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Posts tagged as “George Clinton”

Black Lexicon: What “Afrofuturism” Means (LISTEN)

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

In today’s Daily Drop, we explore the term “Afrofuturism” and its origin. To read about it and see links to sources, read on. To hear about it, press PLAY:

[You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out here on the main website. Full transcript below]:

Hey, this is Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

It’s in the category we call “Lemme Break It Down,” where we explore the origins and meanings of words and phrases rooted in the Black Lexicon and Black culture. Today’s word? “Afrofuturism.”

[Excerpt from “Space Is The Place” by Sun Ra]

“Afrofuturism” is a term that was coined in the 1994 essay “Black to the Future” by Mark Dery that describes a movement within Black culture from the 1950s to the present that employs science fiction and fantasy as frameworks to reimagine the African diaspora in music, art, literature, film, and fashion.

Musicians such as Sun Ra, who you are hearing right now, George Clinton, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu; visual artists such as David Alabo, Ellen Gallagher, Kerry James Marshall, Kaylan F. Michael; and authors such as Octavia E. Butler, Samuel R. Delany, Tananarive Due and N.K. Jemisin all explore Afrofuturism in their work.

To learn more about “Afrofuturism,” read Mark Dery’s 1994 essay, available online in PDF, read Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise fo Astro-Blackness edited by Reynaldo Anderson and Charles E. Jones.

 You can also watch the short PBS documentary called Afrofuturism 101 at pbs.org, download the This American LifeWe Are The Future” podcast episode on Afrofuturism by Neil Drumming, check out the list of other Afrofuturism-themed podcasts on player.fm, and listen to the awesome “Space is The Place” Afrofuturism playlist curated by Good Black News contributor Marlon West.

Links to these sources and more are provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, written, produced and hosted by me, Lori Lakin Hutcherson.

Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

Excerpts from Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place” are included under Fair Use.

If you like these Daily Drops, follow us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

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Sources:

(amazon links are paid links)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Get Down On It” – an Old School and New Funk Mix – (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Sorry, not sorry for this more than a workday’s worth of rump-shaking tunes. Perhaps some of you are at stand-up desks and can get that groove on.

This week’s offering is devoted to Funk music. In the words of Parliament/Funkadelic, “Uncut funk, the bomb.” This mixture of soul, gospel, jazz, and rhythm, and blues was started in the mid-1960s by the “Godfather of Soul” James Brown.

Funk had its hey in the 1970s and ‘80s, though its impact is still felt around the world. Funk grooves have been sampled by hip-hop artists and rock bands alike.

If you’re like me, you’ll be thrilled to know there’s plenty of new funk music being created today. Lady Wray, Yola, Anderson.Paak, and others will make you a believer.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:6wXNVcottjtUwHgPBT34Cn”]

This collection is devoted to funk masters like James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton and Lyn Collins, and new practitioners like Tank & The Bangas, Emily Wright, Thundercat, Los Coast and others.

Have a great week. And as ways stay safe, sane and kind. More soon.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

MUSIC MONDAY: “One Nation Under a Groove” – Celebrating the Sounds George Clinton (LISTEN)

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

George Clinton, along with James Brown and Sly Stone, is one of the foremost innovators of funk music. And the originator of P-Funk, “uncut funk, the bomb!”

The Parliament-Funkadelic collective he lead championed an influential and eclectic form of funk music drawing on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. This work, Clinton’s solo career, and artists he’s championed have impacted, been sampled, and covered by funk, rock, and hip-hop artists.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:2yGmtPLCmANIVOTdw7B7LL”/]

George Clinton officially retired from touring in 2019 and has shown up on recordings in 2020. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Starting in the 1960s as a staff songwriter for Motown, Clinton eventually developed a sound once called “The Temptations on acid.” Just listen to Funkadelic’s “I”ll Bet You” and that comparison will be clear.

George Clinton has produced a diverse discography, with over 40 R&B hit singles (including three number ones) and three platinum albums.

Here are Clinton’s best songs and those of many of his protégés. I’ve also included covers of his tunes, tracks that sample his work, and tracks he has produced for other artists. Please enjoy.

