P.Funk finds (photos from the late ’80s or early ’90s)

Just found these photos:

Amp Fiddler (All rights reserved)

Cordell „Boogie“ Mosson (All rights reserved)

Garry Shider & Robert „Peanut“ Johnson“ (All rights reserved)

George Clinton (All rights reserved)

Garry Shider & Robert „Peanut“ Johnson (All rights reserved)

Lige Curry (All rights reserved)

George Clinton (All rights reserved)

P.Funk finds (from the late ’80s or early ’90s / All rights reserved)

Lige Curry (All rights reserved)

George Clinton (All rights reserved)

P.Funk finds (from the late ’80s or early ’90s / All rights reserved)

Blackbyrd McKnight (All rights reserved)

Lige Curry (All rights reserved)

Michael „Clip“ Payne (All rights reserved)

May 2017: George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic live in Europe

George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic will invade Europe earlier than usual in 2017: Instead of July, they will visit in May already. The following dates have been confirmed to me by George’s European booking agent Georg Leitner Productions:

2017-04-30 De Roma, Antwerp, Belgium
2017-05-01 Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
2017-05-03 Doornroosje, Nijmegen, NL
2017-05-04 KB, Malmö, Sweden
2017-05-05 DR Koncerhuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017-05-06 Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
2017-05-07 The Circus. Helsinki, Finland
2017-05-08 Göta Lejon, Stockholm, Sweden
2017-05-10 O2 ABC, Glasgow, UK
2017-05-11 O2 Academy, Leeds, UK
2017-05-12 O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK
2017-05-13 O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
2017-05-14 Funk and Soul Weekender, Camber Sands, UK
2017-05-15 O2 Academy, Bristol, UK

Two funk giants have left us: R.I.P., Junie Morrison and Clyde „Funky Drummer“ Stubblefield!

Last year’s passing of Prince (blog post in German), Sharon Jones, and Bernie Worrell have been huge blows to funk and soul fans already. The sad news continue: On January 21, 2017, ex-Ohio Player and P.Funk All-Star Junie Morrison died, followed by Clyde Stubblefield (this Saturday, February 18).

One of Junie Morrison’s major claims to fame was the Funkadelic classic „One Nation Under A Groove“:

My Funky Year in Music: 18,599 tracks, 4,188 artists, 5,533 albums (according to Last.FM)

Because I am very much into statistics, I still like using Last.FM, a music database which keeps track of the songs I enjoy via iTunes, Internet radiostations and iPod/smartphone. According to Last.FM’s summary for 2016, I listened to 18,599 tracks by 4,188 different artists and from 5,533 different albums. That makes 55 songs a day and a total listening time of 45 days, 5 hours. Top music genres: funk, soul, country, pop, and blues.

My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 Playlist

My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 playlist is a nice mix of funk, soul, a little country and some surprises. Enjoy!

‚Birthday Boy‘ Steve Cropper (75) on Co-Writing Otis Redding’s Posthumous Hit „Dock of the Bay“

Happy 75th birthday, Steve Cropper (who was part of Stax Records house band The Mar-Keys/Booker T. & the M.G.’s and The Blues Brothers band)!

I just got goosebumps after hearing his story about co-writing Otis Redding’s „(Sittin‘ on) The Dock of the Bay“ which, according to Wikipedia, became the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US:

Otis Redding never heard the electric guitar. I played the acoustic guitar on that track, and then I overdubbed that weekend. On a Friday evening, I overdubbed the guitar licks which I was gonna play him on Monday but he never got back for me to play it to him.

Otis Redding died in a plane crash on Sunday, December 10, 1967.

Everything you always wanted to know about music genres but were afraid to ask!

On the amazing website Every Noise at Once you find samples of 1436 styles on one map:

Flashback ins Jahr 1991: Besuch im Prince-Studio Paisley Park

Prince (Photo: Nicolas Genin / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. / http://bit.ly/21aIC9W)

Während meiner Zeit als Musikjournalist traf ich im Herbst 1991 in den Paisley Park Studios von Prince in Chanhassen/Minnesota drei Mitglieder seiner damaligen Band New Power Generation. Prince selbst war nicht anwesend; aber ich denke, dass das Interview einen ganz guten Einblick in seine damalige Arbeitsweise gibt. Das Gespräch und der darauf folgende Studio-Report erschienen in Ausgabe 1/92 des FACHBLATT Musik Magazins.

