NDRU said:

Ouch.....some of those classic cuts had to come from "somewhere" else cause they were too crazy to come from EARTH.

PFunkjazz said:

Oh, come now, he's a virtuoso on the pipe!

NDRU said:

OH SH.....

...

I gotta start out by saying that P-funk now is a small shadow of their former selves...it's just not the same thing anymore...


But besides being one of the founders of Funk, and the one who came up with all these great ideas and sound (as well as visual) concepts, George in his prime, was also a great bandleader, in the same way that Duke Ellington, Count Basie, James Brown and Prince are great bandleaders--- he's not simply in front chanting (at least, that didn't USED to be the case , Lol!!) --he was dictating ideas about the overall sound, both live and on record -- mood, tempo, who's playing, who's not playing, the dynamics-- how loud/ soft, how fast/slow...you had a load of great musicians, and George knew how to best use their strengths....

--Kinda like a Quincy Jones production--Q doesn't have to touch an instrument, yet there's a recognizable sound that he has---and even if you had all those same players together, if Q wasn't producing, it would not sound quite the same...same with Prince, whether he touches an instrument or not...


My Friend LA(Elroy?) happened to be hangin' out when P-Funk was rehearsing for The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction performance years ago--he said that it was a great example of how George worked and what he brought to the sound --

George was running late, but everyone else was there, including Bootsy, Mike Hampton, Garry Shider and Bernie Worrell..Bernie is taking them through the rehearsal, and apparently it sounds like what you would expect when you have a large group of people in one place just playing--kinda massive and not particularly focused.... and eventually George shows up...he sits and listens to them playing for a while, then walks over and starts giving direction-- tells some players to stop, one player to play a different kind of rhythm, and has another one start up, then brings a few others back in...basically he's got an idea for a sound, and he's putting all the puzzle pieces together...

Now, all these guys are Slammin' players on their own (and of course, many of 'em front their own bands), but when George put a frame around what they were doing, a whole new focused (and Funky) feel emerges... True, it just wouldn't be as good without those really talented players, but it would also be different if he wasn't there leading it...

having said all that though, it does seem sometimes as if George takes ALL the credit---there were other extremely important architects over the years --like Eddie Hazel, Billy "Bass" Nelson, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy, Walter "Junie" Morrison-- that haven't really gotten their props...they were all responsible for the sound, and it was never the same when they weren't there... with the exception of Bootsy, they're not household names. George is the face that everyone sees and recognizes, but it's not as if you could put him in the room by himself and get that sound...he needs his talented players...and they needed his direction...

In their prime, George, Bernie and Bootsy seemed to form a kind of sound pyramid and if any of the three were missing, the sound just wasn't the same...(for a good example of this, go to the T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M album...listen to the rest of the album--pretty cool, but then listen to the track, "Sloppy Seconds", put together by the three of them, and see the difference...)



...

PFunkjazz said:

Oh, come now, he's a virtuoso on the pipe!

I think you could boil it down to a thing called an execution of vision.


All praises to...



...ElRoy (and his no-postin' a$$)

..an' you're right about Elroy...I should get on the phone an' Bomb him out now....


...

I was just wondering why Prince likes him so much?
He can't sing, doesn't play anything.
Not a hate thread; i was just curious because Prince doesn't seem to respect any 'producers'normally becuase they don't actually make the music.

because George Clinton defined Funk.... and before ya head explodes... no James Brown did not create Funk.. he defined Soul... what GC did was take soul to a higher level and take it somewhere else.

Love glen but I can't find his solo project man....do u have it?

...
I gotta start out by saying that P-funk now is a small shadow of their former selves...it's just not the same thing anymore...

I've offered to represent for a fellow Maggot from ONE-NATION who occassionally browse the Org, but is not registered. Here's the response he wants to include on this thread:
First off, it should be noted that I am and will always be a Maggot, Funkatarian, Geepie, or whatever descriptive you want to use to describe someone who is dedicated to the concept of Funkadelic more than I will ever be a Prince fan. No diss intended, it's just where I stand in the world. I've just registered on this board after seeing so many interesting posts on P-Funk when they do come up. I really wanted to respond to the various posts, but didn't want to go thru the whole registration thing. This time however I just couldn't resist.

