Funkadelic – Music For My Mother from the Westbound 45

Running on some extremely good Costa Rican coffee (roasted right here in AP) I obtained from Asbury Park Roastery , I bring you the weekend edition of Flea Market Funk. It’s a day to honor your mother, and what better way to say it through some funk, courtesy of Funkadelic and “Music for My Mother” on Westbound. Some of you might have noticed I took a clip of this track on my intro to the Saturday Night Waffle Mix, which I was just tipped to that it’s on some Russian music board for download. I guess Funk and Soul mixes travel around the world fast, so to the Russian States fans of FMF, I say welcome, strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride.

When this record came out in 1970, George Clinton had already lost the name from his previous band, The Parliaments from his former record label. The hairdresser by day enlisted the back up band to step forward into the limelight (Funkadelic the name copped by Billy Nelson and his bandmates fondness for the Lysergic and the sound they produced ), and he and his former band mates (the singers) took a step back. So essentially the backing band became the stars, and Clinton and co. took a back seat. This chess move enabled him to get around losing the original name, but keep the band, ya dig? Following suit to the psychedelic sound of Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, this essentially black rock band put the “F” in fuzz. Clinton took guitarist Eddie Hazel’s signature fuzzed out sound (rumored to be discovered after they borrowed Vanilla Fudge’s amps for a gig) and recorded a down home Funk, Psychedelic Soul, and bluesy record that would define the Funkadelic sound from then on. This record, as mentioned previously was recorded on Westbound, out of Detroit. The city being marred by race riots the previous year, civil rights disturbances in the city and around the country, the assassination of MLK and Malcom X, and the formation of the Black Panther Party all were contributing factors to the underlying tone of Funkadelic’s recordings. It may sound like they were having a good time (of course they were), but there were some dark times, drug use, the Vietnam War, and an ever changing world for this band to deal with. Couple those feelings with a dabble in LSD and psychedelic culture, and you’ve got a very unique sound that Funkadelic are known for. Although at the time they did not enjoy the same success as Sly or Jimi, their sound is one that has been influential throughout the years. It’s kind of funny, as I type this, a Honda commercial came on TV with a P-Funk song helping to sell a mini van.

Spinning spaced out tales of raw funk, shouting spiritual chants and keeping a bad ass groove (and by the way, they were B-A-D way before Michael Jackson shouted it), this track smokes (whether they were on the Cannibus or LSD) from start to finish. Tiki Fullwood , Eddie Hazel and Billy Nelson stay in the pocket hard. I know I talk about slow groovers, and this is no exception. It’s slow grooving all right, but add the fuzzed out sound via some acid rock guitar, some heavy funk sound and it’s on til the break of dawn.

I can not recommend this track enough. This was the first time I’ve seen the record out digging and couldn’t pass it up. I encourage you to get it if you see it. Here’s to all the Mothers out there. Happy Mother’s Day, and as always Keep Diggin’!