Customer Reviews

George Clinton: The Mothership Connection

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm in funk heaven! As a longtime Parliament/Funkadelic worshipper who was tragically born too late to see them in their prime, this DVD offers a long overdue pleasure overload. Never mind the cranks who are criticizing some parts of this DVD, and dig the pure uncut funk instead. Sure, the video quality here leaves something to be desired, but this was recorded on film in the mid-70's. I would also recommend that you increase the brightness on your player or computer as much of the video is very dark. But that's because the stage lights were presented for the live audience, not for some future DVD that people could pick apart on electronic equipment. My only legitimate beef with this package is the lack of documentation or background about the concert recorded, and a personnel listing of the huge mob on stage would have been helpful.

But on the good side (and all that is good is nasty) you get a wide selection of funk bombs from the catalogs of both Parliament and Funkadelic, performed by the best and brightest of the ever-evolving P-Funk mob, plus the Mothership itself in all its freaky glory. On top of it all we see mainman George Clinton leading the insanity in a parade of shock-inducing wigs and outfits, and whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Fave musical moments are the opener "Cosmic Slop" with Mike Hampton's superhuman guitar solos, a slammin' "Standing on the Verge of Getting' It On" featuring a frantic Fuzzy Haskins as MC, and "Mothership Connection" where the brilliant (and dearly departed) Glenn Goins really shines. Visually, you gotta love the classic outfits sported by all the members of the funk mob, like Maceo Parker and the Horny Horns, laidback genius Bernie Worrell, Stingray Davis, Grady Thomas, Calvin Simon (seen rarely), the Brides of Funkenstein, and especially Garry Shider with diaper and pacifier. Unfortunately the bass player and drummer are barely pictured through the entire DVD; my guesses would be Cordell Mosson and Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, but it sure would be nice to see them. In the grand finale, "Night of the Thumpasaurus Peoples", Bootsy Collins (who rules) makes a special appearance along with the rest of his Rubber Band. Apparently Sly and the Family Stone were up there too, but by that point it's hard to tell who's who among the 40-plus funksters on stage.

If you dig the funk in any way, and especially if you're a P-Funk aficionado, dismiss the minor technical limitations of this DVD and just let the performance blow the cobwebs out your mind.

Anyone who would give less than five stars to the performance on this DVD must be on some advanced form of crack-cocaine. I've had this concert on bootleg video for years and let me tell you the quality(video and audio) of this DVD is superlative. This is the U.S. Funk Mob at full tilt. To correct another reviewer, Sly Stone does not make an appearance at the end of this video. Several members of band do, including background singers Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva who would later make up the first incarnation of the Brides Of Funkenstein, another P-Funk spin off act. The only objectionable thing about the DVD is that it is credited to George Clinton when it should be credited to Parliament-Funkadelic. This performance was also done at the beginning of the 1976 "Mothership Connection" tour and yet they still tore the roof off. Take it from somebody who has been archiving P-Funk for 22 years, you cannot possibly go wrong with this DVD.

All of you critics who write negative reviews about this DVD must have been born in the 80's and are spoiled by modern technology. Just think for a minute...this concert was filmed in 1976 using 1970's video equipment, stage props, lights, audio, and of course pop-culture themes of that particular time in history. This is a historical collector's item of live entertainment as we knew it back in the day. This was long before DVD's, CD's, MP3's, drum machines, digital cameras, digital audio and other modern technological "conveniences" that you Gen-Xer's couldn't imagine living without. Hell, even the VCR had just hit the store shelves at the time.

True, the video quality pales in comparison to today's standards, but you must consider the times and the fact that the taping of this show was never intended to be made available for consumer home entertainment, especially on something called a DVD some 27 years into the future.

Anyway, now that I've put this in perspective for ya, this is and was an awesome concert, and in my opinion, the second best live tour ever performed in music history next to the Earth Wind & Fire tours of the '70's. You had to have been there to really appreciate the landing of the Mothership and other special effects since the video does not "pan out" enough to visually capture the entire stage set-up. This was NOT a cheap production - nobody had ever seen anything this exciting at a concert before this tour hit the scene.

