New Funk Times

17/03/2024

Rolling Stone: >> "Bootsy" Collins assembles a crew of influential artists like Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart for the P-Funk legend’s latest single, “The Influencers.”

Fantaazma and Westcoast Stone, a pair of artists on Collins’ Bootzilla Records, also appear on the track, which offers a preview of what the bassist has been cooking up at his Cincinnati studio over the past year.

“The Influencers” out now 🤩
https://ffm.to/the-influencers

14/02/2024

From February 3, 2024: That's how I'll remember Amp whom I first met in Detroit when he recorded the Mr. Fiddler album (released in 1990).

>> While he dealt with many hardships in his life — Fiddler's son, Dorian, died at age 18 in 2009 — friends, collaborators and fellow members of his community said he was always an upbeat presence and positive force, always encouraging, always pushing forward and always funky.

After the ceremony, Detroit techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson called Fiddler a leader and an innovator, and said he'd remember him for the way he carried himself. "He was always calm, and he seemed like he was always at peace," he said. "He was always a creative presence, and he mixed with all different genres, and he always found a way to make everything fit together, musically. That's what he loved, was music."

Questlove, George Clinton, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and more paid their respects to the funk musician, who died in December at age 65.

12/01/2024

10 motherfunkin' years old!

19/12/2023

In memory of Amp Fiddler I compiled a Spotify playlist with some of my favorite songs he was involved in. I knew many by heart, for some others Danny Bedrosian's "Authorized P-Funk Song Reference: Official Canon of Parliament-Funkadelic, 1956-2023" came in very handy.

I concentrated on collaborations, Amp’s solo albums are worth listening to in their entirety.

Unfortunately Spotify is missing some of my favorite albums featuring Amp, e.g. Mr. Fiddler’s “With Respect”, plus George Clinton’s “Cinderella Theory” and “Hey Man, Smell My Finger”.

The only songs I am unsure of are the ones by Primal Scream. I got the ones I listed from Google’s Bard AI – but this one is known to hallucinate. 😉

If you want your favorites to be added, feel free to send me your suggestions.

And now: Put the list into shuffle mode – and enjoy!

18/12/2023

I was very sad to hear that Amp Fiddler has passed away.

He was George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic's keyboardist when I was on tour with them in the late '80s and early '90s, and I visited him in the studio in Detroit when he recorded 1990's Mr. Fiddler album "With Respect" (with his brother Bubz).

Amp was a great musician and wonderful to hang out with. "With Respect" and 2004's "Waltz of a Ghetto Fly" are among my favorite P.Funk-related albums.

P-Funk Keyboard solo-delicMay 16, 1958 - December 18, 2023Detroit based Amp Fiddler is a celebrated soul/funk musician who has shared stages and studios with...

02/12/2023

Congratulations to Danny Bedrosian, keyboardist of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic! His "Authorized P-Funk Song Reference: Official Canon of Parliament-Funkadelic, 1956-2023" is the Top Release in Music Encyclopedias on Amazon right now.

On the publisher's website, the hardback version is out of stock already: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538183427/The-Authorized-P-Funk-Song-Reference-Official-Canon-of-Parliament-Funkadelic-1956-2023

Check out Scott Goldfine's two-part interview with Daniel in his "Truth in Rhythm" podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a3otA1Tq3k / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiTmdw8Htko

Being somewhat of a P.Funk historian myself, I can also recommend a P.Funk history which I put together in 1990 (link in the comments section).

16/10/2023

>> I have what the police would call “previous” with Stone – I interviewed him in 2013, around the release of Higher!, a lavish retrospective box set, and it remains the weirdest experience of my journalistic career. (...) He spoke for 20 minutes, told me he wanted to form a new band made up of musicians with albinism that would “neutralise all the different racial problems”, then excused himself to go to the toilet: “You asked me about regrets – if I don’t take a big s**t now, I’ll regret that.” Shortly afterwards, his archivist called me. Stone wanted to know if I knew the British royal family, as he had a plan to earn money teaching music to their children.

This, his ghostwriter Ben Greenman tells me, was par for the course in the days when “drugs were the priority”. Greenman spent 10 years trying to make the book happen. Even after a personal introduction from their mutual friend, the funk musician George Clinton, demands would be made for Greenman to pay money upfront: “Someone would say, ‘OK, it’s going to be $1,000’ or whatever the going rate was at that time.”

