Mothership Connection is the fourth album by Americanfunk bandParliament, released on December 15, 1975, onCasablanca Records. Thisconcept album is often rated among the bestParliament-Funkadelic releases, and was the first to feature horn playersMaceo Parker andFred Wesley, previously ofJames Brown's backing bandthe J.B.'s.
| Mothership Connection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 15, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | March–October 1975[1] | |||
| Studio | United Sound, Detroit, Michigan, and Hollywood Sound, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:18 | |||
| Label | Casablanca NBLP 7022/Def Jam | |||
| Producer | George Clinton | |||
| Parliament chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Mothership Connection | ||||
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Mothership Connection became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum.[7] It was supported by the hit "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)," the band's first million-selling single. TheLibrary of Congress added the album to theNational Recording Registry in 2011, declaring that it "has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music."[8]
Concept
editThe album is held together by an outer-space theme.[2] Describing the concept, George Clinton said "We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like theWhite House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a big fan ofStar Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like aCadillac, and we did all theseJames Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang."[9] The album's concept would form the backbone of P-Funk's concert performances during the 1970s, in which a large spaceship prop known asthe Mothership would be lowered onto the stage.[10]
BBC Music described the album as a pioneering work ofAfrofuturism "set in a future universe where black astronauts interact with alien worlds."[11] Journalist Frasier McAlpine stated: "As a reaction to an increasingly fraught 1970s urban environment in which African-American communities faced the end of the optimism of thecivil rights era, this flamboyant imagination (and let's be frank, exceptional funkiness) was both righteous and joyful."[11]
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[5] |
| Blender | [12] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A−[13] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10[3] |
| PopMatters | (favorable)[14] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [15] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 10/10[16] |
| Sputnikmusic | [17] |
On release,Rolling Stone called the album a "parody of modern funk" and stated that "unlike theOhio Players orCommodores, the group refuses to play it straight. Instead, Clinton spews his jive, conceived from some cosmic funk vision."[18] In a positive review,Village Voice criticRobert Christgau stated that Clinton "keeps the beat going with nothing but his rap, some weird keyboard, and cymbals for stretches of side one," and described "Give Up the Funk" as "galactic."[13]
Retrospectively,Mothership Connection has been widely acclaimed, and it is typically considered to be one of the best albums by theParliament-Funkadelic collective.Rolling Stone's 2003 review gave the record 5 stars: "The masterpiece, the slang creator, the icon builder, the master narrative--or 'the bomb,' as Clinton succinctly put it before anyone else." Jason Birchmeier ofAllMusic called it "the definitive Parliament-Funkadelic album," in which "George Clinton's revolving band lineups, differing musical approaches, and increasingly thematic album statements reached an ideal state, one that resulted in enormous commercial success as well as a timeless legacy."[2]Dr. Dre famously sampled "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" on "Let Me Ride" and "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" on "The Roach (The Chronic Outro)", both from his 1992 albumThe Chronic.[citation needed]
The album has received many retrospective accolades, including being namedVH1's 55th greatest album of all time. In 2012, it was ranked at number 276 onRolling Stone magazine's list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time; it was featured again on the 2020 edition, at number 363.[19][20]Vibe listedMothership Connection in their "Essential Black Rock Recordings" list, and it was included in the 2005 book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" | George Clinton,Bootsy Collins,Bernie Worrell | 7:41 |
| 2. | "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" | Clinton, Collins, Worrell | 6:13 |
