Track Listing

1. Comin' Round the Mountain
2. Smokey
3. If You Got Funk, You Got Style
4. Hardcore Jollies
5. Soul Mate
6. Cosmic Slop [Live]
7. You Scared the Lovin' Outta Me
8. Adolescent Funk

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60200 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Album Description
2008 release a new installment in this series devoted to high quality reissues of original albums which have over the years established their classic status. These instantly recognizable albums have more than stood the test of time and are recognized as being amongst the respective artist's finest works. Packaged in thick, cardboard gatefold sleeves, they recreate the look and feel of the original vinyl albums. Masterminded by the larger-than-life character we mortals on Planet Earth know as George Clinton, Funkadelic was a key element of his highly influential P-Funk empire. Hardcore Jollies, the group's first album for a major label, was released on Warners in 1976. Combining elements of Funk and Psychedelia with Rock - it is dedicated to "the guitar players of the world". The album includes the hit singles 'Comin' Round The Mountain' and 'Smokey'. Charly

Customer Reviews

The High points are really worth it 3.5 stars
"Hardcore Jollies" starts off with a classic-- "Comin Round The Mountain" is one of the all time best Funkadelic guitar jams and to me, it is the definitive Eddie Hazel moment. (before you argue, yes it is Eddie Hazel uncredited on that track no matter what you think) New kid (or should I say Kidd?) Mike Hampton gets a nice little guitar workout on the title track... There is a solid live version of "Cosmic Slop" which showcases both Hampton and Shider but suffers from poor mixing of the vocals which drop out at times... "You Scared the Lovin' out of me" is a classic track with shimmering Bernie Worrell synth, a phased and distorted guitar riff that quotes "The Streets of Cairo" (which spawned the "place in france, naked ladies dance" dirty nursery song) and a crazed Glen Goins screaming in a tone that is at once funny, incredibly skilled, exacerbated, soulful and a little bit unsettling. "Adolescent Funk" is a Worrell showcase with some nice moog soloing but it sort of meanders to nowhere. The rest of the tracks are listenable and not at all bad, they just aren't very memorable. Overall this is a good, solid record. I would give it 3.5 stars if I was allowed. A good album for fans, but probably not a good starting point for neophytes.

Great Music, But Still Could've Been Better...
Despite having some great musical contributions from Eddie Hazel, Mike Hampton, Bernie Worrell, and Buddy Miles, this album still could've been better than what it was. Instead of rushing this LP out on the heels of 'Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic', George should've waited another year (remember, no Funkadelic LP came out in '77), finished up the Earth Tour, and then added a little polish to this LP. Maybe some inspired lyrics to go on the title cut. 'This Is The Way We Funk With You' from the Parliament's Earth Tour LP would've fit in nicely here, instead of the live 'Cosmic Slop'. Even 'Fantasy Is Reality' would've worked.
Here's how it could've looked:
Side One
1- Comin' Round The Mountain
2- Smokey
3- If You Got Funk, You Got Style
4- Fantasy Is Reality
5- Hardcore Jollies (With inspired lyrics)
Side Two
6- This Is The Way We Funk With You
7- Soul Mate
8- You Scared The Lovin' Outta Me
9- Adolescent Funk (Maybe with a George Clinton monologue)

I think this would've been a better album. It definitely would've been as good as, if not better than, 'Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic', and right on par with 'One Nation Under A Groove'. Oh well. Nothing we can do about it now. Overall, this is still a good album. The music is powerful, especially on 'Comin' Round The Mountain'. The typical Clinton monologue is sorely missed, though. Still, it's better than 'Electric Spanking Of War Babies'.

Clinton & The Funk Mob Hastily Threw This One Together, But There Are Still Some Funk Gems On Here!
In mid 1976, there was alot going on in George Clinton's
P-Funk universe! Parliament was riding high from their recent
successes with "Mothership Connection" and
"The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein", he had just inked
Bootsy's Rubber Band a deal with Warner Bros. Records
on the strength of that success, and Funkadelic was
coming to the end of it's contractual obligations
with the independent Westbound Records, who had
given him and his funk mob the perfect lab to
experiment in and hone their craft over the seven
years that they had been together at the time of this album.
Add to this, they were in the middle of rehearsals for
the elaborate $275,000 (in 1976/77 dollars!) jaugernaut that
would become the fabled "P-Funk Earth Tour", which would take
them to another level as far as their concert & record sales!
It was in this magical & chaotic climate that Warner Bros.
made a move and put in a bid for Funkadelic to come
to their label! George, ever the opportunist, saw the
big budget of a major label behind his vision for Funkadelic
and the rest is history!
Songs were hastily thrown together from what the
Parliafunkadelicment Thang, at the height of their
creative powers, had been pooling together in United Sound
in Detroit, Sunset Sound in L.A., as well as from the
Air Force Hangar in Newburgh, NY where they had been hold
up in rehearsals. Some were really good, and some were
basically glorified demos. The result of this was called
"Hardcore Jollies", released in October 1976.

