Mothership Connection

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
Studio album by Parliament
Released	December 15, 1975
Recorded	March–October 1975 [1]
Studio	United Sound, Detroit, Michigan, and Hollywood Sound, Hollywood, California
Genre	Funk[2] funk rock[3] black prog[4]
Length	38:06
Label	Casablanca NBLP 7022
Producer	George Clinton
Parliament chronology
Chocolate City (1975) Mothership Connection (1975) The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976)

Mothership Connection became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum.[5] The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2011, declaring "The album has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music."[6]

History

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."[7]

Dr. Dre sampled the songs "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" on his album The Chronic.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Billboard	(favorable)[8]
Blender	[9]
Christgau's Record Guide	A–[10]
Pitchfork Media	(8.5/10)[11]
PopMatters	(favorable)[12]
Rolling Stone	(favorable) 1976[13]
Rolling Stone	2004[14]
Spin	(10/10)[15]
Sputnikmusic	[16]

On release, Rolling Stone called it a "parody of modern funk" and stated that "unlike the Ohio Players or Commodores, the group refuses to play it straight. Instead, Clinton spews his jive, conceived from some cosmic funk vision."[13] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said, "That DJ from Chocolate City, or maybe it's the Chocolate Milky Way, keeps the beat going with nothing but his rap, some weird keyboard, and cymbals for stretches of side one. And later produces the galactic 'Give Up the Funk' and a James Brown tribute that goes 'gogga googa, gogga googa'—only believe me, that doesn't capture it."[10]

Retrospectively, it gained high regard, being named TV network VH1's 55th greatest album of all time, and #276 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[17] Vibe listed Mothership Connection in their "Essential Black Rock Recordings" list, and it was included in the 2005 book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Rolling Stone's 2003 review again gave the record 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."

Track listing

Side One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)"	George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell	7:41
2.	"Mothership Connection (Star Child)"	Clinton, Collins, Worrell	6:13
3.	"Unfunky UFO"	Clinton, Collins, Garry Shider	4:23

Side Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
4.	"Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication"	Clinton, Collins, Shider, Worrell	5:03
5.	"Handcuffs"	Clinton, Glenn Goins, Janet 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

• Lead vocals - George Clinton (Lead in "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)", "Mothership Connection (Star Child)"), Calvin Simon, Fuzzy Haskins, Ray Davis, Grady Thomas, Gary Shider (lead in "Handcuffs"), Glenn Goins (lead in "Unfunky UFO", "Handcuffs"), Bootsy Collins
• Horns - Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Boom, Joe Farrell
• Bass guitar - Bootsy Collins, Cordell Mosson
• Guitars - Garry Shider, Michael Hampton, Glenn Goins, Bootsy Collins
• Drums and percussion - Tiki Fulwood, Jerome Brailey, Bootsy Collins, Gary Cooper
• Keyboards and synthesizers - Bernie Worrell (Minimoog, Wurlitzer electric piano, ARP Pro Soloist and String Ensemble, RMI Electra Piano, Hammond organ, grand piano, Fender Rhodes, clavinet D6)[1]
• Backing vocals and handclaps - Gary Cooper, Debbie Edwards, Taka Kahn, Archie Ivy, Bryna Chimenti, Rasputin Boutte, Pam Vincent, Debra Wright, Sidney Barnes

Production

• Produced by George Clinton
• Engineered by Jim Vitti (in Detroit, Michigan), Ralph (Oops) Jim Callow (in Hollywood, California)
• Mastered by Allen Zentz
• Photography by David Alexander
• Art Direction and Design by Gribbitt!

Chart positions

Chart (1976)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[18]	13
US R&B Albums[18]	4

Certification

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[19]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles released

• P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)-NB 852
• Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)-NB-856
• Star Child-NB 864

References

1. "Parliament's 1975 LP Mothership Connection revisited with Bernard Worrell". Soulculture.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
2. Birchmeier, Jason. Mothership Connection at AllMusic
3. Robins, Wayne (2016). A Brief History of Rock, Off the Record. Routledge. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-415-97472-1.
4. Keister, Jay (2019). "Black Prog: Soul, Funk, Intellect and the Progressive Side of Black Music of the 1970s" (PDF). American Music Research Center Journal. 28: 5–22. Retrieved January 29, 2021 – via colorado.edu.
5. "American album certifications – Parliament". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
6. "Registry Choices 2010: The National Recording Preservation Board (Library of Congress)". Loc.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
7. Niesel, Jeff (2013-06-26). "Cleveland - Music - Turn This Mutha Out". Clevescene.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
8. "Review: Mothership Connection". Superseventies.com. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
9. Review: Mothership Connection
10. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: P". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
11. Review: Mothership Connection Archived February 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
12. Bowden, Marshall. "Review: Mothership Connection". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
13. McEwen, Joe (March 25, 1976). "Mothership Connection | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
14. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). Review: Mothership Connection. ISBN 9780743201698. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
15. "Review: Mothership Connection". Acclaimedmusic.net. Archived from the original on 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
16. "Review: Mothership Connection". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
17. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
18. Mothership Connection at AllMusic
19. "American album certifications – Parliament – Mothership Connection". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 

External links

• Mothership Connection: Banging hip-hop from worlds away at The Austin Chronicle