Mothership Connection
| Mothership Connection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Parliament | ||||
| Released | December 15, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1975 | |||
| Genre | Funk | |||
| Length | 38:06 | |||
| Label | Casablanca NBLP 7022 |
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| Producer | George Clinton | |||
| Parliament chronology | ||||
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Mothership Connection is the fourth album by American funk band Parliament, released on December 15, 1975 on Casablanca Records. This concept album of P Funk mythology is usually rated as one of Parliament's best. Mothership Connection was the first P-funk album to feature Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, who had left The J.B.'s, James Brown's backing band. "Mothership Connection" became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum.[1] The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2011, declaring "[t]he album has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music."[2]
Contents |
History[edit]
Describing the album, George Clinton said "We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang."[3]
Dr. Dre prominently sampled the songs "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" on his album The Chronic.
Reception[edit]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [4] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[5] |
| Blender | [6] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.5/10)[8] |
| PopMatters | (favorable)[9] |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) 1976[10] |
| Rolling Stone | 2004[11] |
| Spin | (10/10)[12] |
| Sputnikmusic | [13] |
In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Mothership Connection the 55th greatest album of all time.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 274 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Rolling Stone (5/1/03, p. 59) - 5 stars out of 5 - "The masterpiece, the slang creator, the icon builder, the master narrative--or 'the bomb,' as Clinton succinctly put it before anyone else."
Vibe (2/02, p. 87) - Included in Vibe's "Essential Black Rock Recordings".
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing[edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" | George Clinton, William Collins, Bernard Worrell | 7:41 | |
| 2. | "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" | Clinton, Collins, Worrell | 6:13 | |
| 3. | "Unfunky UFO" | Clinton, Collins, Garry Shider | 4:23 | |
| 4. | "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication" | Clinton, Collins, Shider, Worrell | 5:03 | |
| 5. | "Handcuffs" | Clinton, Glen Goins, John McLaughlin | 4:02 | |
| 6. | "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" | Jerome Brailey, Clinton, Collins | 5:46 | |
| 7. | "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" | Clinton, Collins, Shider | 5:10 |
| 2003 CD remaster bonus track | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 8. | "Star Child (Mothership Connection)" (Promo Radio Version) | Clinton, Collins, Worrell | 3:08 | |||||||
Personnel[edit]
|
Vocals, Handclaps
Horns
|
Drums and Percussion
Produced by George Clinton |
Chart positions[edit]
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[14] | 13 |
| US R&B Albums[14] | 4 |
Certification[edit]
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^shipments figures based on certification alone |
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References[edit]
- ^ "American album certifications – Parliament". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
- ^ http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2011reg.html
- ^ Cleveland - Music - Turn This Mutha Out
- ^ Birchmeier, Jason. Mothership Connection at Allmusic
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ Consumer Guide: Mothership Connection
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ McEwen, Joe (March 25, 1976). "Mothership Connection | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ Review: Mothership Connection
- ^ a b Mothership Connection at Allmusic
- ^ "American album certifications – Parliament – Mothership Connection". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
