Music / George Clinton

"There's a good time waiting for you, come on and let's get free!"

— Funkadelic, "Good To Your Earhole"

"Make my funk the P-Funk, I wants to get funked up
I want the bomb, I want the P-Funk, I want my funk uncut."

— Parliament, "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)"

George Edward Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is a famous and acclaimed Funk musician. If James Brown was the pioneer of funk, George Clinton is the man who arguably fulfilled its potential as the driving force of Parliament-Funkadelic. He is known foremost for his conceptual vision, socially conscious lyrics and production skills. The bands themselves are famous for their excellent musicianship, fierce live performances and outlandish albums boasting satirical comic-book artwork, its most famous covers being the ones drawn by Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd. Besides being considered a member of funk's "holy trinity" (alongside James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone), he's also the second or third most sampled musician, depending on who's counting. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic.

George Clinton was born in 1941 in Kannapolis, North Carolina (near Charlotte) and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey. After some time in a barber salon, he became a staff songwriter for Motown, while fronting a small-time Doo-wop group named The Parliaments, which had a hit in 1967 with "(I Wanna) Testify". But this band disintegrated, and Clinton instead formed Funkadelic, a band which played a combination of psychedelic rock and funk, influenced by other famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone.

Signed with Westbound Records, they released several records starting in 1970 and gained a small following. The same year, Clinton decided to expand with an off-shoot group named Parliament, which featured most of the musicians from Funkadelic, and originally covered much of the same musical ground before both groups moved away from psychedelic rock and became more funk-oriented. More spinoffs, including The Brides of Funkenstein followed. And later, Bootsy Collins started his own career with Bootsy's Rubber Band.

1975–79 is widely considered Parliament-Funkadelic's "classic" period, when they released a string of concept albums full of bizarre spacey imagery and their own mythology, which were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, backed by an elaborate stage show that rivaled Pink Floyd. The same period resulted in a stream of side-projects and more off-shoots, out of which only Bootsy's Rubber Band earned any comparable success or visibility.

The P-Funk collective began disintegrating at the start of the 1980s as a result of Clinton's drug problems and financial problems stemming from the two groups' unwieldy size. They were disbanded as a result of complicated label politics, and Clinton started a solo career, gaining a 1982 hit album in Computer Games and the #1 single "Atomic Dog". He has continued to tour and record since with many of the same musicians under the name "P-Funk All Stars", largely due to legal issues preventing him from using "Parliament" or "Funkadelic" after 1980. The "P-Funk All Stars" nowadays contain both old P-Funk standbys and new musicians.

Not to be confused with Bill Clinton (The Onion ran quite a few stories during The '90s that played on the similarity), vice president George Clinton, or the decidedly white and not-very-funky soundtrack composer George S. Clinton.

Had an appearance As Himself in PCU.

The most famous songs recorded by the collective include:

• Parliament - "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", "Flash Light", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)", "Funkentelechy", "Dr. Funkenstein", "Chocolate City", "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)", and others.
• Funkadelic - "One Nation Under a Groove", "(Not Just) Knee Deep", "Maggot Brain", "Cosmic Slop", "Get Off Your Ass and Jam", "Super Stupid", and others.
• George Clinton - "Atomic Dog", "Man's Best Friend/Loopzilla", "Do Fries Go with That Shake", and others.

An almost certainly unfinished list of all the personnel who were part of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and offshoots throughout its history:

