I am a pretty big Funkadelic fan, and have been since I was a teenager. Over the course of the past few years I’ve been gradually replacing my teenage Funkadelic CD collection with proper vinyl.
The good news is they make some really great reissues now — usually on 180-gram vinyl, designed to replicate the original pressings, and affordably priced around $40. Those vintage original or early pressings of the albums can set you back hundreds. There’s no reason to get those — they’re probably beat up, and the new ones sound fantastic. I recently sold a semi-shitty original copy of Cosmic Slop for $50 and bought a brand new one for $35.
My vintage quadraphonic setup at home is right in the living room, which flows out from the kitchen. It’s the main communal space in the house. So, I can’t always spin the records I want for fear of stressing out the people around me. It’s much nicer to put stuff on that they’d like me to turn up, rather than turn down. Or off. This fact of life also affects my record-buying decisions. The catalog of George Clinton’s P-Funk collective is a perfect example of this, and how it plays out in my life. Like I said, I’m a big fan, and I totally get the significance and importance of each of his albums. In a way, buying them is my way of supporting Clinton’s artistic vision. But, alas, my collection of Parliament-Funkadelic albums is rather selective in an effort to maximize playability. Also, let’s face it — who can afford to be a completist?
I recently remedied two one glaring problems with my Parliament-Funkadelic collection: It was lacking any Parliament albums. I fixed that by finally getting a lovely reissue of their first LP, Osmium. This is a record which my pal John Westhaver, owner of Ottawa’s Birdman Sound record store, considers a “desert island disc.” At his insistence, I also picked up the fourth album by Detroit’s Chairmen of the Board, which features Funkadelic as the backing band. I think this may actually be my favourite. Anyway, this is where my collection currently stands:
Funkadelic | Funkadelic (1970)
Parliament | Osmium (1970)
Funkadelic | Maggot Brain (1971)
Funkadelic | America Eats Its Young (1972)
Funkadelic | Cosmic Slop (1973)
Chairmen of the Board | Skin I’m In (1974)
Funkadelic | Standing On The Verge of Getting It On (1974)
Funkadelic | Toys (2008)
So I’ve decided now is the perfect time for me to discuss why I have the albums I have, and which ones I’ve decided to either unload, or simply never bring home. I’m also going to lay out — as best one can — just who the hell all these players are, who played what, in which band, and for how long.
I sold my copy of the second Funkadelic album, Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow (1970) because it’s bonkers. I mean, it’s cool, but the record was an experiment by Clinton to see if they could make an album while on acid the entire time. And it sounds like it. Self-indulgent, not terribly musical a lot of the time, and quite erratic. When I had a copy, it didn’t get played very often because every time I put it on, it created anxiety. I suppose that’s part of the goal, but I’d rather have a really cool record I can actually play.
Apart from that, I have every album in the catalog up to 1974. That’s when a very key thing happened — Clinton brought Parliament back from hiatus.
The whole P-Funk collective began in New Jersey in the late ’50s with the five-vocalist doo-wop group known as The Parliaments. The vocal group, made up of Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas, paid their dues and finally had a minor hit in 1967. This led to the group getting signed by the newfangled Invictus Records.
Invictus was based in Detroit, started along with Hot Wax Records, by producers Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr. (aka Holland–Dozier–Holland). The trio had just left Motown Records to break out on their own. Apart from Funkadelic, other early signings included Freda Payne and Chairmen of the Board, whose single Give Me Just A Little More Time was kept out of the top slot on the U.K. charts in September 1970 by Payne’s Band Of Gold. Invictus also signed British singer Ruth Copeland, who put out two of her three LPs on the label — both of which, like Chairmen of the Board, featured Funkadelic as her backing band. Copeland wrote two of the songs on the debut Parliament album, which she co-produced with Clinton.
The hit single and signing required Clinton to put together a backing band for The Parliaments. So, he signed up bassist Billy Nelson and guitarist Eddie Hazel first, and then rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross, drummer Tiki Fulwood and organist Mickey Atkins. For a brief period, The Parliaments were a five-piece vocal ensemble, backed by a five-piece band. But then things got complicated for Clinton, who got into a contract dispute with Invictus and lost the rights to the band’s name. So, he signed himself and the other nine musicians to Westbound Records under the name Funkadelic.