| 3. | "Unfunky UFO" | Clinton, Collins,Garry Shider | 4:23 |
| Total length: | 18:17 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication" | Clinton, Collins, Shider, Worrell | 5:03 |
| 5. | "Handcuffs" | Clinton,Glenn Goins, Janet McLaughlin | 4:02 |
| 6. | "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" | Jerome Brailey, Clinton, Collins | 5:46 |
| 7. | "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" | Clinton, Collins, Shider | 5:10 |
| Total length: | 20:01 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Star Child (Mothership Connection)" (Promo Radio Version) | Clinton, Collins, Worrell | 3:08 |
| Total length: | 41:26 | ||
Personnel
edit- Vocals -George Clinton (lead on "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" and "Mothership Connection (Star Child)"),Calvin Simon,Fuzzy Haskins,Ray Davis,Grady Thomas,Gary Shider (co-lead on "Handcuffs"),Glenn Goins (lead on "Unfunky UFO" and "Handcuffs"),Bootsy Collins
- Horns -Fred Wesley,Maceo Parker,Michael Brecker,Randy Brecker, Boom, Joe Farrell
- Bass guitar -Bootsy Collins,Cordell Mosson
- Guitars - Garry Shider,Michael Hampton, Glenn Goins, Bootsy Collins
- Drums andpercussion -Tiki Fulwood,Jerome Brailey, Bootsy Collins, Gary Cooper
- Keyboards -Bernie Worrell (Minimoog,Wurlitzer electric piano,ARP Pro Soloist andString Ensemble,RMI Electra Piano,Hammond organ,grand piano,Fender Rhodes,Clavinet D6)[1]
- Backing vocals andhandclaps - Gary Cooper, Debbie Edwards, Taka Kahn, Archie Ivy, Bryna Chimenti, Rasputin Boutte, Pam Vincent, Debra Wright, Sidney Barnes
- Production
- Produced by George Clinton
- Engineered by Jim Vitti (in Detroit, Michigan), Ralph (Oops) Jim Callon (in Hollywood, California)
- Mastered by Allen Zentz
- Photography by David Alexander
- Art Direction and Design by Gribbitt!
Chart positions
edit| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[21] | 13 |
| US R&B Albums[21] | 4 |
Certification
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[22] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ab"Parliament's 1975 LP Mothership Connection revisited with Bernard Worrell". Soulculture.com. 24 March 2012. Retrieved2015-02-24.
- ^abcdBirchmeier, Jason.Mothership Connection atAllMusic
- ^abReview:Mothership ConnectionArchived February 6, 2009, at theWayback Machine
- ^Robins, Wayne (2016).A Brief History of Rock, Off the Record.Routledge. p. 286.ISBN 978-0-415-97472-1.
- ^ab"Review:Mothership Connection". Superseventies.com. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^Keister, Jay (2019)."Black Prog: Soul, Funk, Intellect and the Progressive Side of Black Music of the 1970s"(PDF).American Music Research Center Journal.28:5–22. RetrievedJanuary 29, 2021 – via colorado.edu.
- ^"American album certifications – Parliament".Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^"Registry Choices 2010: The National Recording Preservation Board (Library of Congress)". Loc.gov. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^Niesel, Jeff (2013-06-26)."Cleveland - Music - Turn This Mutha Out". Clevescene.com. Archived fromthe original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^Richards, Chris (May 18, 2011)."Smithsonian acquires Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. RetrievedDecember 14, 2013.
- ^abMcAlpine, Frasier (2 March 2018)."8 afrofuturist classics everyone needs to hear".BBC Music. Retrieved8 April 2021.
- ^Review:Mothership Connection[dead link]
- ^abChristgau, Robert (1981)."Consumer Guide '70s: P".Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies.Ticknor & Fields.ISBN 089919026X. RetrievedMarch 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^Bowden, Marshall."Review:Mothership Connection". Popmatters.com. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004).Review:Mothership Connection. Simon and Schuster.ISBN 9780743201698. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^Rubin, Mike (1995). "P-Funk". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.).Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. p. 296.ISBN 0679755748.
- ^"Review:Mothership Connection". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved2013-07-14.
- ^McEwen, Joe (March 25, 1976)."Mothership Connection | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone".Rolling Stone. Retrieved13 November 2011.
- ^"500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time".Rolling Stone. 2012. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2019.
- ^"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved2021-06-24.
- ^abMothership Connection atAllMusic
- ^"American album certifications – Parliament – Mothership Connection".Recording Industry Association of America.