• George Clinton - vocals, keyboards, synths, Record Producer, mastermind. P-Funk just wouldn't exist without him. Famous for his outlandish costumes and rainbow dreadlocks. Randall Munroe tried to start a rumour that he had a Ph.D in Mathematics. The Onion are also fans.
• Thomas Dolby - vocals, keyboards, synths. Dolby was a frequent collaborator with Clinton, co-producing some albums including Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends.
• Eddie Hazel - guitar. Considered one of the most influential black guitarists ever. Later left the band, returned, toured sporadically, died in 1992.
• Michael Hampton aka "Kidd Funkadelic" - guitar. Joined the band in 1976 as a replacement for Hazel. Has a slightly heavier rock style.
• Phelps Collins aka "Catfish" - guitar. Joined the band alongside his more famous brother Bootsy. Former member of James Brown's band.
• DeWayne McKnight aka "Blackbird" - guitar. Joined in the late seventies, largely serves as lead guitarist in live shows. Retired in 2008. Once joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but that didn't pan out and he got replaced by John Frusciante.
• Lucius Ross aka "Tawl" - rhythm guitar between 1968–71. Played on the first 3 Funkadelic albums.
• Clarence Haskins aka "Fuzzy" - vocals, guitar, drums. Founding member of Funkadelic, left in 1977 along with Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas due to financial disputes with Clinton.
• Garry Shider - vocals, guitar. Known for his "Diaper Man" persona on stage, lead vocalist on some of the ensemble's more famous songs like "Cosmic Slop". Died in 2010 of cancer.
• Glen Goins - vocals, bass, guitar, drums. Known for calling in the Mothership at the start of P-Funk shows. Left the band over disputes with Clinton (seeing a pattern here?) in 1978, but died the same year before being able to release any solo material.
• William Collins (better known as "Bootsy") - bass, vocals, guitar, drums. Initially a member of James Brown's band, came to P-Funk with his brother Catfish circa 1972. Famous for his basslines, his "space bass", his cartoonish suits (complete with top hats) that would later be seen on Public Enemy's Flava Flav and rapper T-Pain, and his instantly recognizable, goofy voice. Later formed Bootsy's Rubber Band. Average listeners probably know him for the vocals he contributed to Deee-lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" and cameo in the video (Deee-lite have definitely been known to smoke... on stage that is! *slide whistle*).
• William Nelson aka "Billy Bass" - bass, guitar. Original member of Funkadelic, first to leave the band in 1971 over financial disputes with Clinton.
• Cordell Mosson aka "Boogie" - bass. Joined Funkadelic circa 1972 and became the ensemble's second bassist after Bootsy.
• Prakash John - bass
• Bernie Worrell - keyboards, synths. Played an important part in arranging the ensemble's songs, known for his high-pitched spacey Minimoog lines that tend to be ripped off so often by gangsta rappers. Also played for the Talking Heads in The '80s, appearing in Stop Making Sense.
• Walter Morrison aka "Junie" - keyboards, synths, vocals. Former Ohio Players member, came to P-Funk in 1977, served as musical director in some capacity.
• Jerome Brailey aka "Bigfoot" - drums, percussion. In the ensemble between 1975-1978.
• Ramon Fulwood aka "Tiki" - drums, percussion. Part of Funkadelic's original lineup until his dismissal in 1971. Died in 1979 of stomach cancer.
• Maceo Parker - alto and baritone saxophone, flute. Joined in 1975. Also played for James Brown and Prince.
• Fred Wesley - trombone. Bandmate of Parker's with James Brown, came along with Parker in 1975.
• Ray Davis aka "Stingray" - vocals. Known for his distinctive bass voice. Later left P-Funk and joined The Temptations circa 1995. Died in 2005. Please don't confuse him with the guy from The Kinks.
• Calvin Simon - vocals. Original band member since way back in The '50s when they were The Parliaments. Left in 1977 over financial disputes.
• Grady Thomas - vocals. Member of The Parliaments, left in 1977 with Haskins and Simon.
• Phillippe Wynne - vocals. Formerly of The Spinners.
• Mallia Franklin - vocals.
• Lynn Mabry - vocals. Member of The Brides of Funkenstein.
• Dawn Silva - vocals. Member of The Brides of Funkenstein.
• Jeanette Washington - vocals.
• Debbie Wright - vocals
• Shirley Hayden - vocals

Funkadelic discography:

• 1970 - Funkadelic
• 1970 - Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow
• 1971 - Maggot Brain
• 1972 - America Eats Its Young
• 1973 - Cosmic Slop
• 1974 - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
• 1975 - Let's Take It to the Stage
• 1976 - Hardcore Jollies
• 1976 - Tales of Kidd Funkadelic
• 1978 - One Nation Under a Groove
• 1979 - Uncle Jam Wants You
• 1981 - The Electric Spanking of War Babies
• 2007 - By Way of the Drum
• 2014 - first ya gotta Shake the Gate

Parliament discography:

