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Cosmic Slop Live · by Sach O
I will not rest until white people crown Funkadelic king of all rock bands. Which is to say I don’t ever plan on resting considering how criminally underrated George Clinton’s excellent psych group is among acid heads. Maybe it’s because they totally ignored the pop-radio school of song-writing in favor of extended jams built around simple turns of phrase, maybe it’s because they were just too “out there” at a time when everyone was in 70’s come-down mode and getting all rootsy. Or maybe it’s because they were too black, too strong and more than a little frightening to audiences whose exposure to African-American performers was mostly limited to suit-wearing Motown acts and that one Hendrix guy (5$ on the last one, all respect due to Jimmy). Whatever the case, for all the white accolades and deification that George Clinton’s empire received in the wake of the 90’s funk revival (Flea, Shaun Ryder and Beasties: you’re welcome) they never got their due from the patchouli and hummus set.
It still boggles the mind. I’m not one for Jam Bands (Phish, it ain’t my favourite dish) but videos like this live take of Cosmic Slop make me want to take acid, fuck, wear a diaper and burn something down all at the same time; you’d think Deadheads would be all over it.
On the other hand maybe it’s for the best, I still gotta see P-Funk live and I don’t want anyone driving up ticket prices.
Comments for "Cosmic Slop Live"
it’s also a pity none of thier shows were ever put to film.
It was performance of art at its best, funk at its most outlandish.
I Pledge Groovallegiance to the flag of Funkadelica.
— DEMO Sep 10, 11:35 AM
Dope. I just posted on a tidbit I picked up from JumpTheTurnStyle.com: Apparently “Give Up the Funk” was a smackdown of David Bowie for fakin the funk.
— Thomas Sep 10, 01:39 PM
Wouldn’t surprise me, they already sorta-dissed him on Mothership connection. (David Boooowie!)
Frankly Young Americans was pretty shitty anyways, Fame excluded. His experimental-funk stuff on Low was flavor though.
— Sach Sep 10, 02:12 PM
I like the beginning of the song. Very mysterious.
— Web Hosting Sep 11, 06:32 PM
Excerpt from “Stuff White People like” by Thun:
- Funkadelic, but not Parliament Funkadelic
You’re right though, it’s kinda strange that hippies never caught on to this or to any other black psychedelic acts other than Hendrix.
— drizzle Sep 12, 01:21 PM
I am a white boy (from Italy, nonetheless…) and George, Bootsy and the boys are the greatest.
Long live (black) rock’n‘roll!
— Antonio Sep 12, 05:10 PM
But is it really true that Funkadelic is considered underrated by white people? I mean, Pitchfork did give a pretty glowing review of the re-issues of their first three albums. And considering how white Pitchfork is, I’d say that qualifies.
— MikeZ Sep 14, 12:28 AM
Yeah but ask yourself what’s the most likely scenario A)These guys played the records more than once after that review was published or B)They played it twice, wrote something nice about it for credibility purposes and went back to their Crystal Castles/Santogold mashups?
— Sach Sep 14, 02:36 PM
My first P-Funk concert was in high school around 96 or so and my dad took me. It’s been a ride on the mothership ever since.
My favorite extended jam:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/18794171f45b62ba/
— nerditry Sep 14, 11:51 PM
Regarding the Pitchfork article: Weird that America Eats Its Young never gets as much credit as the other records… to me, Maggot Brain is only half awesome and half boring. I love Eddie Hazel, but 9 minutes is a long time for super-dramatic Hendrixisms. Anyway, yeah what a great band (Bernie on that AEIY record— whooooo), some of the best musicians ever and of course their lack of consistency and their tendency to meander is a direct reflection of George Clinton’s enigmatic and brilliant personality.
Seeing George’s P-Funk All Stars today is nothing like watching this video, the whole show is basically built around audience participation— a lot of fun but musically a little bit stagnant. No shredding. But they’re all still on crack.
As for the fanbase, yeah go to these shows, it’s all white people just like everywhere else. I think very few people “get it” with George Clinton, but I’m sure a lot of them are honkiez.
— Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Sep 18, 06:30 PM
They’re dedicated to their idea of “indie” and hate big 70’s concept albums. They also hate guitar solos but it’s hard to diss arguably (well not in my mind but whatever) the GREATEST solo ever.
They also hate children and candy and all else that is good, but that’s another story.
— Sach Sep 18, 06:53 PM
yeah, definitely agree about the trustifarian hippie-ish kids who love only jam bands. i lived in eugene, oregon for a couple years, and just wanted to shake all these smelly motherfuckas and scream at them to listen to some fucking jazz or, certainly, george clinton-related jams. get some fucking soul in their anemic brains. thanks as ever for keeping this blog so dope, guys.
— alex Sep 20, 11:19 PM
I think most mainstream critics dont fux with P-Funk because of their fear of a Black planet (which is also Hip-Hop music’s greatest album, just check my top 25).
I’ve had several narcotics fueled epiphanies at P-Funk concerts including the time I went in on two barrels with my ex(yes, and yes) and when we shagged later at my apartment I ejaculated styrofoam.
Okay, TMI is what I do but P-Funk transcends music and dips my brain into that universal goo.
— DP Sep 21, 04:05 PM
Where are you getting your information? Oh your just making it up dipshit. Hippies know more about P and F and PF than you managed to learn in that past year since you discovered PF. Greatest rock group ever not quite, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Doors, yes you fuckin racist.
— ARMS Sep 26, 01:57 PM
LOL, the doors are the most overrated band in the history of music. One good album and loads of pretentious drivel supported by a fanatical cult of personality. This is the end? More like this is the beginning of some gay shit.
But Sabbath does reign supreme though.
— drizzle Sep 26, 05:10 PM
SMH@the angry white hippie. dangles joint in front of him
Weird thing is that I defended the Doors this week. Everyone shits on them these days when you know DAMN WELL that they were fans until the internet told them not to. But best rock band ever though? There’s not enough acid on earth to justify that claim. Zep comes much closer but they lose points for Robert Plant’s lyrics and Jimmy’s riff theft. Besides the Stones own white blues. Sabbath are incredible though, people who dislike them should be stuffed inside their lockers during highschool (and usually are).
— Sach Sep 26, 05:56 PM
Fuck that, Almost Famous told me not to way before the internet did. I can’t pretend like I was never a fan, I enjoy the s/t and some stuff from Strange Days (more in college than now but still…). But can you honestly say the catalog as a whole supports the reputation?
Sabbath is clearly the goat rock band btw, no contest.
— drizzle Sep 26, 06:14 PM
Depends what reputation, the dad rock “OMG Jim Morisson is a poet of the Ghostface calliber” reputation or the “Psshaw! I adore The Smiths and base my Doors hatred off the fact that the guy with the Morrison poster got more pussy than I did in college” reputation? I’m not here to defend the catalogue, lord knows I can stand about 10 of their songs these days but fuck it there’s worse. U2 for example.
— Sach Sep 27, 12:39 AM
rockpalast has a great filmed concert of P-Funk, RHCP, and it’s great.
— cathe Dec 24, 02:14 PM