkadelic on video after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Richard Metzger
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04.15.2016
12:33 pm
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Cosmic Slop: Pedro Bell’s fantastic, far-out and funky Funkadelic album art
03.18.2016
09:05 am
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Artwork for the 1979 Funkadelic album, Uncle Jam Wants You by Pedro Bell
Artwork for the 1979 Funkadelic album, ‘Uncle Jam Wants You’ by Pedro Bell
 
Artist Pedro Bell is probably best known for the album art, cartoons and strange sexed-up illustrations that have appeared on and inside albums for Funkadelic and Funkadelic frontman, George Clinton. In 2009, the Chicago native was in pretty rough shape—he was losing his sight, required dialysis treatments for his failing kidneys, and was almost evicted from his apartment. Thankfully, things have improved for Bell since then and I’m happy to report that he’s got several projects in progress that will hopefully help bring more recognition to his massive, mind-bending body of work.
 
Album artwork for The Electric Spanking of War Babies by Pedro Bell
Funkadelic’s “The Electric Spanking of War Babies” by Pedro Bell
 
Gatefold view of the 1978 Funkadelic album, One Nation Under a Groove by Pedro Bell
Gatefold view of the 1978 Funkadelic album, ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ by Pedro Bell.
 
Enlarged image of a cartoon inside
Enlarged image of a cartoon inside ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ taking a jab at Mick Jagger.
 
Album artwork for the 1974 Funkadelic album, Standing on the Verge of Getting It On by Pedro Bell
Album artwork for the 1974 Funkadelic album, ‘Standing on the Verge of Getting It On’
 
I remember being at the library when I was a kid (you know, that place where they used to have all the books?), and being absolutely fascinated with Bell’s images on albums like The Electric Spanking of War Babies (with the giant phallus masquerading as a spaceship and a naked woman inside), or the curiously cool cartoons inside the gatefold sleeve of 1978’s One Nation Under a Groove.

It should also be noted that not only did Bell create images that helped build the mystique of Funkadelic as an entity, he also contributed to the band’s, well-known groovy lexicon. On George Clinton’s official website, Bell is affectionately referred to as an artist who “inverted psychedelia through the ghetto like an urban Hieronymus Bosch”—a statement that could not more perfectly describe Bell’s trippy illustrations and artwork.

Much more Pedro Bell after the jump, plus a short cartoon featuring Bell’s artwork in motion…

READ ON
Posted by Cherrybomb
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03.18.2016
09:05 am
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The original sketches for Parliament’s famous Mothership stage element
10.02.2015
11:54 am
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As Chris Richards of the Washington Post once wrote, Parliament’s Mothership stage element “might be the most awe-inspiring stage prop in the history of American music.”

The Mothership made its first appearance on the cover of Parliament’s 1975 album Mothership Connection, although the stage element didn’t much resemble the UFO object on the album cover, as you can see.
 

 
On WNYC’s show “Soundcheck” recently, Clinton reminisced about the Mothership:
 

When I told him [Dave Kapralik] after we got the hit record, you don’t get paid for records in the tail end anyway but you can get help with promotion. I said, “buy me this spaceship,” and I didn’t have to finish the sentence. He went and got me a loan from the bank for a million dollars. Jules Fisher built the spaceship, did all the costuming. I told him we wanted to be able to land it on the stage…It was a funk opera.

We landed the spaceship at five o’clock in the morning right in Times Square, right in front of the Coca Cola sign. With no permit in ‘77. The only person who came out was Murray the K, the DJ. He was ripped, he was drunk. He said, “Dr. Funkenstein, welcome to planet Earth. I am Murray the K, the fifth Beatle.” It transported us for 10 years all the way up to “Atomic Dog.”

 
Jules Fisher had been David Bowie’s tour producer and was also responsible for the stage concept for the Rolling Stones’ 1975 tour. He designed the Mothership, which was 20 feet in diameter. His designs for the Mothership currently reside at the Rock Hall’s Library and Archives, which is located at the Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts on Cuyahoga Community College’s Metropolitan Campus in Cleveland, Ohio. Fisher graciously agreed to grant Dangerous Minds permission to reproduce these original sketches for the Mothership.

