(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
George Clinton, a former barber from New Jersey, was already active in the mid-1960s (I Wanna Testify, 1967; All Your Goodies Are Gone, 1967) with a style that, drawing on James Brown’s coeval experiments, half absorbed funk elements and half psychedelic ones. In 1967 Clinton moved to Detroit’s ghetto: he wrote lyrics for Motown and attended the hippie concerts of the Mc5 and the Stooges. From this basic schizophrenia were derived the two groups that Clinton directed simultaneously starting in 1967: the Parliaments (who debuted with Testify, 1967, and then shortened the name to Parliament) and Funkadelic, respectively vocal music and instrumental music, substantially mainstream pop (not too different from Kool And The Gang) on the one hand, and freak counterculture on the other.
The former, in fact, meant Tamla-soul mutated into power-rock with disco rhythms, seductive covers, obscenities, and parodistic titles.
Parliament’s early albums were: Osmium (Invictus, 1970), a confused but electrifying (and lysergic) jumble of styles; the funkier Up For The Down Stroke (1974), where William Collins basically imported James Brown’s style; and Chocolate City (1975).
Their art is well represented by Tear The Roof Off The Sucker and P-Funk on Mothership Connection (1975) — the album featuring Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley on horns (both veterans of James Brown) — by Your Sexy Body on The Clones of Dr Funkenstein (1976), the mystic-cosmic manifesto of Clinton’s “pure funk” (or “p-funk”), by the entire album Funkentelechy Vs The Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca, 1977), in particular Flash Light and Bop Gun, by Aqua Boogie (1979) on Motor-Booty Affair (1978), their most electronic and experimental album, and by Theme From The Black Hole on Gloryhallastoopid (1979). Their music was anything but amateurish: keyboardist Bernie Worrell (inventor of synthesizer bass lines) and bassist William “Bootsy” Collins rank among the great masters of their instruments. Their saga ended with Trombipulation (1980).
P-funk's mythology was derived from Elijah Muhammad, the visionary leader of the Nation of Islam from 1934 until his death in 1975 who preached that the Bible contained a reference to a UFO, the Mother Plane, a mothership carrier of freedom. In the hands of Clinton, this spiritual saga became a hedonistic version of the Jefferson Starship's Blows Agains the Empire. Pedro Bell's surrealistic album covers contributed to define Clinton's epic.
Funkadelic, on the other hand, stage a frantic “profane portrayal” of urban life, drawing on the blues jams of Hendrix, especially in Music For My Mother (1969) and Mommy What's A Funkadelic on their eponymous first album of 1970, incorporating Sly Stone, jazz-rock, gospel, easy-listening, science fiction, horror, and heroin.
Funkadelic's subsequent albums were a mixed bad:
Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) was a psychedelic mess, but
Maggot Brain (1971) was all over the stylistic spectrum, from
Wars Of Armageddon to the cerebral prog-rock of Super Stupid, with
Eddie Hazel turning into Jimi Hendrix in the instrumental Maggot Brain
(and in Super Stupid itself, which is de facto a ten-minute solo),
while America Eats Its Young (1972) was a (relatively)
serious political concept,
despite I Call My Baby Pussycat (a slower, deranged version of the song on Parliament's Osmium),
but
Cosmic Slop (1973), with the dejected but catchy
Cosmic Slop and the atmospheric Trash A-Go-Go,
Standing On The Verge Of Getting On (1974),
with one of their most celebrated grooves in
Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
and more delirious shows of Eddie Hazel's guitarwork in
Red Hot Mama (expanded in
the single Red Hot Momma/ Vital Juices of 1975)
and in the hard-rocking Alice in My Fantasies,
the live Let's Take It To The Stage (1975),
the compilation of rarities Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (1976),
and Hardcore Jollies (1976) were full of silly songs and
pointless jams, but guitarist Michael Hampton shines in
Hardcore Jollies (with a riff again taken from Parliament's I Call My Baby Pussycat).
Then, suddenly, Funkadelic found a magic equilibrium between funk, rock
and disco on One Nation Under A Groove (1978), containing two more
classics, One Nation Under A Groove
and Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock.
Uncle Jam Wants You (1979), with Knee Deep,
and the ebullient
The Electric Spanking of War Babies (1981) ended the Funkadelic saga.
Music For Your Mother (1992) collects all the Funkadelic singles.
The cult of fans grew in proportion to the vulgarity and eccentricity of their shows (musicians in underwear, marijuana cigarettes, simulated porn) and to the variety of sound sources, which ranged effortlessly from heavy metal to vaudeville.
Bootsy’s Rubber Band, a surreal saga with (literally) children’s nursery rhymes by the “spacey” bassist William “Bootsy” Collins (formerly with James Brown), was added in 1976. Their albums were: Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band (1976), Ahh The Name is Bootsy Baby (1977), featuring The Pinocchio Theory, Player of the Year (1978), This Boot Is Made For Fonk-N (1979).
Gradually, defections led to a multitude of bizarre acts, all recognizable by their inherited sacrilegious flair, creating some confusion: P-Funk All Stars, Parlet, Brides Of Funkenstein, Jimmy G. And The Tackheads, etc. In parallel, following the model of their archetypal acid-funk instrumentals, the repertoire grew to include gags like Shit Goddam, the dub Free Your Mind, the choral tribalism of Atomic Dog (1983) using the Prophet-5 synthesizer, the multi-voiced tropical soul of Double Oh-oh (1985), increasingly hypnotic and playful, up to the polyrhythmic and multi-mixed dances of Pleasures Of Exhaustion (1985) and Mixmaster Suite (1986).
A guru of musical anarchy, boisterous excess, and sonic nonsense, Clinton piled together the harmonies of black vocal groups, Hendrixian glissandi, Zappa-esque parodies, glam rock, James Brown’s percussive paranoia, and torrents of sexual energy.
After a long hiatus, Clinton returned with The Cinderella Theory (1989),
that contains the Prince-esque ballad Why Should I Do U Out,
and Hey Man (1993), containing Paint the White House Black and
Rhythm and Rhyme, supported by a cast of younger musicians who learned
from him.
TAPOAFOM (1996) and Dope Dogs (1999), the albums credited to the
P-Funk All Stars,
Bernie Worrell has released solo albums that roam haunting jazz soundscapes:
Funk Of Ages (1990) and the two Bill Laswell-influenced trances,
Backtronic Science (1993) and The Other Side (1994).
Improvisczario (2007) was a showcase for Worrell on different keyboards
but the funk-jazz-rock style was outdated.
William "Bootsy" Collins has released mediocre solo albums, starting with
Ultra Wave (1980), The One Giveth The Count Taketh Away (1982) and
What's Bootsy Doin'? (1988).
Lord Of The Harvest (Zillatron, 1994), featuring
bassist Bill Laswell,
keyboardist Bernie Worrell,
guitarist Buckethead,
and two rappers, is perhaps the wildest.
Bootsy's Rubber Band released the double-disc Blasters Of The Universe (1994).
Collins returned with the solo Fresh Outta 'P' University (1997).
Clinton's P-Funk Allstars returned with the double-CD album
How Late Do You Have 2BB4UR Absent (2005).
Bootsy Collins' Tha Funk Capital Of The World (2011) was a funk primer
for the new generations, including collaborations with Bobby Womack, Sheila E and George Clinton.
George Clinton and former members of Funkadelic reunited for
the triple-disc First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate (C Kunspyruhzy, 2014).
Worrell died in 2016.
Billy Bass Nelson, the original bassist of the Funkadelic, died in 2026.
