Free Your Mind... A chronological Introduction to ParliamentFunkadelic Part 1

...or "A chronological ParliaFunkadelicment Thang"
aka. "Cosmic slop by any other name: An ounce of P-Funk"

If there was only one post in this blog it would be this.

It dawned on me the other day, that maybe all the music I own could be fundamentally reduced down to Funkadelic. It’s always what you need.

They wrote the book on psychedelia, funk and everything in between. And they still remain more unsung than they should. They're by no stretch of the imagination totally unsung, but considering what they did, they should be right up there with our established "classic" acts.

There’s politics in there - blues, soul, sex, sweat, redemption, wisdom, bad jokes, good jokes, danger ... all wrapped up inside heavy on-the-one funk, heavy rock, deranged psychedelia, gospel, blues ....

Have the sublime and the ridiculous ever co-existed so closely together in modern music before?

Has any other band rocked so hard while still funking? Or funked so hard while still rocking?

Just the opening 2 tracks from Maggot Brain say almost everything you need to know, “Maggot Brain” going into into the short “Can You Get to that”.

Words really are redundant and ineffective for preparing you for this. If you already know it, there may be a couple of oddments you my not have (Fish, Chips & Sweat direct from the 7” etc...) if you don’t know it I almost envy you. How did you get this far without Funkadelic/Parliament? I wanna know …

Parts 1 & 2 focus on the work under the name Funkadelic from 1969 – 1975. Part 3 fills in the gaps and focuses on Parliament from the early releases to the late 70s

Part 1 HERE. Play loud.

Disk 1:
01. "Can't Shake It Loose"
02. "As Good As I Can Feel"
Both recorded 1969, scheduled for single release. From the essential 45s compilation “music for my mother”.
03. "I'll Bet You"
Single version of the track from the “Funkadelic” album 1970, collected on the essential 45s compilation “music for my mother”.
04. "I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody Got A Thing"
From the 1970 album “Funkadelic”
05. "Fish, Chips And Sweat"
B’side of the single "I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody Got A Thing" 1970
06. "Funky Dollar Bill"
Alternate mix of track from the album “Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow” 1970. From the essential 45s compilation “music for my mother”.
07. “Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow”
08. “I Wanna know if it’s good for you”
Both from the 1970 album “Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow”
09. "You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks"
Extended version of track from the album “Maggot Brain” 1971. From the essential 45s compilation “music for my mother”.
10. “Alice in My Fantasies” [live]
11. “I Call My Baby Pussycat” [live]
Both from the live album “Funkadelic Live - Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan 1971”
11. “Maggot Brain”
12. “Can You Get to That”
Both from the album “Maggot Brain” 1971


(part 2 coming soon .... )