CoronaVinyl Day 116 (RS Greatest Albums 151-200): One Nation Under a Groove by Funkadelic

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today, we are looking at albums ranked between 151 and 200 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.  Coming in at #177 is Funkadelic's 1978 funk classic, One Nation Under a Groove, the group's tenth studio album.

Back in April, we listened to a Parliament album for the Funk category of CoronaVinyl, so now Parliament's sister group, Funkadelic, gets its turn.  Both groups were organized by George Clinton, and both groups are considered to be two of the most influential funk bands ever.  You can't have a discussion about funk music without P-Funk, and Funkadelic's One Nation Under a Groove is rightly considered one of the best funk albums ever.  The songs are a combination of delicious funk riffs and grooves, with some long jams mixed in.  The group was blurring the boundaries of funk, soul, jazz, and rock.

The album was the group's highest-charting album, reaching #16 on the Billboard album chart and #1 on the Billboard R&B album chart.  It was also the group's best-selling album, going platinum in the U.S.

Originally, the album was released in the U.S. as a six-song album (three tracks on each side), with a bonus 7-inch EP that had a live version of the group's 1971 song "Maggot Brain."  In Europe, the bonus EP was a three-song 12-inch 45-rpm disc with "Maggot Brain," "Lunchmeataphobia (Think! It Ain't Illegal Yet!)," and "P.E. Squad/Doo Doo Chasers" on one side and an extended version of the title track on the other side.  Whatever version of the album I have lists the three bonus tracks on the back of the album cover and on the inside as well (it's a gate-fold cover), but I don't have any bonus EP.  Just so we're all on the same page, here's the track listing on the version I have.

Side 1
1.  "One Nation Under a Groove"
2.  "Groovallegiance"
3.  "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!"

Side 2
1.  "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doodoo Chasers)"
2.  "Into You"
3.  "Cholly (Funk Getting Ready To Roll!)"

Unfortunately, the full album is not available on Spotify, but it is available on YouTube, so I embedded that below.  That version has the three bonus tracks at the end.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "One Nation Under a Groove"

This song forms the basis of my favorite Ice Cube song, "Bop Gun," so it was one of the many funk songs that I heard for the first time in '90s hip hop.  It was Funkadelic's biggest hit and only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, hitting #28 -- and also hitting #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #9 on the UK pop chart (their only charting song in the UK).  On top of that, it was the group's only million-selling single, and it's part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll and  #474 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doodoo Chasers)"
I chose this one in part because it has a hilariously long name.  Both Parliament and Funkadelic often had song titles with long combined words.  I like the mental image of a posse roaming the streets in search of constipated people.  The song itself is a ten-minute jam whose influence you can hear in Prince and OutKast.  Or at least, I can hear that.  I don't know that you can hear.