Next week I’ll offer my Afroclectic Christmas collection. Until then, stay safe, sane and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)

R.I.P. Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bernie Worrell

Bernie Worrell: Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder Dies
Parliament-Funkadelic Co-Founder Bernie Worrell (GREGORY PACE/BEI/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Andrew Barker via Variety.com
Bernie Worrell, the keyboardist, songwriter and synthesizer pioneer who served as co-founder of Parliament-Funkadelic with George Clinton, and was also a key Talking Heads collaborator, died on Friday after a battle with cancer, according to his Facebook page. He was 72.
Diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January, Worrell was the guest of honor at a massive benefit concert last April, with the likes of George Clinton, Questlove, David Byrne and Meryl Streep performing and paying tribute. In mid-June, however, his wife Judie Worrell announced his health had taken a turn, writing, “Bernie is now heading ‘Home.’”
As a member of Parliament-Funkadelic, Worrell’s synth playing provided the funk innovators with some of their most distinctive and immediately recognizable elements, which subsequently became signature sounds of the more futuristic strains of R&B, and the bedrock of hip-hop’s West Coast “g-funk” wave, with Dr. Dre in particular sampling Worrell’s music continuously.
From the gurgling, staccato Minimoog bassline of “Flash Light” to the whiny, minor-key synth lines on “P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up),” Worrell introduced a wealth of completely new elements into pop music’s sonic vocabulary. Former bandmate Bootsy Collins described Worrell as “the Jimi Hendrix of the keyboards,” while Talking Heads frontman Byrne once noted, “Bernie changed the way I think about music, and the way I think about life.”
Born George Bernard Worrell in New Jersey, Worrell began playing piano at age three, and performed with the Washington Symphony Orchestra at age 10. He attended Julliard and the New England Conservatory of Music, and met up with fellow New Jersey native George Clinton while playing in bar bands. He followed Clinton to Detroit, where Funkadelic rewrote the rules of black popular music several times over throughout the 1970s.
Worrell only appeared on a single track of Funkadelic’s 1970 self-titled debut, but he featured heavily on follow-up “Free Your Mind…And Your Ass Will Follow,” and by the time of 1971’s psych-rock freak-out masterpiece “Maggot Brain,” he was firmly ensconced in the lineup, even singing lead on single “Hit It and Quit It.”
Worrell’s role as a keyboardist, songwriter and arranger grew throughout the decade as Funkadelic and Parliament – during the ‘70s, the two groups consisted of the same core members – evolved into a more radio-friendly, dance-oriented outfit, alongside former James Brown bassist Collins, who arrived in 1972. Thanks to his grasp of classical music composition, as well as his ceaseless curiosity in exploring state-of-the-art synthesizer technology, Worrell was essential in imposing structure and melodic order onto the group’s more freewheeling experimentations.
Parliament’s “Mothership Connection” elevated the collective’s profile substantially in 1975, reaching No. 4 on the R&B album chart and becoming the first P-Funk album to go platinum. The group’s popularity peaked with Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove,” which topped the R&B chart for six straight weeks in 1978, while Parliament’s “Motor Booty Affair” and Funkadelic’s “Uncle Jam Wants You” both reached No. 2 in the months that followed. The P-Funk staples co-written by Worrell in this period include “Mothership Connection (Star Child),” “Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadaloop)” and “Flash Light,” which still stands as perhaps the group’s most widely played and influential single track.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FEe9V3HeZ0&w=560&h=315]
Worrell recorded a solo album in 1978 – “All the Woo in the World,” produced by Clinton – and recorded with Collins for his splinter group Bootsy’s Rubber Band, whose 1977 album “Ahh…the Name is Bootsy, Baby!” is a particularly essential funk collection. But as loose and sprawling as the P-Funk universe could be, the spine of the group began to splinter at the end of the ‘70s, and Worrell officially left in 1981.
Shortly after his departure, Worrell was recruited by Jerry Harrison, guitarist for the art-rock/New Wave group Talking Heads, whom Worrell had never heard. Though he found their earlier music “stiff,” Worrell joined the group as a session musician, contributing synthesizers to 1983 album “Speaking in Tongues,” which would go on to become the Heads’ highest-charting release. He toured with the group for years, and his importance to their live sound is made abundantly clear in the Jonathan Demme-directed 1984 concert film, “Stop Making Sense.”
During the ‘80s, Worrell also recorded with Keith Richards, Fela Kuti, and Jack Bruce, and after the breakup of Talking Heads, he released a spate of solo albums in the early-‘90s. (1991’s “Funk of Ages” is the clear standout.) He continued to record and tour throughout the following decades, with groups the Bernie Worrell Orchestra and Bernie Worrell’s Woo Warriors, and as part of the supergroup Black Jack Johnson alongside rapper Mos Def. Worrell was the subject of Philip Di Fiore’s 2005 documentary, “Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth,” and he had a role as a member of Meryl Streep’s bar band in Demme’s 2015 feature “Ricki and the Flash.”
Worrell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic in 1997, and performed with the reunited Talking Heads during the group’s induction in 2002. Earlier this year, he was given an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the New England Conservatory of Music.

