Cosmic Slop

This article is about the album. For the 1994 television film, see Cosmic Slop (film).

Cosmic Slop is the fifth studio album by Funkadelic, released in July 1973 on Westbound Records. While it has been favorably reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, producing no charting singles, and reaching only #112 on the Billboard pop chart and #21 on the R&B chart.^[10] The album was re-released on CD in 1991.^[7]

Cosmic Slop
Studio album by Funkadelic
Released	July 1973 [1]
Recorded	1972–1973
Studio	United Sound Studio, Detroit; Manta Sound Studio, Toronto
Genre	Funk[2] rock[2] hard rock[2] proto-heavy metal[2]
Length	35:32
Label	Westbound WB-2022
Producer	George Clinton
Funkadelic chronology
America Eats Its Young (1972) Cosmic Slop (1973) Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Blender	[4]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[5]
Mojo	[6]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	(9/10)[9]

Cosmic Slop is the first Funkadelic album to feature artwork and liner notes by Pedro Bell, who assumed responsibility for the band's gate-fold album covers and liner notes until the band's collapse after 1981's The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Bell's liner notes to Cosmic Slop include small illustrations next to each song's name, summarizing the song in a picture.^[7]

Lloyd Bradley in Q Magazine characterised the album a "cornerstone ... coming just before James Brown sidepersons began defecting to Clinton's outfit' and "a link between fearsomely dark musings and out-and-out strangeness".^[7]

Track listing

Side One

1. “Nappy Dugout” (George Clinton, Cordell Mosson, Garry Shider) – 4:33
2. “You Can’t Miss What You Can’t Measure” (Clinton, Sidney Barnes) – 3:03
3. “March to the Witch’s Castle” (Clinton) – 5:59
4. “Let’s Make It Last” (Clinton, Eddie Hazel) – 4:08

Side Two

1. “Cosmic Slop” (Clinton, Bernie Worrell) (released as a single-Westbound 218) – 5:17
2. “No Compute” (Clinton, Shider) – 3:03
3. “This Broken Heart” (William Franklin) – 3:37
4. “Trash a Go-Go” (Clinton) – 2:25
5. “Can’t Stand the Strain” (Clinton, Hazel) – 3:27

Personnel

• Bernard Worrell - keyboards, melodica, strings on "Broken Heart"
• "Boogie" Mosson - bass guitar
• Tyrone Lampkin - percussion
• Garry Shider - lead & rhythm guitar
• Ron Bykowski - lead & rhythm guitar
• Tiki Fulwood - drums on "Nappy Dugout"
• Parlet members Mallia Franklin and Debbie Wright - vocals (uncredited)
• Engineers: Lee De Carlo, Manta Sound, Toronto

Songs

You Can’t Miss What You Can’t Measure

This song is a reworking of the 1965 Parliaments single "Heart Trouble". The instrumental portion of this song was reworked into "Do That Stuff" for the 1976 album The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein.

• Lead Vocals: George Clinton, Ray Davis, Garry Shider

Cosmic Slop

• Lead Vocals: Garry Shider
• Guitars: Garry Shider & Ron Bykowski
• Drums: Tyrone Lampkin
• Bass: Cordell Boogie Mosson

This track was remade several times by future lineups of Parliament/Funkadelic. A live version (recorded during a rehearsal) appears on the 1976 Funkadelic album Hardcore Jollies. Several Parliament/Funkadelic members contributed to a full cover of the track for Bill Laswell’s Axiom Funk project, released on the 1995 album Funkcronomicon.

Another live version, from 1983 and released in 1990 on Live at the Beverly Theater, features Dennis Chambers on drums, Rodney Curtis on bass, and Eddie Hazel, Garry Shider, and Michael Hampton on guitar.

No Compute

• Lead Vocals: George Clinton

This Broken Heart

• Strings: Bernie Worrell
• Lead Vocals: Ben Edwards
• Drums: Geezer McGee (disputed)

Cosmic Slop Compilation

In 2000, Castle Music released a 10-track compilation album, also called "Cosmic Slop" - although it bore no relation to the studio album of the same name.^[11] The album's tracklisting consisted of: "One Nation Under A Groove", "Comin" Round The Mountain", "Cholly (Funk Getting Ready To Roll!)", "Freak Of The Week", "Uncle Jam", "Groovallegiance", "Smokey", “Cosmic Slop", "Soul Mate" and "(Medley) Funk Gets Stronger (Killer Millimeter Longer Version)/ She Loves You". The album was subtitled "Original Recordings From The Masters Of Funk!"

See also

• The Space Traders

References

1. "George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic official website". Official Website of George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic. March 4, 2023.
2. Ducker, Jesse (July 6, 2018). "Funkadelic's 'Cosmic Slop' Turns 45 | Anniversary Retrospective". Albumism. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
3. Allmusic review
4. Blender review Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Robert Christgau: CG: Funkadelic". robertchristgau.com.
6. "Music: FUNKADELIC - COSMIC SLOP + 1 : REMASTERED by Funkadelic, 106840287". Tower.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
7. Bradley, Lloyd (5 March 1991). "Funkadelic Cosmic Slop review". Q Magazine. 55: 89.
8. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
9. Rubin, Mike (1995). "P-Funk". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. p. 296. ISBN 0679755748.
10. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r7888/charts-awards Allmusic.com - Cosmic Slop chart details
11. AllMusic, Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop [Castle], CD, 2000,

• Cosmic Slop album liner notes by Dean Rudland (2005). Westbound Records Inc.

Further reading

• Draper, Jason (2008). A Brief History of Album Covers. London: Flame Tree Publishing. pp. 128–129. ISBN 9781847862112. OCLC 227198538.