The pinnacle being One Nation Under A Groove (1978), considered (for a good reason) one of the best funk albums of all time. The Funkadelic side of the brand continued to operate and release albums (16 in all) with a break between 19. No wonder, since Clinton was initially also heavily influenced by the work of James Brown and Sly Stone, two other pioneers of funk music. The early ’70s were also the times when George Clinton began working with a number of different musicians, including Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell, who would later become key members of Parliament-Funkadelic.ĭuring their time in Toronto, Clinton and his cohorts honed down their live show and recorded America Eats Its Young (1972), their first recording to include Bootsy Collins who joined from James Brown’s backing band. The latter included the title song, considered to include one of the best-recorded guitar solos ever, by the late great Eddie Hazel. Prior to the move, the band under the Funkadelic banner recorded three albums that set off Clinton’s trademark psychedelic rock and funk combination – Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind, And Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971). Things started to change in the early ’70s, when Clinton and a number of band members set their base in Toronto (1971 to 1973). Before the hit, Clinton started out as a staff songwriter at Motown, but also as an arranger and producer of quite a number of singles for some independent Detroit record labels. The Parliaments finally hit it big in 1967 with the release of their single “(I Wanna) Testify.” The song reached the Top 20 on the Billboard R&B chart and helped to launch George Clinton’s career both as a solo artist and as a band leader. The group had some success with a handful of singles, but they were unable to break through to a wider audience.Īctually, The Parliaments did have its start in a real-life barbershop in Plainfield New Jersey, known as “Silk Palace,” where a number of future Funkadelic/Parliament conglomerates worked. Clinton began his musical career as a teenager, forming a doo-wop group called The Parliaments. He was exposed to a wide range of musical styles as a child, including gospel, R&B, and country. George Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina in 1941. Seussian afrofunk” is often cited as a critical component of the Afrofuturism movement. As a producer, he was instrumental in the rise of a number of funk and rock acts, including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and is one of the most sampled artists in hip-hop, and his “Dr. That is, in a nutshell, the brief story of George Clinton, songwriter, vocalist, producer, and bandleader who has been described as a “genius” and a “pioneer” of funk music, but he is also a man who has had to fight for his rightful place in the annals of popular music.Ī “genius” and a “pioneer” of funk music, but he is also a man who has had to fight for his rightful placeĬlinton is the man who brought us P-Funk, one of the most influential funk sub-genres, a mixture of soul, free-form funk, psychedelic rock as well as lyrical mythology that included a set of recurring characters set in science fiction and political and social statements, contained in the music, album liner notes, album artwork, costumes, advertisements, and stage banter.Ĭlinton had the acumen to surround himself with some brilliant musicians, including musical wizards like Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, and Bootsy Collins ― just to name a few. On the other, you get a constant series of legal hassles and financial problems due to royalty and copyright issues. What do you get as one of the three key pillars of funk music? Well, if you are George Clinton, on one hand, you get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.
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