Parliament is an American funk band formed in the late 1960s by George Clin… Read Full Bio ↴Parliament is an American funk band formed in the late 1960s by George Clinton as part of his Parliament-Funkadelic collective. Less rock-oriented than its sister act Funkadelic, Parliament drew on science-fiction and outlandish performances in their work. The band scored a number of Top 10 hits, including the million-selling 1976 single "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", and Top 40 albums such as Mothership Connection (1975). Clinton dissolved the band in the early 1980s. Reformed in January 2018, the first new Parliament release in 38 years was "I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me", which features the rapper Scarface. A new Parliament album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, was released in May 2018.
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. Billy "Bass" Nelson is credited with creating the name Funkadelic. He also switched from 6-string guitar to bass, creating room for his childhood friend Eddie Hazel to join the group. Soon, Parliament was created in addition to Funkadelic and the two bands consisted of essentially the same people, 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, 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 title 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 spacey themes of Starchild, Sir Nose and other recurring characters from multiple albums.
Of particular note is the landmark album Mothership Connection, an amalgam of many '70s themes and the tight "popular" funk sound which was both more commercially viable (particularly in the black community) and more readily emulated by the numerous artists capitalizing on the popularity of funk's mainstream cousin: disco. Artists such as the BeeGees, the Commodores and Kool and the Gang repackaged many of Parliament's innovations into radio-ready pop hits and upon the mass acceptance of disco culture as portrayed in Saturday Night Fever, millions of suburban Americans were able to boogie-oogie-oogie safely protected from exposure to the urban dance scene's multi-ethnic, sexually diverse and cocaine-fueled celebration.
In the early 1980s, with legal difficulties arising from the multiple names used by multiple groups, as well as a shakeup at Casablanca Records, George Clinton dissolved Parliament and Funkadelic as recording and touring entities. Parliament/Funkadelic morphed into P-Funk. New audiences were fueled in the '90s due to extensive sampling by hip hop DJs and producers, including beats used in The Chronic and Cypress Hill's debut album.
A variety of bands evolved in their own right out of the main two bands - they included Bootsy's Rubber Band, The Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, Mutiny, The Horny Horns, and Quazar.
George Clinton subsequently worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Reformed in January 2018, the first new Parliament release in 38 years was "I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me", which features the rapper Scarface. A new Parliament album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, was released in May 2018.
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. Billy "Bass" Nelson is credited with creating the name Funkadelic. He also switched from 6-string guitar to bass, creating room for his childhood friend Eddie Hazel to join the group. Soon, Parliament was created in addition to Funkadelic and the two bands consisted of essentially the same people, 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, 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 title 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 spacey themes of Starchild, Sir Nose and other recurring characters from multiple albums.
Of particular note is the landmark album Mothership Connection, an amalgam of many '70s themes and the tight "popular" funk sound which was both more commercially viable (particularly in the black community) and more readily emulated by the numerous artists capitalizing on the popularity of funk's mainstream cousin: disco. Artists such as the BeeGees, the Commodores and Kool and the Gang repackaged many of Parliament's innovations into radio-ready pop hits and upon the mass acceptance of disco culture as portrayed in Saturday Night Fever, millions of suburban Americans were able to boogie-oogie-oogie safely protected from exposure to the urban dance scene's multi-ethnic, sexually diverse and cocaine-fueled celebration.
In the early 1980s, with legal difficulties arising from the multiple names used by multiple groups, as well as a shakeup at Casablanca Records, George Clinton dissolved Parliament and Funkadelic as recording and touring entities. Parliament/Funkadelic morphed into P-Funk. New audiences were fueled in the '90s due to extensive sampling by hip hop DJs and producers, including beats used in The Chronic and Cypress Hill's debut album.
A variety of bands evolved in their own right out of the main two bands - they included Bootsy's Rubber Band, The Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, Mutiny, The Horny Horns, and Quazar.
George Clinton subsequently worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Reformed in January 2018, the first new Parliament release in 38 years was "I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me", which features the rapper Scarface. A new Parliament album, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, was released in May 2018.
