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Make My Funk the P-Funk: Parliament-Funkadelic's Meteoric Rise in 1975 from Chocolate City to Mothership Connection
200 pages, Hardcover
Published October 16, 2025
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October 8, 2025
A big thank you to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Daniel Bedrosian’s fun and enlightening new book Make My Funk the P-Funk: Parliament-Funkadelic’s Meteoric Rise in 1975 from Chocolate City to Mothership Connection. While not necessarily a traditional book on the band’s influence and formation, Bedrosian, who has been funkin’ it up with Parliament-Funkadelic for the past 20 years, provides a brief history of the band, as well as setting the historical context for the band’s evolution from inhabiting Chocolate City to exploring outer space and other realms with the Mothership Connection. Bedrosian also provides an overview of the albums and the musicians who contributed to these albums, and brief biographies for many of the varied members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Amazingly, Bedrosian has also somehow catalogued the vast samples from P-Funk’s history. I think this resource alone is well worth any hip-hop fan’s time and money. Parliament-Funkadelic’s music has provided much of the samples and beats that fueled the early and golden years of hip-hop, and if you don’t know, now you know. I loved seeing which songs were sampled by which artists, and although there are websites that are dedicated to this, it was still cool to find a print reference that also includes biographies and a discography with notes on each of the songs. As a result, this book is more like a reference book than any kind of narrative biography of the band. It is highly informative, and with Bedrosian’s experience and knowledge as a member of the band, he has unique access to other members, providing some key details and information about the making of some of the most iconic albums from a band that basically redefined R’n’B by cutting out their own genre of Funk. It’s really cool to read.
Although P-Funk played an important part of my life in high school, my first encounters with P-Funk were from George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog”. I still remember being blown away by this video, featuring cartoons and a video-game like setting, with such catchy and fun music and lyrics. I don’t think that my early encounters with P-Funk influenced hip-hop made me realize that they were from the same mind, but I think I’ve always wanted to get funked up. Bedrosian’s book is a great reference and read for those who enjoy tearin’ da roof off or getting funked up. As I was reading about all of the albums, the kinds of thematic directions that Clinton and Company took the funk, I felt excited and appreciative of how unique and influential this music has been. Reading Bedrosian’s book also made me think about another book I read about Sun Ra’s Chicago ( Sun Ra’s Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City) and how living in a city like that helped him develop not just his music, but also his ideas about freedom and society, and how a kind of Afro-futuristic utopia was a kind of answer to much of the racism and discrimination that permeated America. In many ways, Bedrosian’s overview of the events in the early 70s that influenced P-Funk presented some bleak situations. In particular, he notes the end of the Vietnam War and how Black soldiers were affected as having an important influence on P-Funk’s music (one of the original members of the Parliaments was killed in action in Vietnam). Furthermore, Watergate and the kind of dire political situation also had an impact on America’s view. Thus, Parliament ended up working on Chocolate City, where the members of Parliament can create their own kind of earthly, urban utopia. I was also thinking about the J.B.’s and “You Can Have Watergate…”, which probably featured Fred Wesley. Also, it made me think about Gil Scott Heron’s Winter in America, which takes a much darker look at Watergate and America in the mid-70s. Obviously, different artists had different tracks, and Parliament’s is a much more joyous vision for society. Plus, it’s great to see how Parliament envisioned a place like Chocolate City brining other important Black artists together to celebrate and create, serving important functions within this administration (one I’d greatly appreciate now). It’s also interesting to think that Clinton returned to this idea of a Black White House in the 90s with “Paint the White House Black,” and presaged the Obama administration by about 33 years. Nevertheless, reading Bedrosian’s analysis of the time period and the lyrical content of this important album made me think about other albums from around the same time and even other musicians, and how the can use their music for a vision of utopia or to challenge any difficulties or inequalities in society. I loved thinking about the idea of P-Funk as just being like an antidote for all of the social ills. While it might not necessarily take care of all the problems, the music just makes you want to move, and sometimes just dancing and celebrating (tearin’ da roof off) is exactly what we need at the time.
