George Clinton with Ben Greenman
Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You? A Memoir by George Clinton with Ben Greenman
350 pages of funk! The history of George, Parliament, Funkadelic and all the off shoots like Bootsy and times with Sly Stone. From barbershop doo wop to providing the backing tracks for rappers hip hop and beyond. It's an instructive story about the birth of this funk phenomenon and how he was influenced by the British invasion when white boys from London and Liverpool brought blues back to America. Interweaving with other artist's stories such as Motown, Sly, Prince and many others. A fascinating read from a historic perspective. Although in some ways it's a little too instructive with not enough of the very funny anecdotes that are sprinkled through the memoir. There's also a lot dealing with how the Parliament Funkadelic stable were ripped off by so many managers and lawyers around them and indeed there's an appendix that deals with that. Maybe it's too broad covering musical history, incidents and the underside of the music business. And a bit of personal politics thrown in. You feel sorry for George that he's pretty pissed at so many people although as he says he always finds his way back through the funk. But there again he seems to have enjoyed his life at the top of music - and if you spend decades as a crack addict I guess people around you will rip you off and pretty easily. There are some off omissions as to the musical history in that punk rock is ignored completely and reggae and it's offspring such as dub is only mentioned in passing. Nevertheless a good read but one where you think you'd like a bit more of what he actually got up to when not working.
No comments:
Post a Comment