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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.

Parliament Discography (bold indicates a greatest hits or compilation album)
Year Title Label
1970 Osmium Invictus
1974 Up For The Down Stroke Casablanca Records
1975 Chocolate City Casablanca Records
1975 Mothership Connection Casablanca Records
1976 Clones of Dr. Funkenstein Casablanca Records
1977 Get Down & Boogie Casablanca Records
1977 Live: P-Funk Earth Tour Casablanca Records
1977 Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome Casablanca Records
1978 Motor Booty Affair Casablanca Records
1979 Gloryhallastoopid Casablanca Records
1980 Trombipulation Casablanca Records
1984 Greatest Hits (The Bomb) Casablanca Records
1993 Tear the Roof Off 1974-1980 Casablanca Records
1994 Greatest Hits 1972-1993 AEM
1995 The Best of Parliament: Give Up the Funk Mercury Funk
1995 First Thangs Fantasy Jazz
1996 Rhenium HDH
1996 Live, 1976-1993 Sequel
1997 The Early Years Deep Beats
1999 12" Collection & More Casablanca Records
2000 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Parliament Mercury Nashville
2000 Get Funked Up Spectrum Records