The first appearance of the Mothership was in New Orleans on October 27, 1976—but they made a basic mistake by using it at the start of the show instead of in its natural spot as a show-ender. Nothing could follow the Mothership. They soon made the necessary adjustments. The Mothership’s lifespan as a stage element lasted five years, with its last appearance occurring at the last Parliament-Funkadelic show in Detroit in 1981. (According to this listing of P-Funk concerts, at a 1981 gig in Washington, George Clinton emerged from the Mothership naked! Can anyone confirm this?)

Click on any of the images for a larger view.
 

 

 
More after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Martin Schneider
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10.02.2015
11:54 am
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America Eats Its Young: Funkadelic’s dark dalliance with the Process Church of the Final Judgment
05.08.2015
01:34 pm
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“Sometimes you have to lose your mind to gain your soul”: a magazine ad for America Eats Its Young
 
One of the most enigmatic aspects of Funkadelic’s career is the group’s short-lived association with the Process Church of the Final Judgment. The occult organization, which provided the liner notes to Funkadelic’s third and fourth albums, achieved notoriety after Ed Sanders devoted a chapter to it in The Family, tying the Process to Charles Manson. The Process sued Sanders’ publisher and succeeded in having the offending chapter removed from subsequent editions of The Family, but the lawsuit seems only to have intensified suspicions that the Process was hiding something about its relationship with Manson.
 

 
So not everyone thought the Process was groovy in 1972. Critic Robert Christgau slammed Funkadelic for their association with the Process in his review of America Eats Its Young:

[Funkadelic’s] racial hostility is much preferable to the brotherhood bromides of that other Detroit label, but their taste in white people is suspect: it’s one thing to put down those who “picket this and protest that” from their “semi-first-class seat,” another to let the Process Church of the Final Judgment provide liner notes on two successive albums. I overlooked it on Maggot Brain because the music was so difficult to resist, but here the strings (told you about their taste in white people), long-windedness (another double-LP that should be a single), and programmatic lyrics (“Miss Lucifer’s Love” inspires me to mention that while satanism is a great antinomian metaphor it often leads to murder, rape, etc.) leave me free to exercise my prejudices.

 
More after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Oliver Hall
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05.08.2015
01:34 pm
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‘SOUL IS A HAM HOCK IN YOUR CORNFLAKES!’: 13 mind-blowing minutes of Parliament-Funkadelic, 1969
06.29.2013
04:32 pm
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“Soul is the ring around your bathtub!”

You are about to have an eargasm…

Try to imagine as you watch this what would have gone through the mind of the average American flipping channels and coming across this by accident in 1969.

Probably just the sort of reaction George Clinton was looking for! I mean, Christ, look at his hair for starters! It predates O.D.B. by decades!

With Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Calvin Simon, Ray Davis, and George Clinton on vocals. On guitars, the one and only Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross. Mickey Atkins on keyboards, Billy Bass Nelson on bass and Tiki Fulwood on drums.

Obviously George Clinton is as high as a fucking kite here. Judging from his beatific expression, he got the good shit! Starts off strong, but really goes supernova with “(I Wanna) Testify,” which will melt your face.
 

 
Thank you kindly, Chris Campion of Los Angeles, California!

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.29.2013
04:32 pm
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Mothership Connection: Parliament-Funkadelic live in Houston, 1976 (full show)
04.26.2013
09:03 am
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After posting that P-Funk documentary the other week, I’ve decided that Dangerous Minds needs more P-Funk. A LOT more P-Funk. I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating: Parliament-Funkadelic are the most psychedelic, progressive, and downright funky band that have ever stomped the Earth.

So here is today’s shot of P-Funk, the perfect start to this, or any, weekend. It’s an entire Parilament-Funkadelic live show recorded live in Houston in 1976. Hardcore fans will probably have seen this show already. This set has been commercially available on DVD for quite a few years, under different guises (and is a highly recommended addition to any library) and as there is such a shameful lack of vintage P-Funk footage in the world, if you’ve seen any doc about the band, you’ll have seen parts of this show. I’m also sure I’ve seen bits of the Mothership landing/Glenn Goins getting a blowback footage in some Dr Dre videos before.

Either way, this film is a treat for both fans and newcomers alike. The camerawork is actually pretty rubbish (there are only two, mainly static, cameras, and all we see of Bootsy’s dramatic on-stage arrival is a silvery blur), but what really makes this special is the completely remastered soundtrack, now delivered in 5.1 Dolby Surround. Though I have to admit that I don’t know if YouTube audio fidelity can deliver that. It still sounds FUCKING GREAT though.

