Funkadelic: Self-Titled (2LP, 45rpm) [ORG MUSIC]

Why you'll love it

ORG Music spreads seven songs across four sides at 45 RPM, mastered direct from analog tape to lacquer, in a gatefold jacket. "I Bet You" reached No. 22 on Billboard's soul chart, and The Jackson 5 covered it on ABC.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Cut at 45 RPM
• Mastered from the original analog tapes
• Remastered
• Gatefold jacket
• Stereo mix

About the album

George Clinton started Funkadelic as the backing band for his doo-wop group the Parliaments, then let the guitars off the leash. By the time they signed to Detroit's Westbound in 1968, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and the MC5 had all rubbed off, and this debut is where soul music walked into a fuzz pedal and decided to stay.

Eddie Hazel's lead guitar burns through everything, Billy "Bass" Nelson and Tiki Fulwood lock the grooves down, and the uncredited Parliaments sing behind them, with members of Motown's Funk Brothers sneaking in for good measure. "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" opens with nine minutes of slow, swampy invitation, "I Bet You" is a heavy soul stomp the Beastie Boys later sampled on "Car Thief," "I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing" charted too, and "What Is Soul" closes things with a grin.

AllMusic called it the crossroads between 60s soul and 70s funk, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have folded bits of it into their live shows. At 45 RPM you get up a little more often to flip the record, which with Funkadelic counts as joining in.

Also at Kops: more Funkadelic on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Westbound / ORG Music (cat# ORGM-2327), a reissue of the 1970 album.