This is, without a doubt, the hippest piece of film ever posted on YouTube!! Of course, as a P-Funk fanatic I might be biased.I have never seen these images before. I doubt that many Funkadelic fans have. (“that dude,” where y’at?)
This is George Clinton and his band in New York City circa 1973, when Funkadelic was at the cutting edge of American rock ’n’ roll.
People say that audiences used to be scared of George. And you can see why... with his white face paint, fucked-up hairstyle and hoodoo gesticulations.
You got Fuzzy Haskins in his torn long johns... Garry Shider’s genitals swinging to and fro in his diaper... and the best look I’ve ever had at guitarist Ron Bykowski, the only white member of Funkadelic during the group’s early years on Westbound Records.
This. Is. Magic.
UPDATE (02/23/09): Thanks to my reader papasean, who explains that this video clip is part of a recent CD release called “Toys,” featuring assorted Funkadelic rarities. Happy Monday Gras!
circa 1973 New York,... Central Park Fountain & Bandstand, Columbus Circle at West 59TH Street, and Broadway's Times Square,.. all that n' Funkadelic standing on the verge of gettin' it on & takin' it to the stage!
ReplyDeleteWow. Flashback City!
oh, the diapers!
ReplyDeletewhere in the hell did you find this? i ain't done p-funk, or funkadelic, in a minute. this is some priceless sheeeiit.
ReplyDeleteWOW! For a brother who once paid $65.00 for "Games, Dames and Guitar Thangs" (which I considered the Holy Grail of Funk at the time), this is a real treat. This is why I started coming to this site in the first place. May the Funk Be With You, UBM!!!
ReplyDeleteand Broadway's Times Square,..
ReplyDeleteTimes Square's Naked Cowboy ain't got nothin' on Funkadelic! LOL!
Thanks for posting, UBM. And crazy props to the uploader of that youtube gem!
Incredible!
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting this up.
The Greatest Group(s) of all time.
ReplyDeletePeriod.
.
UBM! I own everything available by Funkadelic, my favorite group since I first heard them in 1970. I've never seen this. Of course I was seeing them live onstage at the time, but those are just memories now. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteYou never have to go far to leave the planet.
OH.
ReplyDeleteMy.
GAWD!!
Fuzzy and Ray Look so YOUNG... all of them do.
That's some great stuff!
I like the look George had. He has always had some great stage looks.
I'm glad y'all are feeling this like I'm feeling it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a thrill of discovery like this since I stumbled on Ruth Copeland in the early '90s.
^Don't think I've ever heard of Ms. Copeland. I might have to investigate.
ReplyDeleteImagine Funkadelic being invited to the White House Governors' Dinner instead of EW&F! :-D
I might have to investigate.
ReplyDeleteBklyn6, check this out. Nasty, nasty funk.
Was this part of the same shoot tht had the mothership landing in Times Square?
ReplyDelete^ I wondered that, dude... but it couldn't have been. This is definitely the pre-Mothership Mob, with Bykowski and all.
ReplyDeleteThis is from the new release from Westbound of un-released tracks, called Toys. Put the cd in your computer and you can see this video.
ReplyDeleteUltra-rare it is UBM.
Ya'll gotta check out "Stink Finger"
Funk is it's own reward!
^ Holy fucking shit, papasean!! Thanks for that news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting that Ruth Copeland track.
ReplyDeletePlay that funky music, white girl.
Got to ditto what everyone else is saying. That's absolutely legendary! Brilliant find!
ReplyDeleteI found this quote in a webisode by Graham Finch about one of my musical faves, Bettye LaVette, on Soulful Detroit:
ReplyDelete"George Clinton’s group had created something of a musical landmark with the teasingly funky I Wanna Testify in the summer of ’67 and quickly reentered Billboard’s chart with the similarly groovy All Your Goodies Are Gone. Yet despite the futuristic vibes of those hits, the five singers still sported conventional processed hairdos and pressed suits that had been de rigueur for so long. Bettye recalls how their style changed during the course of that 10-day run at Phelps:
“They put on their suits and George Clinton said ‘I’m gonna take it all the way’. He had a process with waves and he put his head under the water, so it would come out. And he put on this diaper with this big pin, and when they came out on stage everybody screamed - they thought it was a joke. But then the next night he wanted to be more bizarre; he wanted the next one to wear sunglasses. Every night it got more and more bizarre. By the time it was over, they were what you see now, or pretty much what you see now.”
^ Cool.
ReplyDelete"their style changed during the course of that 10-day run at Phelps"
ReplyDeleteWow the transition period...Phelps was a hip R&B club along with Henry's Palace, 20 Grand, etc. in the D. There's a picture in the "One Nation" documentary that was shown on PBS some time ago, with some of the band in tuxedo's and some in the funky attire, George had the mohawk and a tux on.
I assume that was taken in the dressing room at Phelps.
Funk on.