• 1970 - Osmium
• 1974 - Up for the Down Stroke
• 1975 - Chocolate City
• 1975 - Mothership Connection
• 1976 - The Clones Of Dr Funkenstein
• 1977 - Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome
• 1978 - Motor Booty Affair
• 1979 - Gloryhallastoopid
• 1980 - Trombipulation
• 2018 - Medicaid Fraud Dogg

George Clinton solo discography:

• 1982 - Computer Games
• 1983 - You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish
• 1985 - Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends
• 1986 - R&B Skeletons in the Closet
• 1989 - The Cinderella Theory
• 1993 - Hey Man, Smell My Finger
• 1993 - Dope Dogs
• 1996 - Testing Positive
• 1996 - T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M.^note The Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership
• 2005 - How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent?
• 2008 - George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love

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The P-Funk collective provides examples of the following tropes:

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: "March to the Witch's Castle" (Justified in the line, "Help him understand that when his loved one remarried, they were truly under the impression that he was dead and would never return").
• Afrofuturism: Utilize a lot of space and sci-fi imagery in their music and shows, such as in the cover for ''Mothership Connection◊.
• Careful with That Axe: A few times in "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)".
• Cloudcuckoolander: Oh yeah. Listen to some of his lyrics, read his song titles... hell, just look at his hair. "Eccentric" is putting it mildly. Probably because of all the drugs.
• Concept Album: An entire P-Funk mythology, as a matter of fact.
• Continuity Nod: Clinton has a habit of recycling his older melodies in new contexts. For example: The Funkadelic song "Red Hot Mama" borrows the melody from their older song "I Bet You", and the Parliament Song "Do That Stuff" takes a riff from "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure" by Funkadelic. And we haven't mentioned how many lines he recycles between albums as a Mythology Gag.
• Cover Album: George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love
• Cover Drop: The title tracks of Maggot Brain and Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow.
• Crunchtastic: Oh, man, Clinton - and his "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" - loves long compound funny words - "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication", "Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop", "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers)" from One Nation Under a Groove (longest compound song title ever?).
• Denser and Wackier: MUCH more than name-brand Funk musicans and bands like the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, Etc. The goal of Parliament/Funkadelic is to be weird as hell.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Clinton started off doing Doo Wop, then gained his first success with a Motown-influenced sound; his first hit "(I Wanna) Testify" is like a grittier Temptations song.
• Echoing Acoustics
• Epic Rocking: "One Nation Under a Groove", "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?", "What Is Soul", "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow", "Maggot Brain" from Maggot Brain, "Promentalshitbackwashenemapsychosis Squad (The Doo-Doo Chasers)" from One Nation Under a Groove, "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)", "Flash Light", "Aqua Boogie (Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)", "Deep" ...and that's just a few.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: In "Bop Gun".
• Gratuitous Panning
• Ice-Cream Koan: Is there funk after death? George Clinton says... "Is Seven Up?"
• Image Song: "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?"
• Intercourse with You: "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Miss Lucifer's Love", "Nappy Dugout", "Trash A-Go-Go", "Red Hot Mama", "Alice in My Fantasies", "Sexy Ways", "No Head No Backstage Pass". Those are just the Funkadelic songs.
• In the Style of: "Maggot Brain" from Maggot Brain somewhat imitates Jimi Hendrix. Early albums (1970–72) owed quite a bit to the influence of Motown's psychedelic soul bands and hard funk.
• Ironic Nursery Rhyme:
  • Clinton likes to take nursery rhymes and turn them into drug references, and it's all Played for Laughs instead of scary. For instance, Funkadelic's "Let's Take it to the Stage" offers us this warped take:
  Little miss muffet sat on her tuffet snorting some THC
  Along came a spider, slid down beside her
  Said, "What's in the bag, bitch?"
  • And Parliament's "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk" has:
  Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
  Yes sir, yes sir, a nickel-bag full (that's drug slang for... something)
• Last Chorus Slow-Down: A bit of a subversion: "Nappy Dugout" speeds up the drumbeat at the end.
