He was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida. In Plainfield, he ran a barber salon, where he straightened hair, and soon formed a doo wop group, inspired by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, called The Parliaments. Despite initial commercial failures, The Parliaments eventually found success under the names Parliament and Funkadelic in the seventies (see also P-Funk). This article focuses on Clinton's solo efforts after 1981.
Beginning in the early 1980's, Clinton recorded several nominal "solo" albums, although all of these records featured contributions from P-Funk's core musicians. The primary reason for recording under his own name was legal difficulties, due to the complex copyright and trademark issues surrounding the name "Parliament" (primarily) and Polygram's purchase of his former label (as part of Parliament), Casablanca Records. In 1982, Clinton signed to Capitol Records as a solo artist and as the P-Funk All-Stars, releasing Computer Games that same year. "Loopzilla" hit the Top 20 R&B charts, followed by "Atomic Dog," which reached #1 R&B, but peaked at #101 on the pop chart. In the next four years, Clinton released three more studio albums (You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish, Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends and R&B Skeletons in the Closet) as well as a live album, Mothership Connection (Live from the Summit, Houston, Texas) and charting three singles in the R&B Top 30, "Nubian Nut," "Last Dance," and "Do Fries Go with that Shake." This period of Clinton's career was marred by multiple legal problems (resulting in financial difficulties) due to complex royalty and copyright issues. In 1985 he was recruited by the Red Hot Chili Peppers to produce their album Freaky Styley, because the bandmembers were huge fans of George Clinton and Funk in general. Though Clinton's popularity had waned by the mid 1980s, he experienced something of a resurgence in the early 1990s, as many rappers cited him as an influence and began sampling his songs. Alongside James Brown, George Clinton is considered to be one of the most sampled musicians ever.
In 1989, Clinton released The Cinderella Theory on Paisley Park, Prince's record label. This was followed by Hey Man... Smell my Finger. Clinton then signed with Sony 550 and released T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (The Awesome Power Of A Fully Operational Mothership) in 1996, having reunited with several old members of Parliament and Funkadelic.
In the 1990s, Clinton appeared in films such as Graffiti Bridge (1990), Good Burger (1997) and PCU (1994). Most recently he appeared as the voice of The Funktipus, the DJ of the Bounce FM station in the 2004 video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rapper Dr. Dre sampled most of his beats to create his G-Funk music era.
"You're Thinking Right" - the theme song for The Tracey Ullman Show, was written by Clinton.
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This is not the soundtrack composer George S. Clinton who did Mortal Kombat etc.
Cool Joe
GEORGE CLINTON Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
His name was Joe
Joe sho' was cold
He said I'll be a mack
I drive a Cadillac
Carry money in a sack
Joe
Right on, Joe
As time went on
Seen Joe
Joe sho' was cold
He drives a Cadillac
With three girls in the back
Girls in the back
He carried money in a sack
He had his hair laid back
Right on Joe
Joe
Joe sho' was cold
And as time went on
Seen Joe
And Joe still was cold
He said my rent is due
And my car note too
But I ain't worried
Cos' my women will have it by afternoon
Right on, Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Cold Joe
On the other side
Of Cool Joe
Cold Joe
And as time went on
I got worried about Joe
And I asked Joe
I said why you spent all your money
On the blow
He said cos I'm a mack
I drive a Cadillac
With three girls in the back
And you see I like it like that!
Right on Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe
What cha gon' do
As time went on
Seen Joe
This time Joe was all outta dough
No Cadillac
No girls in the back
He had no money in a sack
Joe
Poor Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe
I thought I told you so
Poor Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe...
George Clinton’s song Cool Joe is an ode to a friend named Joe who’s a cold-hearted hustler. In the beginning, Joe is introduced as someone who is money-minded and confident; he wants to be a mack and drive a Cadillac. As time passed, Joe became even more ruthless and successful in his endeavors. He could carry money in a sack, had three girls in the back of his car, and his hair laid back. Clinton congratulates him on his success, saying “right on Joe,” but he was also worried about his friend. He knew that Joe’s lifestyle was costly, but he ignored the warning signs, and his ambition drove him crazy. He didn’t care even if his rent was due, and his car note was not paid.
As the song progressed, Clinton saw how Joe’s life spiraled out of control. He question Joe about why he spent all his money on drugs and if he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. Joe’s response is that he liked to live large and in charge, and he was a mack. In the end, the same lifestyle that made him so successful earlier was the cause of his downfall. He lost everything, and Clinton now calls him “poor” Joe. It's a cautionary tale of how excess can destroy someone's life.
Line by Line Meaning
I once had a friend
I used to have a friend
His name was Joe
His name was Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Joe was very cool
He said I'll be a mack
He said he'll be a ladies' man
I drive a Cadillac
He drives a Cadillac
Carry money in a sack
He carries money in a bag
Joe
Joe
Right on, Joe
Well done, Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Joe was very cool
As time went on
As time passed by
Seen Joe
Saw Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Joe was very cool
He drives a Cadillac
He drives a Cadillac
With three girls in the back
With three girls in the back seat
Girls in the back
Girls in the back seat
He carried money in a sack
He carried money in a bag
He had his hair laid back
He had his hair styled back
Right on Joe
Well done, Joe
Joe
Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Joe was very cool
And as time went on
As time passed by
Seen Joe
Saw Joe
And Joe still was cold
And Joe was still very cool
He said my rent is due
He said his rent is due
And my car note too
And his car payment too
But I ain't worried
But he's not worried
Cos' my women will have it by afternoon
Because his women will have it by the afternoon
Right on, Joe
Well done, Joe
Joe sho' was cold
Joe was very cool
Cold Joe
Cold Joe
On the other side
On the other hand
Of Cool Joe
Of Cool Joe
And as time went on
As time passed by
I got worried about Joe
I got worried about Joe
And I asked Joe
And I asked Joe
I said why you spent all your money
I asked him why he spent all his money
On the blow
On drugs
He said cos I'm a mack
He said because he's a ladies' man
I drive a Cadillac
He drives a Cadillac
With three girls in the back
With three girls in the back seat
And you see I like it like that!
And he likes it that way
Right on Joe
Well done, Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe
What are you going to do, Joe
What cha gon' do
What are you going to do
As time went on
As time passed by
Seen Joe
Saw Joe
This time Joe was all outta dough
This time Joe was out of money
No Cadillac
No Cadillac
No girls in the back
No girls in the back seat
He had no money in a sack
He had no money in a bag
Joe
Joe
Poor Joe
Poor Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe
What are you going to do, Joe
I thought I told you so
I thought I warned you
Poor Joe
Poor Joe
What cha gon' do, Joe...
What are you going to do, Joe...
Writer(s): Andre Jackson, Kevin Burton, GeorgeClinton Jr
Contributed by Ruby Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.