WESTBOUND, WARNER BROTHERS, MCA.

Major

Funk, Psychedelic, Rock

From the street corners of Newark and Plainfield, New Jersey, it was around the middle of the 1950's that a doo-wop barbershop group made up of George Clinton, Clarence Haskins, Calvin Simon & Grady Thomas were rehearsing and getting there act together for better things to come. In the early sixties, THE PARLIAMENTS, which they had decided to call the group, released a series of doo-wop singles for such labels as ABC, INVICTUS, and TAMLA MOTOWN, as well as various other record labels in and around Detroit, but without any immediate success. Finally after performing and recording together for over a decade, THE PARLIAMENTS were signed to a small independent label, REVILOT RECORDS. Recording began in earnest, but again the band didn't make much of an initial impact until 1967 with the release of "(I Wanna) Testify". This record release reached No.20 on the Billboard pop charts in that year, and the band were now thrown into the limelight. On the strength of this records' success, they were even given top billing above the O'Jays at the renowned Apollo Theatre. But having it taken them so long for success, they were quickly bought down to earth with a jolt when the group's record label, REVILOT, went bust & folded in 1969. Under the conditions of their contract, REVILOT RECORDS also took the band's name 'THE PARLIAMENTS' into liquidation with it.
The group, which had now grown in size, were now without a name for the band, and also without a record deal. William Nelson, a recent signing to the band came up with the name FUNKADELIC, paying omage to both the mid to late 60's funk scene, and also the Anti-War-Flower-Power-Hippy-Psychedelic-Drugs movement in the USA of that time.
So established at the dawn of the 1970s, the newly reborn FUNKADELIC signed with WESTBOUND RECORDS and mixed hard rock, psychedelia, soul, and funk in equal measure. They released a brace of enormously influential albums throughout the decade, which cut a flaming path into the hearts and minds of an entire generation. This unit begot the musical genre "ACID FUNK". In 1972, George Clinton decided to resurect the band name 'PARLIAMENT'. On doing so PARLIAMENT were signed to CASABLANCA RECORDS. So PARLIAMENT - FUNKADELIC, or 'THE PARLIAFUNKADELICMENT THANG' as it came to be known, is a FUNK / ROCK music collective headed by George Clinton, that specialized in the style of music known as 'P-FUNK' and performed under the two different names
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FUNKADELIC and PARLIAMENT. Two bands comprised of exactly the same members, but recording for different record labels. But there were also a score of offshoot groups and solo ventures. And over time, the line between FUNKADELIC and George Clinton's many other musical projects became increasingly blurred. Recording under a myriad of different names, this musical ensemble had thirteen Top Ten hits in the U.S. R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits in the R&B Charts. They were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Collectively, the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically-charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums, and memorable live performances. Sadly it all disbanded in the early eighties due to finacial and contractual problems, and although there has not been any new recorded material released under the name FUNKADELIC, over the past 20 years there have been a multitude of compilation package releases, and even up to this day, the band tours as either GEORGE CLINTON AND THE P-FUNK ALL STARS or GEORGE CLINTON AND PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC, with many of the original members in the tour line-up. FUNKADELIC have influenced everyone from rock bands (Talking Heads, Red Hot Chili Peppers) to rap acts (Dr. Dre, Ice Cube), and the band remain among the most distinctive funk-rockers ever. And it is also estimated that the P-FUNK THANG is also the music now most sampled above all else, even more than James Brown records!


More recently, George Clinton told the BBC during an interview towards the end of 2007 that there will be a new album from FUNKADELIC in 2008. George has been a prodigious solo artist since 1981, when FUNKADELIC came to an end as a recording unit. However, he said he now wants to release a new record under the FUNKADELIC name. He said: "We're doing a new album right now, we're doing stuff with WU-TANG CLAN and SYSTEM OF A DOWN. It will be the first one in quite a long time. It's going to be really FUNKADELIC, that's for sure!" Asked about the SYSTEM OF A DOWN collaboration, Clinton said: "That's like FUNKADELIC anyway (just like techno-rock). 'Yester-Deja- Vu' might be the title of it. It's time to do another FUNKADELIC record."
George also said the album will be issued on his own label as a physical album as well as a digital release. "You can download it from the mothership!" he said.

FUNKADELIC/GEORGE CLINTON/PARLIAMENT STARTED A TOUR OF LIVE CONCERTS IN THE USA EARLIER THIS YEAR. THERE IS ONLY ONE UK DATE THAT HAS SO FAR BEEN CONFIRMED, AT THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL IN LONDON IN JUNE. SOME MORE UK DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED AROUND THE END OF AUGUST 2008.

IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER: Andre Williams, Bernie Worrell, Calvin Simon, Clarence Haskins, Cordell Mossoon Junior, David Lee Spradley, Dennis Chambers, Dwayne McKnight, Eddie Hazel, Frank Waddy, Gary Cooper, Garry Shider, George Clinton, Glenn Goins, Grady Thomas, Harold Bean, Jerome Brailey, Larry Fratangelo, Lige Curry, Michael Hampton, Mickey Atkins, Mike Payne, Phelps Collins, Raymond Davis, Rodney Curtis, Ron Brykowski, Ron Ford, Tawl Ross, Tiki Fulwood, Tyrone Lampkin, Walter Morrison, William Collins, William Nelson Junior,