Parliament-Funkadelic Performs Live In 1976: Full Show Video
by Andy Kahn
Parliament-Funkadelic live at The Summit in Houston on October 31, 1976
"There was something futuristic about Parliament-Funkadelic and that was only fitting since they played a huge role in creating the future of music. Yet, for all the outer space and alien imagery, Parliament-Funkadelic was earthy, and funky and timely ... I went to see [George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic] at the Beverly Theatre and it was frightening, 14 people singing knee-deep in unison."
The above quote comes from Prince's 1997 speech inducting Parliament-Funkadelic into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Led by George Clinton, the collective popularized funk music while infusing elements of science-fiction and Afrofuturism into their records and the visual components accompanying them.
Numerous musicians have performed with Clinton in P-Funk over the years, with 15 others officially joining him in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, Calvin "Thang" Simon, Cardell "Boogie" Mosson, Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins, Eddie Hazel, Garry "Starchild" Shider, Gene Grady Thomas, Glenn Lamont Goins, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton, Raymond Davis, Tiki Fulwood, Walter "Junie" Morrison and William "Billy Bass" Nelson Jr.
Known for elaborate, space-themed performances that matched the Afrofuturistic music on their records, Parliament-Funkadelic developed a mythology and brought the Mothership to the masses. Featured for the final edition of Full Show Friday during African-American Music Appreciation Month, is a Parliament-Funkadelic concert from 1976.
The collective was born out of Clinton's 1950s doo-wop group The Parliaments, who in the early-1960s became known simply as Parliament, and whose groove-oriented sound eventually was dubbed P-Funk. They were formed alongside Clinton's other group, the psychedelic rock outfit, Funkadelic.
By the mid-1970s, the two bands were touring together under the Parliament-Funkadelic joint (no pun intended) moniker. In October 1976, Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic embarked on the P-Funk Earth Tour following the release of Parliament's landmark Afrofuturistic concept albums, Mothership Connection in 1975 and The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein in 1976, as well as Funkadelic's 1976 LPs, Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic and Hardcore Jollies.
While Clinton and his cohorts never needed Halloween for a reason to wear costumes, the concert below was recorded at The Summit in Houston on October 31, 1976. The collective's ever-evolving lineup at the time included Clinton, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, bassist Cordell "Boogie" Mosson, drummer Jerome Brailey, guitarists Michael Hampton, Garry "Starchild" Shider and Glenn Goins, a horn section made up of Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Richard Griffith and Rick Gardner and vocalists Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Calvin Simon, Ray Davis, Debbie Wright and Jeanette Washington.
The setlist that night wove together a few Funkadelic songs such as "Cosmic Slop," "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On," "The Undisco Kid (The Girl Is Bad)" and "Comin' Round the Mountain" with several now-classic Parliament songs like "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" and "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)." The iconic Mothership stage prop descends midway through the performance during "Mothership Connection (Star Child)."
The show ends with Clinton bringing up members of supporting acts Bootsy Collins Rubber Band and Sly & The Family Stone for "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)" and "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples." Watch P-Funk in concert below:
Songlist & Timings
0:00:25 - 0:02:03 Prelude 0:03:31 - 0:10:57 Cosmic Slop 0:10:59 - 0:14:33 Dr Funkenstein's Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication Medley 0:14:33 - 0:18:15 Do That Stuff 0:18:19 - 0:21:36 Gamin' On Ya 0:21:37 - 0:26:32 Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On 0:26:31 - 0:34:27 Undisco Kidd (The Girl Is Bad)/Pussy 0:34:27 - 0:37:24 Children Of Production 0:37:24 - 0:46:29 Mothership Connection (Star Child)/Swing Down Sweet Chariot 0:47:14 - 0:52:19 Dr Funkenstein 0:52:19 - 0:55:46 Comin' Round The Mountain 0:55:55 - 1:00:56 P Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up) 1:01:42 - 1:16:28 Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)/Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples 1:17:31 - 1:21:29 Funkin' For Fun
