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Originally, "P-Funk" was simply a slang expression for two George Clinton bands with members in common, first Parliament, and then Funkadelic. The two groups often are referred to jointly as "Parliament-Funkadelic."
P-funk is also an abbreviation for "pure funk," a genre of music embodied by the Clinton bands ; and "Plainfield Funk," referring to Plainfield, New Jersey, Parliament's hometown.
The breakout popularity of Parliament-Funkadelic also led to a broader application of "P-funk" to mean something in its quintessence, of superior quality, or sui generis, as in the lyrics from "P-Funk," a hit single from Parliament's album Mothership Connection:
"I want the bomb. I want the P-Funk. I want my funk uncut."
In the late 1950s, George Clinton and some others started a doo-wop barbershop quintet (called The Parliaments), but found very little success. During the 1960s, they added a backup band that eventually became known as Funkadelic. George Clinton, the leader of the group, ran a hair salon in New Jersey, and continued to do so until 1967, when the group's breakthrough single was released. By this time, the Parliaments had become Parliament (taken from Parliament cigarettes) and had added several new members, including Bill Nelson, Tawl Ross and Eddie HazelEddie Hazel ( April 10, 1950 December 23, 1992) was a pioneering guitarist in early funk music in the United States. Born in Brooklyn in 1950, Hazel grew up outside Plainfield, New Jersey because his mother, Grace Cook, wanted her son to grow up in an env.
In the late 1960s, the group lost the rights to the name "Parliament" and became known as Funkadelic. Their sound gradually became less clean-cut and less firmly steeped in R&B musicRhythm and blues (or R & B is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. It replaced the term race music, which was deemed offensive. To some extent, the kind of music it is attached to has changed to, and moved towards a psychedeliaPsychedelia is a style of music, visual art, fashion, and culture that is associated originally with the high 1960s, hippies, and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It generally began in 1966, but truly took off in 1967 with the-influenced groove, heavily dependent on Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix ( November 27, 1942 September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who is widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music. As a guitarist, he built, the MC5The MC5 was a rock music band that came out of Detroit in 1966, and was an important precursor of and influence on punk rock (see protopunk). Their first album was Kick Out The Jams recorded live on October 30 and 31, 1968 (the first Zenta new year)., Sly Stone and the Beatles, as well as the New Orleans early funk of The Meters and Lee Dorsey . As their sound progressed, it became thick and complex, loud, psychedelic and very rock and roll. Clinton's experimentation with new and original sounds meant that early Funkadelic had a small and devoted (racially diverse) cult following, but found widespread commercial success elusive.