Wednesday!
Last month (has it been so long?), in the comments, we talked about how both Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” hit it big 34 years ago.
I only listened to “Beat It” once. A little goes a long way with that one. “Atomic Dog”, however, got multiple listens in the time in between. After that, of course, I started listening to more George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and that is one heck of a rabbit hole to fall down.
I mean, here’s the list of musicians that have played with George Clinton and Parliament. Count ’em. I don’t know about you, but I got 51 people by the time I got to the end of the Cs. It was at that point that I decided to not count everybody. But there are a *TON*. Like, even more than have played with the Doobie Brothers. And the heavy hitters on there? Perhaps only The Wrecking Crew comes close to the same amount of talent accumulated on one wikipedia page.
Well, anyway, I’ve been listening to a lot of the Parliament Funkadelic and the main song of theirs that sits with me long after I’ve gotten up and had to start doing something else is “Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow”. This is the opening song to the 1970 album that, on its 2005 liner notes reissue, has George Clinton come out and say that they were trying to “see if we can cut a whole album while we’re all tripping on acid”.
It might not be perfectly work-safe, due to the title of the song being yelled multiple times during the 10 minutes… but if you have headphones (or are somewhere not at work), check it out. Perhaps it will free your mind somewhat.
So… what are you listening to?
I once saw a chart of the membership of, I think it was Jefferson Airplane / Starship initially, but the chart ended up documenting about 20 bands’ overlaps. I think The Grateful Dead and CSNY got sucked into it too. I wish I could find it. I once saw something like that for Blind Faith / Cream. I’m wondering if it might have the same one.Report
If they touched the Doobie Brothers/Steely Dan at one point, they have approximately 30% of everyone over the age of 50 in the United States.Report
Nobody’s got a better resume than “Skunk” Baxter, who jammed with Hendrix, Clapton, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Northrop Grumman, NASA, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.Report
I’m listening to Mandy Harvey at the Kennedy Center.Report
Before I closed down Pandora, I was listening to Chinese Giquin music.Report
Free Your Mind is good, damn good, but Maggot Brain… That is the stuff! (The story goes that Clinton told Eddie Hazel to “play like your mother just dies, then play like you just found out she lived.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32k_ygEweecReport
Absolutely amazing. I look back at most of the so-called “classic” rock that got played on the radio in the late 80’s and this stuff could kick the behind of somewhere between 95% and 98% of it.Report
Absolutley.
Also, to your original question, this is what I am listening to (and others of the retro-70’s variety such as the Menahan St. Band, Budos Band, Sound Defects, etc.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVYfIfZDKegReport
Two newish platters gracing my turntable of late:
Son Volt’s Notes of Blue and New Model Army’s Winter.
Son Volt
New Model ArmyReport
New Model Army is the best name ever for a British band. Bands from Britain that didn’t call yourselves New Model Army: what the hell were you thinking?Report