Parliament (band)
The bands Parliament and Funkadelic are intrinsically linked and can not be easily separated. This article focuses on Parliament, but will gloss over much of the band's history, for which see P Funk, an integrated history of Parliament, Funkadelic and related groups.
Parliament was originally The Parliaments, a doo-wop group based out of George Clinton's Plainfield, New Jersey barber shop. The name was soon abandoned due to legal issues with Revilot and Atlantic Records, and most of the same people recorded under the name Funkadelic, which consisted of The Parliaments' backing musicians, most importantly Billy Bass Nelson. Soon, Parliament was created in addition to Funkadelic and the two bands consisted of essentially the same people (see List of P Funk members), though both released albums under their respective names.
The legal problems with the name "The Parliaments" were resolved in 1970, and Clinton signed all of Funkadelic to Invictus Records under the name Parliament, releasing Osmium ("The Breakdown" reached #30 on the R&B charts in 1971) but the name Parliament was then abandoned for some time, as Funkadelic was much more successful.
In the early 1970s, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Catfish Collins joined Funkadelic, which released five albums by 1974. With only moderate success, the Funkadelic signed with Casablanca Records as Parliament, releasing "Up for the Down Stroke" (off the album of the same name) which reached #10 on the R&B charts but peaked at #63 Pop. The song was the biggest hit of P Funk's career. 1975 saw the release of Chocolate City, which also enjoyed moderate success; the titular track reached #24.
With the ensuing albums, Parliament became one of the most respected bands on the 1970s, and are now recognized as one of the forefathers of funk music. Of particular interest are the spacy themes of Starchild, Sir Nose and other recurring characters from multiple albums. See P Funk mythology.
Referenced By
1970s | 1970s in music | 1975 in music | 1976 (music) | 1976 in music | 1977 in music | Above The Law (band) | Above The Law (rap band) | AmeriKKKa | AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted | Bernie Worrell | Billy Bass Nelson | Billy Nelson | Bootsy | Bootsy Collins | Calvin Simon | Clarence Haskins | Concept album | First rap record | Funkadelic | Funkadelic (band) | Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome | Fuzzy Haskins | Gangsta hip hop | Gangsta rap | Gangster rap | George Clinton (funk musician) | Highway 61 Revisited | I'll Bet You | I Bet You | Inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Jeff Mills | Jimmy's Got A Little Bit Of Bitch In Him | Juan Atkins | Let's Take It To The Stage | List of P Funk Members | List of R&B musicians | List of albums | List of funk musicians | List of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | List of jam bands | List of members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | List of popular music perfomers | List of popular music performers | List of rock and roll albums in the 1970s | List of rock and roll musicians | List of rock and roll performers | List of songwriters | List of soul musicians | Loose Booty | Maceo Parker | Maggot Brain | Model 500 | Mothership Connection | Music of the United States (1960s and 70s) | P-Funk | P-Funk mythology | P Funk | P Funk mythology | Parliament | Parliament-Funkadelic | Parliamentary government | PopularMusic | Popular Music/Performers | Red Hot Mama | Rock and roll/performers | Rock and roll performers | Roots of rap music | Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On | Stuffs And Things | The Parliaments | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll | Tiki Fulwood | Timeline of trends in music (1970-1979) | William Collins | William Nelson
|
