One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

One Nation Under a Groove is the tenth studio album by American funk rock band Funkadelic, released on September 22, 1978, on Warner Bros. Records. Recording sessions took place at United Sound Studio in Detroit, with one song recorded live on April 15, 1978, at the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana. The album was the first album to include keyboardist and frequent songwriter Walter "Junie" Morrison.

One Nation Under a Groove was Funkadelic's most commercially successful album, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, number 16 on the Billboard 200, and being certified platinum in the US. It reached number 58 in Canada. It was acclaimed by critics, and appears in several "best album" lists. It was featured on Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century and 51 Essential Albums lists. The album was ranked number 177 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in both 2003 and 2012 editions, before moving to number 360 in the 2020 edition. The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Music

According to the academic Bill Martin, One Nation Under a Groove is indebted "a good deal more to progressive rock than most critics are willing to admit, as well as progressive soul, Hendrix, and Sly Stone".

Critical reception

Susan Toepfer of the New York Daily News called the album "another skillful funkcollection from George, Bootsy and a considerable portion of the P-Funk crew."

Steve Huey of AllMusic claimed that "the whole album is full of fuzzed-out, Hendrix-style guitar licks, even when the music is clearly meant for the dancefloor...One Nation Under a Groove is the best realization of Funkadelic's ambitions, and one of the best funk albums ever released."

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly found, "One Nation Under a Groove is a deep source of riffs and ideas for '90s rock and rap ... a glorious distillation of Funkadelic founder George Clinton's concepts of verbal anarchy and tight funk grooves."

Personnel

Funkadelic Main Invasion Force (as given in the liner notes):

Throbbasonic Funkgeetarists:

Mike 'Kidd Funkadelic' Hampton, Gary Shider

Banjo'd Muthaplucker:

• Bobby Lewis
• Avatarian
• Mike Hampton

Keybo' Dans & Synthezoidees:

Bernie 'DaVinci' Worrell, Walter 'Junie' Morrison

Rotofunkie Drum & Percussionatin' Thumpdans:

Jerome Brailey, W. Bootsy Collins, Larry Fratangelo, Tyrone Lampkin

Bass Thumpasaurians:

William 'Bootsy' Collins, Rodney "Skeet" Curtis, Cordell 'Boogie' Mosson

Funkadelic Blamgusta Vocaloids (Voices For Da Nation!):

George Clinton, Raymond (Stingray) Davis, Ron Ford, Mallia Franklin, Lynn Mabry, W. 'Junie' Morrison, Cordell Mosson, Dawn Silva, Gary "Dowop" Shider, Greg Thomas, Jeanette Washington, Debbie Wright