Personalities | George Clinton | Seventies | Rock

(Vocals, b. 1941)

Born in North Carolina and raised in New Jersey, Clinton became a funk legend but his first musical venture was the five-man doo-wop group The Parliaments, formed in the late 1950s. After recording for various small labels, and following a spell in which Clinton worked for Motown, the first flowering of his later direction appeared on The Parliaments’ 1967 American Top 20 single ‘(I Wanna) Testify’. Contractual difficulties over the group’s name prompted Clinton to record with The Parliaments’ backing band, newly christened Funkadelic to reflect their psychedelic side. Clinton then set up the collective of musicians that operated under the banner of Parliament/Funkadelic in the 1970s.

Onstage, as lead singer of Parliament, Clinton was a consummate showman indulging his penchant for bizarre costumes. Clinton’s best-known song is Funkadelic’s ‘One Nation Under A Groove’, a Top 10 UK hit in 1979. He launched a solo career in 1981.

Styles & Forms | Seventies | Rock
Personalities | Cockney Rebel | Seventies | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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