The Best of

P-Funk

In honor of their ongoing series of interplanetary explorations with the Smokin' Grooves tour landing, Mothership-ologists / astrological funkateers / white boy discographers Brian Greene and Don Harrison took a long, hard listen at the classic records by the P-Funk Labs, many now available on compact disc.

The verdict Many classic LPs and two prominently sore backsides. Blast Off!!

Funkadelic-- Funkadelic (1970)

Funkadelic-- Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow (1970)

The first two Funkadelic records are not for the fainthearted, or the unfunky, for constipatoids who don't agree that Funk is "a hamhock in your corn flakes." On their eponymous debut LP, there's "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic," "I Bet You," "Good Old Music"-- songs with consciousness-expansion themes that white hippies could relate to, funkateers could get off on, and soulsters could react to. Free Your Mind. . . is even heavier (if you can believe it), with "Funky Dollar Bill" and "Some More" alternately grunging and lulling the synapses. It leads up to Clinton's acid-tinged moral to the whole story-- "Eulogy and Light."

We lump these two releases together because they are, without a doubt, two of the most out-of-control discs in the color-drenched history of psychedelic music. Even Clinton backed away from the reverb-soaked, dada-drenched visions he was conjuring up here.

Parliament-- Osmium (1970)

The very first Parliament LP is the closest that the dancable side of the P-Funk mixture ever came to equaling Funkadelic's rock-styled excess It's an unholy mixture of funk, rock, gospel, bagpipes, doo-wop, psych, freeform-jazz and kitchen-sink production techniques. "I Call My Baby Pussycat" ranks right up there with the best P-Funk anthems, "Nothing Before Me But Thang" is a hot wired wet dream, and "Funky Woman" keeps up the bumpin' funk quotient. Then there are concoctions like "Moonshine Heather" and "Put Love In Your Life" that can't easily be classified (high yella country-funk? Street corner psych-folk? Your guess is as good as ours). After years of unavailability, this rare slice of Clintonillia is now available on import, and as a domestic release under the title The Early Years. Long a missing link to the development of the P-Funk labs, Osmium remains a must-listen for funk-rock archivists and the lovers of genre-hopping.

Funkadelic-- Maggot Brain (1971)

The most cosmic, and consistent, of all the P-Funk records; it features "Can You Get To That," an acoustic campfire singalong. But getting your funky ass kicked needn't be a dour business, as this jewel proves. "Hit It And Quit It" reaches high, and boasts rhythm enough to make anyone with soulful inclinations want to get up and dance. "Super Stupid" and the instrumental title track are a fierce electric guitar attacks that bring primo Hendrix to mind (Eddie Hazel = Guitar Hero). Take this one on a long drive through the country-- or the projects-- and see if you don't come away with a more, ah, focused perspective on things.

Funkadelic-- America Eats Its Young (1972)

The liner notes set the scene "America eats its young. But we eat America, pollute it, abuse it, rape it, take from it, destroy it. As we give so do we receive." The year of Nixon's reelection saw Clinton and Co. deliver their most political work to date. This two-record set is uneven, but it has instrumental jams that just won't quit ("You Hit The Nail on the Head"), funk chants that refuse to leave your butt along ("Philmore," "Loose Booty"), starkly orchestrated ballads ("Everybody's Going to Make It This Time") and sentiments we can all still relate to ("If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause"). All of this plus a great, unexpected Beatles rip ("Miss Lucifer's Love") and one of the great P-Funk fadeouts ("Wake Up"). America Eats Its Young is an underrated effort-- a still-sharp concept LP about triumph in the face of racism and disillusionment.

Funkadelic-- Cosmic Slop (1973)

Here's yet another tossed-off, funked-up masterwork. "No Compute" is a creepy ode to the free love aesthetic, "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure" is another impossibly catchy soul-folk cut, and social commentary pieces like the title track and "March To the Witch's Castle" advance the blurry-eyed politics of America Eats Its Young another couple of funky steps. With its thump-bottom sound, and Pedro Bell's best cover up to that point, a discerning fan could make a strong case for Cosmic Slop being one of P-Funk's best-ever long-players.

Parliament-- Chocolate City (1975)

"We didn't get our 40 acres and a mule, but we did get you, Chocolate City." So begins this concept LP about Washington D.C., an unheralded effort from the P-Funk army. Hard to say why this isn't praised to the hilt by Clintonologists the way Maggot Brain or Mothership Connection is-- Bootsy Collins' bass work alone makes it a must-hear, and there are some incredible dance tracks ("If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It," "What Comes Funky"), and it contains some of the troup's best-ever vocal arrangements (check out "Big Footin'"). Chocolate City also proves that Clinton never forgot the doo-wop foundation of his early Parliaments group-- the elegant "I Misjudged You" stands up to his best ballads-- and never considered himself above saluting "the vanilla suburbs," even in his most heartfelt love note to Afrocentricity.

