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.
I met him years ago and was surprised by his reserved, all business, polite demeanor, no matter his very brightly colored, lengthy rainbow braids.
George Clinton had capitivated the attention of many record companies in his serious, all business approach creating and selling records.
He made a lot of money for one record company. George Clinton received a lot of respect and high praise within the entire entertainment industry.
Rumors floated then that whatever George Clinton wanted in a record contract, he basically received because he was a man of his word, kept a strict budget and always earned the record company more than projected earnings on all of his projects.
The times have changed apparently. I would believe a lot of things about George Clinton, but not that he would ever take such a stupid path.
Oh well, George, "ya shud nuf bit fish."
It shows.
Nice to meet you, by the way, I'm bd476. :-)
"Super stupid bought a nickel bag"
LOL! Ha ha, I'm there with ya. In fact, I probably wouldn't have noticed this story - ahhhh, yep, same idea...
Truly applicable (for me) tagline ya got going there, btw. Can I borry it sometime?
Me too.
"Super stupid bought a nickel bag"
Yep.
"Why must it
Be like that?
Why must I
Chase the cat?
Bow-wow-wow,
Yippee-Yo, Yippee-Yay,
Bow-Wow, Yippee-Yo, Yippee-Yay."
I don't know much about either, but was surprised that he was reported to have told a police officer he had cocaine in his pocket.
Then again, maybe drugs have taken away the intelligence he used to have. There was an article posted here some months ago where George Clinton is quoted saying something completely absurd.
"That's all hard core stuff in any case. No more so I suppose than an addiction to Oxycotin. Both are one-way non-stop tickets to destruction, or detox if you are one of the priviledged. Prison if you are not."
Hopefully he invested his money and can afford a good detox-rehabilitation center as well as a good attorney. I doubt any record industry folks will step forward now to lend him assistance.
Despite the banal lyrics, George was poking fun at the then current music trends by making a cariacature of himself on stage and in his music. In fact, as I recall he used to say that he was not a musician as much as he was a businessman. That's truth in advertising seasoned with a small amount of humility.
Yet he still sold millions of records and never paid anyone to get airplay.
Ouch. Errh, well I just heard about him from my grandparents... oh... never mind. :-)
Oh, hell yeah. :) P-Funk... Bootsy... Graham Central Station; that whole marvelous, magical, musical crowd, right there! GREAT stuff!
Where's that water front property you're selling? :-)
Where's that water front property you're selling? :-)
Parliament CDs Owned:
Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome... The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein... Mothership Connection... Tear the Roof Off: 1974-1980.
Bootsy Collins CDs Owned:
Ahh, the Name Is Bootsy, Baby... Bootsy?/Player of the Year... Back In the Day: The Best of Bootsy.
Graham Central Station CDs Owned:
Ain't No 'Bout-A-Doubt It... My Radio Sures Sound Good To Me.
Not a complete collection by any means, certainly... but: enough to claim basic fanhood, without question. :)
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