“Funk is fun,” says the legendary George Clinton, right at the start of the 2005 documentary Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove. “It’s a state of mind. But it’s also all the ramifications of that state of mind. Once you do the best you can, funk it!”
Directed by Yvonne Smith, the hour-long Groove is upfront about its hagiography. It’s a feel-good film made to appeal to longtime fans while outlining the cultural contributions and political significance of George Clinton’s sprawling funk empire (the multiple bands he nurtured and artists he took under wing) for funk neophytes. Because the subject matter is both enthralling and underreported outside funk environs, the film is much more than a puff piece. It packs a lot of information and analysis into its brief running time. And it’s never ever dry.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MAY 1971: (L-R) Fuzzy Haskins, Tawl Ross, Bernie Worrell, Tiki Fulwood, Grady Thomas, George Clinton, Ray Davis, Calvin Simon and seated Eddie Hazel and Billy “Bass” Nelson of the funk band Parliament-Funkadelic pose for a portrait in May 1971 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
An animated narrator whose sartorial style is a hard nod to the P-Funk aesthetic (and who mysteriously vanishes about half way through the film) kicks things off by narrating funk’s origin story from its humble beginnings in 1956 New Jersey, where George Clinton formed the Parliaments, a doo-wop group that would become the structural bones for his funk empire. Years of struggle went by as the group tried to find its style and sound (including a disastrous debut at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem.) Film director and funk aficionado Reggie Hudlin makes the point that their efforts to conform to doo-wop parameters were doomed to fail because they were intrinsically left of center. That point was made at the volatile ‘60s came to an end, and Parliament – through trial & error, some happy career accidents, and doses of LSD – came upon the formula that would set them apart from every other pop, R&B, and rock band of the time. There’s great footage of them from 1969 performing their single “What is Soul?” (the definition they give is very, very funk) as they’re decked out in garb that shows their unique black twist on the hippie aesthetic. Matching suits and slick choreography have been thoroughly jettisoned.
Talking heads ranging from critics (writer Ricky Vincent) to hip-hop legends (Ice Cube; De La Soul; Digital Underground’s Shock G) to artist fans (Flea and Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Rick James; Nona Hendryx) all chart the group’s sound, evolution and immeasurable influence, while band members (Bootsy Collins; Bernie Worrell) give the inside scoop on internal workings and self-analysis of their art. “‘Maggot Brain’ is a brother crying his soul out,” says the late Garry Shider, lead guitarist and vocalist, in describing one of the collective’s classic tracks. “[It’s] a state of mind.”
Parliament Funkdelic; JUKE Magazine
But what really holds it all together are the still extraordinary performance clips. Clinton & company were blending performance art, rock show theatrics, and Motown finesse, and then scaling it up to operatic proportions. There’s still nothing quite like their shows, which were about black liberation on every front – cultural, psychological, political, and sexual. And they show & prove their manifesto that funk is cerebral and spiritual (not cloying, corny New Age spiritualism,) libidinal and esoteric, philosophical and plainspoken. It’s about the most brilliant, improvised and tight musicianship put in the service of layered escapism, with a mandate to “free minds and asses.”
Photos: GeorgeClinton.com
Previously on Art Doc of the Week:
Art Doc of the Week
-
Art Doc of the Week | Los Punks: We Are All We Have
The award-winning doc looks at Los Angeles’ 40-year-old punk scene.
Photo: Angela Boatwright
-
Art Doc of the Week | McQueen and I
The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s life was as unconventional as his iconic shows.
Photo: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
-
Art Doc of the Week | Who Is Poly Styrene?
The late British-Somali punk icon was vulnerable in her feminist art.
Image Courtesy the Artist Estate
-
Art Doc of the Week | Eva Hesse
The new documentary on the on the late visual artist is both informative and soulful.
Image Courtesy the Filmmaker
-
Art Doc of the Week | Packed in a Trunk
Edith Lake Wilkinson’s great niece investigates why the painter was institutionalized for seemingly no reason.
Photo: Wolfe Video
-
Art Doc of the Week | The Kate Bush Story
The 2014 BBC documentary on the reclusive pop star lets her high-profile fans swoon all over her.
Photo: Peter Mazel / Sunshine
-
Art Doc of the Week | Nikki Giovanni and Muhammad Ali in Conversation
The ionic poet interviews and is charmed by the sports legend for Soul talk show.
