George Clinton and the Parliaments – (Part One of Two)

Philadelphia Inquirer Photographs, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Following World War II northern cities in America experienced an influx of African-American and minority families moving from the south searching for better opportunities. The inner city became home to millions of disadvantaged youths who had few outlets for their growing frustration. Out of this environment came a new music genre. Doo-wop was born on the streets giving inner-city youths a voice. The music used vocal harmony to express a young generation’s disaffected view. Groups used the “top and bottom,” doo-wop method of a high tenor singing the lead and a bass voice harmonizing  the melody.

George Clinton was born on July 22, 1941 in Kannopolis, North Carolina. He was the eldest of nine children. Growing up in the south gave George a chance to listen to the latest blues and religious music artists. His mother, Julia, listened to Lois Jordon and Charlie Brown regularly in their home.

In 1952, George Clinton’s family made the move north. After a brief stop in Washington, DC they settled in Newark, New Jersey. George attended Clinton Place Junior High School. He found himself attracted to the street life and joined a local gang named the Outlaws. Later that year George’s friend Leroy was murdered in front of him.

George’s cousin Ruth lived in Passaic, NJ and introduced him to popular records. She lived next to members of the all-girl singing group that was named the Shirelles. George visited his cousin regularly and was allowed to watch her neighbors rehearse. In 1953 he attended one of their shows at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theatre. It was at this show that George witnessed the affect the acappella singing group the Spaniels had on teenage girls who made up the majority of the audience. They were screaming and storming the stage. Soon after attending his first concert, George gave up gang life and started to work on performing music.

“The fifties in New York were an incredibly romantic time to be brought up hearing that stuff.” George Clinton

In 1955, George Clinton was 14 years old when he formed his first group the Parliaments. They were named after the popular brand of cigarettes with the same name. George sang falsetto and bass and the group’s members also included Charles “Fat Butch” Davis, Herbie Johnson and Gene Boykins. They sang at school dances, talent shows and YMCA hops while working on their performance style and dance moves.

It was not long before the Parliaments were a local favorite. They won several battles of the groups and talent shows, topping other vocal groups including Joey Dee and the Starlighters, The Four Seasons and the Monotones. Eventually they won a number of amateur nights at the Apollo Theatre.

As George continued to sing and run the Parliaments, he also took a job sweeping floors in Newark’s Uptown Tonsorial Parlor. The barber shop was a place musicians, pimps and players gathered daily. George worked his way up to stylist and had several musicians as regular clients including Jackie Wilson and the Temptations. He formed his vision of style at the barber shop and carried it into his music career.

By 1956, The Parliaments line-up had changed a number of times and consisted of five point harmony with George, Herbie Jenkins, Robert Lambert, Danny Mitchell and Grady Thomas. Grady Thomas was the same age as George and worked at the same hair parlor. He would stay in the group until 1977.

The Parliaments first recording was an acetate record of their rendition of the Diablos “The Wind,” and “Sunday Kind of Love.” It was recorded in a Newark recording booth in 1956. In 1958 they secured studio time and recorded two songs “Poor Willie,” and “Party Boys.” The singles were released on the Hull record label in June, 1959.  They did not make the R&B chart or sell that well. The group was back in the studio and recorded the church organ ballad “Lonely Island,” for New Records. The single was released the following year on future Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller’s Patterson, NJ based Flipp Record label with the  b-side “You Make Me Wanna Cry.”

Clinton moved to George White’s Silk Palace barbershop in the queen city of Plainfield, NJ. He eventually would own a 50% share of the Silk Palace. The Parliaments continued to practice in the back room of the barber shop and on the street corner outside. One of their counterparts in doo-wop, the Del-Larks, competed against the Parliaments in several local talent shows. The Del-Larks were given a trip to New York City to cut demo recordings after winning a talent show held at Seidler Field in Plainfield. The Parliaments came in second place. The Del-Larks were signed by Amet Ertegan and Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records in March 1958.

George Clinton continued to try and find success in the record business in New York City. He also marketed his group to Barry Gordy at Motown in Detroit. In 1960 the group added Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins who had sung with the Bel-Airs. In 1962, The Parliaments had an audition with Motown. Motown was searching for new groups and felt The Parliaments were very talented but showed too much resemblance to the Temptations.

George went back to the barbershop and started a weekly commute to New York City on his spare time. He knew if he could find success in New York City he would make it in the music industry. George eventually set up shop in the Brill Building in New York City writing songs and advertising jingles alongside other artists. Barry Gordy and Motown entered the New York City market with the publishing company named Jobete Music Company Inc. The goal was to find and record demos of songs that could be used by the growing stable of groups in Detroit. Jobete was run by Barry’s wife Ray (Raynoma) Gordy. They hired George as a producer and song writer. He worked with Leiber & Staller, Bobby Darin and others.

George cut demos and produced outside projects for Motown during 1962-1963. He started the short lived record label, Martin Records with Joe Martin, who was Motown’s distributor in Newark. George produced the singles “Accidental Love,” and “What Did He Do,” for Roy Hardy.

In late 1963 George left Motown to team up with “Big” Ed Wingate who owned the Golden World and Ric Tic record labels. George was paired with Sidney Barnes to write songs. George created lyrics and Sidney wrote chords and hooks. The two collaborated on the song “I’ll Bet You,” which was recorded by the Jacksons. Michael Jackson would also record George’s “Touch The One You Love,” in 1973. During this time George wrote and recorded songs for Edwin Starr, the Debonaires, Shades of Blue and the Pat Lewis song “Can’t Shake It Loose.”

In 1964, James Brown released the revolutionary single “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag,” on King Records. The song changed the normal soul rhythms from the two and the four to the one and the three beat. Brown incorporated gospel-style vocal refrains and downbeat accents creating what would become funk music.

George Clinton was blown away by James Brown’s new sound. He continued to produce and write songs and perform with the Parliaments while trying to make his mark in the music industry.

Research: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives – Collection on George Clinton and Parliament – Funkadelic, Philadelphia Inquirer Photographs, A Memoir By George Clinton with Ben Greenman (Book).

The Rock Hall’s Library and Archives is free and open to the public. It is located at the Tommy LiPuma Center for Creative Arts on Cuyahoga Community College’s Metropolitan Campus. Visit library.rockhall.com for more information

Images: I try and use images that are not protected by copyright laws. I will remove any images that are copyright protected if informed by copyright holder.