The Badger Herald: ArtsEtc.: Clinton just can’t find ‘love’ on latest

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Clinton just can’t find ‘love’ on latest

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Also by Steve Lampiris:

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Battling Beatles: McCartney wins (February 9, 2009)
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By Steve Lampiris
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 12:00 a.m.

2 Vote 0 Votes

George Clinton is 67. And he’s still recording music.

The funk legend is back with a (mostly) covers album called George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love. Ten of the 11 tracks are interpretations of songs by artists including Marvin Gaye, Johnny Ace and Barry White.

The “covers album” in general is a risky endeavor few artists can actually pull off. And, as it stands, George Clinton really isn’t one of them.

For the most part, Clinton doesn’t do anything too radical with the original arrangements. That is to say, if the original song wasn’t funk-based, Clinton tries to add funk to the song without making them funky — if that makes any sense. Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love” has the same slow-burning feel of the original, but Clinton’s version adds computerized drums and various sound effects in the background, perhaps to distract from his dated rasp.

The main problem with this album is simply that the majority of songs that Clinton chose to cover are performed by artists who can actually sing. He can’t. Of course, that was never a problem when he performed with Parliament, Parliament-Funkadelic or the P-Funk All Stars. But here, when Clinton attempts Barry White’s classic “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up,” he falls flat both from his voice and the arrangement itself. The music itself has a cold, pro tools-like feel to it, and the use of vocoder on the background vocals is just irritating. Performing a Barry White song without an actual singer is like performing a Jimi Hendrix song without a guitar.

Problems also arise for Clinton’s take on “Our Day Will Come” by Ruby & the Romantics, which is perhaps the most removed from its original in its execution. Over music that can only be described as The Prodigy trying jazz, Clinton sounds like he’s auditioning for the next Massive Attack album. His voice slinks here and there in the shadows of the track, but it doesn’t fit a doo-wop record. He sounds more out of place than Cannibal Corpse covering Nick Drake.

Clinton fares better with “Let the Good Times Roll” by Shirley & Lee, but not by much. Featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the song is a fun, bouncy take on the original ’50s R&B track. Actually, it’s rather odd to call this a George Clinton cover, as he barely makes an appearance anywhere on it. Anthony Kiedis pulls lead vocal duties while Clinton phones in a background vocal of some sort. If Clinton was trying a duet, he failed miserably. Also of note is John Frusciante’s guitar, which dominates the song throughout, including an unfortunately misplaced melody solo that only succeeds in puzzling the listener.

The one new song, “Mathematics of Love,” is a beautiful jazz-piano ballad, featuring noted gospel singer Kim Burrell. Her voice is one of the best in recent years, and here it is utilized to its full potential with help from the sparse production. Clinton’s attempt to match her talent is pathetic at best, which is probably why he stops singing halfway through and talk-sings his responses to Burrell until the end.

It’s interesting to note that the record ends with The Heartbeat’s “A Thousand Miles Away,” as Clinton was probably that far from reality when he thought this up.

1 1/2 stars out of 5

2 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | September 17, 2008 10:36 PM | Reply
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I like the lp think it sounds great. It’s not a funk cd. You are way off the mark. If you are looking for something different and are a fan of George Clinton pick it up.

It’s an alternative to all the crap music out there.