Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow

Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow
Studio album by Funkadelic
Released July 1970
Recorded 1970 in Audio Graphic Services, United Sound Studios, G-M Recording Studios, E. Detroit, Michigan
Genre Funk,[1] psychedelic soul[2]
Length 30:52
Label Westbound
Producer George Clinton
Funkadelic chronology
Funkadelic
(1970)		 Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow
(1970)		 Maggot Brain
(1971)

Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow is the second studio album by American funk band Funkadelic, released in July 1970 by Westbound Records.[3]

Background

The album was recorded at United Sound Studios, Audio Graphic Services, and G-M Recording Studios in Detroit.[4] The inspiration for this album was, according to George Clinton, an attempt to "see if we can cut a whole album while we're all tripping on acid."[3]

The album's gatefold cover forms something of a visual pun, echoing the sentiments of the album title. The sight of a woman holding her arms towards heaven in an ecstatic pose is subverted upon opening the sleeve to find that she is nude.

Music and lyrics

The album and its title track, a feedback-drenched number taking a third of the album's length, introduces the subversion of Christian themes explored on later songs, describing a mystical approach to salvation in which "the Kingdom of Heaven is within" and achievable through freeing one's mind, after which one's ass will follow. Many of the songs (such as the title track and "Eulogy and Light") subvert Christian themes, including the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Blender[6]
Christgau's Record GuideB–[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
Pitchfork8.8/10[9]
Record Collector[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

On the Billboard Music Charts (North America), Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow peaked at #11 on the Black Albums Chart and #92 on the Pop Albums chart.[3] The album and eponymous song influenced the band En Vogue, leading to the title of their hit song "Free Your Mind". [11]

In a 1981 review, Robert Christgau said that the promising but ultimately confusing album has contradictory messages that might either promote "escapist idealism or psychic liberation", and a disorienting aesthetic that is most successful on "Funky Dollar Bill".[7] He later wrote that it is not surprising that the album became "a cult fave in slackerland. Not only is the shit weird, the weirdness signifies."[12] In a retrospective review for Blender, Christgau said that the album's uninhibited guitar exercises were expanded by spoken-word elements and Worrell's classically trained keyboards, which he felt did not live up to the title credo.[6]

In a positive review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett felt that both the album and title track are worthy of the credo and that the other songs range from "the good to astoundingly great."[5] Record Collector magazine's Paul Rigby observed clearly written lyrics and interesting space rock-like funk on what he called a "superb" album.[1]

Track listing

Side One
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow"  George Clinton, Edward Hazel, Raymond Davis 10:04
2. "Friday Night, August 14th"  George Clinton, Willam Nelson, Edward Nelson 5:21
Side Two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
3. "Funky Dollar Bill" (released as a single - Westbound 175)George Clinton, Edward Hazel, Raymond Davis 3:15
4. "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You?" (released as a single - Westbound 167)George Clinton, William Nelson, Clarence Haskins, Raymond Davis 5:59
5. "Some More"  George Clinton 2:56
6. "Eulogy and Light"  Eugene Harris 3:31
2005 CD reissue bonus tracks
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
7. "Fish, Chips and Sweat" (Westbound W 158)George Clinton, William Nelson, Edward Hazel 3:22
8. "Free Your Mind Radio Advert"    0:55
9. "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You" (Westbound W 167)George Clinton, Clarence Haskins, Edward Hazel, William Nelson 2:50
10. "I Wanna Know If It's Good to You" (instrumental - Westbound W 167)George Clinton, William Nelson, Clarence Haskins, Raymond Davis 3:12
Notes

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Muze.[4]

Funkadelic

Martha Reeves appeared on this project but wasn't credited. Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent, the singers to be known as Dawn, appear on "Friday Night, August 14th."

Production

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rigby, Paul (June 2009). "Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow". Record Collector (363): 101. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Album Reviews". Billboard: 60. October 24, 1970. Retrieved November 30, 2013. Funkadelic is back again, this time bidding to 'free your mind' with more psychedelic-soul that's bound to separate from the sense.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rudland, Dean. "Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow reissue liner notes". Westbound Records: 3. 2005.
  4. 1 2 "Funkadelic - Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow - Funkadelic". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (August 2008). "The Guide: Back Catalogue: Funkadelic". Blender. New York. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). Rock Albums of the '70s: A Critical Guide. Da Capo Press. p. 144. ISBN 0306804093. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Funkadelic". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  9. ↑ "Pitchfork Media review". Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  10. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide review. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  11. ↑ G. Brown (2004). Colorado Rocks!: A Half-century of Music in Colorado. Pruett Publishing. pp. 85–. ISBN 978-0-87108-930-4.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert (November 2, 1993). "Loose Canon". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

External links

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