# Confusing bands (George Clinton) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164 "2005-02-03T13:56:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164/1 "2005-02-03T13:56:38Z")
Apparently, George Clinton was originally part of The Parliaments, and then started recording as Parliament as well as Funkadelic. Does anyone know why he had to use two monikers there? Were they two separate bands with only Clinton as the link? After that, Clinton decided to go “solo” because of legal troubles (?). So he recorded stuff under his own name as well as using The P-Funk All Stars (how did a simple name get him out of his legal wrangle?). Did Parliament or Funkadelic record stuff without Clinton then? Is there a distinction between them in quality or style? From what I gather, The P-Funk All Stars were basicaly a one-year gig that recorded and toured, and then disbanded, but then some came together later under George Clinton’s solo name. In the end I guess it’s not really important, but it’s kinda hard to determine whether the different names had any appreciable differences in their music, and at what point major band members changed, since it seems quite amorphous. Most people I talk to seem to just link the whole lot together. However, I have heard that Clinton’s solo debut mark a transition from funk to R&B… True? This has got to be one of the most confusing bands of all time in terms of one band staying together (and not one guy going out and forming/joining a totally different band)… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164/2 "2005-02-03T14:31:01Z")
Funkadelic and Parliament were essentially the same band recording for different labels and with a somewhat different approach. Funkadelic was more experimental and eclectic, with more of a rock orientation, while Parliament was more straightforward, dance-based R&B, and their albums were often conceptual affairs featuring recurring characters such as Starchild and Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164/3 "2005-02-03T17:48:29Z")
Haven’t really kept up with the P-Funk All Stars, but I always assumed that was a kind of modern re-grouping of everybody still available from the Parliament/Funkadelic days. Can’t comment much on Clinton’s solo work, either, though it gets high marks from a lot of people. As **Biffy** said, Parliament and Funkadelic were essentially the same group of musicians making seriously funky music under two different monikers for two (actually, three) different record labels. From about the mid-70’s on, the only serious distinction between the two was horns for Paliament and more prominent guitar for Funkadelic. _Early_ Funkadelic (1969–1972) is the only notably different branch of the P-Funk canon. This stuff was darker, much grittier, less flat-out danceable/accessible than anything from about _Cosmic Slop_ (1973) on. There was also some straight-up, hard-ass psychadelic rock on the early albums- _Mommy What’s a Funkadelic, Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow, Maggot Brain, America Eats its Young._ _Maggot Brain_ is a particularly nasty, grinding workout. Great stuff. If you’re looking for funk recommendations, though, I’d suggest Funkadelic’s _Standing on the Verge of Getting it on, Let’s Take it to the Stage, and Cosmic Slop_, and Parliament’s _Mothership Connection, Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, and Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome_ to start with. Effing classics! ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164/4 "2005-02-03T22:12:35Z")
The first time I saw George and Co. “doing the deal” I was blown away!, if you are into “over the top theatrical stuff” (Alice Cooper with the Guillotine) I would urge you to watch “the Mothership Connection” (it’s available on DVD). Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-bands-george-clinton/288164/5 "2005-02-03T22:33:25Z")
A 1977 article in _Guitar Player_ magazine said that Parliament had been a group of singers, and the band was a group of musicians who took the name Funkadelic. They were starting to work together around the early 1960s. This is all from memory though.