PRINCE AND THE NEW POWER GENERATION

Michael Bland, Kirk Johnson, und Damon Dickson – Des Prinzen neuer Hofstaat

Schon mit zwölf beherrschte Prince Rogers Nelson 20 Instrumente. Mit 19 unterzeichnete er – ein Novum für Nachwuchsmusiker – einen Vertrag über drei LPs, die von ihm produziert, arrangiert, komponiert und eingespielt wurden. Prince soll damit der jüngste amerikanische Künstler sein, dem völlige kreative Kontrolle eingeräumt wurde.

Nachdem er sich mit Platten wie 1999 und PURPLE RAIN – und diversen kommerziellen Flops – als wohl innovativster Künstler der 80er Jahre bewiesen hatte, läutete Prince mit seiner jüngsten LP DlAMONDS AND PEARLS ein neues Kapitel in seiner Karriere ein. Seine New Power Generation, die als die bisher funk-lastigste Prince-Band gilt, stellte er aus bewährten Kreativ-Komplizen und jungen Talenten zusammen. Gitarrist Levi Seacer, Jr., hatte schon länger mit Prince zusammengearbeitet. Er ist der musikalische Kopf der NPG, als deren gesangliches Aushängeschild die jazzerprobte Rosie Gaines fungiert. Tommy Barbarella ersetzte Dr. Fink als Keyboarder; neuer Bassist ist Autodidakt Sonny T., den Prince selbst als eins seiner Kindheitsidole bezeichnet – »er kann alles spielen oder singen, was er hört – Soul, Jazz oder Klassik!« Zu den jüngsten New-Power-Mitstreitern gehören Schlagzeuger Michael B. und das Rap/Tanz-Trio Tony M., Damon Dickson und Kirk Johnson.

R.I.P., Maurice White – let’s pay tribute with a collective playlist on Spotify!

Maurice White performing with Earth, Wind, and Fire at the Ahoy Rotterdam; 1982 (Photo: Chris Hakkens / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

I was saddened to read the following news earlier tonight:

Maurice White always was particularly close to my heart because he was both a musician’s musician and managed to achieve pop hits. I think I hated „Boogie Wonderland“ when it first came out, but it grew on me. Especially after reading the great story behind it which songwriter Allee Willis made me aware of on Facebook (check the comments section). 😉

I started to compile a Spotify playlist with my favorite Maurice White songs right after hearing the bad news. So far, it contains 4 hours 28 minutes of great funk, soul and jazz (use it in shuffle mode). Artists include (in alphabetical order) Barbra Streisand, Billy Stewart, Brian Culbertson, Deniece Williams, Earth Wind & Fire, El DeBarge, The Emotions, Fontella Bass, James Ingram, Ramsey Lewis, Ramsey Lewis Trio, The Salty Peppers, The Tubes:

I configured the playlist to be a collaborative effort. Feel free to add your personal favorites on Spotify. If you don’t have a Spotify account, post your music links (YouTube & Co.) in the comments section of this blog entry. And please retweet/repost this tribute in your social media circles!

Favorite Funk of 2015 … Including Glorious Soul by Judith Hill

Judith Hill (Photo: Medill DC / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. / Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Hill_crop.jpg)

Listening to entries on fellow funkateers‘ „Best of 2015“ lists made me realize that I missed several great new albums last year. My instant favorite was „Back in Time“, the October release by Judith Hill whose funky soul adds justification to her middle name „Glory“. Her debut was produced by Prince who has a spotty history with regard to picking female protegées who are worth of his musical genius and whose own talents equal their looks.

With Judith, Prince apparently found the perfect match. „Back in Time“ contains many of the elements which I liked during Prince’s heyday (and I am not a full-fledged fan – I am not to keen on many of his greatest non-funky hits; e. g., „Purple Rain“ and „Let’s Get Crazy“). It has raw funk, sultry soul (without the „sexcesses“ we are used to), irresistible grooves, punchy horns annd intricate arrangements.