Parliament

Biography

Parliament was an American funk band formed in 1968 by George Clinton as a flagship act of his P-Funk collective. Evolving out of an earlier vocal group, Parliament became associated with a more commercial and less rock-oriented sound than its sister act Funkadelic. Their work incorporated Afrofuturist concepts, horn arrangements, synthesizer, and outlandish theatrics. The band scored a number of Top 10 hits, including the million-selling 1976 single "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)," and Top 40 albums such as Mothership Connection×Mothership Connection15 December 1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)7:41A2Mothership Connection (Star Child)6:13A3Unfunky UFO4:24B1Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication5:05B2Handcuffs4:04B3Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)5:48B4Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples5:10 (1975).

History

Parliament was originally The Parliaments, a doo-wop vocal group based at a Plainfield, New Jersey, barbershop. The group was formed in the late 1950s and included George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas. Clinton was the group leader and manager. The group scored a hit single in 1967 with "(I Wanna) Testify" (co-written by Clinton) on Revilot Records. To capitalize on this chart success, Clinton formed a touring band, featuring teenage barbershop employee Billy Nelson on bass and his friend Eddie Hazel on guitar, with the line-up eventually rounded out by Tawl Ross on guitar, Tiki Fulwood on drums, and Mickey Atkins on organ.
During a contractual dispute with Revilot, Clinton temporarily lost the rights to the name "The Parliaments", and signed the ensemble to Westbound Records as Funkadelic, which Clinton positioned as a funk-rock band featuring the five touring musicians with the five Parliaments singers as uncredited guests. With Funkadelic as a recording and touring entity in its own right, in 1970 Clinton relaunched the singing group, now known as Parliament, at first featuring the same ten members. Clinton was now the leader of two different acts, Parliament and Funkadelic, which featured the same members, but were marketed as creating two different types of funk.
The Parliament album titled Osmium×Osmium1970 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1I Call My Baby Pussycat4:24A2Put Love in Your Life5:06A3Little Ole Country Boy3:58A4Moonshine Heather4:04A5Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer4:59B1My Automobile4:44B2Nothing Before Me but Thang3:56B3Funky Woman2:55B4Livin’ the Life6:18B5The Silent Boatman5:53 was released on Invictus Records in 1970, and was later reissued on CD with non-album tracks as both Rhenium×Rhenium1989 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Breakdown3:282I Call My Baby Pussycat4:253Put Love in Your Life5:094Little Ole Country Boy4:015Moonshine Heather4:076Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer5:017Red Hot Mama2:378My Automobile4:479Nothing Before Me but Thang3:5710Funky Woman2:5811Livin' the Life5:5812Come in Out of the Rain2:4313The Silent Boatman5:54 and First Thangs×First Thangs2 June 1998 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Red Hot Mama4:282Come in Out of the Rain2:583Fantasy Is Reality3:594Breakdown3:535Loose Booty10:226Unfinished Instrumental5:137I Call My Baby Pussycat4:248Put Love in Your Life5:089Little Old Country Boy3:5910Moonshine Heather (Takin' Care of Business)4:0611Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer5:0012My Automobile4:4613There Is Nothing Before Me but Thang3:5614Funky Woman2:5615Livin' the Life5:5816The Silent Boatmen5:45. Osmium featured a mostly psychedelic soul sound that was more similar to the Funkadelic albums of the period, than to the later Parliament albums. The song "The Breakdown" was released separately as a single, and reached No. 30 on the R&B chart in 1971. Due to continuing contractual problems and the fact that Funkadelic releases were more successful at the time, Clinton temporarily abandoned the name Parliament (which he revived in 1974).
Following Osmium, the line-up of Parliament-Funkadelic began going through many changes and was expanded significantly, with the addition of important members such as keyboardist Bernie Worrell in 1970, singer/guitarist Garry Shider in 1971, and bassist Bootsy Collins (recruited from the James Brown backing band) in 1972. Dozens of singers and musicians would contribute to future Parliament-Funkadelic releases. Clinton relaunched Parliament in 1974 and signed the act to Casablanca Records. Parliament, now augmented by the Horny Horns (also recruited from James Brown's band) was positioned as a smoother R&B-based funk ensemble with intricate horn and vocal arrangements, and as a counterpoint to the guitar-based funk-rock of Funkadelic. By this point, Parliament and Funkadelic were touring as a combined entity known as Parliament-Funkadelic or simply P-Funk (which also became the catch-all term for George Clinton's rapidly growing stable of funk artists).
