George Clinton And His Gangsters Of Love

Think of George Clinton and you'll likely conjure an image of a crazy black man with rainbow dreads and garb befitting a galactic shaman literally barking at phat bottomed girls with a sub-atomic "WOOF!" This lovable nutcase is the legendary and internationally renowned grandfather of funk and the founder of the Parliament-Funkadelic MOB, taking the sonic innovations of James Brown and Sly Stone to both outer space AND Neptune while selling millions of records and concert tickets in the process. Quiet as its kept, however, George Clinton's initial approach to the ladies was crooning (when he wasn't cutting hair) as the leader of a standup vocal group he formed in `55 called The Parliaments, emulating the doo wop and love songs that were popular when he was in diapers (well...he STILL wears those on occasion). What is there left for the North Cackalackee-born grandfather of funk to do after four decades of rockin' steady on the one? He can dip back to an era of sweet street corner soul that was his initial inspiration, take some folks back into time while blowing their minds THIS TIME with new spins on the standards - with a mothership full of special guests that completely have his back! We're talkin' Carlos Santana, Sly Stone, El DeBarge, Kim Burrell, the RZA (of Wu Tang Clan), Shavon (from System of a Down) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers - not to mention P-Funk stalwarts such as Belita Woods and Gary Shider! It's a concept he calls George Clinton and His Gangsters Of Love, produced by Bobby Eli and George Clinton - a blue light grind in da basement that marks the first in a series of special projects for Shanachie Entertainment. "I didn't want the record to be 'nostalgic,'" he states. "I wanted to merge the old school with the new school. Some of the kids didn't even know the original songs, so they did them their own way."