| Let's Take It to the Stage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 21, 1975 | |||
| Genre | Funk rock | |||
| Length | 35:57 | |||
| Label | Westbound | |||
| Producer | George Clinton | |||
| Funkadelic chronology | ||||
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Let's Take It to the Stage is the seventh album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released in April 1975 on Westbound Records. The album charted at number 102 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on the R&B Albums. [1]
Let's Take It to the Stage is a funk rock album. [2] The opening track, "Good to Your Earhole", features extensive guitar parts and a pronounced funk groove played by the rhythm section. [3] According to Funkadelic bandleader George Clinton, the guitar solo for "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" was performed by "a smack addict" guitar player who had found his way into the studio. He asked Clinton if he could play for some cash and proceeded to play "like he was possessed", soloing over the entire duration of the song. He received $50 for his efforts without Clinton ever learning his name. [4] In a July 2009 interview with Vintage Guitar , guitarist Paul Warren said that he played the solo. [5]
The closing track "Atmosphere", which begins with a monologue by Clinton about "dicks and clits", [6] appropriates an extended organ coda from Johann Sebastian Bach. [7] "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" has been sampled on several hip hop hits, including Brand Nubian's "Slow Down", Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise", and N.W.A's "100 Miles and Runnin'". [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Blender | [6] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A– [7] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [10] |
| The Village Voice | B+ [11] |
Reviewing the album in 1975, Billboard magazine called it a collection of Funkadelic's "usual good mix of soul and jazz sounds, mixed in with singing and street raps", citing the title track and "Baby I Owe You Something Good" as highlights. [12] In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau said Funkadelic finally does on record "what they've always promised to do in the hype—make the Ohio Players sound like the Mike Curb Congregation." [11] Years later, he wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) that, despite the group's "disturbingly occultish bent", the music is "tough-minded, outlandish, very danceable, and finally, I think (and hope), liberating"; [7] for Blender , he said it is their "tightest album ... all 10 tracks rock on." [6]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett found Let's Take It to the Stage to be one of the band's most comical records with "more P-Funk all-time greats as well, making for a grand balance of the serious and silly." [3] Sasha Frere-Jones, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), said it was "a summing-up of everything Funkadelic had done to date, and is still their most playable record." He felt that, although Clinton's "sexual politics weren't at their best" on tracks such as "No Head No Backstage Pass", the album is exemplary of the band's musicianship. [13]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Good to Your Earhole" | George Clinton, Grace Cook, Fuzzy Haskins | 4:30 |
| 2. | "Better By the Pound" (released as a single-Westbound 5014) | Clinton, Cook | 2:40 |
| 3. | "Be My Beach" | Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell | 2:35 |
| 4. | "No Head, No Backstage Pass" | Clinton, Ron Bykowski | 2:36 |
| 5. | "Let's Take It to the Stage" (released as a single-Westbound 5026) | Clinton, Collins, Garry Shider | 3:32 |
| 6. | "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" | Clinton | 2:00 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Baby I Owe You Something Good" | Clinton | 5:43 |
| 8. | "Stuffs and Things" (released as the B-side of "Better By The Pound") | Clinton, Cook | 2:11 |
| 9. | "The Song Is Familiar" | Clinton, Collins, Worrell | 3:05 |
| 10. | "Atmosphere" | Clinton, Shider, Worrell | 7:05 |
"Good To Your Earhole" was sampled by Childish Gambino on the song "Riot".
Parliament-Funkadelic is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their eclectic style has drawn on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor. They released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology would help pioneer Afrofuturism.
Maggot Brain is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by bandleader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 and early 1971. The album was the final LP recorded by the original Funkadelic lineup; after its release, founding members Tawl Ross (guitar), Billy Nelson (bass), and Tiki Fulwood (drums) left the band for various reasons.
America Eats Its Young is the fourth album by Funkadelic, released in May 1972. This was the first album to include the whole of the House Guests, including Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, Chicken Gunnels, Rob McCollough and Kash Waddy. It also features the Plainfield-based band U.S., which consisted of guitarist Garry Shider and bassist Cordell Mosson, on most of the tracks. Unlike previous Funkadelic albums, America Eats Its Young was recorded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in the UK. The original vinyl version contained a poster illustrated by Cathy Abel. The bottom of the poster features the first widespread appearance of the Funkadelic logo, which would appear on the cover of their next album Cosmic Slop.
Cosmic Slop is the fifth studio album by Funkadelic, released in July 1973 on Westbound Records. While it has been favorably reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, producing no charting singles, and reaching only #112 on the Billboard pop chart and #21 on the R&B chart. The album was re-released on CD in 1991.
Hardcore Jollies is the ninth studio album by the funk rock band Funkadelic, released on October 29, 1976 by Warner Bros. Records, their first album to be issued on a major label. It is dedicated to "the guitar players of the world." Originally, the first side of the album was called "Osmosis Phase 1" and the second side was "Terribitus Phase 2." Hardcore Jollies was released one month after Funkadelic's final album for Westbound Records, Tales of Kidd Funkadelic, which was recorded during the same sessions.
