Where to start with Parliament-Funkadelic?

[DaveBeny]

There is such a huge amount of stuff out there, under a range of names and side-projects (Parliament, Funkadelic, P-Funk All-Stars, Bootsy's Rubber Band, etc.) that I don't really know where I should exploring the P-Funk sound. Would it be better to get one of the bigger albums ('Mothership Connection' perhaps?) or start with a compilation? In this situation, I would normally get a "best of", but there are a lot of Parliament/Funkadelic compilations out there and the range of material on them can vary considerably.

Regards,
Dave B

[dudemeister]

I say go for Mothership Connection for it is a great album.

[Bassline1414]

Maggot Brain by Funkadelic.

[slam]

You must first realize that Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy and the other side projects each have their own sound.

Funkadelic is more like psychedlic guitar driven funk. Especially their earliest albums (Funkadelic, Free Your Mind, Maggott Brain). They got a little bit less raw on some of their later stuff (One Nation Under a Groove). Parliament is less guitar and more horns. They sound a little slicker than Funkadelic. Bootsy is just freaky, playful, cartoon funk.

My favorites (in no particular order):

Funkadelic: Maggot Brain (super freaky Jimi Hendrix guitar funk) and One Nation Under a Groove, perhaps their best overall album (though I must say that the title track of One Nation is one of my least favorite songs on the album)

Parliament: Mothership Connection, Motor Booty Affair, Funkentelechy vs, The Placebo Syndrome

Bootsy: go for a greatest hits compilation. IMO, Bootsy's albums usually have a couple of great songs and some filler songs. The "Best of" gets rid of the filler.

P-Funk All Stars: Live at the Beverly Theatre in LA

[winston]

My personal Funkadelic fave is "America Eats Its Young"-it's really gritty and funky as all hell, and the lyrics are pretty pointedly political without being preachy. And how can you go wrong with song titles like "Miss Lucifer's Love" and "I Call My Baby Pussy"?

[Brendan]

I liked Mothership Connection. It's got the coolest name for a song EVER: Supergroovalisticprostifunkstication.

Gotta love it.

That, and Chocolate City was pretty good.

[JimK]

Gotta admit, I'm a bit derelict with the P-Funk in my music collection.

Slam, IMO, has broken it all down correctly.

I picked up Funkadelic's DEBUT album today(Funkadelic)...almost 'Hendrix-like'.
Next, I'm gonna pick up Parliament's Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo System...horn-driven Funk.

BTW, a very, very cool site to browse & pick up some of this stuff-
www.dustygrooves.com
...I just ordered an album from them called East Bay Rhythm(Paul Jackson on bass, Bill Summers on percussion...supposedly, very Headhunter-esque. We'll see).
The site also has some obscure & hard-to-find Jazz cds & LPs(I've been searching high & low for Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond & Gil Evans' Into The Hot...they actually have both IN-STOCK!).

[JimK]

I picked up the Funkentelechy/Placebo album...now I know/recall why I didn't pick this up back when it was originally released-
I didn't like the keyboard sounds back then & honestly, I'm even less fond of them now. Granted, the synths back then were limited...whatever.

[gruffpuppy]

Up for the Down stroke is the only disk I love.
Mothership is the only Parliment disk I like.
Parliment Live is OK, the rest just don't do it for me, maybe it is the keys.

Maggot Brain by Funkadelic is a must have.
Free your mind is good. After that I think the keys started to get in the way again.

YMMV

[slam]

My favorite song on Funkentelechy is Sir Nose D'Void of Funk. I really dig that groove for some reason. Stanky funk. Plus the lyrics are pretty nutty.

The live version of Funkentelchy on the four-disc live set released a few years ago has a nice bass solo by Rodney 'Skeet' Curtis.

[gruffpuppy]

quick shocking fact I found on www.allmusic.com

Funkadelic: Cosmic Slop

Certainly it's a trip to hear the deep, spaced-out spoken word tale on "March to the Witch's Castle," a harrowing picture of vets returning from Vietnam — and then realizing that Rush ripped off that approach for a song on its Caress of Steel album a year or two later!

I thought it was interesting.