Parliament Studio Albums

Osmium is the debut album of American funk band Parliament, led by George Clinton. The album has a psychedelic soul sound with a spirit of experimentation that is more similar to early Funkadelic than the later R&B-inspired Parliament albums. It was originally released in July 1970 on Invictus Records.^[6] The original vinyl release contained a glossy lyric sheet.

Since its re-release in 1990, Osmium has been distributed numerous times by various labels in the U.S., Europe and Japan, sometimes under alternate titles that have included Rhenium and First Thangs. A number of these reissues have featured material that was not included on the original album, such as unreleased tracks and singles that were recorded around the same time as Osmium.

The personnel for this album included the five Parliaments singers and the five backing musicians known as Funkadelic. The same personnel also recorded as Funkadelic, releasing that act's self-titled debut album also in 1970. After the release of Osmium, contractual difficulties prevented further recording under the name Parliament until 1974, when Clinton signed that act to Casablanca Records and positioned it as an R&B-inspired counterpoint to the more rock-oriented Funkadelic.

The yodeling that arguably uniquely identifies one of De La Soul's early hits, "Potholes in My Lawn" (which eventually appeared on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising), comes from Osmium's "Little Ole Country Boy".^[7]

This is the only Parliament album to be produced by Ruth Copeland, and the only album to feature rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross, before his 1971 departure from the group.

Up for the Down Stroke is an album by the American funk band Parliament. It was the band's second album (following 1970's Osmium), and their first to be released on Casablanca Records. The album was released on July 3, 1974. Its title track was Parliament's first chart hit and remains one of the most well-known P-Funk songs. The album also contains a funk reworking of The Parliaments' song "(I Wanna) Testify" under the title "Testify". The original title of the album was Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good, and the cover featured group leader George Clinton hovering over a woman in distress, sporting a black wig and monster-type gloves.

Up for the Down Stroke is notable in that it regenerated George Clinton's professional relationship with bassist Bootsy Collins, who had taken a two-year hiatus from the group. Collins would play a pivotal role in all of the Parliament albums released through Casablanca Records.

Chocolate City is the third album by the funk band Parliament, released in 1975. It was a "tribute to Washington D.C.",^[9] where the group had been particularly popular. The album's cover includes images of the United States Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial in the form of a chocolate medallion, as well as sticker labeled "Washington DC". The album was very popular in the capitol city, selling 150,000 copies alone there.

Mothership Connection is the fourth album by American funk band Parliament, released on December 15, 1975 on Casablanca Records. This concept album is often rated among the best Parliament-Funkadelic releases, and was the first to feature horn players Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, previously of James Brown's backing band the J.B.'s.

Mothership Connection became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum.^[7] It was supported by the hit "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)," the band's first million-selling single. The Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2011, declaring that it "has had an enormous influence on jazz, rock and dance music.

The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein is the fifth album by funk band Parliament, released in September 1976. The album is notable for featuring horn arrangements by ex-James Brown band member, Fred Wesley. The album charted at #3 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart, #20 on the Billboard pop chart, and became Parliament's second album to be certified gold. Two singles were released off the album, "Do That Stuff", which charted at #22, and "Dr. Funkenstein" which charted at #43.

Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome is the sixth studio album by the American funk band Parliament, released in 1977.^[1][2]

It is a loose concept album warning the listener of falling into the "Placebo Syndrome," which according to George Clinton is consumerism, and listening to disco music, which he saw as a simplification of funk music in attempt to gain commercial success. The album spawned the R&B number No. 1 single in "Flash Light", which features a funky synthesizer bass line played on a Minimoog by keyboardist Bernie Worrell. The album became Parliament's fourth consecutive gold album and second platinum album. The song "Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention – B3M)" contains nursery rhymes "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and "Three Blind Mice"; the lyrics were changed to refer to drug use.

The original vinyl release contained a 22″×33″ poster of the character Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk, as well as an 8-page comic book that explains the concept behind the LP. Both the poster and the comic book were illustrated by Overton Loyd.

Motor Booty Affair is the seventh album by funk band Parliament, released in 1978.^[1] It contains two of the group's most popular tracks, "Rumpofsteelskin" and "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)", which went to number one on the Billboard Soul Singles chart.

Artist Overton Loyd created the art for Motor Booty Affair.^[2] The main release consisted of a gate-fold album cover featuring a pop-up rendition of the city of Atlantis, with Loyd's artwork on the front and back covers. His illustrations included cartoon portraits of some of the "characters" mentioned in the songs on the album, including "Mr. Wiggles". It also included cardboard cutout figures featuring Loyd's cartoon illustrations of most of the characters mentioned in the songs. There was a picture disk, with Loyd's illustration printed directly on the vinyl LP.^[3] The album was Parliament's fifth consecutive gold album (500,000 copies sold).

Gloryhallastoopid (Or Pin the Tale on the Funky) is the eighth album by the American funk band Parliament.^[1] It was their penultimate album on the Casablanca Records label, and is another concept album that tries to explain that Funk was responsible for the creation of the universe (see P Funk mythology). It reuses samples from previous albums, notably Mothership Connection and Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome.

Trombipulation is the ninth album by the funk band Parliament (see 1980 in music). It was released by Casablanca Records. It was the last album of original material produced by the group for 38 years, until Medicaid Fraud Dogg in 2018. Unlike previous Parliament albums, George Clinton did not serve as sole producer of the album, as other P-Funk figures assisted in producing individual tracks. Bassist Bootsy Collins emerged as the principal musician on this album, playing virtually all of the instruments on a number of tracks. The track "Let's Play House" was sampled by the hip-hop group Digital Underground for their single "The Humpty Dance".

While Trombipulation wasn't as commercially successful as previous Parliament albums, its first single, "Agony of DeFeet" peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.

 Medicaid Fraud Dogg is the tenth and final studio album by American band Parliament, led by George Clinton. It was released on May 22, 2018, under the record label Clinton founded in 2003, C Kunspyruhzy Records. Guest musicians on the album include Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis, one-time James Brown collaborators. It features guest appearances from Scarface and Mudbone. Medicaid Fraud Dogg was released in Japan by P-Vine records on September 12, 2018.