This was the second last Funkadelic album, which was originally released back in 1979. By the looks of things, Mr Clinton and his gang of funky misfits consciously set out to take the piss out of the “Uncle Sam Wants You For US Army” campagin. The main “concept” of this album was “to rescue dance music from the blahs,” which meant that the P-Funksters were trying to get the “real” dance music away from the bland and boring folks of the world who were watering it down and turning it into “disco.” Only the hardcore funk for these cats. And why not? They were Parliament/Funkadelic, dammit!! Makers of the ultimate funky dance music, so let them slam disco music all they want. Mind you, this was nothing new, Clinton was always dissin’ disco music. Still does it to this day, yet he appeared on an album by a techno group in 2006. Go figure. “Uncle Jam Wants You” was originally issued on LP via Warner Brothers Records, but later re-issued on CD via Ice Cube’s Priority Records label. Cube later expressed what an honour it was to have these albums issued on his imprint. He’s a huge fan, so this is quite understandable. Personally, I never heard this album until the end of 1999 when I found a used copy for about $20.00. I still remember the relatively older, sort of….heavy metal looking guy at the counter being somewhat surprised by my purchase. At the time I was only 17, so I guess might’ve been expecting me to buy some bubble gum shit like the Spice Girls. Nah. That’s not how it works. Anyways, let me do this here review:
Freak of the Week: As far as I know, the term “freak of the week” usually refers to a member of the opposite gender who is….I dunno….ummm….fuckable? Yeah, that’d be about the bluntest and simplest way to explain it me thinks. So, basically all we’re getting here is George Clinton informing us all that a certain woman out there is “a big freak” who simply will not be moved by that incredibly bland, boring and mind-numbing rhythm that comprises of “that one beat up and down.” This woman’s “got to reach a point where she gets off.” I’d imagine she needs a good healthy dose of that funk……of course, “that funk” could also refer to illicit substances, but we’ll cast that aside. In this case we’ll just say she needs some seriously funky music to get her off, as opposed to the watered down funk, a.k.a disco music….although in reality it would be something of a phallic instrument.
Knee Deep: As we all know, George Clinton and the entire funk mob are one of the most sampled bands in music history along with James Brown. This song is certainly one of those songs that was sampled by several hip hop acts over the years. The most famous sample, though, was probably in the song “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul, which was released 10 years after the original. George himself even used it on his “Hey Man Smell My Finger” album in 1993 on the track “Martial Law.” Lyrically, this is all about some girlie who “did the freak” with Clinton. Or should that be, he tried to get with her and nothin’ happened? I dunno…..I find myself feeling all sorts of confused. Even though “it wasn’t funky,” “something about the music got into my pants.” Ummm….ok. On the other hand, this is P-Funk after all, we’re bound to hear something off-the-wall, right? “Oh no!!! Not the moose!!!” And there it is. That’s the zaniest shit I’ve ever heard!!!! Or at least it was when I first bought this album back in late ‘99. Although the first time I actually heard “Knee Deep” was back in ‘97 when I bought GC’s “Greatest Funkin Hits” CD. Still, this version which thumps for about 15 minutes is still classic…..and why wouldn’t it be?
Uncle Jam Wants You: This is where the whole piss-take-on-war theme really reveals itself. Garry Shider assumes the role of a Colonel who refers to his soldiers as “you mugs” and commands all of the “young ladies to stick your chests out!!! Cos Uncle Jam wants YOU to join his army!!!….I know it’s early…but ya gotta get down!” And so we shall dance our collective asses off to da F.U.N.K. Eventually, Clinton joins him, shouting out “All right you mugs!! So you wanna dance!!!” The harmonies in the chorus are most certainly on that Parliament tip and the bassline, which comes to us courtesy of a certain BOOTZILLA definitely gives the track that bite. It might be just a tad too raucous for some folks out there though. Not me, though. Hell, even George admits that he’s a soldier in Uncle Jam’s army who is “disturbing the peace at the bridge of river quiet.” Great play on words there.
Field Manuevers: When I first bought this album, I’d never heard the Funkdelic side of George Clinton before. Only the stuff he did with Parliament, which is why I didn’t really know what to make of this track. What we have here is a typically Funkadelic sounding song, which is psychedelic rock mixed with that funk vibe. Usually they’d be singing some typically off the wall lyrics over that groove, but this is an instrumental that runs for about two or three minutes. It’s precisely what you would expect from Funkadelic.
Holly Wants To Go To California: Essentially this is George Clinton sitting by a piano (which I’d imagine is being played by somebody else) and belting out a ballad about Hollywood. He personifies the world-famous city as a girl called, funnily enough, “Holly,” who, as you can see, wants to go to California. He hits quite a few high notes in this song and you can even hear his voice cracking as he does it. I used to really like this ballad, but right about now it’s pretty much the opposite. That’s either because my tastes have changed (hey it’s been 10 years, these things happen!!) or because I just flat out got sick of hearing it. George later referenced this song, once again on his “Smell My Finger” album in 1993. The song was called “Hollywood.” Gee, how original.
Foot Soldiers (Star Spangled Funky): How can I describe this one? I guess you could say that it’s one of those tunes where the musicians are playing some sort of a “marching” type of rhythm – especially the drummer obviously. Other than that, George is just reprising his “soldier in the army for Uncle Jam” persona. Honestly, this is a song that I really don’t care for. I never did! Oh well, it’s the last song on the album, most of the time you’re gonna just take the record off whenever it gets to this stage. There are some exceptions, though.
Verdict: If you’ve never heard a Funkadelic album before in your life and you really want to know what the difference between Funkadelic and Parliament were, then….I must say “Uncle Jam Wants You” is not a very good starting point. It’s probably more like a Parliament album with a few occasional “rock” songs thrown into the mix. About as close as they came to the true Funkadelic sound on this record was “Field Manuvers.” Other than that, this record sounds nothin’ like Funkadelic at all, which is why I’d be more inclined to go with “Standing On the Verge Of Getting It On” or a greatest hits package instead. Still, it’s worth checking out songs like “Freak of the Week,” the title track and of course, the original 15 minute version of “Knee Deep.” Aside from that, this album stands somewhere in between good and bad, so to me it’s just….OK. You might disagree with what I’ve just said, but it’s all good.
