Where Do You Rank Parliament Funkadelic?

-420 

I think they're one of the greatest bands of all time!  

(think i'll pull up that Houston show on Youtube...  going to get funked up!)  

>>>>Where do you rank them?

As a live funk act, somewhere in between James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone.

Cap 78 you say,  hmmm...   must...  check... it... out...  :) 

Sly

james

 To me far superior amazing live acts

but of course Ranking bands is a silly exercise

I think your most memorable concert experiences evoke more fond memories energy and hair standing on end as you visualize them

 I'm guessing seen sly at frost  amphitheater could've been in my top 50 to 75 concert highs    I think I always have visuals when I remembered the most striking and best concert experiences    MickJager red and black cape anarchy sympathy for the devil Altamont

sly with the white jacket with fringe funky dancer

For sure one of the greatest ever live bands.

Back in 94, when Jerry was dying in public on stage, I sold a pair of 102 K's at Shoreline on the 3rd of a three night run and went to the Circle Star in San Carlos and caught what turned out to be a super-epic, 5 hour long P-Funk Allstars throwdown with special guests: DIgital Underground.   It was my funk Cherry Pop and I've been hooked on 'em ever since!  

> One thing that strikes me as obvious, but isn't often pointed out about Parliament Funkadelic -  is just how intentionally psychedelic their music, graphics, LPs, song titles and message are!

I think it's sort of obvious to those who "know" that they could be considered the African-American "Grateful Dead," in terms of producing music that is intentionally psychedelic. 
George Clinton does not hold back, does not apologize and lays it all out there for all to see that, much like the Dead, PF are all about altering minds, spirits and hearts with psychedelic intent.  And to boot, it's a fact that George has admittedly consumed copious amounts of LSD.

"At Motown, the house musicians remained in the background. But what if, Clinton wondered, he took the opposite approach? In the rock world, guitarists like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton were becoming stars. Why not put the emphasis on the players, as opposed to the singers? "George put the band up front," P-Nut says, "got those white-boy amplifiers and cut holes in their pants. And it was different."

They also began ingesting copious amounts of LSD. Soon the Parliaments had changed their name to Funkadelic, befitting the sharp left turn they'd taken into the psychedelic scene."

Later on:

"But as his funk empire expanded, there was trouble on the horizon. Acid had faded from the scene, replaced by cocaine and lazy disco songs like Gloryhallastoopid's "Party People." And as the Seventies came to a close, Clinton "started getting pussy and having a good time," Collins told The Guardian in 2011. "And that killed the magic. . . . If LSD brought us together, cocaine surely split us up."

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/george-clinton-doctor-atomic...

with or without negman?

Yep saw him @ Maritime Hall truly was an Epic Show The Mother Ship !!

^^^   props, Hill.

The couple of times I saw them live, I thought I was at an aerobics class.  Put your hands in the air, jump around, jump JUMP, clap, hands in the air...

i saw a pfunk negman show in la and sly stone played 30-40mins with them, which i think is one of his longest appearances in like decades.

they blew the place up.

Definitely in my top 10. Tipitina's late night show starting at midnight in 1995. They were doing the refrains of two different songs with the crowd on the left chanting/singing one and the right doing another. Make my funk a pfunk vs tear the roof off. Not loud, but quiet and balanced and George in the middle egging on each side. I was out of my mind as you could imagine.  It was amazing. Came home to the apartment and walked over to the old oak tree in Audubon park and there was a circle of beans in the grass with a cracked egg in the middle. The beans sprouted and grew and a Couple weeks later there were fairy circles all over the park.

Seen George probably 20 times. Early 90's was a great time to see that band. I still have a crush on Belita, RIP

Love the whole P-Funk family. Love Belita & especially Kim Manning. Lets talk about Bootsy & Sir Nose & Eddie Hazel.

I mean I’m not one for ranking bands but if I had a gun to my head and had to rank the rope funk bands of all time I would say

1. James Briwnband the JB’s

2. The Meters

3. P Funk

Three if my fav bands of all time, btw.

>>> Lets talk about Bootsy

Before he joined the Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy played bass in James Brown's band (the "original JBs") but was soon dismissed for dropping acid during concerts. 

Saw Bootsy's band back in 94 and they were just as funky as any line up of P-Funk I have seen. 

I saw them twice and they were amazing, but let's not forget they made some of the greatest records of the 70s

FUNKADELIC

FREE YOUR MIND

MAGGOT BRAIN

AMERICA EATS IT YOUNG

Very few acts from the 70s made 4 albums in a row as good as those

P-Funk came to Huntington about 7 weeks back. I should have went.

There would have been a hundred more folks there if Shakin' was there playing with them.

