The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

music; after some early personnel changes their lineup solidified with George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas. Clinton was group leader and manager, and part owner of the barbershop where the group convened to entertain customers. The group later changed its style, evolving into the bands

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

, which found success in the 1970s.

History

The group was originally based on Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, but by the 1960s had developed a unique sound based on emerging styles of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

music, with a notable penchant for bizarre lyrics. The group struggled for hits during most of the 1960s, recording singles on a variety of small

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s. They switched labels many times, and released several double-sided singles without success, including " Poor Willie" (on Apt), " Lonely Island" (on Flipp) and "Heart Trouble" (on Golden World). "Heart Trouble" was later re-worked in 1973 under the title "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure", featured on the

album ''

Cosmic Slop ''Cosmic Slop'' is the fifth studio album by Funkadelic, released in July 1973 on Westbound Records. While it has been favorably reevaluated by critics long after its original release, the album was a commercial failure, producing no chartin ...

''. Another version was recorded about three years earlier, yet did not surface until the 2008 release of the CD "

Toys A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and ...

". The B-side, "That Was My Girl", was re-recorded in 1972 and featured on '' America Eats Its Young''. Eventually, Clinton gained employment at

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

as a songwriter and producer, making weekly trips to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

to produce for The Pets, Roy Handy, and other acts. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

the Parliaments released " (I Wanna) Testify" on Revilot and finally achieved a hit single, with the song reaching No. 3 R&B and No. 20 Pop on the ''Billboard'' charts. In reality, Clinton was the only member of the Parliaments to appear in the song, as the other members were unable to travel to Detroit for the recording session (session singers and musicians rounded out the recording). To capitalize on the single's success, Clinton put together a backing band for a tour, expanding the Parliaments to the five singers plus five backing musicians. After the success of "(I Wanna) Testify", Clinton became embroiled in a contractual dispute surrounding the

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

of Revilot Records and temporarily lost the rights to the name "The Parliaments." In order to continue recording for other labels, Clinton renamed the entire ensemble

(a name coined by bassist

Billy Bass Nelson William "Billy Bass" Nelson (born January 28, 1951) is an American musician, who was the original bassist for Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. C ...

). Clinton positioned Funkadelic as a funk-rock band featuring the five backing musicians with the five Parliaments singers as uncredited guests. When Revilot declared bankruptcy the Parliaments were sold to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, and Clinton abandoned doo-wop to avoid working for Atlantic. Even with Funkadelic operating as a recording and touring entity, in 1970 Clinton relaunched the Parliaments as a new R&B-based funk band, now known as

. The lineup still consisted of the five original singers plus the five backing musicians, with the two acts signed to different labels and marketed as performing different types of

. Several songs from the early repertoire of the Parliaments would be re-recorded on future

and

albums, including " Testify," " The Goose," "All Your Goodies Are Gone," " Fantasy Is Reality," "Good Ole Music," "I Can Feel The Ice Melting," "What You Been Growing," "I'll Wait," and "That Was My Girl." In 1995, many of the original Parliaments tracks were reissued on the Goldmine/Soul label on the album ''Testifyin.

The Silk Palace

The West End of

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

was once home to the Silk Palace, a barbershop at 216 Plainfield Avenue owned in part by Clinton, staffed by various members of Parliament-Funkadelic and known as the "hangout for all the local singers and musicians" in Plainfield's 1950s and 1960s doo-wop, soul, rock and proto-funk music scene.

Discography

Albums

*''Backtrack'': six-track various artists compilation, featuring four singles by the Parliaments originally released on Revilot records, as well as one track by the Debonaires that was co-written and produced by George Clinton. *''The Parliaments - I Wanna Testify'': Goldmine/Soul Supply GSCD 52 - contains all of the Parliaments Revilot singles, as well as instrumental versions of "I'll Wait", "Baby I Owe You Something Good", and "All Your Goodies Are Gone", as well as the Clinton-penned track "Let's Make It Last" recorded by The Fellows. *''The Parliaments - Testifyin': The Mid 60's Detroit Sessions'': Goldmine/Soul Supply GSCD 119 - contains the same tracks as "I Wanna Testify", and also includes the Golden World single "Heart Trouble/That Was My Girl. *''The Parliaments - Testify: The Best of the Early Years'': Connoisseur VSOP CD 286 - contains all of the tracks featured on "Testify" and also includes "She's Always There", which is the flip side to the Fellows single "Let's Make It Last".

Singles

*" Poor Willie" / "Party Boys" APT 45-25036 *" Lonely Island" / "You Make Me Wanna Cry" FL-45-100 *"Heart Trouble" / "That Was My Girl" GW-46 *" (I Wanna) Testify" / "I Can Feel the Ice Melting" RV-207 *"All Your Goodies Are Gone" / "Don't Be Sore At Me" RV-211 *"Little Man" / "The Goose (That Laid the Golden Egg)" RV-214 *"Look at What I Almost Missed" / "What You Been Growing" RV-217 *"Good Ole Music" / "Time" RV-223 *"A New Day Begins" / "I'll Wait" RV-228 (later reissued on the Atco label-ATCO 45-6675)

References

External links

The Motherpage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parliaments, The P-Funk groups American rhythm and blues musical groups Doo-wop groups Musical groups from Plainfield, New Jersey Musical groups established in 1955 Musical groups disestablished in 1969 1955 establishments in New Jersey 1969 disestablishments in New Jersey The Teenagers