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| America Eats Its Young | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 22, 1972 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 69:06 | |||
| Label | Westbound | |||
| Producer | George Clinton | |||
| Funkadelic chronology | ||||
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America Eats Its Young is the fourth studio album and the first double album byFunkadelic, released in May 1972. This was the first album to include the whole of theHouse Guests, includingBootsy Collins,Catfish Collins, Chicken Gunnels, Rob McCollough and Kash Waddy. It also features the Plainfield-based band U.S. (United Soul), which consisted of guitaristGarry Shider and bassistCordell Mosson, on most of the tracks. Unlike previous Funkadelic albums,America Eats Its Young was recorded inToronto, Ontario, Canada, and in theUK. The original vinyl version contained a poster illustrated by Cathy Abel. The bottom of the poster features the first widespread appearance of the Funkadelic logo, which would appear on the cover of their next albumCosmic Slop.
According to Dave Rosen ofInk Blot,America Eats Its Young was radical in that it "devours"African-American music whole "and regurgitates it back as a virtual catalog of styles and sounds. Containing no hit singles and precious few catchy tunes,America Eats Its Young is primarily anexperimental record that doubles as a lesson in the history of black music."[4] Dave Swanson ofUltimate Classic Rock said that Funkadelic stripped away the "sounds of rock, funk, soul and psychedelia" that had defined their previous albums, instead delivering a "hard funk offering"[2] BiographerKris Needs described the album as Clinton's "grand statement" on theVietnam War and "other elements that were afflicting his country", and further added that it featured Clinton's "most ambitiously epic production yet to befit the socially-conscious themes bristling among the love ditties and reworks."[5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [6] |
| Blender | [7] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[8] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [9] |
| Funk (Rickey Vincent) | [10] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 6/10[11] |
| Mojo | [12] |
| Pitchfork | 8.1/10[1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [13] |
| Select | [3] |
Vernon Gibbs ofSoul Sounds wrote in 1973 that most fans of Funkadelic were "universal in their condemnation of certain parts ofAmerica Eats Its Young," while conceding it himself to have a "dearth of top notch material" for a double album, and said that the consensus highlights "could not offset the badly thought out stuff".[14]Robert Christgau wrote inChristgau's Record Guide (1981) that the album was marred by its double length, "programmatic lyrics" and usage of strings as well as Funkadelic's continued use of sleeve notes by theProcess Church of the Final Judgment, further singling out "Biological Speculation" and "Loose Booty" as the album's only good songs.[8]
Among retrospective reviews, Andrew Perry ofSelect panned the album as an unappealing, "clutteredjazz-rock fusion" that was alone in theParliament-Funkadelic discography and which "seldom [earned] the accolade of true funkadelia." He also felt Clinton was largely uninvolved with the album, which instead profiles "vague polemic" that provides "neither the entertainment nor the hedonistic alternative of the moon-age anti-manifesto that was Clinton's trademark".[3] Christgau revisited the album forBlender, where he reiterated his dislike of the liner notes and described it as "Funkadelic's worst album", whose domination byBernie Worrell scorched "the widespread and plausible muso theory that his keyboards were what made P-Funk P-Funk. Strewing chaos and screwing his friends, George Clinton was what made P-Funk P-Funk."[7] He later called it Clinton's "mostZappaesque" album.[15]
More positive was Ned Raggett ofAllMusic, who describedAmerica Eats Its Young as a double album that was "worth every minute of it" and a departure from the "endless slabs of double-album dreck that came around the same time" as Funkadelic brought "life, soul and much more to the party".[6]The Rolling Stone Album Guide says that althoughAmerica Eats Its Young is not Funkadelic's best album, it "introduces key elements that will lead Clinton toParliament", such as vocal harmonies and Worrell's playful, catchphrase-heavy humour, and favoured the "party tunes" over the album's "political anger".[13]Dominique Leone ofPitchfork called it a "disparate, schizophrenic record" where Clinton's attempts to make it morecrossover-friendly were thwarted by its length, adding "there's simply too much material, and too many conflicting directions to really make this seem anything other than aFrankenstein production." He nonetheless compared it tothe Beatles'1968 self-titled album due to it "containing too much great stuff to dismiss, but by almost anyone's standards, containing more than it needs."[1]Mojo named it an "expansive work by a huge funk collective".[12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Hit the Nail on the Head" | George Clinton,Clarence Haskins,Bernie Worrell | 7:10 |
| 2. | "If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause" (released as B-side to "Cosmic Slop"-single Westbound 218) | Clinton,Garry Shider | 3:43 |
| 3. | "Everybody Is Going to Make It This Time" | Clinton, Worrell | 5:50 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Joyful Process" (released as the B-side to "Loose Booty") | Clinton, Worrell | 6:10 |
| 2. | "We Hurt Too" | Clinton | 3:47 |
| 3. | "Loose Booty" (released as a single-Westbound 205) | Clinton, Harold Beane | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Philmore" | Bootsy Collins | 2:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Call My Baby Pussycat" | Clinton,Billy Bass Nelson,Eddie Hazel | 5:00 |
| 2. | "America Eats Its Young" | Beane, Clinton, Worrell | 5:45 |
| 3. | "Biological Speculation" | Clinton, Ernie Harris | 3:00 |
| 4. | "That Was My Girl" | Clinton,Sidney Barnes | 3:41 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Balance" | Clinton, Worrell | 5:52 |
| 2. | "Miss Lucifer's Love" | Clinton, Haskins | 5:50 |
| 3. | "Wake Up" | Clinton, James Wesley Jackson, Worrell | 6:20 |
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The song was recorded inLondon, with the assistance of English drummerGinger Baker, who was one of Clinton's favorite drummers.
Personnel:
This song starts off borrowing the music from the children'sChristian song, "Jesus Loves Me".
This song represents the first major songwriting effort ofBootsy Collins as a member ofParliament-Funkadelic, and is widely considered the introduction to his musical persona.
George Clinton sang lead vocals, with Frank Waddy on drums.
The song is a remake of a faster version, titled "I Call My Baby Pussycat", recorded byParliament on their 1970 albumOsmium. Two versions of the song (fast and slow), based on the original Parliament version, appear on the 1996 live Funkadelic releaseLive: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan – 12th September 1971.
This later version of the song was originally retitled "Pussy," and that title appears on the cover of some vinyl versions of the album, and on some modern CD reissues. Under record company pressure, the titled was restored to "I Call My Baby Pussycat," on future Parliament-Funkadelic releases featuring the song, and some future CD pressings ofAmerica Eats Its Young. Both titles can be found on modern CD pressings of the album.
The song is a remake of a 1965 version byThe Parliaments.
"Miss Lucifer's Love" features vocals byFuzzy Haskins and string and horn arrangements byBernie Worrell. Its songwriters areGeorge Clinton andFuzzy Haskins.
Album -Billboard (United States)[16]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Pop Albums | 123 |
| 1972 | R&B Albums | 22 |
Singles -Billboard (United States)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | “A Joyful Process” | R&B Singles | 38 |
