AMERICAN MUSIC

George Clinton’s Funky American Banjo

In 1978, his funk anthem ‘One Nation Under A Groove’ screamed loud

The Old Plantation, c. 1785–1795, the earliest known American painting to picture a banjo-like instrument, which shows a four-string instrument with its 4th (thumb) string shorter than the others; thought to depict a plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina

As Beyonce shakes up the world of country music and popular music with her latest album, “Cowboy Carter,” few remember or and many were not even alive when George Clinton creatively used a banjo in his most famous record, “One Nation Under A Groove” (Funkadelic) in 1978. Clinton, arguably the most important Funkateer of American Funk music (James Brown created da Funk; Clinton took it to another level), scored his most popular single ever with “One Nation…” Today, the song is iconic.

When the song and the album was released by his group Funkadelic, Clinton famously noted that there was “a message in the music” and the anthem wasn’t necessarily “anarchy” but was an attempt to reach an “understanding between the audience and the group that we have gathered together to funk.” Over the years, I have gathered with Clinton and his groups to hear his musical expression of anarchy.

Where Funkadelic’s funk classic with the banjo clanging in the background was never controversial (Clinton is not and never was as widely popular as Beyonce but who is right?), his groups and shows were always full of white fans. He had reach.