Bedrosian notes that not all was bad in the world. Baseball saw some of its first African American managers hired, and there was some breakdown in the Cold War with the US and Soviet astronauts meeting in space, also possibly influencing some of the content of later P-Funk music. Bedrosian goes on to provide an overview of Parliament, the band, and how it eventually evolved from The Parliaments to Parliament and Funkadelic. I also loved this chapter. I had no idea George Clinton formed this band in Plainfield, NJ, which is also the home of Bill Evans, who is not as funky, but is another important NJ musician. I also didn’t even realize that Clinton started the band in the 1950s, and that P-Funk has been around for more than 70 years. This chapter provides more information about how the social turmoil of the 60s also influenced Parliament’s music, and eventually led to the formation of Funkadelic, which I always found as a harder sound than the funk of Parliament. This chapter also provides details about how members arrived in the P-Funk family, and I also loved learning about many of the key members, and how their unique musical voices contributed to the sounds of P-Funk over time. I’ve known about Bootsy and Bernie, and I’ve always been fascinated by Eddie Hazel’s playing, but I didn’t realize all of the other drummers and guitarists that joined on, as well as how Fred Wesley came to be involved in the band.
The Subsequent chapters detail the discography of Parliament Funkadelic. Bedrosian provides analysis of the music and songs, as well as who played which instruments on which tracks, which was interesting to learn because George Clinton would often ask musicians to take up the drums even though that was not their main instrument. It was also cool to read about the different effects, synthesizers and other studio effects that Clinton and crew used to develop and hone the P-Funk sound of the 1970s. There’s a lot to learn in these pages, and it immediately made me want to return to all of these albums that I haven’t listened to for a while. I also learned a fun fact that Let’s Take It To the Stage was like one of the first diss records where Funkadelic tried to provoke some of the other big funk bands of the time.
These chapters covering the discography from Chocolate City to the early 80s comprise most of the book. As I was reading, I kept thinking how great it would be to have some pictures, and Bedrosian included this in a little more than midway through. There are some promo posters, albums from different countries, and some concert photos. There’s a great advertisement for Let’s Take It to the Stage as well featuring a drawing of a woman in a burger. I also liked seeing Clinton come out of a coffin for shows like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Just looking at the Mothership Connection album covers took me back. That was the first Parliament album I had, and I remember getting it from a hip-hop record store in Norristown, PA. I couldn’t how many hip-hop songs came from the tracks on this album. It was such a strange cover of this big Black man in short shorts coming out of a UFO. Such a great album, and such great art work! Bedrosian’s book took me back, and was a great way to not only reminisce, but also look forward and to be grateful for artists like George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, among so many more.
The book ends with appendices that have biographies of the various members, which was also really interesting to read. There were many members from NJ, but Parliament pulled from all over the country. I also think this was the second book I’ve read over the past few months that featured the Brecker Brothers (Peter Ames Carlin’s Tonight in Jungleland about the making of Born to Run). However, Appendix B “Select Samples and Interpolations” was the part of the book that really amazed me. Bedrosian has organized the samples by album, and then lists the samples chronologically. Again, it was fun to read the different artists and see how hip-hop (and other music) has evolved by going back to the past. Sampling is really a unique aspect of Black music in America, part of the tradition of Signifying, and Bedrosian helps to catalog some of the most significant samples for hip-hop. I also loved how he regularly acknowledges the early elements of hip-hop in P-Funk’s music. This was an awesome book! It’s a great book for music fans, but especially for hip-hop fans. I’m really grateful to Bedrosian for writing this book, and for Bloomsbury Academic for publishing it. It brought the funk back into my life at a time when I needed it most. Highly recommended!
