Anthony Kiedis recently shared his memories of working with George Clinton at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony held in his honor. The event on January 19 saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist speaking about making their 1985 album ‘Freaky Styley’ at Clinton’s house:
“Fast forward to 1985, and I’d started a little baby band of my own, and we were going somewhere slowly, which was fine because we were having fun doing it. The record company came to us and said, ‘Boys, if you could have anyone on earth produce your next record, who would that be?’ and Flea and I looked at each other and said, ‘George Clinton.'”
Kiedis didn’t actually think that Clinton would end up producing the band’s second studio album. But he revealed:
“Two months later, we moved into his house. In the rurals of Michigan, my entire band moved in with George and his family, and we set up our instruments in the living room, which was full of stuffed animals – he was a collector.”
About the record’s creation, his words read:
“We started writing, and George started teaching us. For me personally, George became an instant friend, a teacher, a mentor, a father figure, a co-conspirator, an instigator, and, honestly, a conductor of alien enterprises, truth be told. That record was called ‘Freaky Styley,’ produced by George Clinton, and the rest was history.”
Clinton’s New Star In Hollywood
George Clinton started his music career at 15 by forming The Parliaments. Following a legal dispute over the rights to the band’s name, he created Funkadelic in 1968, mixing funk rhythms with acid-rock and different sound effects.
While receiving the 2,769th Walk of Fame star for his contributions to the music scene, the artist shared his hope for it to symbolize ‘the power of the funk.’ He explained:
“I learned early on in this journey that you are only as big as your latest hit, so you had to keep things in perspective to keep from getting a big head. I found out there were times were it seemed like everybody knew your name, then there were times were no one knew you.”
Then, he added:
“I learned to respect the balance; if I needed to hear my name spoken out loud, I would go to the airport and page myself. That’s how fickle the ego is, anyway. It’s the people that make the funk, I’ve been pleased to have been apart of this cosmic slot.”
The event also featured speeches from civil rights attorney Ben Crump and songwriter Janie Bradford. A banner flown above the ceremony, sent by Mark and Marcy Bass, read: ‘Congrats George – Mark and Marcy Bass,’ with a heart symbol.
Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers was on hand to celebrate George Clinton receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. pic.twitter.com/gDlxypKGlY
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) January 20, 2024