To say that Funkadelic is but a small shadow of what they once were is, in my humble opinion, pretty shortsighted.We are talking about a musical entity that has survived five decades in music. Starting out as a doo-wop group, then a Temptations-style singing group, then an acid-funk 10-man army, then an ever expanding funk empire with 30 musicians in tow, then scaled down to a cleverly picked ensemble sort of like the NBA all stars meaning the baddest of the bad. Through all of this, they are still touring the world, converting the masses one booty at a time, stealing fans from other bands the way GC used to steal musicians, and in short knocking them dead every single night(without the benefit of a hit single or any radio play). I don't know of too many other musical entities that are active in the industry to this degree.

I will address the next issue by quoting a good friend of mine, David Mills who is the co-author of "George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History". He once outlined how, outside of Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell and Junie Morrison, that practically the majority of the principle players in P-Funk would be virtual unknowns if it wasn't for GC. He compared it to the athlete in the playground syndrome. Not all of the players are going to get out of the playground and be successful and they're not going to get out on their talents alone. They're going to get out by the connections they make. Clearly GC was someone who made the right connections early on and able to parley that into a viable future for his band, including securing solo deals for Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy, the Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, etc..

And contrary to popular belief, you don't need a great singing voice to be effective(just ask Bob Dylan). The music of P-Funk, at least I believe, has a very freakish persona that is tailor made for GC's voice. The combination makes for a very effective rhytmic stroke. Besides we need only to observe the stellar singing talents of Glenn Goins, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, the late Ray Davis to know that P-Funk had the vocal thang on lock down.

I also don't think it's a question of GC taking all of the credit. I think it's a question of interviewers constantly displaying the 'take me to your leader' vibe and not appreciating the subtle nuances of black artistic energy. By the same token, it can't be denied that GC represents the center axis of the P-Funk mystique and that all of the players are crucial extensions of the energy emanating from that center axis.

TIM KINLEY
CONSULTANT
PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC: ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE(PBS)
timmyfunk1@hotmail.com

I've offered to represent for a fellow Maggot from ONE-NATION who occassionally browse the Org, but is not registered. Here's the response he wants to include on this thread:

First off, it should be noted that I am and will always be a Maggot, Funkatarian, Geepie, or whatever descriptive you want to use to describe someone who is dedicated to the concept of Funkadelic more than I will ever be a Prince fan. No diss intended, it's just where I stand in the world. I've just registered on this board after seeing so many interesting posts on P-Funk when they do come up. I really wanted to respond to the various posts, but didn't want to go thru the whole registration thing. This time however I just couldn't resist.

To say that Funkadelic is but a small shadow of what they once were is, in my humble opinion, pretty shortsighted. We are talking about a musical entity that has survived five decades in music. Starting out as a doo-wop group, then a Temptations-style singing group, then an acid-funk 10-man army, then an ever expanding funk empire with 30 musicians in tow, then scaled down to a cleverly picked ensemble sort of like the NBA all stars meaning the baddest of the bad. Through all of this, they are still touring the world, converting the masses one booty at a time, stealing fans from other bands the way GC used to steal musicians, and in short knocking them dead every single night(without the benefit of a hit single or any radio play). I don't know of too many other musical entities that are active in the industry to this degree.

I will address the next issue by quoting a good friend of mine, David Mills who is the co-author of "George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History". He once outlined how, outside of Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell and Junie Morrison, that practically the majority of the principle players in P-Funk would be virtual unknowns if it wasn't for GC. He compared it to the athlete in the playground syndrome. Not all of the players are going to get out of the playground and be successful and they're not going to get out on their talents alone. They're going to get out by the connections they make. Clearly GC was someone who made the right connections early on and able to parley that into a viable future for his band, including securing solo deals for Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy, the Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, etc..

And contrary to popular belief, you don't need a great singing voice to be effective(just ask Bob Dylan). The music of P-Funk, at least I believe, has a very freakish persona that is tailor made for GC's voice. The combination makes for a very effective rhytmic stroke. Besides we need only to observe the stellar singing talents of Glenn Goins, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, the late Ray Davis to know that P-Funk had the vocal thang on lock down.

I also don't think it's a question of GC taking all of the credit. I think it's a question of interviewers constantly displaying the 'take me to your leader' vibe and not appreciating the subtle nuances of black artistic energy. By the same token, it can't be denied that GC represents the center axis of the P-Funk mystique and that all of the players are crucial extensions of the energy emanating from that center axis.

