Parliament/Funkadelic to get your blood circulating on a Wednesday morning. In concert at the Convention Center in Dallas on November 5, 1976.
I cannot imagine anyone who has not seen, heard or experienced Parliament-Funkadelic in all these years. They were (and still are) a genre unto themselves, wildly innovative, totally insane, brilliant, liberating and overwhelming – usually all in one setting.
I also can’t imagine any contemporary pop or rock music, from the mid-1970s on that hasn’t been in some way influenced by PFunk (Parliament/Funkadelic for short) and its founder George Clinton. They’ve touched all bases. This is what you get when you gather a group of musicians together who are virtuosos in their chosen instruments and share a clear singular point of view. Goes beyond magic – it points the way.
Okay – some basics in the odd chance you aren’t familiar: Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. With an eclectic style drawing on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor, they have released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker” (1975) and “Flash Light” (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work has had an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology has helped pioneer Afrofuturism.
Prominent collective members have included bassist Bootsy Collins (who formed the spinoff group Bootsy’s Rubber Band), keyboardist Bernie Worrell, guitarists Eddie “Maggot Brain” Hazel, Michael Hampton, and Garry “Diaper Man” Shider, and horn players Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker. Some former members of Parliament perform under the name “Original P”. Sixteen members of Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2019, the group was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Okay – thanks to Wikipedia we got some of the basics out of the way – now it’s time for you to press Play and dive in.
Technical note: I wish we all sounded as good 49 years after the event, but this is an old tape, a brittle tape with some damage during the first few minutes. Coupled with a vocal mix that is getting it together during the first number. It all calms down after the first song – so don’t worry.