Funkadelic-- Let's Take It To The Stage (1975)

The earholes of these reviewers say No doubt, the primest, funniest, funkiest P-Funk disc ever. Certainly Clinton's crowning achievement, but maybe funk-rock's as well. "Good To Your Earhole" delivers a positively explosive opener, and is just what it claims to be. Meanwhile, "Better By The Pound" has one of the great percussion tracks of the era, not to mention some universal lyrics to live by, "Be My Beach," besides being Bootsy's vocal debut, weds doo-wop with freaky sex with Octa-pu-pu-pusses, "No Head, No Backstage Pass" takes on Led Zeppelin's raga-raunch and groupies in one fell swoop, and the title track's got a guitar groove you wish could last all day (and lyrics that poke good-natured fun at P-Funk's contemporaries--i.e. "Earth, Hot Air and No Fire," "Fool and the Gang"). There's the party favorite "Get Off Your Ass and Jam," a super-scary Clinton dirge sitting smack-dab on the B, and a l-o-n-g, ethereal Bernie Worrell instrumental to nail the door shut. Forget the greatest hits and start your P-Funk collection right here with this tidal wave of mysticism.

Parliament-- Mothership Connection (1976)

Some of the more widely-recognizable anthems here-- "P-Funk (wants to Get Funked Up)" and "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)," etc. There are more consistent albums in the Clinton discography, but this is the one most likely to win over the Sir Nose in your life.

Funkadelic-- Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (1976)

A deep, squirmy, gritty album, Tales sucks you in with a first-aid treatment of "Butt-to-Butt Resuscitation," and then takes itself-- and you-- "To The People." Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, it stops and declares, "If you ain't gonna get it on, take your dead ass home!" The disc then invites us to relax to a 12-minute ambient Moog thought-vacation, finally letting us go with the beautiful doo-wop existentialism of "How Do Yeaw View You?" Weird and beautiful.

Parliament-- The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976)

In our estimation, this is the best Parliament LP; A giddy kiddie fest that functions as a Technicolor horror-funk concept party that is designed to raise Boris Karloff from the dead as a black man with a $200 process (tell James Whale the news). The chorus vocals on the hilarious "Dr. Funkenstein" scale new heights, "Funkin' For Fun" righteously dances the zombie stomp, and Maceo and Fred scare the visiting Brecker Brothers into the funkiest horn charts of their career. Everything seems to work here-- from the extended slow jams to the searing bass workouts. They say the bigger the headache the bigger the pill. Just call Clinton the big pill.

Bootsy's Rubber Band-- Ahh. . . The Name is Bootsy, Baby (1977)

Clinton's hand is all over this great Bootsy offering, which has our cartoon hero serving up "Munchies For Your Love" and seducing his doll baby bubba over a phone that might actually be disconnected (he doesn't care). "The Pinocchio Theory" predates the Sir Nose concept, the playing is loose and goosey, and Bootsy is-- as ever-- quintessentially Bootsy. This disc just barely edges out 1976's Player of the Year as our fave-rave of the generally-excellent Bootsy records.

Parliament-- Motor Booty Affair (1978)

One of the popular Casablanca discs that established Clinton and the gang with a crossover crowd while solidifying their R&B base-- and it's also one of the few later Parliament LPs to be solid just about the whole way through. "Aqua Boogie" rules. It's the story of Sir Nose who, at the beginning of the song, is "too cool to swim or dance," and resists as others dance underwater, trying to lure him in. In the end (like all of us), the Nose gets pulled in and thrives in spite of himself. This epic paean to anal-retentiveness, one of Clinton's finest conceits, is a scream and could have continued for an entire side without losing its balance. A bunch of other good 'uns too, like "Rumpofsteelskin," "Liquid Sunshine" and "One of Those Funky Things."

Funkadelic-- One Nation Under A Groove (1978)

The title track is the P-Funk anthem of all P-Funk anthems, and the LP is a clearly-stated vision in which the visionary sees his entire continent of countrymen "gettin' down, just for the funk of it," who calls for a "Groovallegiance to the funk," and asks, seriously, "Who says a funk band can't play rock?" Probably the most popular of the Funkadelic albums at the time of its release.

The Brides of Funkenstein-- Never Buy Texas From a Cowboy (1979)

The three records from Parlet were goofy, superficial fun with more than their share of expendable filler, but Clinton's other girl group made two discs that more than hold their own with the brothers. The first, Funk or Walk, is noteworthy, but this second Brides of Funkenstein disc is the jammin' feminist manifesto that P-Funk always needed to put their Utopian concepts in high gear, with battle cries designed to fire up any NOW member ("Can I get down. . . one time?) and funky tunes like the raging title track and the flawless "I'm Holding You Responsible" (complete with scary Indian war whoops-- these gals weren't kidding!!). With Bootsy helping out on the writing, this is among the best of the later P-Funk albums.

George Clinton-- You Should-Nuf Bit Fish (1984)

After the dynasty fell in the early '80's, Clinton went solo to great critical but little commercial success. All of his solo discs contain their moments (who can forget "Do Fries Go WIth That Shake?"?), and all are recommended to some degree, but this one comes the closest to capturing the magic and madness of P-Funk's glory days. It could be the stellar cast of ex-cronies (Bernie, "Doo-wah," Maceo, Eddie, Fred and Junie are on hand to pinch the jams), but it could also be some of George's screwiest ideas yet. "Nubian Nut" is a stuttering rap, "Last Dance" is anything but, and the title track is the best fish-story analogy for life this side of Robyn Hitchcock. "Clinto-Vision," indeed.