Parliament was a prominent funk band in the 1970s. It was founded by George Clinton and its sister band Funkadelic. The original Parliaments was a doo-wop vocal band based in a Plainfield, New Jersey barbershop. The group included George Clinton and Ray Davis, Fuzzy Hakins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, and Fuzzy Haskins. Clinton served as the group’s leader and manager. In 1967, the group had their first hit single with “(I Wanna (Testify)”. Clinton created a backing band to tour with a teenage barbershop employee Billy Bass Nelson and Eddie Hazel, along with Tiki Fulwood and Mickey Atkins, on drums. Clinton lost the rights to “The Parliaments” due to a contract dispute with Revilot and signed the group to Westbound Records as Funkadelic. Clinton described Funkadelic as a funk-rock ensemble featuring five musicians, with five Parliaments singers as uncredited guest. In 1970, Clinton revived Parliament’s singing group with the same ten members, while Funkadelic was still a touring and recording entity. Clinton now led two separate acts, Funkadelic and Parliament. They featured the same members, but were promoted as creating two types of funk. Invictus Records released the Parliament album Osmium in 1970. Later, it was reissued on CD and included non-album tracks like Rhenium or First Thangs. Osmium had a psychedelic, soul-oriented sound that was closer to the Funkadelic albums than the Parliament albums. The single “The Breakdown” was released as an independent single and reached #30 on R.
