George Clinton has seen a few things in his days as one of funk's premiere performers, and thankfully he decided to write what he could remember into his new autobiography Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't that Funkin' Kinda Hard on You? In it, he recalls the story of one of Funkadelic's best guitar solos.
One gem from the book, as Ultimate Classic Rock points out, takes place during a recording session for Funkadelic's 1975 album Let's Take It to the Stage. The band was in the middle of recording Get Off Your Ass and Jam, which contains one of the band's greatest guitar solos in their recorded catalog.
In his book, Clinton said he has no idea who played guitar on that track because it was not any of the band's usual axemen ... it was a drifter.
"We finished one take, took a smoke break or something, and noticed that a white kid had wandered into the studio, a smack addict," Clinton writes in the book. "We didn't know him at all, but he said he played a little guitar, and he wanted to know if he could play with us and pick up a little cash in the process."
The band decided to give the kid a shot, and he did not disappoint.
"We set him up, started the track, and he just started to play like he was possessed," Clinton recalls. "He did all the rock 'n' roll that hadn't been heard for a few years, and he did it for the entirety of the track. Even when the song ended, he didn't stop. All of us were up there goggle-eyed, saying, 'Damn.' We had agreed on 25 bucks, but I gave him 50 because I loved it."
Dr. Funkenstein and Funkadelic went on to put out plenty more records, but Clinton said he has not seen that funky white boy since he laid down that epic solo.
"Over the years it's proven to be one of the most enduring songs from that record," he said about the song. "I tried to find the guy and put him on another song, but he was gone. He never resurfaced. "We never heard from him. He's not credited on the record because we have no idea who he was."
Clinton and P-Funk have dates scheduled through April, according to their website.