Tales of Kidd Funkadelic is the eighth studio album by the band Funkadelic, released in September 1976. It was their final album on the Westbound record label. The tracks were recorded during the same sessions as their first release for Warner Brothers Records, Hardcore Jollies; which was released a month later. Two tracks from Tales of Kidd Funkadelic, the single “Undisco Kidd” and the party anthem “Take Your Dead Ass Home!” have been staples in the band’s live performances since the album’s 1976 release, and can be heard on the 1977 Parliament concert album Live: P-Funk Earth Tour. The album opener “Butt-To-Buttresuscitation” and the song “I’m Never Gonna Tell It” were included in the band’s live shows during the early 2000s. The song "Let's Take It to the People" has been sampled by hip-hop band A Tribe Called Quest for their song "Everything Is Fair", on their album The Low End Theory.
Standing on the Verge of Getting It On is the sixth studio album by Funkadelic, released on Westbound Records, released in July 1974. It is notable for featuring the return of guitarist Eddie Hazel.
Uncle Jam Wants You is a concept album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1979, and was later reissued on CD by Priority Records. It was produced by George Clinton under the alias Dr. Funkenstein. It is the first Funkadelic album since America Eats Its Young in 1972 not to sport a cover illustrated by Funkadelic artist Pedro Bell, though Bell did provide artwork for the album’s back cover and interior. Uncle Jam Wants You was the second Funkadelic album to be certified gold. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Garry Marshall Shider was an American musician and guitarist. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars for much of their history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome is the sixth studio album by the American funk band Parliament, released in 1977.
Chocolate City is the third album by the funk band Parliament, released in 1975. It was a "tribute to Washington D.C.", where the group had been particularly popular. The album's cover includes images of the United States Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial in the form of a chocolate medallion, as well as sticker labeled "Washington DC". The album was very popular in the capitol city, selling 150,000 copies alone there.
Computer Games is the debut album by American funk musician George Clinton, released by Capitol Records on November 5, 1982. Though technically Clinton's first "solo" album, the record featured most of the same personnel who had appeared on recent albums by Parliament and Funkadelic, both formally disbanded by Clinton in 1981. Conceived in the aftermath of a period marked by financial and personal struggles for Clinton, Computer Games restored his popularity for a short time before P-Funk fell victim to renewed legal problems and scant label support in the mid-1980s.
The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein is the fifth album by funk band Parliament, released in September 1976. The album is notable for featuring horn arrangements by ex-James Brown band member, Fred Wesley. The album charted at #3 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart, #20 on the Billboard pop chart, and became Parliament's second album to be certified gold. Two singles were released off the album, "Do That Stuff", which charted at #22, and "Dr. Funkenstein" which charted at #43.
Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs is the debut album by Parliament-Funkadelic lead guitarist Eddie Hazel. The album was released on July 29, 1977. It was Hazel's only album until his death in 1992, when it was followed by several posthumous releases.
Up for the Down Stroke is an album by the American funk band Parliament. It was the band's second album, and their first to be released on Casablanca Records. The album was released on July 3, 1974. Its title track was Parliament's first chart hit and remains one of the most well-known P-Funk songs. The album also contains a funk reworking of The Parliaments' song "(I Wanna) Testify" under the title "Testify". The original title of the album was Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good, and the cover featured group leader George Clinton hovering over a woman in distress, sporting a black wig and monster-type gloves.
Motor City Madness is a compilation album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in 2003 by Westbound Records. It features a selection of songs previously released on the band's original albums for Westbound from 1970 to 1976. The compilation's 29 tracks span the length of two discs. Music critic Robert Christgau has said that, "for those with the heart for it, this is their most listenable album."
George Clinton: The Mothership Connection is a DVD released in 1998 and then reissued in 2001, featuring George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. The DVD features a concert performed by Parliament-Funkadelic at The Summit in Houston, Texas on October 31, 1976. The DVD documents the beginning of famed P-Funk Earth Tour, which would run for almost two years.
Plush Funk is the third installment of the George Clinton Family Series collection. The album was released in 1993 by P-Vine Records in Japan, and then was released the next year by AEM Records in the United States and Sequel Records in the United Kingdom. The CD features the track "May Day (S.O.S)", which was an outtake from the Funkadelic album "The Electric Spanking of War Babies".
U.S. Music with Funkadelic is a self-titled album consisting of tracks recorded in the early 1970s by the band United Soul with input from members of Funkadelic. The album was released by Westbound Records in 2009, and was licensed by Ace Records for its European release.
Live...Capitol Theatre 1978 is a three-CD live album by the American funk band Parliament-Funkadelic. The album was released in the UK in November 2017 by the RoxVox label. The CD features the band performing at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on November 6, 1978, during their "One Nation/Anti-Tour". The liner notes feature a transcription of a December 7, 1978 article about Parliament-Funkadelic from Jet magazine.
If ever an album deserved to be called ahead of its time, this catchy and challenging funk-rock raveup definitely qualifies.
