Cosmic Slop

 

Gary Shider would have been 68 years old today.

 

 

When this clip was recorded in 1976, the two guitarists in Funkadelic were Gary Shider and Michael Hampton. There was not a better one-two punch in rock, funk, anywhere at the time. Hampton was the flamethrower, more Hendrix than Shider. Shider’s solos burned with more subtlety. The combination was insane.

 

Hampton’s the one in the giant felt hat. Shider has... a diaper on, as he was wont to do. Shider handles the lead vocals here, while Hampton lays down the law on lead guitar — until about 5:30 when Shider shows us just how well he can play. 

 

I eventually saw P-Funk in the last few years, and, while they were great, they were not *this* off-the-motherfuckin'-charts great. Many will argue that Bowie and Neil Young were the two most consistently amazing artists of the 1970s. And, truly, it’s hard to argue with that, but let’s never forget just how often Funkadelic were firing on all cylinders on album after album all through that same decade, while being essentially ignored by the white rock-music cognoscenti.

 

Seven-plus minutes of perfection. Turn it way the fuck up.

 

Happy birthday, Diaper Man.