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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = George Clinton|image = GeorgeClinton.jpg|caption = George Clinton performing in 2007|image_size =|background = solo_singer|birth_name =|alias =|birth_date = birth date and age|1941|7|22|birth_place = Kannapolis, North Carolina , United States |origin = Plainfield, New Jersey , United States |instrument = Singing|Vocals , synthesizer s, Electronic keyboard|keyboard |genre = Funk , Soul music|soul , Rock music|rock , funk rock , rhythm and blues |occupation = Singing|Singer , songwriter , Record producer|producer |years_active = 1955present|label = Capitol Records|Capitol Paisley Park Records|Paisley Park / Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros. 550 Music|Sony 550 Music / Epic Records|Epic The C Kunspyruhzy Shanachie Records|Shanachie |associated_acts = Parliament (band)|Parliament Funkadelic Bootsy Collins|Bootsy's Rubber Band |website = http://www.georgeclinton.com/ georgeclinton.comBLP sources|date=May 2012 George Clinton (born July 22, 1941) is an United States|American singing|singer , songwriter , bandleader , and Record producer|music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk . He was the mastermind of the Musical ensemble|bands Parliament (band)|Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost innovators of Funk|funk music , along with James Brown and Sly Stone . Clinton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic .
Biography
Early life and Parliament-Funkadelic
About|Clinton's solo career after 1981|more on his bands prior to that year|Parliament-FunkadelicClinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina , grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey , and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida . During his teen years Clinton formed a Doo-wop|doo wop group inspired by The Teenagers|Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers called The Parliaments while straightening hair at a barber salon in Plainfield. For a period in the 1960s Clinton was a staff songwriter for Motown . Despite initial commercial failure (and one major hit single, " (I Wanna) Testify " in 1967), The Parliaments eventually found success under the names Parliament (band)|Parliament and Funkadelic in the seventies (see also P-Funk ). These two bands combined the elements of musicians such as Jimi Hendrix , Sly and the Family Stone , Cream (band)|Cream and James Brown while exploring different sounds, technology, and lyricism. Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic dominated diverse music during the 1970s with over 40 R& B hit singles (including three number ones) and three platinum albums. Clinton's efforts as a solo artist began in 1982. He is also a notable music producer working on almost all of the albums he performs on, as well as producing albums for Bootsy Collins and Red Hot Chili Peppers , among others.
1980s
Beginning in the early 1980s, Clinton recorded several nominal "solo" albums, although all of these records featured contributions from P-Funk's core musicians. The primary reason for recording under his own name was legal difficulties, due to the complex copyright and trademark issues surrounding the name "Parliament" (primarily) and PolyGram|Polygram 's purchase of that group's former label Casablanca Records .
In 1982, Clinton signed to Capitol Records under two names: his own (as a solo artist) and as the P-Funk All-Stars, releasing Computer Games (album)|Computer Games under his own name that same year.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p65136|pure_url=yes The single " Loopzilla " hit the Top 20 on the Rhythm and blues|R& B charts, followed by " Atomic Dog ", which reached #1 R& B and #101 on the pop music|pop chart. In the next four years, Clinton released three more studio albums ('' You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish , Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends and R& B Skeletons in the Closet ) as well as a live album, Mothership Connection (Live from the Summit, Houston, Texas)'' and charting three singles in the R& B Top 30, "Nubian Nut", "Last Dance", and " Do Fries Go with That Shake? ". This period of Clinton's career was marred by multiple legal problems (resulting in financial difficulties) due to complex royalty and copyright issues.
In 1985, he was recruited by the Red Hot Chili Peppers to produce their album Freaky Styley , because the band members were huge fans of George Clinton and funk in general. Clinton, in fact, wrote the vocals and lyrics to the title track which was originally intended by the band to be left as an instrumental piece. The album was not a commercial success at the time, but has since sold 500,000 copies after the Red Hot Chili Peppers became popular years later.
Though Clinton's popularity had waned by the mid 1980s, he experienced something of a resurgence in the early 1990s, as many rappers cited him as an influence and began sampling (music)|sampling his songs. Alongside James Brown , George Clinton is considered to be one of the most sampled musicians ever. In 1989, Clinton released The Cinderella Theory on Paisley Park Records|Paisley Park , Prince (musician)|Prince's record label. This was followed by Hey Man, Smell My Finger in 1993. Clinton then signed with 550 Music|Sony 550 and released T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (The Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Mothership) in 1996, having reunited with several old members of Parliament and Funkadelic.
