Mothership Connection
by Parliament
- Type: Album
- Released: December 15, 1975
- Label: Casablanca, Def Jam
- Country: United States
- Length: 38:23
- Community rating: 4.48/5 from 10 ratings
Artists on this release: Boom, Michael Hampton, Tiki Fulwood, Calvin Simon, Randy Brecker, Fuzzy Haskins, Glenn Goins, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Gary Cooper, Maceo Parker, Jerome Brailey, Michael Brecker, Grady Thomas, Gary Shider, Bernie Worrell, Joe Farrell, Cordell Mosson, Fred Wesley, Ray Davis
Album Notes & Community Reviews
'Mothership Connection' established Parliament's defining Afrofuturist mythology, weaving a concept of interstellar funk deliverance with George Clinton's street-level slang and cosmic philosophy. The album's sound was solidified by the pivotal addition of former J.B.'s horn players Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, whose precise arrangements merged with Bernie Worrell's pioneering synthesizer textures and Bootsy Collins's distinctive bass grooves. This fusion of tight, danceable funk with an elaborate sci-fi narrative not only yielded commercial hits like "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" but also cemented the album's profound influence on hip-hop, rock, and jazz.
Genres
Descriptors: funky, groove-laden, dance, rhythmic, bassy
Tracklist
- P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up) (07:41)
- Mothership Connection (Star Child) (06:13)
- Unfunky UFO (04:24)
- Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication (The Bumps Bump) (05:04)
- Handcuffs (04:03)
- Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) (05:48)
- Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples (05:10)
Credits
- George Clinton - vocals, produced by
- Calvin Simon - vocals
- Fuzzy Haskins - vocals
- Ray Davis - vocals
- Grady Thomas - vocals
- Gary Shider - vocals, guitars
- Glenn Goins - vocals, guitars
- Bootsy Collins - vocals, bass guitar, guitars, drums and percussion
- Fred Wesley - horns
- Maceo Parker - horns
- Michael Brecker - horns
- Randy Brecker - horns
- Boom - horns
- Joe Farrell - horns
- Cordell Mosson - bass guitar
- Michael Hampton - guitars
- Tiki Fulwood - drums and percussion
- Jerome Brailey - drums and percussion
- Gary Cooper - drums and percussion, backing vocals and handclaps
- Bernie Worrell - keyboards, minimoog, wurlitzer electric piano, arp pro soloist and string ensemble, rmi electra piano, hammond organ, grand piano, fender rhodes, clavinet d6
- Debbie Edwards - backing vocals and handclaps
- Taka Kahn - backing vocals and handclaps
- Archie Ivy - backing vocals and handclaps
- Bryna Chimenti - backing vocals and handclaps
- Rasputin Boutte - backing vocals and handclaps
- Pam Vincent - backing vocals and handclaps
- Debra Wright - backing vocals and handclaps
- Sidney Barnes - backing vocals and handclaps
- Jim Vitti - engineered by
- Ralph (Oops) Jim Callon - engineered by
- Allen Zentz - mastered by
- David Alexander - photography by
- Gribbitt! - art direction and design by