P-FUNK - PART 1
THE WHOLE FUNK - NOTHING BUT THE FUNK
The Parliaments
Heart Trouble
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I Wanna Testify
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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
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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.
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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.
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...
Find More Parliament-Funkadelic 1970-1980 P-FUNK JUKEBOX
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