1990s to 2000s
1994 saw Clinton contribute to several tracks on Primal Scream 's studio album '' Give Out But Don't Give Up . In 1995 Clinton sang "Mind Games" on the John Lennon tribute Working Class Hero . In the 1990s, Clinton appeared in films such as Graffiti Bridge (film)|Graffiti Bridge (1990), House Party (film)|House Party (1990), PCU (film)|PCU (1994), Good Burger (1997) and The Breaks (1999). In 1997 he appeared as himself in the Cartoon Network show Space Ghost Coast to Coast . Clinton also appeared as the voice of The Funktipus, the DJ of the Funk radio station Bounce FM in the 2004 video game , Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , in which his song "Loopzilla" also appeared. Rapping|Rapper Dr. Dre sampled most of his beats to create his G-funk|G-Funk music era.
Displaying his influence on rap and hip hop, Clinton also worked with Tupac Shakur on the song "Can't C Me" from the album All Eyez on Me ; Ice Cube on the song and video for " Bop Gun (One Nation) " on the Lethal Injection (album)|Lethal Injection album (which sampled Funkadelic's earlier hit " One Nation Under A Groove "); Outkast on the song "Synthesizer" from the album Aquemini ; Redman (rapper)|Redman on the song "J.U.M.P." from the album Malpractice (Redman album)|Malpractice ; Souls of Mischief on "Mama Knows Best" from the album Trilogy: Conflict, Climax, Resolution ; Killah Priest on "Come With me" from the album Clergy|Priesthood and the Wu-Tang Clan|Wu Tang Clan on "Wolves" from the album " 8 Diagrams ".
Clinton founded a record label called The C Kunspyruhzy in 2005. He had a cameo appearance in the season-two premiere of the CBS television sitcom How I Met Your Mother , on September 18, 2006.
"You're Thinking Right", the theme song for The Tracey Ullman Show , was written by Clinton. He appeared on the intro to Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment album, released in 2007. Clinton was also a judge for the 5th annual The Independent Music Awards|Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/pastjudges.asp Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
On September 16, 2008, Clinton released a solo album, George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love on Shanachie Records . Largely a covers album, Gangsters features guest appearances from Sly Stone , El DeBarge , Red Hot Chili Peppers , RZA , Carlos Santana , gospel singer Kim Burrell and more.cite web |url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003821950 |title=George Clinton Goes 'Gangster' On New Album |date=2008-06-27| publisher=Billboard.com| last=Graff| first=Gary
On September 10, 2009, George Clinton was awarded the Urban Icon Award from Broadcast Music Incorporated .cite web |url= http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/539591 |title=BMI Honors George Clinton, T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Many More at Urban Awards in New York |work= Broadcast Music Incorporated |date=September 10, 2009 |accessdate=September 7, 2010 The ceremony featured former P-Funk associate Bootsy Collins , as well contemporary performers such as Big Boi from Outkast and Cee-Lo Green from Goodie Mob .
On February 1, 2010, Clinton's son, George Clinton, Jr., was found dead in his Florida home. According to police, he had been dead for several days and died of natural causes. http://www.celebstoner.com/201002083745/news/celebstoner-news/deaths-in-the-p-funk-family.html
On May 20, 2010, George Clinton received a proclamation from Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs of Plainfield, New Jersey, the city in which he was raised, at a fundraiser for the Barack Obama Green Charter High School, which is focused creating leaders in sustainability for the 21st Century.
He performed alongside Parliament-Funkadelic at the 2011 Gathering of the Juggalos .
1981: "Work That Sucker To Death" (Xavier featuring George Clinton and Bootsy Collins; Point of Pleasure )
1985: "May The Cube Be With You" collaborated with Thomas Dolby and appeared in the music video for the song.