PS- I am on a big Sly and the Family Stone thing these days...

Saw the 1998 Parliament Funkadelic without George Clinton, but had some of the 70's Mothership alumni. It seemed like much of the band was younger, but whoever they were, they absolutely killed it with every tune. Probably the best funk show I ever saw.

When I did see P-Funk with George in 2003, it was a shambles, the sound was way off, and Clinton was cracked out and hoarse. He came out for the last 20 minutes or something and smoked joints people were throwing onstage. I remember the 'core 4' Funkadelic guys' set being pretty good. That's about it.

Never heard them a single time

Saw the 1998 Parliament Funkadelic without George Clinton, but had some of the 70's Mothership alumni. It seemed like much of the band was younger, but whoever they were, they absolutely killed it with every tune. Probably the best funk show I ever saw.

I think that was the 'original P'. They played a gathering of the vibes and were pretty good with lots of alums that felt George had underpaid them.

I love Sir Nose! That Bootsy tour in '94 had Bernie Worell on keys. That was a great tour!

P-Funk is one of my long term favorites and among the top 3 bands of my high school daze. The first time I saw them was on the Earth tour with Bootsy and Sly at Madison Square Garden in late '76. Full on Mothership experience and had my white suburbia mind blown. That was the first of many shows and although I've taken a pause recently, I'm sure I will catch them again soon. A couple of memorable shows include one at Starland Ballroom in 2007 that was probably the longest show I have ever attended, clocking in at just under 6 hours with no set break. That night probably had the largest touring group Clinton ever brought out on the road and musicians rotated on and off stage all night. There was at least a period of 45 mins or more that Clinton wasn't even on stage. I had brought a buddy of mine to his first P-Funk show that night and the place was packed. Early in the show we looked around and noticed that we were older than at least 80% of the audience. They crowd was wild that night. Bernie Worrell sat in for awhile, as did Boogie Mosson. It was the show that kept going and going and except for a lengthy Maggot Brain, it was all high octane boogie funk. Toward the end of the show my buddy and I noticed that almost all the 20 somethings had burnt out and left. At that point it was mostly the older folks who showed the kids how to hang. 

Possibly the most memorable show for me was one in 2009 at the Higher Ground in VT. At this point of time I was photographing artist as a full time job and P-Funk was on my wish list to shoot but I had never heard back from their management with approval any of the 10 times I wrote them. I had been refused a photo pass before but I never even got any response, positive or negative. That is when I remembered that Nagan performed with them and I reached out to him, told him my story and asked if he could help out. He told me absolutely, that I was on the list with an all access pass and he was looking forward to meeting me in VT. Day of show I hear from him and he told me that he wasn't going to be there but my pass would be. Sure enough it was and I had access to shoot the whole show. I was jazzed and pumped. Now normally when I am working, I keep a low profile. When the first "to the windows to the walls" chant started, there I was chanting and egging on the audience from the photo pit. As the show progressed, I was dancing and taking photos. I had never done anything like that befor and have never since. At the end of the show backstage, Gary Shider (Diaperman) came up to me and thanked me for, "being a part of the band that night and helping to bring the funk." 

Somebody pinch me! 

That was one of Gary's last shows before he passed on and it remains a fond memory. Through Nagan I've had the pleasure of all sorts of interactions with the band over the years after that are too numerous to mention. On any given night, P-Funk can be one the best bands on stage, even today. 

One last comment about something Mark said above. His statement of "I'd argue that P Funk was the hottest live band on the planet from '76-'78." While they were at the top of their game, I'd argue that Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band during that time frame would give them a serious run for their money. 

Higher Ground S. Burlington, VT 2/23/09

>Never heard them a single time

shocking 

Amazing photo, Tony. Wow!

Caught their 1994 new years show at the warner theater in DC.

Pretty sure my buddy and I were the only white folk there.

Towards the end of the show, the guy id been sharing joints with all night taps me on the shoulder wearing enourmous oversized glasse says "wish me luck" and ran from our seats to the front of the stage where George extended his hand and pulled him up to get on stage and join in the mAdness which had become probably 40 people on stage at that point.

As a courtesy to my friend, st. Mark, I will take this time to acknowledge this thread and commend its intent.

unfortunately, I must decline to participate at this time due to what can only b described as borderline unsafe levels of Caucasian detected within it.

i apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause any of u.

sincerely,

The Furious E

P.S.

i'm too funky for this thread, too funky for this thread, go discuss the grateful dead.

lol

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic added to Lockn

>>They also began ingesting copious amounts of LSD. Soon the Parliaments had changed their name to Funkadelic, befitting the sharp left turn they'd taken into the psychedelic scene."

Actually George lost the rights to the name Parliaments so he started recording under the name Funkadelic, the name Bill bass Nelson gave to the backing band.