Although P-Funk played an important part of my life in high school, my first encounters with P-Funk were from George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog”. I still remember being blown away by this video, featuring cartoons and a video-game like setting, with such catchy and fun music and lyrics. I don’t think that my early encounters with P-Funk influenced hip-hop made me realize that they were from the same mind, but I think I’ve always wanted to get funked up. Bedrosian’s book is a great reference and read for those who enjoy tearin’ da roof off or getting funked up. As I was reading about all of the albums, the kinds of thematic directions that Clinton and Company took the funk, I felt excited and appreciative of how unique and influential this music has been. Reading Bedrosian’s book also made me think about another book I read about Sun Ra’s Chicago ( Sun Ra’s Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City) and how living in a city like that helped him develop not just his music, but also his ideas about freedom and society, and how a kind of Afro-futuristic utopia was a kind of answer to much of the racism and discrimination that permeated America. In many ways, Bedrosian’s overview of the events in the early 70s that influenced P-Funk presented some bleak situations. In particular, he notes the end of the Vietnam War and how Black soldiers were affected as having an important influence on P-Funk’s music (one of the original members of the Parliaments was killed in action in Vietnam). Furthermore, Watergate and the kind of dire political situation also had an impact on America’s view. Thus, Parliament ended up working on Chocolate City, where the members of Parliament can create their own kind of earthly, urban utopia. I was also thinking about the J.B.’s and “You Can Have Watergate…”, which probably featured Fred Wesley. Also, it made me think about Gil Scott Heron’s Winter in America, which takes a much darker look at Watergate and America in the mid-70s. Obviously, different artists had different tracks, and Parliament’s is a much more joyous vision for society. Plus, it’s great to see how Parliament envisioned a place like Chocolate City brining other important Black artists together to celebrate and create, serving important functions within this administration (one I’d greatly appreciate now). It’s also interesting to think that Clinton returned to this idea of a Black White House in the 90s with “Paint the White House Black,” and presaged the Obama administration by about 33 years. Nevertheless, reading Bedrosian’s analysis of the time period and the lyrical content of this important album made me think about other albums from around the same time and even other musicians, and how the can use their music for a vision of utopia or to challenge any difficulties or inequalities in society. I loved thinking about the idea of P-Funk as just being like an antidote for all of the social ills. While it might not necessarily take care of all the problems, the music just makes you want to move, and sometimes just dancing and celebrating (tearin’ da roof off) is exactly what we need at the time.
Bedrosian notes that not all was bad in the world. Baseball saw some of its first African American managers hired, and there was some breakdown in the Cold War with the US and Soviet astronauts meeting in space, also possibly influencing some of the content of later P-Funk music. Bedrosian goes on to provide an overview of Parliament, the band, and how it eventually evolved from The Parliaments to Parliament and Funkadelic. I also loved this chapter. I had no idea George Clinton formed this band in Plainfield, NJ, which is also the home of Bill Evans, who is not as funky, but is another important NJ musician. I also didn’t even realize that Clinton started the band in the 1950s, and that P-Funk has been around for more than 70 years. This chapter provides more information about how the social turmoil of the 60s also influenced Parliament’s music, and eventually led to the formation of Funkadelic, which I always found as a harder sound than the funk of Parliament. This chapter also provides details about how members arrived in the P-Funk family, and I also loved learning about many of the key members, and how their unique musical voices contributed to the sounds of P-Funk over time. I’ve known about Bootsy and Bernie, and I’ve always been fascinated by Eddie Hazel’s playing, but I didn’t realize all of the other drummers and guitarists that joined on, as well as how Fred Wesley came to be involved in the band.
The Subsequent chapters detail the discography of Parliament Funkadelic. Bedrosian provides analysis of the music and songs, as well as who played which instruments on which tracks, which was interesting to learn because George Clinton would often ask musicians to take up the drums even though that was not their main instrument. It was also cool to read about the different effects, synthesizers and other studio effects that Clinton and crew used to develop and hone the P-Funk sound of the 1970s. There’s a lot to learn in these pages, and it immediately made me want to return to all of these albums that I haven’t listened to for a while. I also learned a fun fact that Let’s Take It To the Stage was like one of the first diss records where Funkadelic tried to provoke some of the other big funk bands of the time.