1985: "Sun City" ( Artists United Against Apartheid ; Sun City )
1986: "Magilla Gorilla" (from the Kurtis Blow album Kingdom Blow )
1990: "We Can Funk" (from the Prince (musician)|Prince album Graffiti Bridge (album)|Graffiti Bridge )
1991: "Sons of the P" (from the Digital Underground album Sons of the P )
1991: "Words & Music from da Lowlands" (from the Gotcha& #33; (funk band)|Gotcha! album Words and Music from the lowlands )
1993: "G-Funk Intro" (from the Snoop Dogg|Snoop Doggy Dogg album Doggystyle )
1993: "Tight" (from the MC Breed album The New Breed (album) )
1994: " PCU (film)|PCU " (George Clinton)
1993: " Bop Gun (One Nation) " (from the Ice Cube album Lethal Injection (album)|Lethal Injection )
1994: "P-Funk" ( NBA Jam ; Hidden Character)
1994: "Funky Jam" / "Give Out But Don't Give Up" / "Free" ( Primal Scream ; '' Give Out But Don't Give Up )
1995: "Blac Mermaid" (from the Society of Soul album Brainchild (Society of Soul album)|Brainchild )
1997: "Good Burger" (Mental Patient/Dancer)
1998: "Synthesizer" (from the Outkast album Aquemini )
1996: "Can't C Me" (from the Tupac Shakur|2Pac album All Eyez on Me )
1999: "Get Naked" (from the Methods of Mayhem album Methods of Mayhem (album)|Methods of Mayhem )
2001: "Come With Me", "The One" (from the Killah Priest album Priesthood (album)|Priesthood )
2001: "Speed Dreaming" (from the Warren G album The Return of the Regulator|The Return Of The Regulator )
2001: "J.U.M.P." (from the Redman (rapper)|Redman album Malpractice (Redman album)|Malpractice )
2002: "The Movie" (from the Too Short album '' What's My Favorite Word? )
2005: "Lotus Flower" (from the Blackalicious album The Craft (album)|The Craft )
2006: "Uncle Speaks (Album Naration)" (from the Joi (singer)|Joi album Tennessee Slim Is the Bomb )
2006: "Intrology" (from the Snoop Dogg album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment )
2006: "The Doctor and the Kidd" (from the People Under the Stairs album Stepfather (album)|Stepfather )
2007: "Wolves", "Tar Pit" (from the Wu-Tang Clan album 8 Diagrams )
2007: "When the World is at Peace" (Masters of Funk & Blues feat. George Clinton & Bobby Taylor; A Soulful Tale of Two Cities )
2007: "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (Masters of Funk, Soul & Blues featuring George Clinton; A Soulful Tale of Two Cities )
2007: "Night Out" (from the Lifesavas album Gutterfly )
2008: "Up Again" (from the RZA|Bobby Digital album Digi Snacks )
2008: "Hitler's Brain" (from the Die Warzau album Die Warzau#Vinyl88 Not the Best of Die Warzau .282008.29|Vinyl88: Not the best of Die Warzau )
2009: "There's A Party" (from the N.A.S.A. (musical group)|N.A.S.A album The Spirit of Apollo )
2010: "Fo Yo Sorrows" (from the Big Boi album Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty )
2010: "Red Wine (Skit)" (From the Stevie Stone album New Kid Comin )
2010: "Red Wine" (From the Stevie Stone album New Kid Comin )
2011: "D-Funk (Funk With Us)" (from The Headhunters album Platinum (The Headhunters album)|Platinum )
References
Reflist|2
External links
Commons category
http://www.georgeclinton.com/ George Clinton's official web site
cite web |url= http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/15/living/george-clinton-red-chair/index.html |title=Red Chair Interview: George Clinton |publisher=CNN.com |date=September 15, 2011 |last=Cox-Cordova |first=Jill
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/clinton_george/artist.jhtml George Clinton -VH1
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p65136|label=George Clinton
http://www.collegecrier.com/interviews/int-0021.asp College Crier George Clinton Interview
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php? a=george_clinton Trouser Press George Clinton Discography
http://synthesisradio.net/2008/02/11/george-clinton-february-2008/ George Clinton Audio Interview, Feb. 08
http://www.dailyrindblog.com/audio/georgeclinton_aintthatpeculiar.mp3 Promotional MP3 "Ain't That Peculiar" from George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love
http://spin-cdnsrc.texterity.com/spin/200902/? pg=30& pm=2 George Clinton's Psychadelic Paintings in SPIN's February '09 Issue
http://www.whosampled.com/artist/George%20Clinton/ George Clinton at WhoSampled
P-Funk Persondata | NAME =Clinton, George | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =July 22, 1941 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Kannapolis, North Carolina , United States | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, George Category:1941 births Category:African American rock musicians Category:American funk singers Category:American funk keyboardists Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American record producers Category:American songwriters Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan Category:Musicians from Michigan Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:People from Kannapolis, North Carolina Category:People from North Plainfield, New Jersey Category:People from Tallahassee, Florida Category:P-Funk members
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