George Clinton - The Ageless P-Funkateer

It’s hard to believe that the birth of the Jackson 5 in the ‘60s resulted in Tamla Motown dropping the Parliaments, featuring George Clinton. Their tight knit harmony soul was deemed too old school. “You had to be young and cute and make sweet kinda records,” Clinton told Q magazine of the time when he found himself discarded aged 23. His career was to be a succession of nomadic moves even long after he made a huge musical statement which has had sampled repercussions for over 30 years afterwards. Following the global success of The Beatles and the shortening of their name to Parliament, Clinton and co were signed to Invictus and positively encouraged to go out there, way beyond the norm. At the end of the ‘60s anything was possible and a liberated Clinton even added bagpipes to their evolving funk maelstrom, while upping the volume and mixing musical styles. Contractual business saw Clinton running an alter ego outfit called Funkadelic who would mix bluesy rock and gospel, making huge end of the world statements and grandiose gestures. He was beginning to sketch the outline of P-Funk, but it was Parliament, now housed at Casablanca Records, who would break through when they added the street jive precursor to rap to their interstellar funk to create Up For The Down Stroke and, eventually in 1976 their masterpiece Mothership Connection. Filled with Chili Peppers-inspiring heavy funk with spacey synths, multi-characters and storylines that took street antics to way beyond the stars, it established a bravado and bravura that was mirrored in extravagant live shows and the excesses of rock’s touring circuses of the times. With James Brown’s horn section and the enigmatic Bootsy Collins on bass, Parliament dressed to kill and their behaviour became legendary. Years later, in 1996, Clinton told Q; “When you’re my age, you know what to do with money. You don’t buy as much pussy or drugs with it – you just buy some.” Good to see that age had matured the man. Clinton’s outspoken, genre hopping style and experimental brashness has ensured Parliament a place in highbrow music circles as well as the P-Funk legacy inspiring a veritable hailstorm of samples. Clinton’s monster sound forms the constructs of songs by The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Arrested Development, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jeff, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, Ultramagnetic MCs and many more. The Clinton legacy lives on and re-hearing those classic sides, it will undoubtedly continue to inspire innovation and experimentation musically, if not as part of their tin foil-baked dress sense. Parliament - Chocolate City Parliament - Clones Of Dr Funkenstein Parliament - Live:P-Funk Earth Tour