Theyd gone from funk-rock pioneers at the beginning of the 70s to creators of their own unique brand of funk by the end of the decade but being freaks and innovators was a tough task, and their later output (which was largely credited to either Clinton or P Funk All Stars) lacked the charm of their 70s output.Through his two groups Parliament and Funkadelic he took funk through free-form hippie Hendrix-workship, led James Browns rhythm section on a crash course in psychic liberation, and then to top it all off, took a trip outta space to lay the foundations for modern hip-hop.They slowed the beat down til it was sludge, turned up the feedback and let Clinton freewheel with some of his finest lyrical couplets.They also hit some essential grooves, with You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks and Hit It And Quit It on Maggot Brain a testament to that.
However, its the opening title track, ostensibly a 10-minute guitar solo from Eddie Hazel, that steals the show on this one: like listening to Frank Zappa shred while Sun Ra Arkestra and Neil Youngs Crazy Horse head into a musical k-hole. They had also got Pedro Bell on board, who would create the art for so many memorable record sleeves from the group. The Cosmic Slop sleeve with its mix of black iconography, outer space, fecundity and street imagery, seemed to be the perfect visual representation of the P-Funk sound. Alice In My Fantasies is pure Foxy Lady, Ill Stay is a sublime psych-soul ballad, and Sexy Ways proto-Prince taut funk, but its the title track with its multi-layered vocals and feel good vibe that steals the show. Although the two groups shared many members the general consensus from Clinton was that Funkadelic had the crossover genes with its heavier use of electric guitar taking the band into more rock territory. Parliament, on the other hand, who had Bootsy Collins on bass and fellow James Brown alumni Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker on horns, were opting for more soulful material and that is the case on Up For The Down Stroke. Though lacking any big hits the album showed itself to be kin to Sly Stone, with Testify a gorgeous slab of funky gospelising. It is possibly their straightest album of all, though Bootsys rubber bass lines ensure theres plenty of innovation with shades of James Browns precise funk and even the more soulful sound of The Delfonics on the sumptuous I Misjudged You. This would be best personified by their live set, which now began with Clinton descending from a spaceship. Yet, at the same time, they had also begun to explore the language of the ghetto. This was reflected in their costumes which offered a modern take on African-American roots shot through with plenty of colour and garishness, a space pimp style that would easily be parodied later on. The music was similarly affected, with the groups origins in harmony groups now largely-absent, replaced by street talk and backing vocalists shouting out mantras rather than harmonising. Bernie Worrells love for trying out new keyboards was also paying dividends, with new sounds able to capture the fact that funk was now heading somewhere new. Oh, and could this be the definitive Bootsy Collins album His bass lines make the move to the cosmos oh so smooth and always funky. The key is liquid bass always hitting on the 1, clipped guitars pushing things forward and imaginative keyboards always showing the groove an alternative route, while vocalists come and go offering up couplets that, as Robert Christgau once wrote, either offer escapist idealism or psychic liberation. The essential track on Funkentelechy is album closer Flash Light which essentially offered the complete template for Dr. Dres G-Funk. Surprisingly, given Bootsy was in the group, the track was led by a synth bass line concocted by Bernie Worrell. Parliament Funkadelic Best Of Rar Full Chords AsUsing keys, he was able to create fat bass notes made up of full chords as well as use effects to bend and distort the notes at will. It is certainly not the most experimental album they ever made, but its also one of the few that has no weaker tracks. From the seismic vibrations of the opening title track, through sly groove Groovallegiance, fuzzy garage funk Who Says A Funk Band Cant Play Rock and Lunchmeataphobia with its hard rock riff and sing-along lyrics (Think It Aint Illegal Yet), its wall-to-wall funk. Clinton put out a couple of solid solo records at the beginning of the 80s, but something had changed.
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