Parliament

While I was back in New Jersey moving this week I had a CD of the best of Parliament in the car. It was the perfect choice, as this group, variously known as Parliament or Parliament Funkadelic, are an instant mood elevator.

My music interests are very ethnocentric. While listening to classic rock stations in the 70s and 80s there wasn't a lot of black artists played, except for Stevie Wonder. Therefore I had only a superficial relationship with the marvelous style called funk. It's a mixture of soul, R&B, and jazz that has a strong emphasis on rhythm rather than melody, but unlike hip-hop, which I don't care for, I find funk very musical, as it has elements of rock and roll.

Parliament was founded by George Clinton back in the '50s, when they called themselves The Parliaments (named after his favorite cigarette). Over the years the band members changed (when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fifteen members were included, a record), the name changed, and the group developed a wild, flamboyant stage presence, with out of this world costumes and a psychedelic influence.

My favorite P-Funk song, and one of my favorite songs of all time, is "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)," a glorious record that has to be heard to be believed. It mixes five different grooves, each one eminently foot-tappable, so that everytime I listen to it I have to stop what I'm doing, or at least play drums on the steering wheel.

Other highlights of their career are Flashlight, which somehow manages to make an unforgettable hook out of two notes, and P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up), in which we learn that the law around these parts is that we have to wear sunglasses so you "feel cool." The African-American accent says the word "cool" in a great, well, cool way, drawing out the diphthong into two syllables and almost swallowing the end L sound.

P-Funk could very political, too. In Chocolate City, Clinton speaks over a groove and talks about cities that are "chocolate," that is, a majority black. At that time, 1975, Newark, Gary, and L.A. and Atlanta were either majority black or close to it, and D.C. is the "capital." Clinton prophesizes that one day, "Ali will be in the White House, Reverend Ike Secretary of the Treasury, Richard Pryor Minister of Education, Stevie Wonder Secretary of Fine Arts and Miss Aretha Franklin First Lady."

As pointedly political as they could be, P-Funk were also silly. There were sci-fi overtones, and Clinton took on an alien persona as "Star Child," and we hear that in Mothership Connection (Star Child). There is also a song called Agony of DeFeet that is all about taking one's shoes off.

Parliament Funkadelic are a great gift to the world. Their musicianship and sense of style and rhythm are second to none. They should be a lot better known than they are.