Customer Reviews

Live: P Funk Earth Tour

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was (in my opinion) one of the hottest live albums
of the 70's along with E,W&F's "Gratitude",
Kiss's "Alive", The Allman Brothers' "Filmore East", Sylvester's "Living Proof"
and of course, Peter Frampton's opus..
"Frampton Comes Alive"!!

The P-Funk Earth Tour of '76 -'78 had it all!
Theatrics, humor, an anti-establishment vibe,
high concept production and that 70's freeness,
the likes of which the world will never see again!
This album came out when I was 13 and had just
witnessed this life-altering concert in person
about two weeks before!
I was never the same after that!...
The funk had lifted me and I was transformed!
The cover art & pictures are, for the most part,
intact but sadly, there was no way that they could
recreate the full-sized poster that was in the
original album of Dr. Funkenstein (George Clinton)
all decked-out in white foxtails and leather
with 10" platform boots!
My only point of contention is that when they
re-issued it to CD, they left out a classic P-Funk mid-tempo
jam which was unlike any of their other output from
this time, but just as crucial to their catalogue....
"Fantasy Is Reality".
This song was the bomb and the late Glenn Goins
was putting down some serious gospel-like
vocalizations on it as only he could!
The lyrics were great too!
It is for this reason that I had to take away one star
in this review, but by no means think that this means
that this CD is not worth having if just for the
experience of Parliament/Funkadelic live in their prime!
(Also see in DVD, George Clinton: Parliament/Funkadelic
(The Mothership Connection Live)

The P-Funk live experience is put to wax for the very first time in 1977, during the band prime period of commercial exposure. The performances speak for themselves. This record is proof positive as to why P-Funk reigned supreme as black america's favorite band and America's top theatrical black experience. The only thing that spoils this package is the sub-standard recording which is only slightly improved on CD. One track, ironically their big hit of the day "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker" was one of a number of tunes recorded in an airplane hangar in Newburgh, New York in the fall of 1976, along with "Cosmic Slop" from the Funkadelic LP "Hardcore Jollies" . Crowd noise was added later. Why they chose to do this is beyond this reviewer's comprehension. Originally this album came with a iron-on transfer that read "TAKE FUNK TO HEAVEN IN '77" and a large full color poster of G.C. in his Dr. Funkenstein garb. The CD also omits one track "Fantasy Is Reality", which you can find on the double CD "Tear The Roof Off: 1974-1980". If your into the live P-Funk experience, then this CD will do you no harm other than pee in your afro. As the good doctor instructs, "Come fly tonight...ain't nothin' but a party!"

The horn arrangements and the Bootsy truck drivin base creates a combination that tears the roof off the mother. Recording is through boom microphones so you here a lot of the audience. However, the sound of the instruments comes through. This is an incredibly exciting disc. History was made. Ellington at Newport / Revolution of the Mind Apollo III / Clinton in LA. They just don't make em like this anymore.

For this white boy from the Vanilla Suburbs, this excellent live LP set is the best one way ticket to Chocolate City and to the mind-blowing fusion of jazz, soul and psychadelic rock that was Parliament. Back in the late 1970s, there were two musical acts that were great in the studio, but immortal on stage: Kiss and Parliament. Like Kiss, George Clinton and his maggots and clones put everythang they had into the music, and their stage shows were notorious for being hours-long funk extravaganzas.

This album is Da Bomb! Even though its missing my favourite P-Funk tune, "Up For the Down Stroke," it's a really solid set: "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker," "Gamin' On Ya," a 15-minute long acid-rock laced "Dr. Funkenstein" (Mike Hampton sounding like Jimi Hendrix bumps solos with Maceo Parker's gravelly sax), Bootsy Collins rubber band grinding away on "Night of the Thumpasaurus People," and "Do That Stuff." This CD has a killer lineup of songs anyone would die for.

"Fantasy Is Reality" is missing, but it was just a filler song anyways. For posterity (booty) however, it should be on this.

I am a HUGE live music fan. I am also a big parliament fan so i thought, why not combine the two? this album funks but i can stand how bad the quality is!! i am not a person who obseses about the quality of recordings but this cd's quality is horrible! if you want to groove out to some FUNKY $hit go buy mothership connection or Funkentelechy Vs. Placebo Syndrome

love this whole cd, glen goins singing swing down did it for me, that was a event the mothership, how come no one discussed the mothership being one of the most popular events in rock n roll, no one else ever did what parliament-funkadelic did before, and after the mothership, the mothership then parliament singing and dancing, summoning dr. funkenstein should be legendary but it was,nt hell george lucas created star wars after hearing about this concert. i love dr. funkenstein it is about 12 minutes, good solo's by maceo, fred, michael hampton, and bernie worrell does his wizardry at the end. a good place to hear p-funk live the horny horns were givenm more duties here then on the studio recordins.

