HOW DOES MUSIC FEEL TODAY?
#6 Funkadelic “I Wanna Know If It’s Good to You”
Free Your Mind (And Your Ass Will Follow) came out in 1970. As with the other two projects related to Funkadelic –The Parliaments and Parliament – it’s a golden doozy. It’s said (by bandleader George Clinton, I believe… but don’t quote me on that) that the band wanted to see if they could track an entire album while tripping on acid. The whole idea makes me really thirsty, but ok! It worked? It’s a relentless, soulful, joyfully confusing funk juggernaut. Hits?! FUCK IT! Let’s take passion to its physical musical limits! I tend to believe the theory that they did this on acid. For one, the stereo imaging is deranged; they ping-pong the balance from left to right in the speakers like a drunk sea captain driving a go-kart down a triple black diamond slalom. I love it so much. They care about adventure and experimentation.
I swoon every time I hear Eddy Hazel’s first sleazy, delicious, caramel guitar notes come in off the top of “I Wanna Know If It’s Good to You”. Hazel is so underrated as a guitar player it physically hurts me. I swear to god Lenny Kravitz’s entire career is based on this ONE song! That’s how influential Hazel’s guitar playing is; SO many people try to play like that and yet have no idea where the sound came from (though I’m sure Kravitz likely does, considering the sounds he’s going for…). I’m on a one-man mission here to change that. Yeah, Hazel gets mentioned from time to time in those bullshit Rolling Stone “Best Guitar Players” lists, but that’s not the same as people knowing who he is. He should be Jimi Hendrix/Keith Richards/Eddie Van Halen famous. And the idea that a magazine can RANK musicians of any kind, let alone a man of Hazel’s abilities, is asinine. Here is just a tiny snapshot about him but he is more than worthy of us reading it, though we might not be worthy of reading about him… hahaha! He was only 19 or 20 when they recorded this record. Jesus Christ, what a benevolent monster!
Ok, I’m wiping off the froth…
And now I will likely re-froth because I’m gonna talk about the singing. It’s just devastatingly free as fuck. I’m not 100% certain, but at least 99% sure that it’s bass player Billy Nelson and aforementioned Eddy Hazel covering the lead vocals here. (My records that did not perish in the house fire are in storage or I’d be all over it in the liner notes.) Nelson’s scream-cry of “AHHHHHHHHHH, do you feel fire in your veins…” at 1:30 is the melody I want my soul taken from my body with. I just want to ride it into space forever. I feel so invited.
Funkadelic are genuinely wanting to know if I feel good because they do and they think that should be mutual. What can I add to that? It’s perfect and it makes me feel like a valid human being. You should too! They are giving us a gift, so let’s honor them by listening! :) xo
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You're knocking it out of the park with this series Neko, going to throw this vinyl on right now! Oh, and you were right about Eddy & Billy being the lead singers on “I Wanna Know If It’s Good to You”.
Not that I need a reason to play Funkadelic, but your post has propelled me to play it, two times in a row, at the record store I work in. The sun is out, the doors are open and I almost feel normal. Thanks for the inspiration.