George Edward Clinton [ 6 ] born July 22, [ 7 ] is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and bandleader. Clinton is regarded, along with James Brown and Sly Stone , as one of the foremost innovators of funk music. Owned in part by Clinton, it was staffed by various members of Parliament-Funkadelic, and known as the "hangout for all the local singers and musicians" in Plainfield's s and s doo-wop, soul , rock , and proto- funk music scene.
For a period in the s Clinton was a staff songwriter for Motown [ citation needed ]. Despite initial commercial failure and one major hit single " I Wanna Testify " in , as well as arranging and producing scores of singles on many of the independent Detroit soul music labels, the Parliaments eventually found success under the names Parliament and Funkadelic in the s see also P-Funk. These two bands combined the elements of musicians such as Jimi Hendrix , Sly and the Family Stone , Frank Zappa , and James Brown while exploring various sounds, technology, and lyricism.
From to late , Clinton and several other members of the band settled in Toronto. During their years in Toronto, they honed their live show and recorded the album America Eats Its Young , which was their first to feature Bootsy Collins.
In the s, Clinton began to encounter legal difficulties arising from PolyGram 's acquisition of Parliament's label, Casablanca Records. This period of Clinton's career was marred by multiple legal problems resulting in financial difficulties due to royalty and copyright issues, notably with Bridgeport Music , who Clinton claims fraudulently obtained the copyrights to many of his recordings. In , Clinton was signed to Capitol Records under two names: his own as a solo artist, and as the P-Funk All-Stars, releasing Computer Games under his own name that same year.
He is also a notable music producer who works on almost all the albums he performs on, and has produced albums for Bootsy Collins and Red Hot Chili Peppers , among others. In , he was recruited by the Chili Peppers to produce their album Freaky Styley , because the band members were huge fans of his and of funk in general.