This is a fun album. Do not expect to get the studio quality of the songs on this lp. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the fine musicianship of the lp!MY favorites are the studio cuts!! This album was clearly meant to appease the P-Funk heads in between releases. Fantasy is reality!!

I am a great fan of Parliament/Funkadelic, and I am an avid fan of their concerts. What makes their shows so notorious is the experience of accually being there. No matter how good a live recording is, you can't put the excitment of being at a P-Funk show on a CD. You must be there chanting along, pumping your fists, and getting your loose booty on.

But aside from the lack of the true live experience, this is a great live recording. It was recorded when the band was at its prime (even though one of their most famous CD's, Funkentelecy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome had not been released yet). Everyone is playing at their best, and with a lot of enthusiasm (except for the the first song, "P-Funk Wants To Get Funked Up", where I find the lead rap a little lacking on enthusiasm).

Just about all of the material on this album comes from either Mothership Connection or The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein. If you like these albums, you are in luck, and obviously if you don't like either one of these albums, you probably won't like this live version of them. There are a couple of Funkadelic songs from Let's Take It To The Stage and Kidd Funkadelic thrown in for variety. All in all, I like the song selections. They make for a very dancable album (which is why you listen to funk isn't it?). There are some songs on this album that aren't from the live show. There is a great studio song called "This Is The Way We Funk With You". This is a great song, and it is a wonder why it didn't appear on any studio albums. Then there is the very odd "Landing Of The Holy Mothership". This is a collection of talking from the live show mixed in with clips of studio songs. It's hard to describe, but entertaining none the less. One dissappointment is that "Fantasy Is Reality" is left off. This was a well received studio song that was included on the original LP release. If you search hard enough, you can find this song on other Parliament live collections.

The sound quality is excellent. The crowd is obviously interested in the show, but the crowd noise doesn't drown out the music.

This is a great album. It lacks some variety in the song selections, and you don't get the full live experience, but I still highly recommend this CD.

THIS ALBUM STILL SOUNDS GREAT WHEN IT WAS RELEASE IN 77 STILL SOUNDS GOOD IN 1999.. THIS ALBUM WAS RECORDED AT A TIME WHEN P-FUNK WAS UNSTOPPABLE NAD HAD THE HOTTEST ROAD SHOW ON THE CONCERT CIRCUIT.. THIS ALBUM DOCUMENTS THE EXCITEMENT OF THESE SHOWS.. IF YOU HAVENT NEVER EXPERIENCE P.FUNK EARTH TOUR LIVE THIS WAS THE NEXT BEST THING ..

STAND OUTS P-FUNK, DO THAT STUFF, THE LONG DRIVING DR.. FUNKENSTEIN, THIS IS THE WAY WE FUNK WITH YOU ( A STUDIO CUT) THE STRONGEST AMONG THE THREE STUDIO CUTS THAT APPEARED ON THE ORINGIAL ALBUM.. FANTASY IS REALITY WAS OMITTED FOR SOME STRANGE REASON.. BUT IT TURNS UP ON THE DOUBLE DISK CHRONICAL .. LONG LIVE THE FUNK

This classic collection of P-Funk masterpieces only improves with age. As much as I loved the studio recording of "Dr. Funkenstein", the Funk Mob turned that song into a 10 minute urban groove that simply won't quit--or maybe I should say I wish it wouldn't quit. Another song GREATLY improved from the original studio version is "The Undisco Kid". They turned that song into an epic magnum opus with Bernie Worrell doing cartoon loops on his keyboards. But in my opinion, the highlight is Glen Goins' incredibly soulful vocal performances. He's a powerful yet sensitive voice from Heaven (which is appropriate considering we hear the Mothership landing from the sky right after Glen sings "Swing Down Sweet Chariot"). My only complaint are the studio recordings that George or Casablanca Records felt compelled to include. Not much memorable about those two songs, and the cartoonish "Landing of The Mothership" isn't a song but one of those comedy routines where someone (George Clinton)is talking to a crowd and they respond back with sound bytes from popular songs of that time (in this case P-Funk songs). These were popular on the radio during the 70s but in this case the band should have filled that space with another live track (and lord knows they had some great ones to choose from). Recommended.