Parliament: Up for the Down Stroke [MERCURY]

Why you'll love it

Up for the Down Stroke is where the Mothership crew found its groove on Casablanca, with George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel and a returning Bootsy Collins. The title track was Parliament's first chart hit and is still one of the best-known P-Funk songs.

About the album

George Clinton has never been a man to waste a good song, and Up for the Down Stroke proves it. The album, first planned as Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good, was Parliament's first for Casablanca, and it brought bassist Bootsy Collins back into the fold after a two-year break. Collins would play a big part in every Parliament album on the label from here on.

The title track struts in with a group vocal from Clinton, Eddie Hazel and Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins and sets the tone. "Testify" reworks the Parliaments' 60s single "(I Wanna) Testify" as heavy funk, "The Goose" and "All Your Goodies Are Gone" refit more of the old songbook, and Garry Shider takes the lead on "I Can Move You (If You Let Me)." Bernie Worrell's keys and arrangements tie it together, Hazel sings lead on "Presence of a Brain," and Peter Chase whistles on "I Just Got Back."

Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns later remade the title track, and the Dells covered two songs from the record in 1978. In the P-Funk universe, recycling was always the most enjoyable form of environmentalism.

Also at Kops: more Parliament on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Casablanca / Mercury, a reissue of the 1974 album.