George Clinton & The Cosmic Odyssey of the P-Funk Empire by Kris Needs

Author:Kris Needs [Needs, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78323-037-2
Publisher: Music Sales Limited
Published: 2014-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

While 1974 also saw George reconvening Parliament to commence its flight path to the Mothership by scoring a hit with the title track of its comeback album Up For The Down Stroke, George and the Funkadelics were practically living at United Sound studios as the groove factory cranked into the conveyor-belt-style action that would be forged into albums over the next few years. Funkadelic was still firing like a blowtorch after breaking into the rich funk strata which birthed Cosmic Slop, but their black rock essence was never better encapsulated than on Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On, released in early 1974 as possibly the most cohesive album of all under the Funkadelic name. “There is nothing harder to stop than an idea whose time has come to pass. Funkadelic is wot time it is!” wrote Pedro Bell on the cover, providing a future catchphrase for Public Enemy mainstay Flavor Flav.

Despite being produced quickly during a transitional period, the album became a milestone, exploding with monolithic riffs and crowd-boosting chants that remain part of the band’s set to this day. Part of its success was down to Eddie Hazel’s blistering form, co-writing every track with George (including some under his mother’s name, Grace Cook, for publishing rights purposes).

Once again, Pedro demonstrates why he’s one of the main reasons I despise downloads and even CDs – his cover based on George’s idea for ‘some tripped out landscape … some kind of freaked out chariot with folks scrambling around’ looking like a cartoon sci-fi Hieronymus Bosch version of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine cast into the space ghetto. Band credits are planted under their mini-portraits. George is credited as ‘Supreme Maggot Minister of Funkadelia, Vocals, Maniac Froth And Spit; Behaviour Illegal In Several States’. The Parliaments are tagged for the first time with their vocal ranges: tenor Calvin Simon, Ray ‘Sting Ray’ Davis on ‘subterranean bass vocals’, ‘licensed genie’ ‘Shady’ Grady Thomas and ‘A Prototype Werewolf Berserker Octave Vocals’ credited to Fuzzy. The singers are joined by Garry’s ‘doo-wop vocals’ and ‘sinister grin’, ‘Space Viking’ Bernie, ‘World’s Only Black Leprechaun’ Boogie and the returning Tiki Fulwood, plus Tyrone Lampkin on percussion and ‘polyester soul-powered token white devil’. Ron Bykowski is credited with ‘stun guitar’, while Eddie is ‘Smedley Smorganoff’.

Under the heading ‘Wet Epic Debauchery’, Pedro declares George to be the last man standing out of the big four who also include Hendrix, Sun Ra and Sly: AS IT IS WRITTEN HENCEFORTH … that on the Eighth Day, the Cosmic Strumpet of MOTHER NATURE was spawned to enclose this Third planet in FUNKACIDAL VIBRATIONS. And she birthed apostles Ra, Hendrix, Stone, and CLINTON to preserve all funkiness of man unto eternity … But! Fraudulent forces of obnoxious JIVATION grew. Sun Ra strobed back to Saturn to await his next Reincarnation, Jimi was forced back into basic atoms; Sly was co-opted into a jester monolith and … only seedling GEORGE remained! As it came to pass, he did indeed begat FUNKADELIC to restore Order Within the Universe.

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