Parliament (band)

THE MISTERS RULE! 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.

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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)

Parliament Discography

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[?]