The funk gems and semi-gems of this album are:

"Comin 'Round The Mountain"(Gem)--The late great
Eddie "Maggot Brain" Hazel on soaring guitar
(his last studio performance with Funkadelic),
the legendary Buddy Miles on drums, Cordell "Boogie"
Mosson holding down that perculating bassline.
All of this equates to an incendiary funk-rock jam session
with George scribbling some quickie lyrics that are partly
based on the old choral standard and partly about jammin'
in the U.S. Funk mob!
The end result was DEFINITELY not the song you
remember from high school chorus! (-:

"Smokey"(Gem)--Man!!, I still love this slinky-sexy-funky
joint here! With the late great Glenn Goins and his distinct
churchified tenor ranting, raving, and extolling the joys of
loving a double-entendre, which could be percieved as either
a woman or some bomb-azz weed! (-:
I love Bernie "Da Vinci" Worrell's keyboard and synth work
on this, along with both Glenn & Garry Shider's tasty rhythm
guitar feels woven in between.
I also love the droned background vocals of Garry, Fuzzy,
Grady, Ray, Calvin, George and Mudbone from Bootsy's Rubberband.
The "lookin' back at cheaww!" and the "Waell, weall, weall, weaaaaawwwwlll!!"
Like Al Green and Sly Stone on acid!
In black gospel singing, these are known as "squawls" or
drawling out a word by changing the pronounciation from you
to yeaww, and so forth.
I just love the atmosphere of this jam and it's eerie
build up to the end.

"If You Got Funk, You Got Style" (Semi-Gem)
Was a throw away track from Bootsy's Rubberband's debut
album sessions. George & The Gang tried to salvage it,
but it still sounds like just a pretty good demo with
some good potential. It's cool.

"Hardcore Jollies"(Semi-Gem)--Is just basically
Mike "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton working out on his mighty
axe, along with the other musicians in an impromptu jam session.
It just shows that a funk band can play rock after all!

"Soul Kiss" is a real gem to me!--Quirky, catchy, hooky,
George Clinton's writing style is flirtatious and lewd at
the same time without being vulgar. The vocals and the
track all work well together, and I always wished this
could've been a B-Side to another stronger song.
Real P-Funk Headz know and love this one!

"Cosmic Slop (Live)"(Gem!!)--Recorded live in the upstate
N.Y. Air Force Hangar during the P-Funk Earth Tour rehearsals,
I really love this stripped down, raw, and slightly sped-up
version of their original 1973 hit, which has it's charm as well,
but I like this one more for it's energy.
The sound crew must've been buzzing, because the backgrounds
are pulled down too low in the mix on the
"Would you like to dance with me, we're doing the Cosmic Slop!" part.
It was sung really lazy, like what you would hear in a
rehearsal, but it still works fine.
The guitar between Mike, Garry and Glenn is stellar!
This song still rocks!

"You Scared The Lovin' Outta Me" (Gem!!)--Everything about
this song is the bomb!!--The atmosphere, the guitar-layered
track, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey's kickin' drumming, and of course..
this is a Glenn Goins vocal tour de force!
You really hear the uniqueness of his very soulful vocal
instrument on this song!--Another true P-Funk Headz staple!

"Adolescent Funk" (Semi-Gem)--Sounds like they just had
a very laid back track for a demo they were working on
and George just told Bernie to stretch out on it and play with it.
Then the little scatted vocal line just kind of developed.
It's cute, but more demo than a song.
It closes the album out though on a mild note.

Overall I gave this album a 4 star rating...
it's not one Funkadelic's best, but it has some great gems on it.
Still worth a good listen after 33 yrs.