| 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 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 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]
The 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]
| 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.
| 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 | ||
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[21] | 13 |
| US R&B Albums[21] | 4 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[22] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
