Song:(I Wanna) Testify
Album:Sweet Soul Music: 30 Scorching Classics From 1967
Most music fans are familiar with George Clinton and his groups Parliament and Funkadelic who were very successful in the 70s. But before that Clinton led the Parliaments and they scored a top five R&B hit in 1967 with (I Wanna) Testify. This song is now considered a soul classic and it has been frequently covered and sampled. Clinton formed The Parliaments in 1955 in the back room of a barbershop in Plainfield, NJ. Clinton was part owner of the barbershop. They were a doo wop group very similar to Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. For most of the 60s, the members were George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon and Grady Thomas. While The Parliaments released occasional singles without much success, Clinton took a job at Motown as a producer. Finally The Parliaments scored a hit with (I Wanna) Testify in 1967. It reached #3 on the R&B Singles chart and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record was on Revilot Records owned by veteran producer Don Davis. Though the record is credited to The Parliaments, Clinton did everything himself. He recorded it in Detroit while working for Motown. Everyone else was in New Jersey. The success allowed Clinton to form a band for a Parliaments tour. But then Revilot went bankrupt and Clinton temporarily lost the rights to The Parliaments name. Clinton changed the name to Funkadelic and the rest is history. Of course he revived the Parliament name in the 70s. You can get (I Wanna) Testify on this Bear Family various artists comp. Clinton remade Testify on the 1974 Parliament album Up For The Down Stroke. And it's frequently sampled by hip hop guys. Here's a video for (I Wanna Testify) by The Parliaments.
Some years back I was late night shopping at a local supermarket when one of the workers at the store swore to me he had meant and talked to on of the actual members of the group Parliament.He told the mans name but I have forgotten it. At the time I was not at all familiar with the group and had to look it up and much to my surprise the group really did exist. Thanks for the information Frank.
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