Random thoughts, apropos of nothing. I haven’t read the book yet but i will be. A wise woman once pointed out to me that there are 3 sides to every story - hers, his & the ‘truth’. Perspective is 9/10ths of reality, right? All people are human, and human beings can screw up, make mistakes and behave appalingly. All of us. Even those we admire and celebrate. So too the good Dr. Like i said, i haven’t read the book but i will do my best to accept it as a version of events that is entirely legitimate in its own terms, but one that sits alongside other versions, that are also valid and real.And all those tales are funky.
3 Likes
There’s some truth right there! And it sound like a Millie Jackson song. 
I also feel that the book was edited great. Most of the time the story flows seamless between the different people, like they were in the same room. Seth’s paragraphs, where he explains what was going on at the time, works also great.
His idea of keeping conflicting statements in the book and letting the reader make up their mind about the situation was interesting and I think I like it. However, I can see a problem with it (especially after reading Jeanette’s post). Like if all the statements (of a specific story) are only from one side of the story and the other side is not represented. In that case it’s not that easy, since you don’t even know that there is another side. In a “regular” book, the author could explain the different views, but with this approach it leaves the reader wondering like ‘she probably doesn’t agree with that or maybe she does..’. (although thinking about it now most “regular” books actually does not explain the different views, probably due to time/space/interest..)
I suppose you could argue that if Jeanette didn’t agree with what the others said in the book, she should’ve also be part of it in order to tell her side of the story. Maybe, I don’t know. Maybe she felt it would still be presented unfairly. But, the fact remains that some of the women aren’t in the book and that leaves the reader assuming stuff.
This is starting to get pretty long, and maybe I’m starting to ramble. Sorry bout that. 
Anyhow, I still feel that this book paints a pretty accurate picture of how it was around that time.
3 Likes
When I read books by folks who were in the mix. They all tell essentially the same story. In telling the story of these women, Seth tells the story of the whole thang. PF grew into this off-the-rails monster that devoured plenty unfortunate souls who entered it’s orbit. Much bigger than George himself. I suppose it was destined to happen. An organization that big, with that many mind-altering substance flowing, all these hangers-on trying to get a piece of that pie. Music that changed the world no doubt, but the cost these mere mortals paid was immense. As Seth so succinctly puts it, they took the whole sex, drugs and rock & roll to an extreme. Fred Wesley tells in his book about not being paid properly for Mothership Connection. Geesh, it was the horns that made the album work. The whole Tear the Roof Off Documentary. Dawn’s book. Judie Worrell. The Original Parliaments. Jerome Brailey. Anybody seen that recent Bootsy piece, where he tells about how George tried to control him with crack? Either that’s a whole lotta lying going 'round getting down. We want the truth!!! Give up that truth!
4 Likes
I know the feeling. My perception started changing years ago after reading some things that Judie Worrell wrote about on her website or posted in the old (blue/gold) One Nation Boardroom. Add to that some things I read in a Junie Morrison interview, and other interviews, I started to become disillusioned.
I haven’t bought Dawn’s book or Seth’s book yet because I don’t know if want to know any more than I already do. I was a much happier P-Funk fan before I knew about some of that stuff. Is it true, is it not true? I don’t know. I’m still a Parliament-Funkadelic fan, but a part of me wishes I could go back to being like that little boy with stars in his eyes, oblivious to all the craziness that went on behind the scenes.
5 Likes
I’m just emotional is all. I need to stop being like this and enjoy this journey. I do wish Fuzzy and the Parliament’s could have lived to put their story down. Now that would have been a good one. Grady could write one. I’m not some prude and who am I to judge. I’ve done my share of some stuff. Seth book is very personal to me for a number of reasons. Some I won’t go into. Sheeit PF saved my life as a kid. We had domestic violence in the home. Every time my parents would break into WWIII, I’d retreat to my room, take out some headphones and go into an alternate universe of spaceships, starchilds and sir noses. That’s real. This book has also made me think of things like that too. I’m glad I read it. My days of being an apologist for GC is on the wane is all. I’ll always love the guy for what he brought to us and me personally. When he fell off that damn chair at Australia, I just about had a conniption. That mug jumped right back up and jammed even harder. He’s still teaching lessons about survival.
5 Likes
My copy has arrived today! Was supposed to be late December but has mysteriously been bumped to today!!
3 Likes