Funktaculous, today is the birthday of funk legend George Clinton, who was born on this day in 1941!
Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, though if you ask Clinton yourself he might reveal to you that his specific place of birth was bizarrely a public restroom, as his mother just thought she had to desperately use the toilet. Rookie mistake.
After moving to Plainfield, New Jersey in the 50s, he took up work at a barbershop which he also co-owned, and it was here that he spent his early, uneventful days just straightening hair for folk. But guys, hair wasn't the only thing Clinton was dabbling in though, oh no, he was also dabbling in something greater. Music. The byproduct of this dabbling was the formation of The Parliaments, a doo-wop inspired act who featured other staff at the same barbershop Clinton worked at, which soon became a sort've hub for these emerging local musicians to hang out.
Ditching the comb, scissors, and jars of forbidden blue drink that they soak within, Clinton went full music man, scoring a job at Motown Records as a songwriter, which is pretty neat and all, but it meant Clinton was writing songs for other people, and that isn't quite as neat as the work he was doing for himself and his own group The Parliaments, who were now just simply Parliament.
...and also Funkadelic.
See legal disputes meant an end to The Parliaments in 1969, as Clinton essentially lost the rights to the band's name to his record label. To combat them trying to force his hand to settle payments, he decided to fuck them off and signed to a new label as Funkadelic, which removed a few members, but then had them play as un-credited guests on tours. After distancing himself from the legal troubles, he then relaunched again as just Parliament, which was a different band, but had the same members - and if you're wondering, the answer is acid.
Clinton loved acid, his band (or rather, bands) loved acid, and his audience sure loved acid, too. In fact here's a fun wee thing for you - the album Free Your Mind was recorded in just a single day, with Clinton on acid the whole time. This would also most likely be a solid explanation for Clinton doing such bizarre things as playing on stage in an oversized nappy, or having a big UFO constructed for him to crawl out of. Whether or not acid aided the creative flow is unimportant, because at least CLinton and everyone else were having fun - unlike years later when he tried crack for the first time, which although he admitted felt like he was "bustin' a nut", he vowed never to try again. Smart.
Both bands had huge success with some stellar albums that innovated the funk genre, with their combined efforts bestowing them with 40 R&B hit singles, 3 number ones, and 3 platinum albums. If you were to fast forward (or reverse, depending on which side of the millennium you're on) to the late 80s and early 90s you'd witness a second wave of P-Funk appreciation, as rappers emerging at the time were particularly fond of sampling P-Funk tracks. Around this time Clinton begun working with some big names; through the rap scene he has worked with the likes of Tupac, Outkast, Souls of Mischief, and the Wu-Tang Clan, though he's branched out to also work alongside the likes of Primal Scream, and has even produced Red Hot Chili Pepper records.
Clinton isn't just tied to his P-Funk acts though, in fact he's had some notable success in solo projects throughout the decades too, and has made appearances in the likes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Good Burger, and most impressive of all, was transformed into a virtual DJ on the Rockstar game Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas, where he played the Funktipus, the DJ of Bounce FM radio station.
George Clinton, stay funky.
You psychedelic star child, you.
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