The first album to be released was the eponymous Funkadelic debut in February 1970. The five Parliaments vocalists were on the album, but left uncredited. Instead, Clinton repackaged those singers as a new group — now called simply Parliament, with the other five backing them. Their debut album Osmium came out on Invictus Records five months later. Two groups, two names, two labels, but the same 10 musicians — at least for their respective debut albums.
The debut albums by Parliament and Funkadelic represent a rare occurrence of the two groups having a similar sound. Like evil twins, separated at birth. Eventually, Clinton was able to market the two bands as presenting different styles of music — with Parliament being decidedly disco-flavoured funk compared to Funkadelic’s more progressive, experimental funk sound. Clinton’s contractual issues with Invictus, coupled by the fact that Funkadelic was proving more popular than Parliament, led him to make the decision to temporarily shelve Parliament and focus on Funkadelic.
It was right at this critical stage that Clinton decided the time was right to put out Free Your Mind — featuring the 10 musicians laying down tracks while tripping on LSD. He then put out four stellar, creative, outspoken, funky and rockin’ Funkadelic albums and developed a brand. The fourth of these albums, Standing On The Verge of Getting It On, was released on July 10, 1974. Just one week earlier, Clinton put out the first release by the rebirthed and reconfigured Parliament — Up For The Down Stroke. With Parliament signed to Casablanca Records, and Funkadelic on Westbound, the two groups now had an even more defined difference in style. Parliament were more dance-oriented. Despite this, the two groups toured jointly as Parliament-Funkadelic. This era of Parliament is the first Clinton material I ever became familiar with — the title track from Up For The Down Stroke, and their big 1976 hit Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker). But this stuff never really resonated with me the way I hoped. It was too disco, too silly. I was far more into the less-commercial, early Funkadelic material.
For me, the music — especially the bass — becomes so over-the-top funky, that it’s not funky at all anymore. It’s just annoying. And I tire pretty quickly of songs about booty, built around juvenile sex metaphors, and — maybe more than anything — the tedious over-use of the word “funk” in lyrics, titles and even the credits.
But I keep trying — occasionally playing Parliament to see if my appetite has changed. It often does with me. Just like moussaka. (I suddenly started liking it a few years ago.) For now, though, I’ll stick with my Funkadelic albums… at least up to 1974. Because after this, the raw sound of the group just seemed to be almost entirely absent. It became more and more difficult to tell the groups apart. As you’ll see below, there’s a very good reason for this: They were the same band.
So, perhaps my feeling about Funkadelic’s latter period will change, but for now I’ve sampled and passed on Let’s Take It To The Stage (1975), Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (1976), Hardcore Jollies (1976), One Nation Under A Groove (1978), Uncle Jam Wants You (1979), The Electric Spanking of War Babies (1981), By Way Of The Drum (2007), and First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate (2014). They were touring By Way Of The Drum when I finally saw them live for the first and only time.
Of the 10 Parliament albums, I only own the debut, skipping Up For The Down Stroke (1974), Chocolate City (1975), Mothership Connection (1974), The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976), Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977), Motor Booty Affair (1978), Gloryhallastoopid (1979), Trombipulation (1980) and Medicaid Fraud Dogg (2018). That’s 24 studio albums — but 20 of them came in the first 10 years.
Here’s who he did it with. I’ve tracked the core musicians, leaving out some backing vocalists and horn players.
