Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
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Standing on the Verge of Getting It On is a 1974 album by Funkadelic, released on Westbound Records.
On this album, the lyrics generally take a backseat to the music and the jamming. It is one of the most popular Funkadelic albums among fans, and considered an essential Eddie Hazel-album. This is a much more cohesive album than the previous Funkadelic forays; it sticks with a musical style (hard-edged funk) throughout, instead of veering through genres.
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Track Listing
- "Red Hot Mama" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell)
- "Alice In My Fantasies" (Clinton, Grace Cook)
- "I'll Stay" (Clinton, Cook)
- "Sexy Ways" (Clinton, Cook)
- "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On" (Clinton, Cook)
- "Jimmy's Got A Little Bit Of Bitch In Him" (Clinton, Cook)
- "Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts" (Clinton, Cook)
Personnel
(all the below is from the liner notes)
- Spaced Viking; Keyboards & Vocals: Bernie Worrell
- Tenor Vocals, Congas and Suave Personality: Calvin Simon
- A Prototype Werewolf; Berserker Octave Vocals: Fuzzy Haskins
- World's Only Black Leprechaun; Bass & Vocals: Boogie Mosson
- Maggoteer Lead/Solo Guitar & Vocals: Eddie 'Smedley Smorganoff' Hazel
- Rhythm/Lead Guitar, Doowop Vocals, Sinister Grin: Garry Shider
- Supreme Maggot Minister of Funkadelia; Vocals, Maniac Froth and Spit; Behaviour Illegal In Several States: George Clinton
- Percussion & Vocals; Equipped with stereo armpits: Tiki Fulwood
- Rhythm/Lead Guitar; polyester soul-powered token white devil: Ron Bykowski
- Registered and Licensed Genie; Vocals: 'Shady' Grady Thomas
- Subterranean Bass Vocals, Supercool and Stinky Fingers: Ray (Stingray) Davis
- Drums: Gary Bronson
- Bass: Jimmy Calhoun
- Piano: Leon Patillo
- Percussion: Ty Lampkin
"Standing on the Verge of Getting It On"
The singer exhorts the listener to get Funky with it. In contrast to several previous songs with a similar lyrical theme, "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On" shows tremendous growth in songwriting as the suggestion to get Funky also explicity includes a connection with social change and an awakening of the mind, and not just dancing. The definition of the Funk (as described in P Funk mythology) could be said to have started with this song.
- Lead Vocals: Parliament, Garry Shider
- Guitar: Eddie Hazel, Ron Bykowski
"Red Hot Mama"
This song is a remake of a song by The Parliaments.
The song begins with a spoken word intro that seems to be describing a woman who has the effect of rendering a person unFunky (see P Funk mythology). The second section is sung and includes the second quote above as the refrain. It is not clear whether the first woman is the same as the "Red Hot Mama" from the second section.
- Lead Vocals: George Clinton, Eddie Hazel
- Guitars: Eddie Hazel, Ron Bykowski
Vital Juices is actually the second part of Red Hot Mama featuring Eddie Hazel and Ron Bykowski's totally fuzzed out guitar work. It is only found on CD on the Music For Your Mother compilation.
"Alice in My Fantasies"
Birthed during Funkadelic concerts as far back as 1971, this song was originally an instrumental jam that was brilliantly-improvised. The album version features the same bassline and guitar riffs from Eddie Hazel, minus the psychedelic keyboard section produced by Bernie Worrell.
A rare outtake version of the song (circulating around the internet under the album name "The Ultimate Turd") continues where the glaring fade-out occurs on the album; in the outtake version the band continues to jam for an extra 30 to 40 seconds before suddenly stopping.
The song was written by George Clinton and Grace Cook (aka Eddie Hazel)
Alice is apparently trying to seduce the singer, but he is apparently unwilling to sleep with her. No reason is explicitly given, but it can be inferred that he is unwilling because she will demand a commitment ("The freak said I would even owe her my devotion"). Therefore, the titular "Alice" who exists only "in (the singer's) fantasies" may be an Alice who does not demand the commitment.
Personnel:
- Lead Vocals: George Clinton
"I'll Stay"
A remake of I'll Wait by The Parliaments.
The singer of this song proclaims that he will wait for his former lover, whose "head went out to play." He will wait for her even though his friends make fun of him.
"Sexy Ways"
Like many Funkadelic songs, the singer is here trying to convince a girl to sleep with him.
- Lead Vocals: Garry Shider
"Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him"
This song seems to be about the ambiguous sexual orientation of the titular Jimmy. It is not clear what the singer's position on the subject is.
- Lead Vocals: Parliament, Garry Shider
- Guitar: Eddie Hazel, Ron Bykowski
"Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts"
- The oak sleeps in the acorn/The giant sequoia tree sleeps in its tiny seed/The bird waits in the egg/God waits for his unfoldment in man
This is a song of self-empowerment, and of mystical achievement. The quote above is perhaps the best summary of the song as it explains first that the acorn contains within it an oak (an adult acorn), and so on for Giant Sequoias and birds. This is then juxtaposed by the last line, where it is implied (by extension) that each man has the capablity of "unfolding" into God.
- Lead Vocals: George Clinton
Critical response
- ?Standing on the Verge is a full-bodied, crazy mess in the best possible way, with heavy funk jams that still smoke today while making a lot of supposedly loud and dangerous rock sound anemic."
- the All Music Guide (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ar9k9kezt7q79)
External links
- 15 Distorted Ways To Think (http://www.technotip.com/index.php?id=10)
- the Motherpage (http://www.duke.edu/~tmc/motherpage/albums_funkadelic/alb-standing.html)