My personal fave moment is this show is the medley (from 21:40 onwards) of “Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On” with Fuzzy Haskins on lead vocals, into a radically re-worked “The Undisco Kidd”, where George Clinton gives keyboard ace Bernie Worrell an extended solo.

THIS IS THE REAL DEAL. Funk on brothers and sisters!

Parliament-Funkadelic, live in Houston, 1976

 

 

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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04.26.2013
09:03 am
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‘One Nation Under A Groove’: a crash course in the history of Parliament-Funkadelic
04.12.2013
10:55 am
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Ain’t no party like a P-Funk party!
 
Calling all funkateers and cosmonauts! Wrap your peepers round this!

The history of Parilament-Funkadelic is sorely under-written. From their beginnings in 50s New Jersey, to their formative years in revolutionary 60s Detroit, from their glorious heyday in the 70s to their implosion in clouds of debt and cocaine in the early 80s, the P-Funk story is one of the most epic in all of popular music.

One Nation Under A Groove
may not be perfect, but it’s a start. I guess there’s just too many people and stories surrounding the band(s) to fit into one hour-long program, it would really need to be a mini-series, but ONUAG is a great introduction, essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the more out-there elements of popular culture.

George Clinton is heavily featured, of course, as are all the original members of The Parliaments (his barbershop doo-wop group that would go on to form the vocal nucleus of the Parliafunkadelicment thang) but there’s not enough Bootsy for my liking, and synth wizard Bernie Worrell, so fundamental to the establishment of this musical empire, is notably absent.

It goes without saying that I frikin LOVE this band. Or bands, whatever. P-Funk not only made some of the outright funkiest records of all time, but they also created an aesthetic world their fans could get completely emerged in. P-Funk to me is TRUE psychedelia, made all the more powerful by reflecting the outsider-ness of the black experience in America at the time. Surely just the very nature of the Parliament-Funkadelic—mixed race, gender, age, sexuality, etc, all united by the dance and the physical act of perspiring—is he essence of the liberal dream come to life? Historical documents about P-Funk are important not just ‘cos they were so awesome, but also for the generations born after the 1970s that discover P-Funk through the filter of G-Funk. Gangsta rap strip-mined P-Funk for the grooves but casually tossed aside the outsider elements that made the band(s) so vital, replacing them instead with a kind of coked-up, uber-macho, gang-colors conformity. It’s probably a post for another day, but I think Dr Dre/Death Row/et al robbed the funk of its freak flag. 

Anyway, if you want to know more about the history of Parilament-Funkadelic (and who doesn’t?!) let me point you in the direction of the book For The Record, George Clinton And P-Funk: In Their Own Words, which is the P-Funk story told by the band and crew members themselves, with refreshingly little editorial input. I recommend it very highly, but for now, and for the newcomers, dig this:
 

 

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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04.12.2013
10:55 am
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Dr. Funkenstein: George Clinton’s hand has been cloned and now it’s a USB stick!
10.30.2012
12:20 pm
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image
 
About the hand of George Clinton:

imageGeorge Clinton’s hand has been cloned by the artist Marc Sokpolie also known as Zwazi. We made polyurethane copies from the silicone mold.

All the detail is there, all the veins, skin creases, pores, in fact we had to sand down the fingerprints slightly because we don’t want to get too private!

The hand has a built-in USB flash drive in the detachable index finger. The base of the hand has an embossed ‘George Clinton’ logo and a serial number. We started at nr. 2, because nr. 1 is George’s own right hand, which he’s not going to sell! The USB flash drive comes exclusively with the documentary entitled: “The Silence in Between” by Mark Limburg of Stone Film.

Put the hand on a bookshelf, or on a shelf with all your Parliament/Funkadelic records, where it will radiate the highest FUNK potential possible… remember it’s the closest you can get to George… If you don’t have a backstage pass!

I’m not sure how I feel about this. You can purchase Dr. Funkenstein’s digits at George Clinton’s Hand for € 60.00.
 
image
 
Via Nerdcore

Posted by Tara McGinley
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10.30.2012
12:20 pm
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Red Hot Chili Peppers rock out with their cocks out, Germany, 1985
04.17.2012
06:42 pm
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Red Hot Chili Peppers live at the Rockplast Festival, Essen, Germany on August 17, 1985. According to the YouTube poster, this was the first show the Red Hot Chili Peppers ever played outside the USA. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the group’s enthusiasm level is palpably high here and the band are obviously having a great time.