The immeasurably influential, infamously erratic soul star has written an unlikely autobiography. In a rare interview, Stone opens up on drugs, feuds and his treasure trove of unreleased tracks

10/10/2023

>> Even though George and I used together, we didn’t use in similar ways. He would go to sleep earlier and I would stay up later. He would stop and I was just getting started. Sometimes after he was in bed, I needed more drugs. I would write dope notes and slide them under his door. There was one he liked to bring up: “Knock knock. Put a rock in a sock and send it over to me, doc. Signed, a co-junkie for the funk.” By now the drugs were in rock form, made with baking soda and called crack because of the crackling noise it made when it was heated up.

The frontman of Sly and the Family Stone brought the house down at Woodstock with a performance of I Want To Take You Higher. These extracts from his new memoir depict a life as vivid and riotous as the music of his band

10/10/2023

>> The book tells Sly's life story, but it's not necessarily the final chapter. When asked if he thinks we'll see Stone in public again, George Clinton replied, "I think so. I'm not sure if he's gonna be playing on anything. He's got music that I know he wants to get somebody to do something with. He's gonna find a way."

"So, you think Sly Stone's not finished yet?"

"I hope not, let's put it that way," Clinton said.

The music legend who invented his own kind of funky hybrid of rock 'n' roll and R&B with his '60s group Sly and the Family Stone has just penned a memoir, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)."

10/10/2023

From Sly Stone's upcoming book "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir" which was co-authored by Ben Greenman (who also collaborated with GC on "Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?: A Memoir"):

>> Stone describes Clinton as “a trip. I always thought of him as a human cartoon. If there was a way to make an experience more fun, he would find it. He was funny on his own, and together we were even funnier. If I wanted money to score, I didn’t have to lie and say that I was buying equipment or giving a girlfriend money for clothes. I would just come right out and ask: ‘Can I star?’”

Then he and Clinton encountered a dealer “who knew every song from every Family Stone record.” When they wanted to buy drugs from him, it took longer than with other dealers because of the amount of detailed questions he asked about Stone’s work.

“One afternoon on the way over there, George and I realized that we didn’t have money for dope,” Stone says. “When we got there, I didn’t wait for the dealer to start talking about my music. I went in on it myself, and then I hit him with a bonus: ‘We’re light,’ I said, ‘but I’ll give you a copy of the album I’m working on as collateral. You can’t listen to it, but you can keep it safe for me.’”

Stone “went out to the car and came back with a tape. I think his hand was shaking when he gave us the drugs, he was so excited.”

On the way back home, “George congratulated me on thinking fast. ‘Good idea to give him a copy of the record.’ ‘What record?’ I said. He was staring at me like I forgot something that had just happened,” Stone wrote. “‘You know,’ he said. ‘The tape. The music.’ ‘There’s no music on there,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing. It’s empty.’”

Stone said he didn't know “how long George laughed, but it seemed like it was the whole ride home. He eventually told the dealer, who wasn’t even mad. ‘You have to respect that,’ the dealer said.”

Sly Stone revealed a crafty plan to steal coke with George Clinton in an October 2023 excerpt from 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).'

06/09/2023

Yay, Bernie!

24/08/2023

Say what? "Bootsy" Collins is #15, and Flea #2? I interviewed Flea with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers several times and always experienced him to be a big fan of P.Funk. While he indeed is a great bass player he probably would be the first one to admit that Bootsy should be ranked higher. ;-)

>> 15. Bootsy Collins

One of the special characters in music history. Collins got his first real shot at stardom while a member of James Brown’s famous backing band. He contributed to such Brown classics as "S*x Machine" and "Super Bad." From there, Collins took that soul background and his "space bass" with a funk vibe over to George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic. In addition to playing with those two juggernauts of sound, the Hall of Famer has collaborated with the likes of Talking Heads and Keith Richards. Collins has also taught the bass and has been featured in music videos and on television sitcoms.

Spanning all genres and generations, narrowing down the 25 best bass players of all time is never easy. We gave it a go.

23/08/2023

>> Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove

Black Thought: I remember a certain level of creative freedom in the atmosphere in the late ’70s. It was infectious. And it was traceable back to a few artists, one of whom was George Clinton and all the different configurations of his collectives. When I think of “One Nation Under a Groove,” I’m immediately taken back to sliding across the backseat of a big body vehicle, one of those gas guzzlers like a Nova, back in the day before seatbelts was a thing. That was the soundtrack. It transports me to the safe space of community I had as a young person. Not that there was always a picnic or a barbecue or good times to be had, but when I go through the catalog of those moments, it was Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and P-Funk.