These chapters covering the discography from Chocolate City to the early 80s comprise most of the book. As I was reading, I kept thinking how great it would be to have some pictures, and Bedrosian included this in a little more than midway through. There are some promo posters, albums from different countries, and some concert photos. There’s a great advertisement for Let’s Take It to the Stage as well featuring a drawing of a woman in a burger. I also liked seeing Clinton come out of a coffin for shows like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Just looking at the Mothership Connection album covers took me back. That was the first Parliament album I had, and I remember getting it from a hip-hop record store in Norristown, PA. I couldn’t how many hip-hop songs came from the tracks on this album. It was such a strange cover of this big Black man in short shorts coming out of a UFO. Such a great album, and such great art work! Bedrosian’s book took me back, and was a great way to not only reminisce, but also look forward and to be grateful for artists like George Clinton, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, among so many more.
The book ends with appendices that have biographies of the various members, which was also really interesting to read. There were many members from NJ, but Parliament pulled from all over the country. I also think this was the second book I’ve read over the past few months that featured the Brecker Brothers (Peter Ames Carlin’s Tonight in Jungleland about the making of Born to Run). However, Appendix B “Select Samples and Interpolations” was the part of the book that really amazed me. Bedrosian has organized the samples by album, and then lists the samples chronologically. Again, it was fun to read the different artists and see how hip-hop (and other music) has evolved by going back to the past. Sampling is really a unique aspect of Black music in America, part of the tradition of Signifying, and Bedrosian helps to catalog some of the most significant samples for hip-hop. I also loved how he regularly acknowledges the early elements of hip-hop in P-Funk’s music. This was an awesome book! It’s a great book for music fans, but especially for hip-hop fans. I’m really grateful to Bedrosian for writing this book, and for Bloomsbury Academic for publishing it. It brought the funk back into my life at a time when I needed it most. Highly recommended!
October 19, 2025
If you sang the title of this post and continued with "I wants to get funked up," then this book review is for you. I grew up on P-Funk. Their concert was the most outrageous stage performance I have ever witnessed. I jam to George Clinton and 'nem to this very day. Their sound is so distinct that it is impossible to sit still when the bass hits my soul. Their discography spans 70+ years making Parliament-Funkadelic the longest-running music band in history. The year 1975, twenty years into George Clinton's musical journey with the group, became a pivotal year.
Make My Funk the P-Funk by Daniel Bedrosian, the longest-tenured keyboardist for Parliament-Funkadelic, details the rise from Chocolate City to Let's Take It to the Stage to Mothership Connection. It gives a historical view of things happening in the world during the release of these three (3) classic albums in an 8-month timeframe. With detailed overviews of each album, lyric breakdowns, analysis of the group's dynamic and interviews with living members, this book is a deep dive into P-Funk through their 1975 album releases.
This book is for the hardcore P-Funk fans. The music lovers with funk running through their veins. The women who wore diaper dresses. If you cleaned the whole house on Saturday morning to these songs then went to a house party that night. Music buffs looking for more in-depth information about P-Funk's trademark sound. Those who saw the group's style transition from suits to psychedelic outfits. Aspiring producers wanting a success guide. Those who lived through Watergate, the fall of Saigon, riots and know they STILL funky in the White House. *mic drop*
Bedrosian took great care in writing MMFTPF including info that has been the subject of controversy or rumors over the past several decades, brief biographies of key members, origin of lyrics, stats and a thorough listing of samples and interpolations. He really pulled back the curtain and gave credit where it is due. The time and effort spent researching is obvious. I learned so much about the P-Funk era. It enhanced my reading experience by streaming the featured songs as I read along. Bookhearts, need I say more? Read it and be funkatized!
Happy Early Pub Day, Daniel Bedrosian! Make My Funk the P-Funk will be available on October 16.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
Make My Funk the P-Funk by Daniel Bedrosian, the longest-tenured keyboardist for Parliament-Funkadelic, details the rise from Chocolate City to Let's Take It to the Stage to Mothership Connection. It gives a historical view of things happening in the world during the release of these three (3) classic albums in an 8-month timeframe. With detailed overviews of each album, lyric breakdowns, analysis of the group's dynamic and interviews with living members, this book is a deep dive into P-Funk through their 1975 album releases.
