Funkadelic in the Year 5784
Last Saturday as the Hebrew calendar slid into 5784 I was able to witness one of the most important musical heroes since 5680. Through almost exclusively faults of my own I had never seen George Clinton live in any capacity. When I was in high school and my early 20s I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say that George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars played in Minneapolis on average twice a year. But at the time I thought of Funkadelic as a group I should like, not a group I did like. If you look at Funkadelic from a distance it is easy to think of them as black GWAR. An institution that needs to be witnessed and recognized, but maybe not researched and studied. It became clear to me probably about fifteen years ago that I was wrong. Everytime I went to deal with Funkadelic, usually because I was studying a sample that had been used later I was completely floored with how the rest of the song went. I realized that the from a distance view I had of Funkadelic was dismissive. . .Curtis Mayfield was a genius, Stevie Wonder was a genius, P-Funk was a sideshow. And then, through my years of deep connection to the Prince universe I made a friend named Stone whose favorite group is Parliament/Funkadelic. I had a special night in his basement learning and deepening my connections to the Funkadelic. I’ll bold the things that Stone taught me that I didn’t know SHIT about until that night.
George Clinton started out as a barber and a doo-wop vocalist
He was interested in making in-roads with Motown
There are songs that are world-wide known as funk songs, but started as doo-wop soul jams
He legitimately became a writer for Motown for some years
He scored a boatload of musicians from Cincinnati into his band when they parted ways with James Brown, specifically the Collins brothers
Bootsy explained the importance of emphasizing “The One” to George Clinton. This recalibrated George Clinton. You might say he had the funk attitude before this explanation, but maybe lacked some of the funk architecture
The Brecker Brothers played with Parliament
The spirit of doo wop and well-executed harmony vocals is a centerpiece of Parliament Funkadelic work
There was an Ohio Players/Funkadelic continuum as well
Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and other key horn players also moved from James Brown to George Clinton
Junie Morrison existed, and he is responsible for some of the greatest moments in funk synthesizer history
Junie Morrison is also unique capable of delivering something I might call pretty funk. This takes more explanation, but that night I realized that a bunch of disparate songs I liked were actually all the handiwork of Junie Morrison
A universe of records effectively made by the Parliament/Funkadelic continuum exist from their golden era with different incarnations (Parlet, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, et cetera)
I’m glowing. I’m ready. I’m engaged. These are revelations to me. I walked out of Stone’s basement so ready to dive into this world and I do. Like almost any true musical education it impacts how I listen to so many other things. I hear Prince differently, I hear Maceo different, I hear Dr. Dre differently. I hear music differently. I’m glowing. The other thing that happens is I hear Funkadelic’s fingerprints all over, in spots I had never noticed before.
And I add to this rebirth a new general enthusiasm about seeing music. I brought an arrogance to my viewing/listening to music in my 20s. I was so on my own shit that I couldn’t be patient with my listening, I couldn’t be humble. I was hunting for things to steal when I should’ve been hunting for an education. I can now go to shows and quiet myself and let my body and mind be present with the music. I’m not standing as far away as I can carrying on a conversation. This helps me because I am fully convinced that one can’t be a music director of a radio station worth a damn without getting out and seeing the music live. It brings a context and relevance to what I bring to my on air shifts that I find tangibly better. On top of that, when I’m figuring out what might work on Jazz88, I can also know if the artist is the real deal live. . .can they actually deliver the goods outside of the studio. Now look, that doesn’t come up that much with jazz. Generally, if you can’t do the thing live, you’re not going to get to the point inside the studio where you are churning something of any quality. But, I still believe seeing what level an artist is on in a live setting is utterly pertinent to my job.
So when Stone told me had tickets for George Clinton at the Uptown Theater I was all the way in. I was surprised how many people in my life had close to no idea who George Clinton was. I said that George Clinton was one of the 20 most influential musicians of the 20th century and I believe that stands up to scrutiny. But he just isn’t in the conversation around my neighbor community in the way I wish he was. Regardless, I made tracks to Uptown to see a legend. I missed basically all of the opener who was fucking George Porter Jr. of the Meters. The Meters are one of my favorites so that was a tough one. But the schedule just wasn’t going to permit it. Without much difficult Stone, his crew and I got up to maybe let’s say 15th row vibes on that floor. A good situation. I could see. It felt pretty right to me.
The first way that Funkadelic interrupted my expectations: usually a headlining band is going to send out either techs or the actual side musicians to check their gear and get ready for the set. Hit that tuner. Tape the set list. Play a chord! Is the keyboard still on? Does my monitor work? Snare on? But after that, the group will retire back to the backstage to pour that show drink, stretch out, maybe a quick pep talk before they hit. But George’s crew is all in the mix, everyone is checking their instruments and getting prepared. And the drummer seemingly out of nowhere gives one visual cue to the house crew and suddenly the stage lights are on and my god within the first measure it is the best funk band I have ever witnessed. The authority of the bass drum, the drive the groove. I just melt. 20 people are telling me to put my hands up and I am fucking obeying. Visually, the group is stunning. A couple eccentric outfits but also just a pile of amazingly charismatic personalities and frankly, some blindingly foxy women in the mix as well. I realize that I am witnessing not only a musical icon, but an icon who turned the musical universe in a direction that is better. A focus on funk, on sex, on self-expression, on imagining a science fiction solution to society’s ills, an honest critique of society without a big “I’m the teacher” attitude. Every time Clinton is asking for the crowd for something I’m mouthing “thank you, thank you”. This man made my life better. And now I’m witnessing him live. It is a new year, George Clinton ushered me and the rest of the crowd into it and we’re all better for it.