When I think about the energy George Clinton represents, it’s liberty—in the studio and definitely onstage. When the Roots were still emerging, we toured with his band extensively, and getting to see those guys for the first time was otherworldly. It definitely felt as though they’d descended down from the mothership.

The Roots MC breaks down the albums—by OutKast, Kanye, Tierra Whack, and more—that have soundtracked his life across the last half-century, five years at a time.

17/08/2023

>> 8: George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic)

The hybrid band of Parliament-Funkadelic is perhaps the greatest American recording group of all time. Their fusion of rock, soul, science fiction, doo-wop, and Afrofuturism — spearheaded by George Clinton — made them one of the preeminent innovators of funk. As a frontperson, Clinton’s eye and ear for melding seemingly disparate sonic and visual aesthetics to create a product that is as singular as it is ingenious is simply unmatched. As a vocalist, Clinton was far from the strongest technical singer in the collective’s rotation of crooners. When he did provide lead vocals, the sweetness of his dry falsetto and conviction of his overall vocal performance added inimitable layers of nuance to each song. Clinton tends to prioritize raw feeling over technical prowess, and his balls-to-the-wall approach to interpreting the collective’s rich lyricism makes for some of the most arresting moments in their towering catalog — check out that gutsy scream at the end of “Everybody Is Going to Make It This Time.” — K.D.

From rock’s early years up until today, the most legendary band leaders to ever grab the microphone.

14/08/2023

Dr. Funkenstein stopped by in Kannapolis (where he was born 82 years ago).

KANNAPOLIS — Legendary musician George Clinton stopped by G.W. Carver Elementary School on Friday for a visit.

10/08/2023

>> In 2012, Questlove and D'Angelo came together for a special Bonnaroo Superjam set where they agreed to play no music of their own. This clip takes a look into the building of the set and their inclusion of Funkadelic's "Funky Dollar Bill" and the Maggot Brain classic "Hit It and Quit It."

It's Alive briefly devotes the airwaves to live music everyday at 1pm. Tune in today hear this performance and more live tracks!

10/08/2023

>> Smith did have an important funk influence that predated Flea: former Parliament-Funkadelic percussionist Larry Frantangelo. “My earlier funk experience was not just from listening. I played with former P-Funk percussionist Larry Frantangelo in a band called Pharaoh for a year,” Smith said. “I was twenty years old when I joined the band, and Larry really helped me with the finer points of playing. He turned me onto Tower of Power, P-Funk, and George Clinton and really took me under his wing. That must have been where the funk seeped in.”

“I think up until then, I was a drummer,” Smith later recalled to Drum! Magazine in 2011. “Once I studied with Larry, I turned into a musician.”

Smith on P-Funk.

30/07/2023

I am not sure whether the average viewer of the new Hulu series „Justified: City Primeval” is familiar with George Clinton’s groundbreaking 1982 smash „Atomic Dog“ – so it was particularly nice to encounter this dialog in S01E02 („The Oklahoma Wildman”, air date: July 18, 2023):

Wendell Robinson (Victor Williams): You know who that dude was? Sweety here was a monster bass player back in olden times. Story goes he was on his way to a George Clinton session when he got popped with a few Zs on him. That man would've been featured on „Atomic Dog.”
Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant): I'm unfamiliar.
Wendell: „Atomic Dog”? One of the greatest P-Funk tracks ever recorded! „Funky dogs, nasty dogs.”
Marcus „Sweety” Sweeton (Vondie Curtis Hall): Sounds better when George sings it.

In episode 1, Funkadelic's „Good to Your Earhole” (1975) was playing on Sweety's jukebox.

(The clip is ©FX Productions, LLC & Sony Pictures Television and used under fair use. Episode writers: Dave Andron & Michael Dinner, episode director: Michael Dinner. No infringement intended, do not copy.)

16/07/2023

SPOILER ALERT!

>> 1. ‘Maggot Brain’ – Funkadelic (10:40)

Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain was a defining album that established the band’s psychedelic funk sound. ‘Maggot Brain’ opens with an other-worldly monologue from George Clinton, who tells the audience: “I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe, I was not offended – for I knew I had to rise above it all or drown in my own s**t.”

Clinton is said to have instructed guitarist Eddie Hazel to play as if he’d just been told his mother was dead, urging him to tap into how he’d make sense of his life – and release every emotion those thoughts triggered in his playing. Inspired by Hendrix, Clinton took the recording and ran it through an Echoplex three or four times, giving it an eery, discordant feel. It’s biblical, hellish, decked out with all the fuzz you’d expect from the depths of the universe.