This was George Clinton and the crew at their prime, singing the best songs from the "Mothership Connection", "Dr. Funkenstein", "Tales of Kidd Funkadelic" and "Hardcore Jollies" albums, all released the same year-1976. This was even before "Flashlight", "One Nation...." and "Knee Deep", so this was just the tip of the iceberg of what was to come from this talented group of musicians.

So if your imagination can take you there, or if you're old enough to have witnessed the P-Funk Earth Tour of 1976, then just reflect or maybe learn something about the days when you paid ($7.00 - I still have my ticket stubs) to see real musicians, real singers, funky costumes and creative LIVE special effects, not just some thugs with a mic, turn table, computer and gold teeth rappin' about booty and ho's.

Not many performances of Parliament/Funkadelic were captured on tape in the 70's, so this is a performance to truly treasure. I was surprised by the how good the sound is - at least when compared to the picture, which by no means is above a 3/5 standard. That and the fact that there aren't any special features is reason why this DVD, at almost full price, doesn't deserve five stars. Don't let this scare you, though; it's all well worth watching and listening to - if you're a P-Funk fan this is a must, and if you haven't yet quite figured out what funk is, this DVD gives you the ultimate answer. Here are over 80 minutes of ultra-funky entertainment from P-Funk's hey day, featuring classics like "Cosmic Slop", "Standing on the Verge...", "Mothership Connection", "Tear the Roof Off..." et al.
The concert was taped in Houston, Texas in 1976. You will experience the landing of the mothership, and just before the encore there's a guest appearance by Bootsy Collins' and Sly Stone's bands. As they all dance, sing and play there are about thirty people on the stage. It just doesn't get any funkier than this.

Hey, I'm a hardcore Parliament/Funkadelic fan and I was born in 1978 so let me tell you I was 'happy as a monkey with a peanut machine' since I've purchased thid dvd!!! Words cannot begin to describe how much i love and value this dvd!!! For years i have been trying to locate footage of a P.Funk concert from the 70's (i've heard that there was a copy of the "1978 Flashlight Tour" available on vhs) but could never locate a copy. A reviewer of one of P.funk's shows in the late 70's said that the only thing that could upstage a P.Funk concert is the landing of the motherhip. I can't really agree with him because this entire dvd 'ain't nothin' but a party' from beginning to end!!! Man, I would have killed to have been given an opportunity to see this show!! The part where Glen Goins (who is the best male singer i've ever heard) ushers down the mothership and the motherhip lands and George appears as Dr. Funkenstein at the top of the staircase gives me an adrenaline rush like i've never experienced!!!! And then the Music!!! Like other reviewers who have converted this dvd to cd, it has been in my cd player on rotation nonstop!!! It's definitely a better listen that the "Parliament live: the P.Funk Earth Tour" album. The horn, vocal and drum arrangements for this concert are far more superior and if it were released on vinyl for consumer use at that time, it would have been twice the success of the "P.Funk Earth Tour" album. It's also a real treat to see the band members doin' their thang on stage, most notably Michael, Gary, Glenn, Bernie, Fuzzy, Jeannette and Debbie but there ain't nothin' like seein' George work that crowd in his various gettups (the long - haired sucka is my favorite)!! The Jam session at the end of the concert is also a rare treat since it features Bootsy (too bad this dvd doesn't capture his opening act) and members of sly and the family stone, not to mention a closeup of Dawn and Lynn who were touring with sly before they decided to REALLY get funked up!! The only minor downside is that the portion of "Dr. Funkenstein" has so obviously been edited, but it still gives you more of what you're funkin for! Also, the concert was taped at the tail end of 76 so jams like Bop Gun, One Nation, Flashlight, Aqua Boogie, and Knee Deep not to mention footage of Sir Nose being shot with the bop gun by Starchild and dancin' like crazy can only lead one to imagine how more thrilling and exciting this show could have been. Still, all in all this show is a funk opera extravaganza if i've ever seen one and definitely worth owning (I already have 2 copies)!!! So stop reading and buy this dvd now. It's PARLIAFUNKADELICMENT FUN at it's best!!!!!

