[Today: George Clinton launches funk into outer space...]
Somewhere deep in outer space, there’s a planet where the party never ends, everyone can sing and play an instrument, and folks wear big diapers instead of pants. Mothership Connection is your invitation to that party, and anyone with ears is welcome.
“If you got faults, defects or shortcomings,
You know, like arthritis, rheumatism or migraines,
Whatever part of your body it is,
I want you to lay it on your radio, let the vibes flow through.”
From 1975 to 1980, George Clinton enjoyed one of the most artistically prolific runs in the history of modern music. His twin groups Parliament and Funkadelic released 14 albums between them during that span. Funkadelic was based around guitars and Parliament swung with a horn section, but both bands were dedicated to creating the kind of out-of-this-world, psychedelic funk/rock that didn’t get played on black radio.
To that end, Clinton created this quasi-religious sci-fi cartoon with bumping beats that don’t quit. The sound is the product of some of the finest musicians in the business, including Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Glen Goins, The Brecker Brothers, and Jerome Brailey. It’s with good reason that these grooves have been sampled by thousands of hip-hop artists.
Like Jimi Hendrix before him, Clinton took his music into outer space in order to leave behind pedestrian rules and boundaries. This is an album loaded with ideas, but lighter than air and beyond gravity. Mothership Connection feels like a concept album, but its ideas are so diffused that all you’re left with are hooks and horns and happy times. This music speaks to your feet, and here’s what it says: groove is in the heart and the beat will set you free, if you let it.
Tags: funk, George Clinton, Mothership Connection, Parliament
17 December 2007 at 8:52 am |
Word.