This book is for the hardcore P-Funk fans. The music lovers with funk running through their veins. The women who wore diaper dresses. If you cleaned the whole house on Saturday morning to these songs then went to a house party that night. Music buffs looking for more in-depth information about P-Funk's trademark sound. Those who saw the group's style transition from suits to psychedelic outfits. Aspiring producers wanting a success guide. Those who lived through Watergate, the fall of Saigon, riots and know they STILL funky in the White House. *mic drop*
Bedrosian took great care in writing MMFTPF including info that has been the subject of controversy or rumors over the past several decades, brief biographies of key members, origin of lyrics, stats and a thorough listing of samples and interpolations. He really pulled back the curtain and gave credit where it is due. The time and effort spent researching is obvious. I learned so much about the P-Funk era. It enhanced my reading experience by streaming the featured songs as I read along. Bookhearts, need I say more? Read it and be funkatized!
Happy Early Pub Day, Daniel Bedrosian! Make My Funk the P-Funk will be available on October 16.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
September 22, 2025
Make My Funk the P-Funk by Daniel Bedrosian is both very informative and a pain to read. Being a long-time fan (if from about 1971 counts), however, the horrible authorial voice couldn't completely ruin the book.
The recap of the history of the group/project and the details of the specific period makes this a book well worth reading for both fans and those interested in music history more broadly. The first chapter is probably the weakest, Bedrosian just drones on and on and prefers to try to sound more upper crust instead of just writing in a more straightforward manner. Fortunately, having taught more freshman writing classes than I care to remember, I am used to people thinking they need to sound a certain way to be taken seriously. If you've ever worked with a remedial writer, you will understand and deal with the writing.
It picks up after that when he has to stick to talking about what happened and who did what, though his rudimentary, often less than accurate, assessments of the times more broadly still gets in the way of any flow to the book.
If the music under review here coincides with an important period in your life, this will be a wonderful rip down memory lane. Seeing them perform several times, I was taken back to those powerful performances. We're talking about the end of high school and early adulthood for me, so this was a big part of my changing view of the world. For those who were born later, you'll be able to listen to your favorite songs that might have sampled or borrowed ideas from them with a new appreciation of what came before. But either way, you should supplement the book with listening to the music being discussed. It might be nostalgic, it might be educational, but it will definitely be fun.
I would recommend this to fans of P-Funk as well as those who enjoy learning a little more about pivotal and important groups and/or periods, this checks both boxes.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
The recap of the history of the group/project and the details of the specific period makes this a book well worth reading for both fans and those interested in music history more broadly. The first chapter is probably the weakest, Bedrosian just drones on and on and prefers to try to sound more upper crust instead of just writing in a more straightforward manner. Fortunately, having taught more freshman writing classes than I care to remember, I am used to people thinking they need to sound a certain way to be taken seriously. If you've ever worked with a remedial writer, you will understand and deal with the writing.
It picks up after that when he has to stick to talking about what happened and who did what, though his rudimentary, often less than accurate, assessments of the times more broadly still gets in the way of any flow to the book.
If the music under review here coincides with an important period in your life, this will be a wonderful rip down memory lane. Seeing them perform several times, I was taken back to those powerful performances. We're talking about the end of high school and early adulthood for me, so this was a big part of my changing view of the world. For those who were born later, you'll be able to listen to your favorite songs that might have sampled or borrowed ideas from them with a new appreciation of what came before. But either way, you should supplement the book with listening to the music being discussed. It might be nostalgic, it might be educational, but it will definitely be fun.
I would recommend this to fans of P-Funk as well as those who enjoy learning a little more about pivotal and important groups and/or periods, this checks both boxes.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
September 5, 2025
As a strong Parliament-Funkadelic fan, (I remember going to the Mothership concert with my sister and friends), this book was one I knew I had to read. And what a book it is!!!! Was great to read about my favorite albums from one of the best groups that ever graced the stage. The facts presented were right in line with the albums and while learning more about this phenomenal group, it also for me, brought back memories. To all Funkateers, get this book. And put on some Parliament-Funkadelic music while you read it lol. You will be bopping your head and I dare you not to say: Make my funk the P-Funk at least once!!! Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my
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