Are George Clinton’s solo albums worth a listen? As a fairly new P-Funk fan, I haven’t heard much talk about Clinton’s solo releases. Computer Games seems to be well regarded, probably in large part thanks to Atomic Dog, but I can’t get a grasp as to whether the rest are worth a listen. I was surprised by how much I liked You Shouldn’t-Nuf Bit Fish, but he’s got a fairly large catalog under his own name and there’s so much more P-Funk related albums I want to listen to so I’m wondering if I should save these for later down the road or keep going with Clinton before moving onto The Horny Horns, Parlet, etc. What do you think of Clinton’s solo stuff?
Oh HELL yeah! George Clinton is my Go-To guy for GENUINE Funk Forget all the Poser Hip/Hop (although some of it can be quite good) I have every damn album he's made I'm pretty sure. Even the more recent UK pressing of Dope Dogs which is actually quite good! Being an absolute Clinton devotee I would most highly recommend all his albums. Computer Games likely being the strongest with the greatest smash hit of all time Atomic Dog. But, I also have Some of My Best Jokes are Friends, and The Cinderella Theory, and maybe some others I don't remember. I would jump on his stuff WAY before venturing off to the Horny Horns or whomever, unless that is specifically your Thang... The only stand alone Clinton alumnae that I would recommend just about as highly is anything Bootsy has done, I have all of his too. Of course, I always suggest sampling any album first online to see if you like it. I hope that helps! Cheers!
They're basically P-Funk albums, billed a solo for legal reasons. Computer Games is essential, one of his career peaks, and You Shouldn't Nuf Bit Fish is nearly as good ("Quickie" is a classic). The others get spottier due to personnel turnover and confusion in musical direction, but everything has good moments. Of the later ones, my favorite is The Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Mothership which is long, sprawling and mostly vintage sounding. "If Anybody's Gonna Get Funked Up, It's Gonna Be You" is a lost classic here.
Hmmm... Didn't know about that one thanks! ***EDIT Bet you don't have Dope Dogs though... It's kind of rare...
My Gateway into P-Funk was The Cinderella Theory. It’s weird but wonderful. Next I got RnB Skeletons in the Closet, and I loved it. It’s hard to find on CD now. George’s solo-billed stuff is definitely worth checking out.
On my journey, every single time I think George is going to let me down, he eventually wins me over. Some albums take a little more time than others to click with me but I’ve heard nothing he’s involved in yet that I don’t like at least to some extent. That’s 35 albums so far. So I reckon I’ll keep going with his “solo” stuff. Thanks for the input everyone!
It’s going to be an even longer journey getting all of these on vinyl. I have only 5 of the 35 so far. 1 Eddie, 4 Funkadelic.
I got it on white vinyl when it came out, to be honest though I don’t think that much of it and haven’t listened to it for years. Maybe I should give it another chance. Hopefully not too off topic but I’d recommend the excellent George Clinton Family series of compilations if you want to explore P-funk beyond the usual suspects.
Ah yes... It is on White vinyl pressed in the UK. Give it another chance Bro, I think the songs are far stronger than some later Parliament stuff by far.
Oh yeah! Don't forget Eddie DAMN good album that they released recently on vinyl, sound really nice too!
Of all of the P-Funk related stuff I’ve heard so far, it’s actually my second favourite, and the second I heard. I jumped on that rerelease as soon as it came out.
Of course. Computer Games of course is a stone P Funk classic. I personally like Hey Man, Smell My Finger a lot too. You Shouldn't Nuf Bit Fish and to my taste, to a somewhat lesser degree, Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, are ones I like too. R&B Skeletons in the Close and The Cinderella Theory less so.
Is Dope Dogs rare? I know there were multiple versions of it in different markets, but it's streaming on streaming services, and available to purchase as a download from Qobuz, seems pretty easily accessible to listeners today. I have it on CD from back in the day I think from the Japanese PVine release. I think it's the last great PFunk record myself. If we're talking about PFunk Allstars billed records, to me Urban Dancefloor Guerillas and Dope Dogs are A-one prime, don't miss 'em P.Funk albums.
Here’s another vote for The Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership as essential. I’ve also listened to Hey Man, Smell My Finger a few times recently - it’s much better than I remembered!
Dope Dogs is a great one to check out, can't remember which pressing as they have different songs I think. There are great tracks throughout all his "solo" albums, Quickie, Hey Good Lookin, obviously Computer Games... But my favourite album is the P Funk all stars one, Urban Dancefloor Guerillas. Hydraulic Pump is 15 years ahead if its time. Daft Punk eat your heart out. Generator Pop is another superb track. Highly recommend this album!!
Great stuff- particularly Computer Games You shouldn't of bit fish Hey Man Smell My Finger TAPOAFOM And all 3 editions of Dope Dogs have some unique essential tracks - one of his strongest projects
Urban Dancefloor Guerillas is one I’m very familiar with. I can’t get enough of Catch a Keeper and I have strong emotional ties to Hydraulic Pump.
I would definitely get Computer Games and You Shouldn't of Bit Fish. You need Computer Games just for the track below which contains some Eddie Hazel's best guitar playing:
Another classic track from the Capitol era. This was when he was just staring to use programmed drums but it works great on this one:
My top two all-time artists, if I had to choose, are Prince and P-Funk. P-Funk being the umbrella term for all things George Clinton, Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Brides Of Funkenstein, Parlet, P-Funk All Stars, etc, etc. I concur with anything others have said. I love all the GC solo stuff. You really can't go wrong if you've liked everything you mentioned. So get all you can! Dope Dogs is terrific! Yes, I have all three versions. I bought them in real-time. TAPOAFOM is terrific. Hydraulic Funk, which is a rerelease of Urban Dancefloor Guerillas with a different cover, and different sequence of songs and adds the two 12" extended mixes of Generator Pop and Hydraulic Pump (Pt 1 & 2) is also great. It makes a terrific album even better. The Family Series has a lot of great "lost" tracks from the entire P-Funk family. George Clinton and His Gangsters Of Love, mostly covers album, I quite like. Funkcronomicon, a Bill Laswell production that features many P-Funk alumni is also a lot of fun and has a terrific (Funkadelic) cover from Pedro Bell! Blacktronic Science by Bernie Worrell also terrific reunites George, Bernie, and Bootsy writing together for the first time since the 70s I believe. Sorry, I got a bit off-topic but wanted to highlight some of these releases that I've always and still do enjoy.
Generally here, I am only talking about vinyl and I THINK the white vinyl 2-LP UK release isn't super common. But, I may easily be wrong about that... ***EDIT I just looked up my pressing on Discogs. Basically NM copies not counting the ridiculous shipping from the UK are roughly around $75 or so, but there are quite a few of them.
