Gone Country 3: George Clinton

George Clinton was born in Kannapolis, N.C., grew up in Plainfield, N.J., and currently resides in Tallahassee, Fla. While living in Plainfield, he ran a barbershop and formed a doo-wop group called the Parliaments. Despite initial failures, the Parliaments eventually found success under the names Parliament and Funkadelic in the 1970s. These two bands combined the elements of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, Cream and James Brown while exploring different sounds, technology and lyricism.

Alongside James Brown, Clinton is considered to be one of the most sampled musicians of all time. Rapper Dr. Dre sampled most of his beats to create his G-Funk music era. Clinton is widely recognized as a funk legend and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Clinton recently released George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love (Shanachie Records) featuring special guests the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Carlos Santana, Sly Stone, The RZA (Wu Tang), Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down), Kim Burrell, El DeBarge and P-Funk, among others. This year, Clinton also proudly celebrates the 40th anniversary of his early pioneering group -- the Funkadelics.