Funkadelic

Far superior to Parliament in my opinion, although by the end of their career (I'm thinking late 70's onward) they sounded pretty similar. They just had such ferocious playing... the humour, the commentary... brilliant stuff

For starters, I'd check out Maggot Brain,

the title track opener has one of the most scorching extended guitar solos I've ever heard (George Clinton instructed Eddie Hazel to "play like yo mamma died")

...not to mention the opening monologue is classic:

the album remains awesome with tracks like "Hit it and Quit It" and "Super Stupid". The end is funky, stupid, and epic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVHrvx-Ua68

America Eats Its Young

Killer Bernie Worrell keys on this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD1p6ZnUXg4

I could just go on and on about this band; having listened to Parliament for about 5 years I thought I was done with funk... nup

Drippy Raw Funk Indeed!

I recently picked up some 180g reissues... Maggot Brain and Free Your mind.... my favorite record has to be Cosmic Slop though :)

Saw them live about a year ago. Was one of the few white people there, haha. Fucking incredible show though, I must say.

Like 20 people on stage at any given time. Dude wearing a diaper, dude wearing velvety PJ's just dancing on top of the speakers. Gerorge Clinton, just croaking into the microphone. His granddaughter did this rap about weed "somethin' stinks and I want some!". When she started rapping about banging dudes, George grabbed the mic and just shook his finger at her, haha. Funky as fuck bass playing. Maggot Brain in all it's fucking glory. Funk is no joke.

my favorite track on maggot brain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrOdcnFbAY

my other favorite of theirs has always been one nation under a groove. the title track is a fucking killer classic and this one is great for some stoney fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZECQCQjP38

i also saw them live, about 5 years ago. amazing show, the guitarist in the diaper is a badass, and all the songs sounded great. george clinton will never die.

Actually, it was "play like yo mama died" for the first half and "play like you just found out she came back to life" for the second. And I'm pretty sure they were both on acid at the time.

either way, one of the best (and somehow, most overlooked) guitar solos of all time.

  On 5/8/2010 at 8:10 AM, disparaissant said:

Actually, it was "play like yo mama died" for the first half and "play like you just found out she came back to life" for the second. And I'm pretty sure they were both on coke at the time.

 

fixed

sussing this stuff out and totally loving it. can anyone recommend some parliament albums(or anything else worth checking out) while we're at it :D:D:D:D

  On 5/8/2010 at 10:43 AM, verticalhold said:

  On 5/8/2010 at 8:10 AM, disparaissant said:

Actually, it was "play like yo mama died" for the first half and "play like you just found out she came back to life" for the second. And I'm pretty sure they were both on coke and acid and probably a few other things at the time.

 

 

fixed

We're talking about George Clinton, after all.

Yeah they were definitely on LSD. They aren't called Funkadelic for nothing.

i prefer maggot brain on one nation

Any fans of Bootsy Collins? I think Bootsy's solo material is quite important. The first three records are pretty epic. ALso his live in Louisville 1978 record should be sought out. Check the bass tone.

  On 5/9/2010 at 6:06 PM, Scrambled Ears said:

i prefer maggot brain on one nation

definitely agree, more loose

  On 5/9/2010 at 11:17 PM, thepilot said:

Any fans of Bootsy Collins? I think Bootsy's solo material is quite important. The first three records are pretty epic. ALso his live in Louisville 1978 record should be sought out. Check the bass tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUL_gcHv0EA

Praxis - Transmutation is fucking superb

  On 5/8/2010 at 4:00 PM, pigster said:

sussing this stuff out and totally loving it. can anyone recommend some parliament albums(or anything else worth checking out) while we're at it :D:D:D:D

Well if you want a surprising Parliament album check out Osmium.

If you want the straight Parliament funk, Mothership Connection.

Also check out Journey To Love by Stanley Clarke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXsZVs1EEfw

This dude was a pioneer in the slap bass technique and has become one of my very favorite bass players.

I second Osmium. This is such a diverse record in terms of style...country, gospel, psych-rock. I love when a group is so solid in terms of songwriting that these genre-leaps are accomplished with no effort whatsoever. It does not sound contrived or like an irony-laced Mike Patton piss-take, but like these great musicians really enjoy and excel at playing in these various styles. Anyway, for an even earlier look at the group (still being called The Parliaments at this time) there is a compilation called Testify. I believe it is OOP but worth seeking out.