First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate is the fourteenth and final studio album by American funk rock band Funkadelic. The album was released by the C Kunspyruhzy in 2014 and consists of newly recorded material.
The album consists of 3 discs comprising 33 tracks in total, which has been explained to mirror the 33 years that had elapsed since Funkadelic's last official album release in 1981, The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Like most of the Funkadelic catalog, the album features cover artwork by artist Pedro Bell.
Release First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate was released in digital format on November 25, 2014. The official CD release, after first being announced for December 1, was delayed to December 23, 2014.
The album's first single released was "The Naz", a song featuring Sly Stone, in 2013. A second single, "Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?", was digitally released on October 21, 2014, in connection with the release of George Clinton's autobiography, Brothers Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?.
"As In" is a remake of Bootsy's Rubber Band's "As In (I Love You)" and features the late Jessica Cleaves on vocals. This album also features the first appearances of George's grandson Trazae rapping on a few tunes, and George's granddaughters Kandy Apple Redd, and George's stepdaughter Nakid 87, Sidney Barnes, Sly Stone, and posthumous appearances by Garry Shider and Belita Woods are featured on the album. Garry's son Garrett Shider replaces his father. This was the last Funkadelic project keyboardist Bernie Worrell contributed to before his death in 2016.
Critical reception Ken Capobianco of the Boston Globe favourably claimed "Judicious pruning would have been welcome, but it’s impossible to complain about a jollies overload, especially with so much virtuosity on display."
Track listing
Personnel Musicians Vocals – George Clinton, Sly Stone, Belita Woods, Garry Shider, Garrett Shider, Paul Hill, Kendra Foster, Steve Boyd, Robert 'P-Nut' Johnson, El DeBarge, Tracey "Treylewd" Lewis, Kandy Apple Redd (Tonysha Nelson and Patavian Lewis), Kim Manning, Sidney Barnes, Lashonda "Sativa Diva" Clinton, Jessica Cleaves, Kim Burrell, Rob Manzoli, Del the Funky Homosapien Guitars – DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, G Koop, Brad Jordan, Corey "Funkafangez" Stoot, Garry Shider, Tracey "Treylewd" Lewis, Trafael Lewis, Cliff Miles, Anthony Caruso, Michael Hampton, Garrett Shider, Jerome Ali, Jerome Rogers, Rob Manzoli, Eddie Hazel Keyboards – Sly Stone, Danny Bedrosian, Kennedy Jacobs, G Koop, Corey "Funkfangaz" Stoot, Chris "Big Dog" Davis, David Spradley, Graham Richards, Bernie Worrell, Ricky Tan, Rob Manzoli Bass – Hunter Daws, Lige Curry, Anthony Nickels, Trafael Lewis, Bora Karaca, Jeff "Cherokee" Bunn, G Koop, Bootsy Collins, Cordell "Boogie" Mosson, David Spradley, Rodney "Skeet" Curtis, Jimmy Ali, Rob Manzoli Drums – Nestor Mumm-Altuve, Max MacVeety, Savar Martin, Trafael Lewis, Rudge Ravinwood, Donald "Duck" Bailey, Tyrone Lampkin, DJ Toure, Rob Manzoli Drum programming – Ricky Tan, Eli Goldstein, Del the Funky Homosapien, G Koop, Barrence Dupree, Soul Clap, Dwayne Dungey, George Clinton, David Spradley, Sa'D "The Hourchild" Ali, William Tyler Pelt Percussion – Bootsy Collins, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Larry Fratangelo Saxophone – Maceo Parker, Andrae Grant Trumpet – Whitney Russell, O.J., Rick Gardner, Dave Richards, Marion Ross III Trombone – Fred Wesley, Dave Richards Violin – Jay Golden, Lili Haydn Didgeridoo – William Thoren
Technical Producer – George Clinton Co-producers – Rob 'G-Koop' Mandell, Soul Clap (Eli Goldstein and Charles Levine), Rob Manzoli, Sue Brooks Quazedelic Chief Project Engineer – Barrence Dupree Mastering – Rodney Mills Album art – Pedro Bell
References
External links First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate at iTunes