Essential.

11/07/2023

Great story about the making of "Atomic Dog"!

Garry Shider told me that George had a rough night on the day of the session. According to Garry, there was a real snow storm that evening as well, and cab service had stopped in Detroit. George had to walk to the studio (United Sound). He ad-libbed the parts described in the video and crashed on the studio sofa. When he woke up the next day, Garry had arranged vocals around George's ramblings. George wanted to do overdubs but was confused by the backwards rhythm track. He asked: "Garry, where's the One?" Garry: "The same place where it was last night!"

The rest is history.

In early 2014 ACM students had the pleasure to attend a Masterclass with George Clinton hosted by Metropolis Studios. Most known Parliament and Funkadelic, C...

02/07/2023

>> “No volume has ever attempted to provide such details from this collective and its many dozens of acts, collaborations, and offshoot projects from its inception in the ‘50s as the Parliaments to the present day,” publishers Rowman & Littlefield said in a statement. “Danny Bedrosian… accomplishes that in this volume, the culmination of nearly 30 years of careful research, interviews, and access to exclusive archival material.

“Song entries are organized under artist / group names and contain definitive listings of players for each song. Select entries shed light on the inner workings of the recording process, singles chartings, controversies, inside information about process, and more. This authorized volume demystifies one of the most unique and influential popular musical groups in history.”

George Clinton hailed P-Funk keyboardist Daniel Bedrosian’s “seemingly impossible” achievement in ‘Song Reference” book in June 2023.

02/07/2023

>> In 1983, the Talking Heads cracked the Billboard Hot 100 with their only top 10 hit, "Burning Down the House." It remained on the charts for 20 weeks.

"This is a record where we improvised a lot of the music," Byrne told 60 Minutes. "And then I would kind of improvise vocalese, vocal nonsense syllables over the recorded music and go, 'Okay. Now I got to find words to this."

Byrne told Cooper the song came from a Parliament-Funkadelic show he saw where singer George Clinton and others were shouting the phrase to the audience.

"It wasn't a song title," Byrne said. "It wasn't a lyric. They were just shouting it to the audience. And I thought, 'That's a song. That's a hook right there.'"

The Talking Heads front man tells 60 Minutes how he wrote "Psycho Killer" and "Burning Down the House."

26/06/2023

Tim Kinley: >> P-Funk and EWF shared the bill at a performance at the DC Armory in 1972. EWF was the only opening act. EWF leader Maurice White and lead vocalist Phillip Bailey both reference this event in their respective autobiographies. Both acknowledge that P-Funk emerged triumphant to the degree that EWF went back into the studio afterward to tighten their own musical chops. The band as a whole made a promise to themselves that they would never let another band blow them out of the water the way that P-Funk did ever again.

That event would inadvertently lead to a friendly competition that would ultimately produce some of the boldest R&B, Soul, and Funk from both bands. In particular, the period between 1975 and 1978 would see both bands producing their most genre-defining work.

EWF blasted onto the national music scene with an album that many forget was the soundtrack to a movie starring Harvey Keitel. It becomes their first and only studio release to top the album charts in April 1975. They almost have the Funk game sewn up until Parliament releases Mothership Connection in December. It goes on to be regarded as the definitive Funk album of the entire decade. Like That’s The Way.…the Mothership album goes platinum.

One of the great musical rivalries of the 70s was between Parliament-Funkadelic and Earth Wind & Fire. It was one epic funk battle.

29/05/2023

Woo-hoo! One of the stankiest new funk releases in a long time, by Lachy Doley feat. "Bootsy" Collins.

Listen to "Get out Your Ear's Way" by Lachy Doley, Bootsy Collins on any music platform - Free smart music links by Songwhip

23/05/2023

>> W Magazine: You’ve collaborated with so many progressive artists over the years, from Overton Loyd, who paints with you and has created the visual aesthetic for the band for decades, to Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and the young visual artist Lauren Halsey, who designed a stage for your Deitch show. Is there anyone you’d still like to collaborate with?

George Clinton: Smokey Robinson, Rakim, and Eminem. In Detroit, Eminem’s first producer was the Bass Brothers. I produced them, and they produced my son. So I’ve known him since before his first record came out, and he’s been good like that forever, so I’ve got lots of respect for him. Rakim has always been my favorite rapper; he was the one who made me wanna learn how to do it. And Smokey Robinson has been my songwriting hero from day one.

The 81-year-old godfather of funk talks style, creativity and planetary harmony.