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

George Clinton reveals why he keeps his mouth shut about new music that pisses him off [Video]

Yesterday in Singapore, Parliament/Funkadelic’s George Clinton aka Dr. Funkenstein met classic rap group The Sugarhill Gang („Rapper’s Delight“). He had a nice two-part Periscope chat with them about the origins of P.Funk and rap, touring together, his musical backgropund and collaborators (including Skip McDonald/Bernard Alexander and Doug Wimbish, members of Sugarhill’s house band, plus Philippé Wynne, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins), and the story behind several of P.Funk’s greatest hits:

Funk-A-Hall-Licks Wooing the World (1991 Bernie Worrell interview from the New Funk Times archive)

Bernie Worrell in 2009 – concert with SociaLibrium at the jazz club Porgy & Bess in Vienna (Photo: Manfred Werner/Tsui. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

I was sad to hear that Bernie Worrell, P.Funk’s „Wizard of Woo“, passed away yesterday at the age of 72. I last saw him in person a long time ago – he, his wife Judie, his band and I were holding hands backstage at New Orleans‘ Tipitina’s club, praying for a good show.

On a personal note: My favorite P.Funk has always been about George Clinton, Bernie, Bootsy Collins and Garry Shider – the hustler and the three musical geniuses. (I am sure George won’t mind – he and I talked about this. 😉 )

Here is a phone interview about his album „Funk of Ages“ I did with him in 1991, for the P.Funk newsletter New Funk Times I used to publish from the late ’80s to early ’90s (continuing the great work of Archie Ivy & Co.).

New Funk Times: I was wondering if you cut any of the basic tracks with the whole band present in the studio, or were there a lot of over-dubs going on?

Bernie Worrell: There’s a lot of over-dubs. You won’t believe the size of the studio I had to record it at! It’s pretty small, but the one good thing about it was… a lot of recording studios in New York don’t have windows, you can’t see out to the street. But this one was in what we call the Tribeca area, and it had two windows. So at least we could see outside.

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:

The Complete New Funk Times Issue #1 from 1989

The New Funk Times used to accompany George Clinton albums on Capitol Records in the ’80s. From 1989 to 1991, I published it as a subscription-only newsletter. I made the P.Funk History Double Issue available before, here is issue #1 from 1989. It features interviews with George Clinton & Bootsy Collins, and a 250-record P.Funk discography.

Funky Shots: George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic 1989-1991

I used to publish ‚round 2‘ of the George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic newsletter New Funk Times from 1989 to 1991. I can’t find the original photos I took back then, but here are black & white scans from the issues. You can view full-size versions on flickr. If you are interested in the NFT: The P.Funk History Double Issue is available here.

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.

One World Under a Groove: Happy New Year, y’all!

Midnight in Germany: I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions and wishes. But I am hoping for One World Under a Groove.

DUST IT OFF: Parliament’s „Mothership Connection“…40 Years Later

From the moment I heard these fictitious radio DJ’s in “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)”, I couldn’t stop listening. I had never heard a radio show recreated in song, and this voice speaking from the unknown was a place I wanted to visit, it sounded like someone I could trust. There were three characters in the song: the unknown mellow man, the high-speed voice known as Lollipop Man (a/k/a The Long Haired Sucker), and the laid back man who dominates the song talking about doing it to you in your earhole and discovering people in the southern part of the United States lived bands like the Doobie Brothers, Blue Magic, and David Bowie.

Additional blog posts
John Hugar/Uproxx: This Is Why Parliament’s ‘Mothership Connection’ Is Still So Vital 40 Years Later
soulhead: #LongPlayLove: Celebrating 40 Years of Parliament’s ‘Mothership Connection’ [FULL STREAM]

This Is Book's Music

Good evening, do not attempt to adjust your radio, there is nothing wrong, we have taken control as to bring you this special show, we will return it to you as soon as you are grooving. Welcome to station W.E. F.U.N.K., better known as We-Funk, or deeper still, the Mothership Connection, home of the extraterrestrial brothers, dealers of funky music. P.Funk, uncut funk, the bomb.

Coming you directly from the Mothership, top of the chocolate milky way. 500,000 kilowatts of P.Funk power, so kick back, ya’dig, while we do it to you in your eardrums. Who me, I’m known as Lollipop Man, alias The Long Haired Sucker, my motto is…

At the age of 5, I had heard something I had never heard before. My young life existed by listening to records on the radio but this was the very first time I had ever heard the radio on a…

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The Complete New Funk Times P.Funk History Double Issue 4/5 from 1990

Rolling Stone Magazine has just published the story „Doctor Atomic“ about my favorite funk musician George Clinton (issue #1234, cover date: May 7, 2015). They printed a photo I took during my 1986 home story on George’s Funky Farm and the cover of the P.Funk History Double Issue of the P.Funk newsletter New Funk Times which I used to publish from the late ’80s to early ’90s, with permission of George Clinton.

The NFT website has been hacked quite a while ago and I haven’t had the time yet to bring it back. Therefore I am using my personal blog to post scans of the issue you see in Rolling Stone – with cartoons by Pedro Bell, Overton Loyd and Howard Priestley. Enjoy!