Likes: Whos got the funk?
James Brown
Parliament -Funkadelic?
Poll: James Brown or Parliament -Funkadelic?
Whos got the funk?
While Clinton seems like more fun to hang with, going with the Godfather here
Duncan liked this post
I could probably distil what I really like of JB's studio stuff onto about five discs as most of his albums were pretty spotty, plus he had an irritating penchant for recording new studio versions of older material which were usually inferior (God knows how many times he re-made Please, Please, Please). Another dubious habit was tacking audience noise onto studio tracks and passing them off as live ones. Negatives aside, the first three Live at the Apollo albums are essential, so when adding those to the studio tracks of choice at least that bulks things out somewhat.
Parliament and Funkadelic were essentially an albums-oriented collective what with all with all the concepts and in-jokes, and between 1970 and 1979 had an excellent run.
'...a violator of his word, a libertine over head and ears in debt and disgrace, a despiser of domestic ties, the companion of gamblers and demireps, a man who has just closed half a century without a single claim on the gratitude of his country or the respect of posterity...' - Leigh Hunt on the Prince Regent (later George IV).
ὃν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος [Those whom the gods love die young] - Menander
Another vote for JB, not really close for me.
JB had the style, the soul, and most importantly, Maceo (at least for a good while).
As Tower of Power said:
You know, the more things change
The more they stay the same
It may be a different age
But I'm on the same page
Cause one thing that I've found
I'll still be diggin' on James Brown.
Parliament-Funkadelic for me - based not only on the inventiveness and innovation of each release but also on the inventiveness and innovation of each band member's nick-names -
William "Bootsy" Collins
Walter "Junie" Morrison
Garry "Diaperman" Shider
Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton
Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey
Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood
"Billy Bass" Nelson
Cordell "Boogie" Mosson
Ray "Stingray" Davis
Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins
"Shady Grady" Thomas
One can only surmise why George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and Eddie Hazel remained "George Clinton", "Bernie Worrell", and "Eddie Hazel"...
JB has the soul but P-F has the funk - it's a crucial difference - and that was the OP's original question.
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Album after album - "Funkadelic" ('70), "Free Your Mind" ('70), "Maggot Brain" ('71), "America Eats Its Young" ('72), "Cosmic Slop" ('73), "Up for the Down Stroke ('74), "Mothership Connection ('75), "Hardcore Jollies" ('76), “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome” ('77), and "One Nation Under a Groove" created the template for all that followed - funk, hip-hop, post-disco etc.
It was more than "soul" or "funk" - Forward to the 4:24 mark where Eddie Hazel steps in and takes over the solo from Mike Hampton on "Maggot Brain" and channels Hendrix... and then they join together and you'll hear a guitar duo that ranks with the best of them all.
James Brown is indeed the "Godfather of Soul" and what he did he did better than anyone else but when it comes to pushing the artistic boundaries attempting to create something out of nothing that ever existed before then you have to got with P-F.
Last edited by Duncan; Oct-21-2019 at 19:41.
Bwv 1080 liked this post
I vote for James Brown and I feel good about doing so.
How would you define the difference? Because James Brown started out in soul, but he is usually credited with originating funk. Get on the Good Foot and Sex Machine sound like funk to me. (Especially with Bootsy Collins in his pre-Funkadelic period on bass on Sex Machine.)Originally Posted by Mollie John
I wouldn't question the genesis of funk but what is most important is what was done with it afterwards - craftsmanship elevated to artistry. P-F pushed the boundaries of funk out of all recognition - bent it completely out of shape - incorporated every other possible sub-genre into their compositions - transformed that into something entirely different and created something unique in the process.
From album to album (see above post) you could actually hear the progression and transformation that P-F was striving for - JB found that groove, perfected it, and stayed there - his forward momentum eventually coming to a halt with each subsequent release virtually indistinguishable from the previous.
When voting, I placed a higher valuation on inventiveness and innovation and consequently chose P-F based on their recordings compared to those of JB and concluded that they took the funk concept further than he did despite his having been the creator of this particular sub-genre of soul.
To each his own though, eh?
Last edited by Duncan; Oct-21-2019 at 20:06.
Manxfeeder liked this post
I could never really get into their records. I like Sly Stone's early stuff, and The Meters. And Dr John.
“Music makes you feel feelings. Words make you think thoughts. But a song can make you feel a thought.”
- Yip Harburg
I never liked the music of James Brown or his over-the-top exhibitionism; never heard of P-F.
Sounds like you might prefer some 50s Ray Charles. He's equally the Godfather of soul if James Brown is.
“Music makes you feel feelings. Words make you think thoughts. But a song can make you feel a thought.”
- Yip Harburg
Strange Magic liked this post
Yes, Ray Charles is a big step in the right direction for me.
“Hal Neely, former president of King Records, the most important label in Afro-American music for more than 20 years, told me that Stravinsky, in response to an interviewer’s question concerning his favourite composers, once replied ‘The three Bs.’ ‘The three Bs,’ Stravinsky is said to have explained, are Bach, Beethoven and Brown—James Brown. According to Neely, Stravinsky went on to say that James Brown should be considered one of the greatest composers of all time, that he was writing truly American music and portraying the American heritage" (p.199, African Rhythm and African Sensibility, John Miller Chernoff, University of Chicago Press, 1979)
isorhythm liked this post
The secret to listening to James Brown is, listen from the bottom up. Everyone from the bass up plays a groove, and James Brown's vocals are an extension of the rhythm section. At least that's what got me into his music.
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