The audio/video quality on this is an A+ and the performance is bold, punchy and tight. I’ve seen the RHCP in concert a number of times over the years and they always deliver live. This typically energetic show is certainly no exception.

George Clinton, who produced their second album Freaky Styley, appears during “Hollywood. For the encore of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” the ballsy band return to the stage clad only in their socks. GIVE UP THE FUNK!
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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04.17.2012
06:42 pm
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The funkiest thang you may see in your lifetime
08.15.2011
05:42 am
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It’s the summer of 1969 and The Parliaments (pre P-Funk) are conjuring a soul inferno in the studios of WGBH TV in Boston.

George Clinton, in a mohawk and purple jumpsuit (or full-body thong), is on fire. He’s joined by Eddie Hazel, Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Ray Davis, Billy Bass Nelson and Calvin Simon.

Like Motown on acid, this will take you higher and higher. Not even Sly Stone took it to this level of insane funk sublimeness. It just keeps getting more intense. This will sear the flesh off your face and your face will become a mask of cosmic goodness whereupon you will be beamed up to the mothership where George Clinton awaits you with open tendrils and a hamhock in your cornflakes.

Shit, I’m still vibrating after watching this.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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08.15.2011
05:42 am
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The Bop Gun: Funkifying the universe one shot at a time
07.14.2011
06:25 pm
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The “Bop Gun” was an imaginary weapon, theorized by George Clinton, leader of Parliment, on their 1977 album, Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome”. The “Bop Gun” would fill the being of the soulless automatons moving robotically through modern life with FUNK and dancing would be inevitable.

You’ll note that I wrote that it “was” an imaginary weapon. Now someone’s gone and built a real “Bop Gun”—it can yours for a mere $1200:

Finally the conundrum of the universes’ missing funk has an answer: BOP GUN.

5 mixed squarewave oscillators allow for rapid phase matching and total funky collapse of even the most complex wave functions!

LFO modulates filter! All oscillators, LFO and filter are controlled by global attack/decay functions at the pull of a trigger! INVERT function allows for continuous function for those situations requiring fancy long-term funkic interventions. Funkify traffic! Passers-by! Bar Mitzvahs! The sky!

LED feedback ring at the business end reacts to funk levels, providing photonic enhancement in attractive aqua green tones. Extra-sweet readout panel provides incomprehensible feedback from selected functions. Audio output jack included, and batteries fit in the handle.

 

 

 
Below, Glen Goins, the Parliament singer famous for “calling in the Mothership” during their elaborate concerts, explains the “Bop Gun” concept to this Houston crowd during a 1977 performance:
 

 
Via Nerdcore

Posted by Richard Metzger
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07.14.2011
06:25 pm
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Parliament-Funkadelic: Whatever happened to The Mothership?
04.14.2010
12:45 am
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Wonderful tale about tracking down what really happened to one of the wildest, most iconic set pieces of 1970s rock shows, the Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership. Forget about Kiss, the Mothership was ten times cooler. George Clinton is a god. From the Washington Post:

Before the Mothership was built, it was a concept. Parliament released “Mothership Connection” in 1975, an album with a title track about hitchhiking to cosmic transcendence: “Swing down, sweet chariot. Stop and let me ride.” Clinton started dreaming up a tour to match. After watching the Who’s 1969 rock opera “Tommy,” he asked himself: “How do you do a funk opera? What about [black people] in space?”

He called upon David Bowie’s tour producer, Jules Fisher, to help bring the Mothership to life. “This was theater. This was drama,” says Fisher, a renowned Broadway lighting designer. “Current shows like U2 and the Stones—they don’t provide this narrative arc.”

The Mothership was assembled in Manhattan and made its first descent in New Orleans from the rafters of Municipal Auditorium on Oct. 27, 1976.

Minds were blown.

 
I’ll bet they were! The Mothership lands about 8 minutes in on the below clip. This must have been so amazing to see live.
 

 
In Maryland, George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic and a missing Mothership (Washington Post)

Posted by Richard Metzger
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04.14.2010
12:45 am
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