Happy 45th Anniversary to Funkadelic’s seventh studio album Let’s Take It To The Stage, originally released April 21, 1975.
By the time Funkadelic released Let’s Take It To The Stage, their seventh album, they had become a well-oiled music machine. Starting as an acid-fueled funk-rock jam band in 1970, five years later they were refining their musical stylings, becoming a bit more disciplined, but still preserving their free-for-all attitude. The group strike the right balance between these two styles on Let’s Take It To The Stage, resulting in arguably the best album in the group’s catalogue.
Funkadelic didn’t necessarily do anything radically different on Let’s Take It To The Stage than they had on previous releases. Rather, the members of the group were operating at their peak levels throughout the album. The long player is not nearly as drenched in pain as Cosmic Slop (1973) or as experimental as Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On (1975). It’s a bit more accessible than those previous two entries, and much more based in humor of George Clinton, the group’s leader and visionary.
This time out, the group’s roster is filled with some of the best musicians ever associated with Funkadelic. The ranks include Clinton and fellow vocalist Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, guitarist Gary Shider, bassist William “Bootsy” Collins, and master keyboardist Bernie Worrell. Let’s Take It To The Stage is filled with more traditional funk and soul creations, which still manage to push the limits of the imagination.
Prior to the arrival of Let’s Take It To The Stage, Clinton had relaunched the group Parliament as a separate entity. Soon the sounds of the two separate groups would begin to coalesce. Let’s Take It To The Stage signified the beginning of that process, but it still stands as a central artistic achievement by the group. As funk became more widely accepted in the mainstream, Funkadelic let it be known that they were still the masters in this realm.
The album starts off strong with “Good To Your Earhole,” a potent track where the group pledges that rather than killing the listeners softly, Funkadelic will free their minds with funk. “Mashing your brain like silly putty / Leaving you in a better frame of mind” are familiar sentiments to those who’d been following the group since the early ’70s, but here the grooves are more powerful than ever.
The heavy funk bassline and complex percussion are the first things to stand out on “Better By The Pound,” but Funkadelic’s lyrics speak to the greater spiritual power of their music. The group dismisses traditional hedonism and the pleasures offered by false preachers and loose women, asking their listeners to seek salvation through Funkadelic itself.
Later, on the brief and innuendo-laden “Stuffs And Things,” the group ties their music to the release of sexual gratification. “I’ll be flying somewhere in the stratosphere / but at the same time I'll be right here / doing my utmost to your stuff,” the group croons in unison.
Let’s Take It To The Stage is the third album in a row where the title track is on the shortlist of the greatest songs that the group ever released. Musically, it’s immaculately constructed, built upon solid guitar and keyboard grooves, and some impressive soloing by Worrell. It’s also the best dis track of all time, of any genre. The “Funk Mob” use the song to throw down the gauntlet at other soul and R&B groups at the time who were adopting the funk sound. As Clinton proclaims, “Funk used to be a bad word,” showing absolute disdain for all the Johnny Come-Latelys who were appropriating his crew’s sound that they were the first to pioneer.
Clinton is masterful on both lead vocals and his ad-libs. The “verses” of the song are made up of slightly lewd versions of nursery rhymes (“Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, smoking some THC…”) while Clinton cackles away, shouting “Laughing at ya!” and throwing darts at the aforementioned pretenders. Clinton sprays his disses far and wide, targeting Rufus (“Hey Schmoofus, tell me something good!”), Sly and the Family Stone (“Slick and the Family Brick! How’s your loose booty? Let me tighten it up! … Let’s take it higher!”), and James Brown (“Talking about you, Godfather! Godmother! Grandfather!”), to name a few. He even throws in a few digs at Richard Nixon, at the time embroiled in the Watergate scandal.
“No Head No Backstage Pass” borders on hard rock/heavy metal funk and belongs firmly in the realm of “songs that could never be released today.” As the title suggests, the song concerns Funkadelic’s groupies trying to get backstage at their shows, and the sexual favors that they are required to perform in order to secure entry. While Clinton bellowing “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin! If you ain’t giving head you ain’t getting in!” is pretty funny, they’re not the most enlightened lyrics ever recorded. However, the messy, blistering guitar work and over-the-top chorus of vocalists do make things incredibly interesting.
Funkadelic could still very much kick out some top-of-the-line straight-up funk jams, as they demonstrate on “Get Off Your Ass And Jam.” It’s a raucous funk and rock free-for-all, where the only lyrics are the crew occasionally chanting, “Shit! Goddamn! Get off your ass and jam!” at random intervals.
The song is also well known for featuring a monstrous guitar solo that runs nearly the entirety of its length. In his autobiography, Clinton revealed that the guitar remains uncredited on the album because no one had any idea who he was. Clinton attributes the solo to a guitar-playing "smack addict” who found his way into the studio and convinced the band to let him jam with them for a little extra cash. He played “like he was possessed,” then disappeared into funk legend.
One area where Funkadelic show their artistic growth is in their ability to craft ballads. Yes, some were done with their tongue firmly in their cheeks (not uncommon for the group), but they’re all examples of great musicianship and interesting songwriting. “Be My Beach,” which features Bootsy’s distinct vocal talents, has the group playfully crooning over their admiration for a freak who they know is the object of affection for many other “vultures.” With its extended beach-related metaphors, the song is like the land-based prequel to “Aqua Boogie” or the other entries on Parliament’s Motor Booty Affair (1978).
“Baby I Owe You Something Good” is a funk power ballad: deliberate in pace and fairly overwrought. The overblown chorus has a gospel feel, but the song is anchored by explosive drumming, possibly handled by Barry Frost of Rare Earth (Funkadelic liner notes are always a mess). “The Song is Familiar” is a more traditional love song, as Clinton croons about finding solace in music after losing the love of his life.
The album ends with “Atmosphere,” which is designed for the express purpose of showcasing the ample skills of Worrell, one of the best keyboardists to ever live. Aside from a pair of muted dirty limericks recited by Clinton in the background, the song is a seven-minute-plus organ solo by Worrell. He holds court over the album like it’s a funkdafied carnival, with him spinning out classically inspired tunes without pause.
Let’s Take It To The Stage signified the end of an era for Funkadelic: it was the last album the group recorded for the Westbound Records label. Out of contractual obligation, Funkadelic gave Westbound one last album, Tales of Kidd Funkadelic, the next year. However, it was made up of outtakes from what would be later released as Hardcore Jollies, their first album on Warner Bros.
As “bridge” albums go, Let’s Take It To The Stage is better than most, with the group backing up their alpha status with both words and actions. Like some of the best holy warriors, they were committed to their own higher power (the funk), but weren’t afraid to get down for their crown. And they did it while laughing all the way.
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