P FUNK Pt 1

P-FUNK - PART 1
THE WHOLE FUNK - NOTHING BUT THE FUNK

The Parliaments

Heart Trouble

I Wanna Testify

In the late 1950's a doo-wop group formed in the back of a New Jersey barbershop and named themselves after a favorite cigarette brand - The Parliaments. George Clinton, part owner of the barbershop, was the group's leader and manager.

RARE VIDEO: The Parliaments ft Funkadelic - 1969

The group that had formed to entertain customers in the barbershop would later develop into Parliament and Funkadelic. The original group members were: George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon and Grady Davis. By the late 1950's the group was struggling for hits with 45's on various labels like Heart Trouble in 1965 - the third official release from The Parliaments. Finally, in 1967 the group had a huge hit with I Wanna Testify. Because the track was recorded out-of-town, that original recording of the song was of Clinton and a group of session musicians - none of the other members were there.

I Wanna Testify was a huge hit, and when Clinton organized for a tour he hired a backing band and named them Funkadelic. At the height of their popularity the label who they recorded with went bankrupt, and for various legal reasons the band temporilary lost the right to their use name. Because of this the band renamed themselves Funkadelic so they could continue recording and touring. Just as he was launching Funkadelic, Clinton decided to revive The Parliaments under a new name - Parliament. The two bands, essentially the same line-up, were signed to different labels and sold as as being different bands with different styles of funk. While Parliament pushed the agenda of commercializing funk and selling records, Funkadelic acted as the alter-ego pushing the agenda of politics and empowerment. The sister acts went on to release a barrage of legendary albums that defined funk music in the 1970's:

Parliament - Funkadelic

1976 - Parliament / Funkadelic - New Jersey Capital Theatre
Standing On The Verge Of getting It On

1973 - Funkadelic promo video
Cosmic Slop

VINYL 1970-1981
Click around on the album covers below to explore music and videos.

1970 - PARLIAMENT Osmium

1970 - FUNKADELIC Funkadelic

1970 - FUNKADELIC Free Your Mind...

1971 - FUNKADELIC Maggot Brain

1972 - FUNKADELIC America Eats It's Young

1973 - FUNKADELIC Cosmic Slop

1974 - PARLIAMENT Up For The Downstroke

1974 - FUNKADELIC Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On

1975 - PARLIAMENT Chocolate City

1975 - FUNKADELIC Let's Take It To The Stage

1975 - PARLIAMENT Mothership Connection

1976 - FUNKADELIC Tales Of The Kid Funkadelic

1976 - FUNKADELIC Hardcore Jollies

1976 - PARLIAMENT The Clones Of Dr Funkentein

1977 - PARLIAMENT Funkentelechy vs The Placebo Syndrome

1977 - PARLIAMENT P-Funk Earth Tour LIVE

1978 - FUNKADELIC One Nation Under A Groove

1978 - PARLIAMENT Motor-Booty Affair

1979 - FUNKADELIC Uncle Jam Wants You

1979 - PARLIAMENT GloryHallaStoopid

1979 - PARLIAMENT Trombipulation

1981 - FUNKADELIC The Electric Spanking Of War Babies

MORE FROM THE P-FUNK COLLECTIVE

By the mid-seventies George Clinton was producing, and often writing, records for band members and for various spinoff's of Parliament/Funkadelic as well...