Little Old Country Boy
Parliament Lyrics
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee, yodel la
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee
Yodel la hee hee hee
Here I am riding along in this ambulance
To the city jail
Going to jail accused of being a peeping tom
Dammit man, I'm saying
Any man would try to find out if his girl
Was doing, doing him wrong
That's all I was doing
There outside her home
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee, yodel la
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee
Yodel la hee hee hee
Cracked ribs, black eyes and a bloody nose
I've been victimized
I'm the victim of a one-sided circumstance
No one's heard my side
And when you hear my side
You'll see the rotten trick
She pulled on me
How could she, that I loved, do this to me?
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Eee ha!
Lately, she's been acting fishy all the time
Just like tonight
When we kissed goodnight she
Pulled away from me
(she had the nerve to pull away from me)
So I hid from sight
Out of sight by her door
I heard her give her love to another guy
I guess the guy must have heard me cry
He rushed to the door
That's when I screamed, "Oh lord!"
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Talk about surprised at her
When she screamed to him
It's a peeping tom -then he beat me up
I took the beating but I felt more
Hurt when she called the cops
Spitting on twelve months!
Twelve months of loving that girl ain't
My idea of a peeping tom
So officer, please let me go
'cause I've done no wrong
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
(I don't gamble, I don't drink or swear)
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Let this country boy go, officer
Please, now that's all I ask
Take this stick out my back and let me go
I don't need her no more
Oh lord, have mercy
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee
Yodel la hee hee hee
Here I am riding along in this ambulance
To the city jail
Going to jail accused of being a peeping tom
Dammit man, I'm saying
Any man would try to find out if his girl
Was doing, doing him wrong
There outside her home
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee, yodel la
Yodel la hee, yodel la hee
Yodel la hee hee hee
Cracked ribs, black eyes and a bloody nose
I've been victimized
I'm the victim of a one-sided circumstance
No one's heard my side
And when you hear my side
You'll see the rotten trick
She pulled on me
How could she, that I loved, do this to me?
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Eee ha!
Lately, she's been acting fishy all the time
Just like tonight
When we kissed goodnight she
Pulled away from me
(she had the nerve to pull away from me)
So I hid from sight
Out of sight by her door
I heard her give her love to another guy
I guess the guy must have heard me cry
He rushed to the door
That's when I screamed, "Oh lord!"
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Talk about surprised at her
When she screamed to him
It's a peeping tom -then he beat me up
I took the beating but I felt more
Hurt when she called the cops
Spitting on twelve months!
Twelve months of loving that girl ain't
My idea of a peeping tom
So officer, please let me go
'cause I've done no wrong
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
(I don't gamble, I don't drink or swear)
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Let this country boy go, officer
Please, now that's all I ask
Take this stick out my back and let me go
I don't need her no more
Oh lord, have mercy
Oh, I'm a little old country boy
Just a young'un in my teens
I don't gamble, drink or swear
And she did this to me
Mama said son you're going to fall
For that common cajun queen
She's going to take you for your all
And that's what she done done to me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Nicholas Bradley
Just goes to show how versatile they were. Must be one of the most sampled band on the planet. Respect to De La Soul for keeping it real tho. Peace. X
jean-pierre jipi
😄👍
harpua13
Still better than pretty much anything that's ever come out of country music.
Jerome D. Roy
True... especially nowadays...
Gandalf Shakur
Yodeling in a P-Funk song?? Now I've heard everything. By the way, this album remains their most underrated.
FBA Allied
Sly did it on "Spaced Cowboy" from Sly and the Family Stone's 71' album There's a Riot Goin' On
Gandalf Shakur
@FBA Allied will tune in to that - thanks fBa
FBA Allied
@Gandalf Shakur I think Sly to inspiration from this track, surely?
Kat Izz
I had this on my MP3 PLYR when I HAD a back office production job..got me through every Friday 😆😆❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰
Lazer Lazer Lazer
Who says a Funk band can't play country music?