TIM KINLEY
CONSULTANT
PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC: ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE(PBS)
timmyfunk1@hotmail.com

And to what capacity would it not the be same thang anymore ?
That there are no big commercial sales anymore ?
Shure , everyone of the P-Funk Empire went it's own way , everyone grows older , and some of the magic of a certain era is harder to capture for an eternity .
BUT no matter what ups and downs have occurred in history , all the soldiers have been returning to general George from time to time , and besides their recognition in the Hall Of Fame , receiving ownership of the original masters from 4 Funkadelic albums , they've had a devoted following of fans and artists which have been inspired by them through all these years ... THAT'S what counts most .

doesn't play anything.

I've offered to represent for a fellow Maggot from ONE-NATION who occassionally browse the Org, but is not registered. Here's the response he wants to include on this thread:



We are talking about a musical entity that has survived five decades in music. Through all of this, they are still touring the world, converting the masses one booty at a time, stealing fans from other bands the way GC used to steal musicians, and in short knocking them dead every single night(without the benefit of a hit single or any radio play). I don't know of too many other musical entities that are active in the industry to this degree.


TIM KINLEY
CONSULTANT
PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC: ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE(PBS)
timmyfunk1@hotmail.com

I like them all, but have you ever been with someone who will only listen to one band?! Oh, wait, this is a Prince site...nevermind...

I was just wondering why Prince likes him so much?

He can't sing, doesn't play anything.

Not a hate thread; i was just curious because Prince doesn't seem to respect any 'producers'normally becuase they don't actually make the music.

...

I gotta start out by saying that P-funk now is a small shadow of their former selves...it's just not the same thing anymore...


But besides being one of the founders of Funk, and the one who came up with all these great ideas and sound (as well as visual) concepts, George in his prime, was also a great bandleader, in the same way that Duke Ellington, Count Basie, James Brown and Prince are great bandleaders--- he's not simply in front chanting (at least, that didn't USED to be the case , Lol!!) --he was dictating ideas about the overall sound, both live and on record -- mood, tempo, who's playing, who's not playing, the dynamics-- how loud/ soft, how fast/slow...you had a load of great musicians, and George knew how to best use their strengths....

--Kinda like a Quincy Jones production--Q doesn't have to touch an instrument, yet there's a recognizable sound that he has---and even if you had all those same players together, if Q wasn't producing, it would not sound quite the same...same with Prince, whether he touches an instrument or not...


My Friend LA(Elroy?) happened to be hangin' out when P-Funk was rehearsing for The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction performance years ago--he said that it was a great example of how George worked and what he brought to the sound --

George was running late, but everyone else was there, including Bootsy, Mike Hampton, Garry Shider and Bernie Worrell..Bernie is taking them through the rehearsal, and apparently it sounds like what you would expect when you have a large group of people in one place just playing--kinda massive and not particularly focused.... and eventually George shows up...he sits and listens to them playing for a while, then walks over and starts giving direction-- tells some players to stop, one player to play a different kind of rhythm, and has another one start up, then brings a few others back in...basically he's got an idea for a sound, and he's putting all the puzzle pieces together...

Now, all these guys are Slammin' players on their own (and of course, many of 'em front their own bands), but when George put a frame around what they were doing, a whole new focused (and Funky) feel emerges... True, it just wouldn't be as good without those really talented players, but it would also be different if he wasn't there leading it...

having said all that though, it does seem sometimes as if George takes ALL the credit---there were other extremely important architects over the years --like Eddie Hazel, Billy "Bass" Nelson, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy, Walter "Junie" Morrison-- that haven't really gotten their props...they were all responsible for the sound, and it was never the same when they weren't there... with the exception of Bootsy, they're not household names. George is the face that everyone sees and recognizes, but it's not as if you could put him in the room by himself and get that sound...he needs his talented players...and they needed his direction...

In their prime, George, Bernie and Bootsy seemed to form a kind of sound pyramid and if any of the three were missing, the sound just wasn't the same...(for a good example of this, go to the T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M album...listen to the rest of the album--pretty cool, but then listen to the track, "Sloppy Seconds", put together by the three of them, and see the difference...)



...
[Edited 4/5/06 9:22am]

Anyone who could organize a troop of funkateers round a mothership craft and get them to wear diapers while funkin the hell out of a crowd is a genius.

George Clinton is legend

Anyone who could organize a troop of funkateers round a mothership craft and get them to wear diapers while funkin the hell out of a crowd is a genius.

George Clinton is legend

Anyone who could organize a troop of funkateers round a mothership craft and get them to wear diapers...