>>i saw a pfunk negman show in la and sly stone played 30-40mins with them, which i think is one of his longest appearances in like decades.

The power on the right side of the stage blew early in the show and we had to plug all the amps into the left side circuit.   The monitor board was on the right so we played most of the show without monitors.

It was an honor to play with George and P-Funk for 12 years.   I love them all dearly.

Here is Belita from the Montreux Jazz Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzKJGZ55P_Y&app=desktop

So many that I played with are gone, sad to say.

Belita

Garry

Boogie

P-Nut

Scott Taylor

Alright, thanks to the continued efforts of mark, the distinguished mr. Saddler and now an appearance of the legendary shakin' nagan, i feel it's safe to start easing my way in here.

that's nice p. Funk is in for lockin'. 

I have a feeling this is going to b a very good year for them.

Here's the full show of George's Amsterdam birthday performance a couple years ago:

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=4590s&v=V3TluTbHPuo

And the new single: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xLMlUzKJNDY

it's difficult to overstate the importance of the many players, careers and influences to have been birthed from the extensive parliament funkadelic tree.

in many ways I feel some of the side projects and spin offs over the years arguably equal or even surpass the quality of p. Funk live.

Did Eddie hazel ever have a solo band tour?

we're so lucky to have any of the old school members left and active: bootsy, George, Frank kash waddy, mudbone, Grady Thomas, etc.

in addition to Negman's list of some of the more recently dearly departed he was fortunate enough to perform with, it would b remiss not bring up Bernie worrell, who I feel possibly more than any was the chief architect of so many of the bands greatest and most memorable compositions.

Fuck,. how the hell did I forget Bernie.  I spent 2 years next to him. 

On December 30, 2003, I showed up in Miami as the crew was setting up.  I was talking to the stage manager, Citrus, and said to him, "Hey man, I brought my shakers, can I play?"  Without blinking an eye he said, "Sure, I'll set you up a microphone" and he put me next to Bernie.  Bernie would always look over to me and smile while I played.  The few shows where there weren't enough lines to give me a mic, Bernie would do the introduction and then pick up his mic and stand and put it in front of me.

I had the honor of playing with Bernie in several of his bands.

You are right, E, playing with P-Funk opened many doors for me as well as many others.

It's not a very high budget or exceptionally well made documentary, but I still recommend 'Bernie worrell: stranger on earth'.

it has some pretty decent interviews and at least attempts to convey the importance of one of modern music's greatest and most underrated geniuses:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qamFJtJ7nlk

>>>   Never heard them a single time

Probably not real big in Trump Country.

No offense intended, I know you are an independent....but Appalachia has probably missed out on getting many Funkadelic shows.

And yes, I live in a Trump County...the highest GDP county in the country to vote for Trump.

For Hillman:  (audio only), the Eddie Hazel's original maggot brain:  https://youtu.be/JOKn33-q4Ao

(Carlos, Derek & WH 2012: https://youtu.be/phTeGFY4JF0)

ps I was wrong, Phoenix was #1.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/22/donald-trump-lost...

I had the good fortune off seeing P-Funk at both the Apollo Theater & BB Kings. 

While the Apollo is a world famous theater, the vibe at BB King's was way more relaxed.

At BB's I hung out with a few other people after the shoe.  George Clinton joined us, chatting amicably.

He was so nice.  Though I had never met Shakin', he came by & gave me a shaker.

This is gonna sound lame but the vibe that night was so inclusive, to this day thinking about it brings a smile to my face. 

The shoes themselves where a treat.  For this honky, the after shoe festivities were icing on the cake. 

Playing a gig at John And Peters tonight’s, local comes up and ask if I know who o Funk is. I say “yeah”. He says “Kid Parliment crashes on my couch from time to time”. Lol. Funny stuff:

One of my favorite bands too.  I have seen them several times, but the best was the full Mothership experience at the One World Festival in Austin, TX 1996.  Spearhead and Fishbone were some of the openers.  1st, we were married into the funk with Brides of Funkenstein.  Next, came the Horny Horns with Fred Wesley to consummate the marriage into the funk.  After that the Mothership landed and the whole crew came out in full costume including Beornie Wirral and Bootsy Collins.  They played nonstop for several hours.  Another Pfunk experience was at an old warehouse in Fort Worth for a fraternity at TCU where I was going to at the time.  I couldn't find any good vintage funky clothes at the thrift store in my size so I got a 60s gogo dress in pink paisley with pink the dye stockings and black Dr Martin's boots.  I was the driver  with a few friends and it was one of the 1st times I took a crazy.  It was a blast to say the least. 

They've gone to shit without Shaking Nagin!