Brothas Be, Yo, George: Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?
…not to give anything away, but the answer isn’t as solid a “yes” as you may think.
Personally, I’d have to imagine that funkin’ would be kinda hard on anyone. Add in decades of legal drama mixed in with as many decades of drug abuse, and it’s a wonder that George Clinton is even standing. The Detroit-by-way-of-Jersey legend is one of the most influential musicians of his time. As a solo artist, with Funkadelic and Parliament, and as the guiding force for acts ranging from Bootsy Collins to Roger Troutman to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Clinton has more than proven his talent as a musician. But is he talented enough to author (well, co-author) an interesting book?
Funkin‘ is not as detailed and illuminating as, say, The One (the fairly recent biography about James Brown) and it’s nowhere near as catty and humorous as the recent posthumous Rick James memoir. It’s a surprisingly breezy read, and Clinton seems to speed-write through his life, not stopping on any particular incident (or era) too much. Then again, trying to fit fifty years of craziness into something readable is probably a Herculean task.
Despite said craziness, George comes across as a relatively well-adjusted, almost happy-go-lucky kinda guy. He recounts most of his life with relish-from his days as a hairdresser in the Fifties to the Mothership salad days in the mid-to-late Seventies. He reserves most of his vitriol (which is mild, at best) to a couple of shadowy figures that he claims screwed him out of a ton of money (and notes that many legal cases involving Parliament/Funkadelic’s music are still pending) with a handful of baby darts thrown at the likes of Prince (and if you follow Prince these days, you should not be the least bit surprised by Clinton’s beef.) He gives props to many of the folks that influenced him, daps a solid chunk of hip-hop nation, and reserves special praise for folks like longtime associate Bootsy Collins and running buddy Sly Stone.
If you’re looking for a good weekend read, you could do a lot worse with Funkin’, although I wouldn’t place it at the top of my must-read list. Wait for the paperback, and make sure you support your reading with a healthy dose of Funkadelic and Parliament classics. That’s where the real funk is.