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P-FunkProducer/songwriter/singer George Clinton wasn't content to have one hit band, he assembled a stable of musicians and signed every possible configuration to separate recording contracts. In his peak period, 1975 to 1978, an ungodly amount of top-quality music was released under his aegis. Since then, George and his associates (known collectively as "the Funk Mob") have largely gone their separate ways, creating some more great records and a lot of mediocre ones. The rise of digital sampling in hip-hop brought the Parliafunkadelicment Thang back into the public consciousness, resulting in rereleases, from-the-vaults compilations and greatest hits packages. Here's a guide to the whole confusing situation. Parliament and the Horny Horns Bootsy's Rubber Band and other Bootsy projects George Clinton and miscellaneous P-Funk Return to Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews There's an amazing P-Funk web site, which includes reviews of Parliament & Funkadelic albums. The P-Funk fan publication New Funk Times also has a web site which is still under construction but already includes fun stuff like cartoons, album and show reviews, and interviews with George. Generally, Parliament released the most accessible music, mostly limited to funk and soul, usually with horns and almost no heavy guitar or guitar solos. Funkadelic, as the name implies, played funky psychedelic rock; almost no horns or strings, the most freaky of Clinton's projects. Bootsy's Rubber Band was co-produced by Bootsy and has his distinctive style; Bootsy's efforts after 1982 are mostly without George; often he works with producer Bill Laswell. The Brides of Funkenstein and Parlet were George's two attempts at girl groups. The Horny Horns played mostly instrumental funk. The personnel on the following is almost impossible to pin down; when the original albums list musicians, it's usually to conform to whatever lineup George had told the record company he would be using, for example once Bootsy Collins was signed to Warner Bros. he was no longer listed as playing bass on Parliament records, even though he was the main bass player (and also played drums on many key Parliament tracks). So I'll just list the first-string Funk Mob members and leave it at that: Drums: Jerome Brailey, Tiki Fulwood, Bootsy Collins, Larry Fratangelo; Bass: Bootsy Collins, Cordell "Boogie" Mosson, Rod "Skeet" Curtis, Junie Morrison; Guitar: Eddie Hazel, Michael Hampton, Gary Shider, Bootsy Collins, Phelps Collins; Keyboards: Bernie Worrell, Junie Morrison; Horny Horns: Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Richard "Kush" Griffith, Rick Gardner (DBW) In case you don't feel like sorting through all the reviews, here's my recommended "Instant P-Funk Collection":
Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (Funkadelic:
1970) |