Today George Clinton is 65 years old. Born in the South and raised in the North, he started out doing Doo-Wop but ended up defining Funk. With his groups, Parliament and Funkadelic, Clinton fused R&B rhythms, psychedelic rock sensibilities, and call-and-response vocals into a fresh universe of sound. A signature staple of any given Parliament/Funkadelic performance from 1975-77 was The Mothership – a giant spaceship which would descend upon the stage in an aura of smoke machine glory and disgorge P-Funk All Stars in outrageous costumes. Although pyrotechnics and psychedelia may not be your style, you have a mothership of your own. Where you decide to land and in what kind of regalia is up to you. But you got it, so fly it. If you’re feeling unmotivated, just remember the message on the second track of the 1977 release, “Parliament Live: The P-Funk Earth Tour”: If you ain’t gonna get it on, a-take your dead ass home. And if that doesn’t do it, incantate one of Clinton’s favorite riffs: Shit! Godddamn! Get Off Your Ass and Dance! What better mottos are there to live by?