Photo: Getty Images
-
Art Doc of the Week | They Will Have to Kill Us First
Malian musicians use their music to stand up to Islamic fundamentalists.
Photo: BBC Worldwide
-
Art Doc of the Week | Step Up and Be Vocal
The 2001 film looks at the role punk played and plays in shaping some queer and feminist identities.
Photo: PansyDivision.com
-
Art Doc of the Week | Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
The first ever documentary on Robert Mapplethorpe makes the case for his art and legacy while showing his warts and all.
Photo: J. Paul Getty Trust / LACMA / Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
-
Art Doc of the Week | Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove
Director Yvonne Smith traces funk from its doo-wop origins to its role as a building-block of hip-hop.
Photo: GeorgeClinton.com
-
Art Doc of the Week | Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
An OG political protest singer has much to teach us today.
Photo: Reuters
-
Art Doc of the Week | The Post Impressionists: Munch
Edvard Munch was a poster boy for the idea of the artist as brilliant, immeasurably tortured soul.
-
Art Doc of the Week | Detroit, Vogue
Director Mollie Mills’s short doc on Detroit’s current ball culture is high on visual impact, skimpy on substance.
Photo: Vogue, Detroit
-
Art Doc of the Week | Colored Frames
The paintings highlighted in Lerone D. Wilson’s film are pulled into deep conversation with the complex realities of black life.Photo: Colored Frames
-
Art Doc of the Week | Spirits of Rebellion
Filmmaker Zeinabu Irene Davis’ documentary on filmmakers of the LA Rebellion is timely and illuminating.
Photo: Spirits of Rebellion / Julie Dash
-
Art Doc of the Week | Five
The 1971 documentary gives an overview of five African American visual artists as the bloody ‘60s turn into the hopeful ‘70s.
Photo: 110 St Harlem Blues, by Romare Bearden, courtesy DC Moore Gallery
-
Art Doc of the Week | Masters of Photography: Diane Arbus
This 1972 documentary filmed one year after the photographer’s suicide is intimate and revealing.
Top Photo: Roz Kelly / Getty Images
-
Art Doc of the Week | Dorothea Lange: An American Odyssey
The iconic photographer’s images of 20th century Depression-era America speak to current battles around class, race, immigration, and poverty.
Photo: Dorothea Lange
-
Art Doc of the Week | Out and Bad: London’s LGBT Dancehall Scene
The struggles and joys of forging queer identity within dancehall culture.
Photo: Dazed/Bernard Miller
-
Art Doc of the Week | And When I Die, I Won't Stay Dead
Director Billy Woodberry’s poetic take on the life and work of beat poet Bob Kaufman.
Photo: Billy Woodberry
-
Art Doc of the Week | The Sound of Redemption
Director N.C. Heikin turns saxophonist Frank Morgan’s life into one of 2015’s best documentaries.
-
Art Doc of the Week | It Came from Kuchar
The Bronx-raised Kuchar twins helped pioneer American underground film.
Photo: Indie Pix
-
Art Doc of the Week | Tamara de Lempicka
The visionary artist, an OG Material Girl, is still struggling to get art world respect.
Photo: http://www.delempicka.org/
-
Art Doc of the Week | Jaco
A documentary on the life and music of Jaco Pastorius also probes link between mental illness and creativity.
Photo: JacoPastorius.com
-
Art Doc of the Week | Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue
A new documentary on the late rock icon digs beneath the lore to find a complex woman and artist.
Photo: Evening Standard/Getty Images
-
Art Doc of the Week | The Many Faces of Billie Holiday
Lady Day was much more than her blues, as this documentary makes clear.
Photo: The William P. Gottlieb Collection
-
Art Doc of the Week | Anita Sarko
The legendary DJ’s words on art, culture and creativity resonate powerfully in the wake of her recent death.
Photo: Svetlana Samoshina
-
Art Doc of the Week | Antonio Gaudi
Filmmaker Hiroshi Teshigahara lets out his inner fanboy as he pays tribute to his hero, iconic architect Antonio Gaudi.
Photo: The Criterion Collection
-
Art Doc of the Week | Poetry of Resilience
Katja Esson's documentary allows poets to reclaim the depth and possibilities of art.
Photo: Jeremy Sutton Hibbert
