360. Funkadelic, "One Nation Under a Groove"

 


There is no build-up here.  You drop the needle and BLAMMO you get hit with the title track, a delightful, head-bobbing funk/rock melange with a super hooky chorus.  In fact, everything about it is hooky.  Those drums are insane!  "Initially, all I had was a hook," George Clinton said, “'One nation under a groove, gettin’ down just for the funk of it.' In the studio, once we got a rhythm together, I pretty much ad-libbed the rest. I wanted the silky feel of the Dionne Warwick records with Burt Bacharach – a smooth groove, but funky."  That's pretty much what it sounds like.

The next song, "Groovallegiance," is pretty much just a long jam, and you know how I feel about long jams.


There's also an inspired, long (all the songs on this album are loooooooong) track called "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock."  It also has a long jam but it's so insanely hooky and the jam is such an integral part of the song that it doesn't bother me at all.  Plus it has some of the most seventies lyrics that ever seventiesed:

People think 'cause we are here
Our jazz ran out, the ship won't steer no more
We picked up on the rhythm here
If you just take a toot and have a beer
We're gonna make it clear, ho ho
Yes, and when the morning gets here
Jazz and soul

To be honest, a lot of it is jamming and that's not really my favorite but it's so muc fun to listen to that I'm willing to overlook it.  I recommend you play this album when you are:

- getting down with the fellas

- entertaining some ladies

- up late and not getting to bed soon

- partying with your crew

- trying to hook up a printer to Wifi

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Yes.

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