• Last Note Nightmare: The crashing effects of "Wars of Armageddon".
• Looped Lyrics
• Money Song: Subverted, as most of their songs criticize materialism. Best known examples: "Funky Dollar Bill", "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" and "Cosmic Slop" (the last two are about poverty).
• Mind Screw: The title track from 1971's Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow. The lyrics are almost completely nonsensical, mostly consisting of the title and "The King of Heaven Is Within", the song itself is as Psychedelic as Soul can be, going into Jimi Hendrix territory, and probably the most accurate representation of taking LSD. George himself did say the album WAS to see if they could make a whole album while tripping on acid, and it shows very well.
• Obligatory Bondage Song: "Handcuffs". Apparently it's a parody of hyper-macho R&B.
• The Power of Rock:
  • Er, Funk. Refer to mythology.
  • Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!
• Pop-Star Composer: Muppets from Space.
• Protest Song: "Funky Dollar Bill", "Better by the Pound", "The Placebo Syndrome" and "Wizard of Finance" criticize the American society's materialism and complacency. "March to the Witch's Castle" is about scarred Vietnam War veterans returning to America^note a lot of which have become drug addicts and have been abandoned by wives who thought they were missing in action or died in combat and questioning their involvement in the war. "If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" from Maggot Brain is a call for unity among the disadvantaged. "Cosmic Slop" is about a mother who becomes a prostitute to feed her children.
• Rearrange the Song: Done very frequently during the early 70s, when Clinton would often record new versions of songs he had recorded with The Parliaments or written for other artists during the mid-60s: "I Bet You", All Your Goodies Are Gone", "The Goose" and "I'll Stay", just to name a few.
• Revolving Door Band
• Sampling:
  • G-funksters and gangsta rappers lifted bits of the music for their own tracks in the early 90s.
  • Word Of God seems to be very supportive of sampling saying on a recent podcast that it's been one of the only things keeping his bands on the radio and heard in recent years.
• Scatting: "Night of The Thumpasorus Peoples". All together now: "Gaga goo ga, gaga goo ga... Gaga goo ga ga..."
• Silly Love Songs: "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You", "Can You Get to That", "Let's Make It Last", "Baby I Owe You Something Good", "I Misjudged You"
• Single Mom Prostitute: Played for Drama in "Cosmic Slop".
• Special Guest: Sly Stone contributes lead vocals and instrumentation on "Funk Gets Stronger (Killer Millimeter Longer Version)" from The Electric Spanking of War Babies.
• Spiritual Successor: To Space Jazz pioneer Sun Ra.
• Spoken Word in Music + Studio Chatter - So much it's easy to forget there are also sung lyrics.
• Stage Names
• Take That!: Let's Take It to the Stage contains jokes at the expense of various funk bands like Slick and the Family Prick, Sloofus, Fool and the Gang, or Earth Hot Air and No Fire. Also insinuates that the 18½ minute gap in the Watergate tapes was erased because that's where Richard Nixon recorded himself doing drugs.
• Title Drop: Twice in Free Your Mind…'s title track. The first inverts it: "I can't free my mind, so my ass can't follow…"
• Title-Only Chorus

The P-Funk mythology provides examples of:

• Big Good: Within the greater mythology, Dr. Funkenstein is this, especially starting with Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome. He creates the Bop Gun and helps Starchild in his battles with Sir Nose. His titular "clones" are also responsible for spreading the force of funk throughout the universe.

• Boss Battle: the confrontation on Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome.

• Fun-Hating Villain: Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk hates funk and refuses to dance or swim.
• "I Am" Song: "Behold, I am Funkadelic/I am not of your world/but fear not, I will do you no harm..."
• "I Want" Song: "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention - B3M)"
• It Runs on Nonsensoleum: Try reading the full mythology without experiencing this or What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Sure, he's a sucker who can't dance or swim and wants to impose the Zone of Zero Funkativity on humanity, but Sir Nose is so incompetent you wonder why Starchild even bothers.

• Messianic Archetype: Star Child.
• Narcissist: Dr. Funkenstein, whose song gives us lines like, "Kiss me on my ego!" and "Let me hear it for me!". Nevermind that everything his back-up singers say is a barely-veiled euphemism for Dr. Funkenstein being good in the sack.
• Punny Name: Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (say it out loud).

• Super Drowning Skills: Sir Nose, who is of course too cool to dance or swim.

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