THE PARLIAMENTS (1967)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
PARLIAMENT (1968-1970)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
Billy “Bass” Nelson — bass
Eddie Hazel — guitar
Tawl Ross — guitar
Tiki Fulwood — drums
Bernie Worrell — keys
FUNKADELIC (1970-1971)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
Billy “Bass” Nelson — bass
Eddie Hazel — lead guitar, vocals
Tawl Ross — rhythm guitar
Tiki Fulwood — drums, vocals
Bernie Worrell — keys, vocals
Mickey Atkins — keys
RUTH COPELAND (1970-1971)
Ruth Copeland — vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
George Clinton — musical assistance
Eddie Hazel — guitar
Tawl Ross — guitar
Billy “Bass” Nelson — bass
Bernie Worrell — keyboards
Tiki Fulwood — drums
FUNKADELIC (1972-1973)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
Eddie Hazel — guitar, vocals
Tiki Fulwood — drums, percussion
Bernie Worrell — keys, vocals
Catfish Collins — guitar, vocals
Garry Shider — guitar, vocals
Harold Beane — guitar, vocals
Bootsy Collins — bass, vocals
Prakash John — bass, vocals
Boogie Mosson — bass
Ronnie Greenway — vocals, trumpet
Chicken Gunnels — vocals, trumpet
Randy Wallace — vocals, alto sax
Kash Waddy — vocals, percussion
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD (1974)
Danny Woods — vocals
Eddie Custis — vocals
General Johnson — vocals
Harrison Kennedy (Canadian!) — vocals
Eddie Hazel — guitar
Billy “Bass” Nelson — bass
Tiki Fulwood — drums
Bernie Worrell — keys
FUNKADELIC (1974-1976)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
Eddie Hazel — guitar, vocals
Tiki Fulwood — percussion, vocals
Bernie Worrell — keys, vocals
Garry Shider — guitar, vocals
Boogie Mosson — bass, vocals
Ty Lampkin — percussion
Gary Bronson — drums
Jimi Calhoun — bass
PARLIAMENT (1974-1978)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Fuzzy Haskins — vocals
Calvin Simon — vocals
Grady Thomas — vocals
Eddie Hazel — guitar, vocals
Tiki Fulwood — drums, percussion
Bernie Worrell — keys
Bootsy Collins — bass, guitar, drums, vocals
Garry Shider — guitar, vocals
Boogie Mosson — bass
Billy “Bass” Nelson — bass
Parkash John — bass
Catfish Collins — guitar
Ron Bykowski — guitar
Gary Bronson — drums
Glenn Goins — guitar, vocals
Michael Hampton — guitar
Jerome Brailey — drums
Gary Cooper — drums, vocals, backing vocals
Junie Morrison — vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keys
Skeet Curtis — bass
Tyrone Lampkin — drums
DeWayne McKnight — guitar, bass, drums
Donnie Sterling — bass
David Lee Chong — keys
Dennis Chambers — drums
Kenny Colton — drums
FUNKADELIC (1978)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Bernie Worrell — keys
Bootsy Collins — bass, drums
Garry Shider — guitar, vocals
Boogie Mosson — bass, vocals
Skeet Curtis — bass
Michael Hampton — guitar, keys
Junie Morrison — vocals, keys
Tyrone Lampkin — drums
Jerome Brailey — drums
Larry Fratangelo — drums
Dennis Chambers — drums
PARLIAMENT (1980)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Bernie Worrell — keys
Bootsy Collins — bass, guitar, drums, vocals
Garry Shider — vocals
Michael Hampton — guitar, keys
Junie Morrison — vocals
Ron Ford — vocals
Tyrone Lampkin — drums
Donnie Sterling — bass, vocals
David Lee Chong — keys
Kenny Colton — drums
Lige Curry — bass, vocals
Jimmie Ali — bass
Jerome Ali — guitar
Tony Thomas — guitar, vocals
Gordon Carlton — guitar
Lonnie Green — drums, vocals
Manon Saulsby — keys
Ernesto Wilson — keys
FUNKADELIC (1980)
George Clinton — vocals
Ray Davis — vocals
Bernie Worrell — keys
Garry Shider — guitar, vocals
Eddie Hazel — guitar
Boogie Mosson — bass, vocals
Skeet Curtis — bass
Michael Hampton — guitar
Junie Morrison — keys
Tyrone Lampkin — drums
Larry Fratangelo — drums
Dennis Chambers — drums
And let’s not forget about all those Bootsy Collins Rubber Band and P-Funk All Stars albums with the same Parliament-Funkadelic musicians.
The killer playlist:
• • •
Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
