Posted on 12/08/2003 7:09:55 PM PST by bd476
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Funk music pioneer George Clinton was arrested and charged with drug possession after allegedly telling an officer he had cocaine in his pocket.
Clinton, of Tallahassee, was arrested Saturday and bonded out of jail over the weekend, according to jail officials, who wouldn't release any other information. Clinton's lawyer, Shoshana Zisk of San Francisco, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Clinton, 63, who headed the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic and the collaboration later known as P-Funk in the 1970s and 1980s is considered a father of the genre. In 1983, Clinton's solo record "Atomic Dog," hit number one on the R&B charts.
Tallahassee Police said an officer noticed a man sitting by himself in the passenger seat of a car in a gas station parking lot about 2 a.m. Saturday and approached to talk to him.
When the officer got to the car, the man, later determined to be Clinton, tried to hide an item he was holding, dropping it between the seats, said Tallahassee Police spokesman Stewart Clendinen.
Clinton started to reach into his pocket and the officer asked him if he had anything in his pocket that might be dangerous, Clendinen said.
Clinton allegedly responded "I've got a little cocaine."
The item he is accused of dropping between the seats turned out be a crack pipe, police said.
Clinton was charged with one felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor count of possession of the pipe, the Tallahassee Democrat first reported for Tuesday papers.
A call to George Clinton Enterprises for comment Monday went unanswered and Clinton's home number is unlisted.
and I was going to post, "I hope they offer him a deal to rat on his brother." but since that would mean certain death for him, i changed my mind.
anyway, it was the wrong clinton...
His record company did everything but roll out the red carpet for him, they enjoyed doing business with him so much. When George Clinton phoned, he always got through to whomever he was trying to reach. This contrasted a long list of other well known artists and producers whose personal attorneys couldn't even get through.
In my opinion, George Clinton's ability to impress the bean counting record executives (who would later ruin the music industry) says a lot about the man, back then at least.
Back then he was definitely a suit wearing an entertainer's clothes. I wonder what happened. I am going to add him and his family to my prayers tonight.
You bastid. I can't find that anywhere.
He still tours P-Funk (or the P-Funk All-Stars or as "Parliament/Funkadelic").
I would also say that he is not the father of the genre. That title will always belong to James Brown. James changed the sound and the industry is forever indebted to him.
I can't speak for Mr. Clinton but marijuana was openly smoked by the crowd at the show I saw in Galveston a few years back.
I'm not shocked by his behavior and I am not aware of any denials of drug use by George Clinton (by Bill Clinton, yes). Maybe we should bypass the "marijuana" question for Presidential candidates and leap right to psychedelics since they can bar a civilian from military service.
Also from my reading of the article, I don't see any clarification as to whether Mr. Clinton had rock or powder cocaine. He just said that he had "cocaine".
{Note: I got ta, got ta, got ta get some neon lights for his propers!}
From one of many of James Brown's online biographies:
"Mr. Brown became an icon of the music industry. With his signature one-three beat, James Brown directly influenced the evolutionary beat of soul music in the Sixties, funk music in the Seventies and rap music in the Eighties."
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/mind/biography_3/index.htm
"The gospel and blues structure of his early records gave way to rhythmic vocals and a complex funk sound. His innovations during this period had a profound influence on popular music styles around the world, including funk, rock, Afro-pop, disco and eventually rap."
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/mind/biography_5/index.htm
From the Godfather of Soul, himself:
"'Funky' is about the injustices, the things that go wrong, the hungry kids going to school trying to learn. 'Funky' is about what it takes to make people move - take it from the gospel, from the jazz."
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/mind/relections/index.htm
From the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum:
"Under the guiding hand of mastermind George Clinton, the affiliated groups Parliament and Funkadelic established funk as an heir to and outgrowth of soul. If James Brown is funk's founding father, Clinton has been its chief architect and tactician."
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=163
Then San Diego's got the funk and so have you. Stand tall.
(I hava feeling I'm going to pay for this groove thang... can't stop myself... in the early a.m.... get it on the good foot, ya'll!)
And I mean his police booking photo, not his agent's booking agency photo...
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