“Mothership Connection” by Parliament - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1975 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

A whole lotta rhythm goin’ down… yowsa yowsa yowsa etc etc. Can’t say I was ever overly impressed by George Clinton’s hipster-approved brand of pop-funk, but “Mothership Connection” certainly had its moments – the cartoon-esque wide-eyed tongue-in-cheek humour helped some, as did the addition of disgruntled members from the JB’s horn section, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker. I’ll take them over Earth, Wind & Fire anyday. Describing the album’s concept, George said: “We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang.”

The Jukebox Rebel
21–Mar–2011

Tracklist

A1	[07:41] Parliament - P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up) (George Clinton, William Collins, Bernie Worrell) Disco / Funk
A2	[06:13] Parliament - Mothership Connection (Star Child) (George Clinton, William Collins, Bernie Worrell) Disco / Funk
A3	[04:23] Parliament - Unfunky UFO (George Clinton, William Collins, Garry Shider) Disco / Funk
B1	[05:03] Parliament - Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication (George Clinton, William Collins, Bernie Worrell, Garry Shider) Disco / Funk
B2	[04:02] Parliament - Handcuffs (George Clinton, Glen Goins, McLaughlin) Disco / Funk
B3	[05:46] Parliament - Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) (George Clinton, William Collins, Jerome Brailey) Disco / Funk
B4	[05:10] Parliament - Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples (George Clinton, William Collins, Garry Shider) Disco / Funk

ratings by TJR