Rhodeo 1201 Grooves

Hello, today's artists have been up to the downslope and carved out their own niche in the globalmusic mind..PPP FFFunk from the start of the seventies onwards they laid their grooves on us, and even, as you can see at the bottom, if i posted several vinylrips 4 years ago (Rhotation Grooves 10 & 20), I think a further and deeper look into their discography is essential. So the coming weeks Fridaynght Grooves will be...

"A Parliafunkadelicment Thang"

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In 1975 Michael Hampton, a teen guitar prodigy, replaced Hazel as the premier lead guitarist in Parliament-Funkadelic, and was a major contributor to the next several Funkadelic albums. Funkadelic left Westbound in 1976 and moved to Warner Brothers. Their first album for Warner was Hardcore Jollies in 1976. Just before leaving Westbound, Clinton provided that label with a collection of recently recorded outtakes, which Westbound released as the album Tales of Kidd Funkadelic.

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Expanding back out to a more all-over-the-place lineup -- about 15 or so people this time out -- Funkadelic got a bit more back on track with Standing on the Verge. Admittedly, George Clinton repeats a trick from America Eats Its Young via another re-recording of an Osmium track, namely leadoff cut "Red Hot Mama." However, starting as it does with a hilarious double soliloquy (with the first voice sounding like the happier brother of Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk) and coming across with a fierce new take, it's a good omen for Standing on the Verge as a whole. Eddie Hazel's guitar work in particular is just plain bad-ass; after his absence from Cosmic Slop, it's good to hear him fully back in action with Bernie Worrell, Cordell Mosson, Gary Shider, and the rest. In general, compared to the sometimes too polite Cosmic Slop, Standing on the Verge is a full-bodied, crazy mess in the best possible way, with heavy funk jams that still smoke today while making a lot of supposedly loud and dangerous rock sound anemic.

Funkadelic - Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (226mb)

01 Red Hot Mama 4:54
02 Alice In My Fantasies 2:26
03 I'll Stay 7:16
04 Sexy Ways 3:05
05 Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On 5:07
06 Jimmy's Got A Little Bit Of Bitch In Him 2:30
07 Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts 12:17

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One of Funkadelic's goofiest releases, Let's Take It to the Stage also contains more P-Funk all-time greats as well, making for a grand balance of the serious and silly. The targets of the band's good-natured wrath are, in fact, other groups -- "Hey, Fool and the Gang! Let's take it to the stage!" There's no mistaking the track that immediately follows makes it even more intense -- "Get off Your Ass and Jam" kicks in with one bad-ass drum roll and then scorches the damn place down, from guitar solo to the insanely funky bass from Bootsy Collins. It may only be two and a half minutes long, but it alone makes the album a classic. Hearing Collins' unmistakable tones is usually enough to get anything on the crazy tip, but "Be My Beach" just makes it all the more fun, as does the overall air of silly romance getting nuttier as it goes. "Good to Your Earhole" sets the outrageous mood just right -- it's one of the band's tightest monsters of funk, guitars sprawling all over the place even as the heavy-hitting rhythm doesn't let one second of groove get lost. Of course, there's also one totally notorious number to go with it, but "No Head No Backstage Pass" has one of the craziest rhythms on the whole album, not to mention lip-smackingly nutty lines delivered with the appropriate leer.

Funkadelic - Let's Take It to the Stage ( 209mb)

01 Good To Your Earhole 4:30
02 Better By The Pound 2:40
03 Be My Beach 2:35
04 No Head No Backstage Pass 2:36
05 Let's Take It To The Stage 3:32
06 Get Off Your Ass And Jam 2:00
07 Baby I Owe You Something Good 5:43
08 Stuffs And Things 2:11
09 The Song Is Familiar 3:05
10 Atmosphere 7:05

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Funkadelic's major-label jump brought its version of life more into line with Parliament, though the crucial difference between the two -- Funkadelic's guitars vs. Parliament's horns -- remains intact. Eddie Hazel is missed, as always, but Gary Shider and Mike Hampton do fine work. Whoever peels off the concluding solo at the end of "Comin' Round the Mountain" deserves credit, even if it's sometimes flash for flash's sake. Similar exercises in feedback can be found on the title track and elsewhere, sometimes great, sometimes timekeeping. Still, after all, the album itself is dedicated "to the guitar players of the world," so it can't be said that George Clinton and company aren't keeping the proper focus on things. Generally, things are fairly light on Hardcore Jollies, though a remake of earlier highlight "Cosmic Slop" retains the sharp sentiments, even if it's not quite as strongly delivered as before (musically it's much more centered around the bass and drums, though things get duly crazed all around toward the end). Otherwise, the emphasis is on fairly clean jams and rhythms, with more lower-key goofiness than before but still merrily out there. If it's not truly gone and great like Maggot Brain or Let's Take It to the Stage, it's still good listening at its best moments. "If You Got Fun, You Got Style" makes for a better chat-up dancefloor appreciation than most, while "Soul Mate" balances out obvious "want you bad" sentiments with squirrelly lead vocals that don't quite fit the subject at hand. And who could knock the use of the "there's a place in France/where the ladies wear no pants" melody in "You Scared the Lovin' Outta Me"? Pedro Bell does some of his best work ever for the cover and inside art, while the accompanying short story is hilarious.

Funkadelic - Hardcore Jollies (267mb)

01 Comin' Round The Mountain 5:56
02 Smokey 6:08
03 If You Got Funk, You Got Style 3:07
04 Hardcore Jollies 5:01
05 Soul Mate 2:58
06 Cosmic Slop (Live) 6:30
07 You Scared The Lovin' Outta Me 6:28
08 Adolescent Funk 4:18

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