Music and Musicians

George S. Clinton

George S. Clinton began his professional musical career as a songwriter, arranger, and session musician in Nashville, while earning degrees in music and drama at Middle Tennessee State University. The summer after graduation, George attended the Atlanta Pop Festival and, upon hearing Joe Cocker perform "With a Little Help from My Friends", left his native Chattanooga, bound for Los Angeles and ready to rock and roll.

Clinton became a staff writer for Warner Brothers Music, with songs recorded by such artists as Michael Jackson, Joe Cocker, and Three Dog Night; continued arranging and session work; and, as a recording artist, did albums for MCA, Elektra, ABC, and Arista. The critically acclaimed George Clinton Band attracted the attention of a movie producer, giving George the opportunity to score his first film, Still Smokin', and, later, Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers.

He developed his craft scoring "ninja" movies for Cannon Films, network and cable television movies and miniseries, writing for a wide range of genres and musical styles. The soulful, erotic jazz for Zalman King's Showtime anthology Red Shoe Diaries developed quite a following, and brought more public awareness.

His musical inventiveness and versatility in both orchestral and popular idioms have allowed him to contribute memorable scores to such diverse films as the hit comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and its blockbuster sequels and the hit martial arts fantasy Mortal Kombat and its sequel. Other noteworthy projects include John Waters's A Dirty Shame; Disney's holiday hits The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3; and the sexy thriller Wild Things.

Most recent projects include the Emmy Award-winning Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Hometown Glory, The Tooth Fairy, Extract, and Salvation Boulevard.

In addition, Clinton has written several concert works; three musicals; and is proud to serve as an advisor at the Sundance Composers Lab. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Awards include Grammy and Emmy nominations, and 9 BMI Film Music Awards, including their highest honor, the Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award.

He recently was appointed the new Chair of the Film Scoring Department at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. A CSO board member, this marks the 5th time Mr. Clinton has conducted his “favorite orchestra” performing music from his film scores.