The album Up for the Down Stroke×Up for the Down StrokeDecember 1974 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Up for the Down Stroke5:07A2Testify3:29A3The Goose9:09A4I Can Move You (If You Let Me)2:44B1I Just Got Back (From the Fantasy: Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet)4:28B2All Your Goodies Are Gone5:02B3Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good5:55B4Presence of a Brain3:18 was released in 1974, with Chocolate City×Chocolate City12 March 1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Chocolate City5:35A2Ride On3:39A3Together3:59A4Side Effects3:10A5What Comes Funky2:22B1Let Me Be5:39B2If It Don't Fit (Don't Force It)2:07B3I Misjudged You5:13B4Big Footin'4:40 following in 1975. Both performed strongly on the Billboard R&B album chart and were moderately successful on the pop chart. Parliament began its period of greatest mainstream success with the concept album Mothership Connection×Mothership Connection15 December 1975 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)7:41A2Mothership Connection (Star Child)6:13A3Unfunky UFO4:24B1Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication5:05B2Handcuffs4:04B3Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)5:48B4Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples5:10 (1975), the lyrics of which launched much of the P-Funk mythology. The subsequent albums The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein×The Clones of Dr. FunkensteinSeptember 1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracksA1Prelude1:41A2Gamin' on Ya3:01A3Dr. Funkenstein5:47A4Children of Production3:58A5Getten' to Know You5:20B1Do That Stuff4:49B2Everything Is on the One3:48B3I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)6:01B4Funkin' for Fun5:56 (1976), Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977), and Motor Booty Affair (1978) all reached high on both the R&B and Pop charts, while Funkadelic was also experiencing significant mainstream success. Parliament scored the No. 1 R&B singles "Flash Light×Flash Light1977 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAFlash Light4:28BSwing Down, Sweet Chariot5:07" in 1977 and "Aqua Boogie" in 1978.
The rapidly expanding ensemble of musicians and singers in the Parliament-Funkadelic enterprise, as well as Clinton's problematic management practices, began to take their toll by the late 1970s. Original Parliaments members Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas, who had been with Clinton since the barbershop days in the late 1950s, departed acrimoniously in 1977, after disputes over Clinton's management. Other important group members like singer/guitarist Glenn Goins and drummer Jerome Brailey left Parliament-Funkadelic in 1978 after disputes over Clinton's management. Two further Parliament albums, Gloryhallastoopid (1979) and Trombipulation×Trombipulation1980 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Crush It3:542Trombipulation4:383Long Way Around5:424Agony of Defeet6:265New Doo Review5:576Let's Play House3:417Body Language6:008Peek-A-Groove7:49 (1980) were less successful than the albums from the group's prime 1975-1978 period.
In the early 1980s, with legal difficulties arising from the multiple names used by multiple groups, as well as a shakeup at Casablanca Records, George Clinton dissolved Parliament and Funkadelic as recording and touring entities. However, many of the musicians in later versions of the two groups remained employed by Clinton. Clinton continued to release new albums regularly, sometimes under his own name and sometimes under the name George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars. The P-Funk All-Stars continued to record and tour into the 1990s and 2000s, and regularly perform classic Parliament songs.
Parliament reformed in January 2018 and released the song "I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me", which features the rapper Scarface. This was the first new Parliament release in 38 years. Clinton also announced the title of a new Parliament album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg×Medicaid Fraud Dogg22 May 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 23 tracks1Medicated Creep3:252Psychotropic4:273694:204Backwoods6:125Oil Jones5:516Proof Is in the Pudding5:207I'm Gon Make U Sick O'me5:238Antisocial Media3:319All In4:2010On Fire5:0711Loodie Poo Da Pimp4:3112Mama Told Me3:2213Set Trip3:4314Kool Aid3:1215DaDa5:4016Pain Management5:2617Riddle Me This4:0818No Mos7:1019Ya Habit4:2520Higher5:4321Medicaid Fraud Dogg3:4322Insurance Man3:2223Type Two4:45, which was released on May 22, 2018. Most of the 23 tracks on the album were written by Clinton in collaboration with his son, Tracey Lewis. Guest musicians on the album include former long-time James Brown collaborators Fred Wesley and Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis.