This is the 1969 version of Funkadelic. We have:
- Tawl Ross on the left in the diaper and Sgt. Pepper jacket.
- You know that’s George Clinton next to him.
- Tiki Fulwood throwing up the peace sign. (He played the drums.)
- Bernie Worrell up top.
- Eddie Hazel with the hair.
- Billy “Bass” Nelson with the babyface and cape down front.
- The white guy in the middle was the president of Janus Records; he may have been named Marvin Shlachter.
- The fucker who looks like a crook is Armen Boladian, and he was a crook.
Tiki and Tawl didn’t get enough love, but they’re among my fave Funkadelix. Tawl popped up with a groovy solo rekkid in the late ’90s that I reviewed in print, but I cannae find it right now, dangit. He decided he was “Tal Ross” for reasons mysterious on that release. And Tiki died young and beautiful, dagnabbit. I certainly appreciate Bigfoot’s role in the P-Funk drumming heirarchy, but Tiki had a swing about him that made his records less thunderous, but more groovy . . .