Having lived with this DVD for two years, let me tell you what the other reviews didn't. First off, the audio is damn near perfect (there is a problem with a guitar in Cosmic Slop, but it sounds like it was a problem with the show, not the DVD. I made a CD of this DVD, and it rarely leaves my Discman. The sound is remastered in 5.1, but mostly that just puts the crowd in the rears and spreads the music across the front. 5.1 isn't required, the stereo downmix is still excellent.

As for the video, well, it was recorded in the seventies, and looks it. It seems like it was recorded for a VCD or something...there's gaps where the audio continues but the picture reverts to still frames for a few seconds or so (not as distracting as it sounds), as if they were changing videotape or something. A strange interference pervades the whole concert, but hey, it could be worse.

The mothership DOES land, and it's not a big eyeball (the guy that wrote that seems to have only watched about 10 minutes). And all the music is funky as HELL. Nothing compares to P-Funk live, but what I would give to be back at that show...a DEFINITE buy, with the only issue being the video quality.

I can't believe that any P-Funk fan would not be absolutely crazy about this DVD. The video quality leaves a lot to be desired, but the re-mastered multi-channel audio is fantastic. It's a rare chance to see the undiluted funk mob in full flight including Bernie Worrell, Jerome Brailey, Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, and Fuzzy Haskins who you are not likely to see with the All-Stars live anytime soon. Also, you get spectacular vocals from Glen Goins, who is sadly no longer with us today, and cameos at the end by Bootsy Collins & Sly Stone. This is a rare and important document for funkateers everywhere. Only complaints are the lack of credits (not even a list of band members), video quality (source material problem - not mastering) and the edited "Dr. Funkenstein" (still need the "Earth Tour" CD if you want to hear a full-length take).

P.S. Don't panic when you hear the initially awkward sound mix on "Cosmic Slop" (e.g. you can barely hear Gary Shider's guitar). They fix it by the time the song is over - and the rest of the concert sounds great!

The P-Funk Earth Tour hit the United States like an earthquake. This DVD is a recording of the show from the Summit in Houston, Texas. It's truly an all star cast featuring Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley on horns, Bernie Worrell on keyboards, Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton and Garry "Do Wop" Shider on guitars, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey on drums, and original Parliaments Grady Thomas, Fuzzy Haskins,Calvin Simon and Ray Davis on vocals. Glenn Goins' soulful balladeering is essential in bringing the Mothership (a $275,000 stage prop) down and George Clinton is the ringmaster who brings it all together and tears the roof off of the place. The songs include Cosmic Slop, P-Funk (wants to get funked up), Mothership Connection (Starchild), Gamin' on Ya, Undisco Kidd, Standing on the Verge, Give up the Funk, etc. This is a must see for any serious P-Funk fan. Going to their concerts now is still fun, but this show is like watching Ali box before he was stripped of the title. Breathtaking. Earthshattering.

This DVD brought back a lot of great memories of attending those monster P-Funk concerts in 1976-77. You can't truly appreciate the DVD unless you attended the concert. Jerome had the bass drum VERY loud through the arena like a heartbeat, you could actually feel it in your bones. There was a reason why the DVD had so many close-ups and didn't really have that many wide shots. Remember this was the 70's and there was a LOT of stuff going on during the show ;)
The greatest part of the DVD has to be seeing lead singer Glenn Goines (RIP) in his finest moment. This is probably the only official release of seeing Glenn singing live before his untimely death in 1978, only a year after this concert was filmed

If you think P-Funk is good on record, you will hyped by seeing them in concert. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see these guys live, so this is the closest thing I have to the memorable and elaborate shows that P-Funk held in the mid to late 70's. All of the songs get two thumbs from me. The highlights of this show is the always great "Cosmic Slop," with Garry Shider at his best, "Standing on the Verge of Getting it On," where Fuzzy Haskins goes crazy, "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot," with Glen Goins at his all-time best, and the grand finale of "Tear the Roof off the Sucka" and "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" in which Bootsy/Bootsy's Rubber Band along with Sly and the Family Stone make guest appearences. You feel like your actually there and it is almost irresistable to not dance. The lighting really isn't an issue, though it is hard to see what is what at times. It's only minor, though, and shouldn't sour this P-Funk odyssey. I recommend to any fan who has either seen the Funk Mob live, or not.