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 (1975).

History

Parliament was originally The Parliaments, a doo-wop vocal group based at a Plainfield, New Jersey, barbershop. 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 (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. This was the first new Parliament release in 38 years. Clinton also announced the title of a new Parliament album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, 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.

Discography

  • Osmium (1970)
  • Up for the Down Stroke (1974)
  • Chocolate City (1975)
  • Mothership Connection (1975)
  • The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976)
  • Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977)
  • Motor Booty Affair (1978)
  • Gloryhallastoopid (1979)
  • Trombipulation (1980)
  • Medicaid Fraud Dogg (2018)

References

  • Liner notes to Music For Your Mother by Rob Bowman, 1992.
  • The Motherpage.
  • History of Parliament/Funkadelic (at the P-Funk portal NewFunkTimes.com).