Good evening
Do not attempt to adjust your radio, there is nothing wrong
We have taken control as to bring you this special show
We will return it to you as soon as you are grooving
Thus begins the funkadelic, intergalactic journey that is Parliament’s Mothership Connection.
Being a bassist, I’ve been aware of Parliament’s work since I first started playing; bassist Bootsy Collins and his star-shaped axe are on the wall of basically every guitar shop’s section for the instrument – and for good reason. His bass lines were the pulse in the disco and funk infused veins of club culture in the 70s.
I love any music that makes me feel a strong emotion. With Mothership Connection, I find myself not only infatuated with the thumping dance bass lines and unique sultry vocals, but am swept away to another musical world by the funky pageantry; a harmonious existence that can only be created by the Father of Funk himself, George Clinton. And with Clinton as captain, I’ll glide and stride my way up on the Mothership. (Michael Sessions)
However, if Bootsy’s bass was the pulse, George Clinton’s vocals and lyricism were the heart. A North Carolinian like myself – so you know he’s good – Clinton is credited with being one of the fathers of funk, producing not only Parliament but equally influential funk and neo-funk acts such as Funkadelic and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His outlandish hair is matched only by his penchant for creating the funkiest of funk music from its inception in the 70s to the latest hit. The premiere evangelist for the Church of Funk, in this album, he helps answer the age old question of if there is “funk after death.”
Spoiler alert: there is.
The album itself is a masterpiece of atmosphere, transporting you to a place where words like “groovy,” “sucka” and “funkalicious” roll off the tongue and closed eyes envision only crowded discotheques filled with bright-colored leisure suits. The obvious standout is penultimate track “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)” starting with the opening purr of Ray Davis imploring us to “tear the roof off the sucka.” You’d be hard-pressed to find any lover of music who hasn’t heard the gang vocal chorus of “We want the funk / give up the funk / we need the funk / gotta have that funk.”
My only misgiving of the album is not so much anything to do with the music as much as it has to do with personal preference, in that I’m not always in the mood for its grooves. But, when the moment is right, there’s not much better than letting the mothership beam you away from your desk at work for a 40 minute trip across the galaxy.
There’s so much that has been done for music with this album and it’s listed on several prominent lists of greatest or most influential records. While it may not have the thematic cohesiveness of a Dark Side of the Moon or the raw topical honesty of a Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, it evokes a viscerally emotional response. Something innate that gets the head bobbing and the toes tapping.
Mothership Connection is funk strictly for funk’s sake. And that’s exactly what kind of legislation Parliament is trying to pass.
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Released: December 15, 1975
Suggested by: Mike Sessions
For project details and to suggest your own favorite album, visit the intro page.