TV One to Air Special "Unsung" Marathon Featuring Artists Connected to Prince on Sunday 4/24

Prince. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Prince. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
After the untimely passing of the legendary and iconic musician PrinceTV One encourages fans and viewers to tune in to a special Unsung” marathon this Sunday, April 24 from 1:00pm to 8:00pm ET/PT. The episodes feature artists connected to the late icon:

1:00pm – Sheila E
 
2:00pm – Rick James
 
3:00pm – George Clinton
 
4:00pm – Klymaxx
 
5:00pm – Meli’sa Morgan
 
6:00pm – Mint Condition
 
7:00pm – Sheila E

The “Unsung” marathon will allow fans and viewers to see how a musical genius influenced and connected with other great musical talents. Follow the conversation on social media with the hashtag #PrinceGoneTooSoon.

George Clinton, Sheila E. Headline Nightshift Labor Day Music Festival Benefitting Low-Income Communities in CA

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Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle
Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle

This Labor Day (September 7, 2015) Working Californians will hold Los Angeles’ fourth annual Nightshift concert featuring Godfather of Funk and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend George Clinton with Parliament Funkadelic, Grammy-nominated singer and percussionist Sheila E., Jamaican reggae stars The Wailers, and the James Andrews New Orleans All Star Band.
Over 20 Southern California labor organizations, including IATSE, SEIU and Teamsters, will gather at L.A. Coliseum’s Exposition Park to celebrate and commemorate both the history and future of Labor Day. This concert will celebrate working families and labor victories made in the past year in the city of Los Angeles.
Concert performances will benefit Working Californians’ non-profit, which fosters social innovation and invests in improving low-income communities in Southern California.
Nightshift Labor Day Music Festival 2015
Exposition Park (Doors Open at 12:30pm) 700 Exposition Park Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90037
Tickets on-sale here: http://www.axs.com/events/280744/labor-day-music-festival-tickets
For more information about WCA : workingcalifornians.org.

R.I.P. Cordell Mosson, Bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic

Cordell Mosson playing bass for Parliament-Funkadelic.

Cordell Mosson, a guitarist whose bass line drove the flamboyant band Parliament-Funkadelic for four decades, died on April 18 in New Brunswick, N.J. He was 60.  The cause was liver failure, his companion, Donna Snead, said Thursday.

Mr. Mosson — Boogie to his band mates and audiences — had been a fixture of the group since the early 1970s, playing bass, drums and eventually rhythm guitar and, like the rest of George Clinton’s sprawling collective, appearing onstage in elaborate, intergalactic outfits.

He collaborated on seminal P-Funk albums like “Up for the Down Stroke” and “Funkentelechy and the Placebo Syndrome” and replaced Bootsy Collins onstage as the bassist when Mr. Collins left to focus on his solo career. (Mr. Collins still recorded with the group.) Mr. Mosson toured with the group until 2011.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Clinton, the band’s leader and frontman, recalled Mr. Mosson as multifaceted, able to play “all the psychedelic stuff and the Motown and the James Brown.”

“Boogie’s been playing with us since he was 13 or 14,” Mr. Clinton said, adding, “He was the heartbeat for a long time.”

Mr. Mosson appeared with the band in the 1994 film comedy “PCU,” starring Jeremy Piven, Jon Favreau and David Spade. He and 15 other members of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Cardell Mosson Jr. was born on Oct. 16, 1952, in New Brunswick. In addition to Ms. Snead, he is survived by four daughters, LaPortia Nicholson, Lisa Brown, Latonya Snead and Ramona Perry; four sons, Chauncey Mosson, David Shropshire, Cordell Boogie Mosson and Remby Perry; a brother, the Rev. Larry Mosson; and eight grandchildren.

 article by Daniel E. Slotnik via nytimes.com