Funkadelic — Let’s Take It To The Stage

In case you thought the title of this 1975 release meant this would be a live album: it is not. The title track, as well as the highly questionable “No Head, No Backstage Pass,” are at least about live performing. The funk gets nasty with “Good To Your Earhole,” heavy with “Baby I Owe You Something Good,” and absolutely prototypical with “Get Off Your Ass and Jam.” You wondered where that came from? This is where that came from. This one often goes on the turntable right after “Standing On The Verge of Getting It On.” It’s a pretty seamless transition.

I got this in May 2021, same day as “Uncle Jam Wants You,” from the Forever Changes pop-up, right around the time vaccines were kicking in and people were able to move about again, so to me it’s emblematic of a bright spring day and the promise that maybe the dark times were over. They weren’t, of course, but the promise is something anyway.