Hole-ee-shit… There’s really not all that much footage in existence of the early years of Funkadelic, but what there is tends to be pretty fucking amazing. And so it’s my pleasure to whip this one on you, dear Dangerous Minds reader, because this short promo film was a totally new one on me as of this early AM. Not only that, it’s for one of my very top favorite Funkadelic tracks, “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks.”
The lead vocalist here is William “Billy Bass” Nelson the original bassist for Funkadelic, and also the first band member to get pissed off enough about money—or lack of it making it into his pocket—to tell George Clinton where to stick it (the first of many, of course). Nelson was originally going to be the group’s guitarist, but opted for the bass post instead when his pal the amazing Eddie Hazel came aboard the Mothership.
According to the Maggot Brain Wikipedia page, the class conscious lyrics of “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks,” one of the album’s singles, might’ve been inspired by an old folk rhyme first published in Thomas W. Talley’s book Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise or Otherwise) in 1922:
If you and your folks love me and my folks
Like me and my folks love you and your folks
If there ever was folks
That ever ever was poor.
One of the YouTube commenters speculates that this was shot in Bermuda and mentions something about the band causing a stir there by performing naked onstage!
As an added bonus—because I love you, I really, really love you—here are some other primo examples of early Funkadelic on video. A single from their debut album, Funkadelic, it’s “I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody’s Got a Thing” performed on a show called Upbeat. Other guests on this same show included Bobby Sherman, the Impressions and John Denver.
“You don’t smoke what I smoke…”
No, but I would like some, please…
And then there is this... Just try to imagine as you watch what would have gone through the mind of the average American flipping channels and coming across such a performance by accident in 1969. Probably just the sort of reaction George Clinton was looking for. I mean, Christ, look at his fucking hair for starters! It predates O.D.B.‘s similar coiffure by decades! So punk! Obviously George Clinton is as high as a kite here—on what it’s difficult to say—but judging from his beatific expression, he got the good shit!
With Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Calvin Simon, Ray Davis, and George Clinton on vocals. On guitars, the one and only Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross. Mickey Atkins on keyboards, “Billy Bass” Nelson on bass and Tiki Fulwood on drums. Starts off strong, but really goes utterly supernova with “(I Wanna) Testify,” which will melt your face.
The astonishing “Cosmic Slop” promo, shot around NYC in 1973: