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Underground > Radio & Music >

Help Me With Funkadelic

All Acting Regiment

03:05 / 01.04.06

So, Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic is amazing. "If you ain't here to get laid/Take your dead ass home" being a particular standout. I think the reason they seem so ace is because, crudely, up until now the only really funky stuff I've heard has been white people doing it to be ironic (I'm not sure if that's an entirely healthy statement, btw, so call up if it's not).

I also love the cover art. It's got a skull, people with robot bits inside them, cosmic stuff.

a) What more should I get?

b) What do you think of Funkadelic anyway?

c) What sounds like them?

07:37 / 01.04.06

P-funk, uncut funk, the bomb!
George Clinton is a genius and I love the ethos behind his work, it's just fantastic. I mean who can not like a guy who writes funk concept albums about aliens and had a giant UFO in his stage show from which the band would all descend?
If you like Funkadelic, you should check out Parliament, George Clinton's other band who focused more on the funk, where as Funkadelic had more of a rock feel with all the guitar solos. I reckon "The Mothership Connection" is probably a good place to start.
Also try Sly and the Family Stone who were also doing that whole psychedelic soul thing.

08:32 / 01.04.06

"I want the bomb. I want the P-Funk. I want my funk uncut."

God, trying to write this post has made me realise how pitifully little I know about this stuff. I've forgotten swathes, not having listened to it for years. Legba, you might have rekindled an interest...

P Funk is a huge area, as it encompasses all of the people who played with Clinton, and of their offshoots and side projects. Pretty different musically some of it, ranging from the acid-rock influences of Funkadelic, the vocal harmonies of Parlet (female vocalists side project, IIRC) through to late 80s electro influenced Bootsy Collins stuff. There's connections all over the place - through to Tackhead and On U Sound, back out to groups like Cameo - the whole Dr Dre/LA/G Funk thang is pretty much based on ripping off Clinton/Ohio Players riffs ... its a sound I always associate with the West Coast, it's got that laid back sunshine vibe to it. P Funk is kind of interconnecting thread that you can trace running through the black music of the 70s and 80s. I get dizzy thinking about it. Someone should draw one of those crazy "tree" diagrams that used to appear in the NME showing all the connections. Anyway, the one thing that all P Funk proper seems to have in common is the Clinton connection and that heavy ass bass.

More later when I've had a think/listen but in the meantime, I think some sure fire hits for you, Legba, would be two of the earliest Funkadelic albums Free Your Mind ... and Your Ass will Follow and America Eats It's Young Both killer albums, neither of which I own, disgustingly. The latter includes sleevenotes from Robert De Grimston of the 60s psychedelic Process Church of the Final Judgement!

The live album Mothership Connection is well worth a listen also - this is kind of the point where their music crossed over here - they did a massive series of live shows over here (late 70s/early 80s??), with the UFO dropping from the cellling... the P was very popular with the Essex soul crowd, to which I owe my early musical tutelage. Tim Westwood was an old P-Funker, I believe, before his ascendacy to Hip Hop stardom.

Math is for suckers!

04:27 / 02.04.06

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Maggot Brain. To me that is the Funkadelic album to own, if for nothing else then just the title track alone. For my money Maggot Brain is probably one of the single greatest guitar songs ever. Its just so damn soulful. Apparently George told him to play like his momma had just died, and it shows. To me it literally sounds like a guitar weeping and moaning for a lost loved one. Eddie Hazel was simply an incredible guitarist and Maggot Brain is probably his masterpiece. The rest of the songs on the album are great too, but between "Maggot Brain" and the "Wars of Armageddon", the final track, they just outshine everything else. Wars of Armageddon is a great, just out there jam full of weird sound effects, chanting, Bernie Worrell's warped keyboard work, and of course, more Eddie Hazel soloing. Seriously, if you even remotely dig Funkadelic, Maggot Brain is the album, hands down. Go, buy now.

01:18 / 03.04.06

I would definitely second Maggot Brain, it's a fantastic album. I actually prefer it to Mothership Connection, because it's a bit more focused. Mothership Connection's songs are usually roughly a third of filler, spoken word and just random stuff, before getting to the meat of the song. It's still a great album though, and if you're interested in hearing where Dr. Dre got most of the beats for The Chronic from, that's the one to check out.

lord nuneaton savage

09:54 / 03.04.06

Yep, the first three Funkadelic albums ('Funkadelic', 'Free Your Mind' and 'Maggot Brain') are indispensible. My special favourite has to be 'Maggot Brain', mainly 'cos it contains the RIDICULOUSLY heavy funk of 'Super Stupid'. Bloody marvellous.

As for what else to pick up, I'd definitely second Sly & the Family Stone, but that's just 'cos they're my favouritest band ever. Try Black Merda. Their stuff is a bit harder to find but they have a very cool funk/folk kinda vibe. Also Chairmen of the Board did some super tripped out sides in the late 60s. Well worth a look.

10:21 / 03.04.06

I gotta echo the "Maggot Brain" suggestion too. I don't own it, but every time i hear it played (usually in record shops whilst i'm looking for sommit else) I go ask what it is, get told it's MaggotBrain and remember that I HAVE to get it.

I just don't.. so if you get it, can I borrow it? ;-)

12:54 / 03.04.06

Interesting that this thread appears, I recently downloaded a cheesy collection named The 100 Greatest Guitar solos most are pretty awful but Maggot Brain was on there and really stood out against the rest.

There's a collection of Funkadelic on torrentspy at the moment with the complete back catalogue, if that's your sort of thing.

01:31 / 05.04.06

If you don't mind a bit of hip hoppin' Ice Cube & George Clintons' version of Bop Gun is really worth a listen.

Rick James is one funky motherfucker. Listening to Super Freak merley emphasises MC Hammers crimes against music.

21:01 / 23.05.06

I'm not sure that Maggot Brain is actually as good as is suggested - to my ears it's always been a bit unfocused. Too much acid. For me, the one to get is America Eats Its Young - loadsa classics on there, full-on processene ideology, Clinton in very fine voice indeed... excellent. You'll be wanting to check out the "hit" LP, One Nation Under a Groove (though the CD seems to lack the live tracks that were on the 7" that accompanied the LP, including Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet!). I really like Uncle Jam Wants You too.

You'll be wanting a load of Parliament too - even better IMO. One to consider is the quite awesome P-Funk Earth Tour. It's got loads of hits delivered superbly, plus minor ultrafunkular gem This Is The Way We Funk With You, which is pure systems music deepness. Gets a hold of you and won't let go. P-funk is just religious music for me.

There's a number of Funkadelic / Parliament compilations - just make sure you get one with Mothership Connection on it, most of them do, it's just an awesome deep low space music track.