P-Funk Mothership
The P Funk
Origins
During their heyday in the mid to late 1970s, following the success of their platinum-selling
At these gigs, and starting in October 1976,
Later years and retirement
For many years, the landing of the Mothership was only alluded to at live concerts, due to the prohibitive cost of maintaining the elaborate stage-show. After the band had to deal with mounting debt, the Mothership was discarded and sold for cash in 1982 or 1983.[5][6] Sources say the Washington, D.C. management company sold it to a scrap metal yard in Prince George's County in Maryland.[6]
In 1996, following the release of
For a few years after the Mothership Reconnection Tour, the Mothership would land periodically at the P Funk All Stars concerts, particularly those at larger venues. One of the last appearances of the Mothership was at
The replica Mothership found a new home in 2011 when the Smithsonian Institution acquired it by moving it from Clinton's recording studio in Tallahassee, Florida, after the original could not be located.[8] The concert prop started as a symbol of "what could be" and is now located in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.[9][2][10]
Replicas
In 2021, the Oakland Museum of California[11] constructed a replica of the spacecraft as part of its exhibition, Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism.[12] In its announcement of the exhibit, running from August 7, 2021 to February 27, 2022,[13] the museum said, "Experience a replica of the Mothership itself— musician George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic’s Afrofuturistic vessel—to relax in an otherworldly video installation, a curated playlist by DJ Spooky, and more."[12]
See also
- P-Funk
- Parliament Funkadelic
- P-Funk mythology
References
- ^ a b Harriston, Keith (2017-10-02). "Forty years later, George Clinton's Mothership is still landing". Andscape. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ a b "Where in the World is Parliament-Funkadelic's Mothership?". Portable Press. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "On This Day, The 'Mothership' Landed On Us Forty Years Ago". hifimagazine.net. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "Indianapolis Recorder 26 March 1977 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ Fawcett, Kirstin. "Watch George Clinton's P-Funk Mothership Get Reassembled For Its Museum Debut". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ Basham, David (July 23, 1999). "Parliament/Funkadelic Lands The Mothership At Woodstock". MTV News. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ Richards, Chris (May 18, 2011). "Smithsonian acquires Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ "The Mothership". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "Well, All Right, Starchild, The Mothership Is Back". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ Bravo, Tony (May 19, 2021). "Oakland Museum announces reopening just in time for summer". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ a b "Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism | Oakland Museum of California". museumca.org. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ "Sponsored: Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is Re-Opening!". East Bay Times. 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
Further reading
- Fawcett, Kirstin (June 10, 2014). "Watch George Clinton's P-Funk Mothership Get Reassembled For Its Museum Debut". Smithsonian.com.
- Richards, Chris (April 12, 2010). "In Maryland, George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic and a Missing Mothership". The Washington Post.
- Richards, Chris (April 12, 2010). "George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Garry Shider and Others on the Search for the Mothership". The Washington Post.