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Assessing the scope of Parliament/Funkadelic is like trying to write a thumbnail history of, say, Hinduism. The numerous groups that have emerged from under the P-Funk umbrella since Funkadelic debuted in 1968 constitute one of the most ambitious, wide-ranging, and downright chaotic musical undertakings ever. To merely address the guitar legacy of Parliament, Funkadelic, the P-Funk All-Stars, Clinton's "solo" albums, Bootsy's Rubber Band, the Brides Of Funkenstein, and the other P-Funk offshoots is only slightly less daunting.
Two constants underlie P-Funk's bewildering history: the ongoing sociomusical vision of band. leader/mastermind George Clinton, and the groups' unwavering dedication to both the rawest and most radical aspects of The Funk. Funk embraces almost every facet of American pop music, and the P-Funk groups have played it all. Sift through the bands' huge catalog, and you'll hear heavy metal, blues, soul, swing, rock and roll, doo-wop, jazz fusion, disco, psychedelia, quasi-classical passages--most of it set to the heaviest dance beats this side of James Brown, the only artist who matches Clinton & Co.'s primacy in the funk field. "No one really realizes the range of music w played," insists guitarist Garry Shider, a P-Funk stalwart since 1972.
The P-Funk sound at any particular time has a lot to do with whoever is playing guitar and bass. Dozens of players have served on Clinton's Mothership, some resigning and re-enlisting in revolving-door fashion. Each guitarist brought his own attitudes and influences. Some were steeped in Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, and Stanley Clarke, others in Muddy Waters and Albert King. Some took their cue from the heroics of Hendrix and Page, others from the lean groove work of Steve Cropper, Phil Upchurch, and James Brown's Jimmy Nolen. The approaches of the P-Funk bassists are equally broad, ranging from the tough simplicity of Billy "Bass" Nelson to the florid, space-bass shenanigans of William "Bootsy" Collins.
"I always felt we should have all types of guitarists, all types of styles," explains Clinton. "We were the original punk rockers when we started out. Then the Horny Horns and Bootsy came in, and we suddenly had James Brown-style rhythm players. When the Eagles got big back in the '70s, we started adding harmony guitars." More recent P-Funk-related projects have featured modernistic shred work from Stevie...