Parliament Funkadelic Research Paper

Parliament Funkadelic is a blend of rock, funk, and soul. It began in the late 1950’s in

Newark, New Jersey, and they have since been dubbed P. Funk. Headed by George Clinton,

Parliament Funkadelic also included Bootsy Collins, Eddie Hazel, Garry Shider, and Bernie

Worrell. The band’s name comes as a result of being a catchall for the multiple bands in George

Clinton’s stable. In the beginning, Funkadelic and their records leaned toward heavy guitar, rock,

and psychedelic funk whereas Parliament favored more toward Motown-influenced music which

featured more jazz like sounds, horns, and gospel singing. George Clinton Decided to take both

and mix them together to create their own unique sound.

In the late 60’s George Clinton was

touring with his group “The Parliments” but due to

legal issues he temporarily lost the rights to that name, renaming the band “Funkadelic” they

released their debut album “Funkadelic in 1970.

After regaining the rights to use the name “The

Parliments” George instead merged the two, at this time consisting of over 50 musicians, to

become Parliament Funkadelic. It was soon after this that they began to define the Funk genre.

Not only was their album full of unexpected goodness, their live shows managed the same with 4

hour jam at incredibly loud volumes, some even included George Clinton performing without

clothes. These shows were spectacles, large and eye catching, featuring such events as a giant

spaceship landing on stage, with Clinton inside it to emerge in elaborate alien make up, or

Bootsy Collins doing a part in the show that featured amphibious characters that could dance

underwater and not get wet. During the 1975-1979 years both Parliament and Funkadelic began

to experience success with high ranking single and album releases in both the R&B and Pop

charts. Many of the members went to do side projects, also finding success under George’s

guidance. The albums from Parliament at this time began to take conceptual themes such as

science fiction and afro-futurism featuring complex political and sociological themes

and

involving recurring fictional characters. Their songs “Flashlight”, “Aqua Boogie”, and “One

Nation Under a Groove” all hit the number one spot, with “One Nation Under a Groove became

the first Funkadelic LP to reach platinum status.

The fame didn’t last forever, in the 1980’s Clinton became mired in legal issues when the

company Polygram acquired Casablanca, the label that Clinton was performing under. Clinton

stopped using the names, but not the members and began his solo career. During this time

Clinton’s solo projects did result in some number one hits, it failed to reach the level that

Parliament Funk enjoyed. Many of the band members went their own way resulting from

disagreements about Clinton’s leadership, harsh feelings over the new musicians that were

brought in to replace the old members who had previously left, and many other causes all drove

the members apart. Clinton and members of Parliament Funkadelic still toured and recorded

throughout the 80’s as the “P-Funk All-Stars” but didn’t do well as a result of the 80’s distaste

for everything that had the flavor of the 70’s on it. From 1986 to 1989 Clinton was continually

involved in legal issues resulting from royalty problems in the 70s’s with the recordings of over

40 artists, under four labels, under three names.

In the 90’s funk inspired rap began to take a climb with artists such as Digital

Underground, Dr. Dre and Warren G and so did funk rock with artists such as Red Hot Chili

Peppers and Primus. This helped to re-establish Clinton and P. Funk as the forerunners of rock

and one of the more important forces in recent history of black music. They soon became more

sampled than even James Brown, and members such as Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell have

remained constantly busy with their own thriving careeres. In 1994 Parliament Funk was

inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their fame only continues to grow as their music

is all inclusive and has broken several cultural and age barriers.

The sound of Parliament Funkadelic is instantly recognizable in that not only has the

band been features on many shows, commercials, and movies, but they have gained not a small

bit of fame in their own right. When listening to their music you can instantly pick out some of

the influences such as James Brown and Sly Stone. In their shows their visual influences could

be seen as they brought the same theatricality of David Bowie and KISS to the arena of Funk,

making each concert a visual smorgasbord of color, action, and costumes. The sounds of the

brass horns are in the forefront of the music, as is the thrumming of the bass followed closely by

the distorted sounds of the guitar. Vocally, the background vocals are competing with the main

resulting in a mixture of sound that somehow comes out sounding like a well-rehearsed chorus.

All of these factors have been brought together and have resulted in a sound that is at the same

time reminiscent of the greats of Funk and is a sound completely unique in its own right.

The

music blends right in with both genres of Disco and Funk and yet contains plenty of elements of

rock and roll in it in the way it uses the audial variations of the guitar to emphasize the songs.