 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2012) |
| "(I Wanna) Testify" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Parliaments | ||||
| A-side | "(I Wanna) Testify" | |||
| B-side | "I Can Feel The Ice Melting" | |||
| Released | 1967 | |||
| Genre | Soul, R&B | |||
| Length | 2:50 | |||
| Label | Revilot Records RV 207 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | George Clinton Deron Taylor [1] | |||
| Producer(s) | George Clinton Arranged by Mike Terry | |||
| The Parliaments singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"(I Wanna) Testify" is the first hit single by the soul singing group The Parliaments.
The single was released at the beginning of the summer of 1967 by Revilot Records. It would be the only major hit for the group for the entire decade. The only member of the Parliaments to actually appear on the recording was group leader George Clinton, as the group was based in New Jersey at the time and only Clinton was able to travel to Detroit for the session. The recording was rounded off by session singers and musicians.
"(I Wanna) Testify" was reissued in 1969 on the Soultown label (Soultown 502-A). It was issued in Canada on the Transworld label (TW-1677) and on the Track label (Track 604032) in the UK. The first time that the single appeared on an album was the Track Records release Backtrack 6 in 1970 (Track 2407 006).
Group leader George Clinton later produced covers of both "(I Wanna) Testify" and its B-side "I Can Feel The Ice Melting". The former appeared on the 1974 Parliament album Up For The Down Stroke under the abbreviated title "Testify". Both "(I Wanna) Testify" and "I Can Feel The Ice Melting" were re-done by Otis Day and the Knights in 1989 (produced by George Clinton). Another P-Funk spin-off act, the Brides Of Funkenstein recorded a version of "I Can Feel The Ice Melting" in 1978, but the track wasn't released until the 1993 archival release "A Fifth Of Funk". That recording was produced by P-Funk production assistant Ron Dunbar.
The single went to #3 on Billboard R&B chart, #20 on the Pop chart, [2] and #23 in Canada [3] .
George Edward Clinton is an American singer, bandleader, songwriter and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on Afrofuturism, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. He launched his solo career with the 1982 album Computer Games and would go on to influence 1990s hip-hop and G-funk.
Parliament-Funkadelic is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their eclectic style drew on psychedelia, outlandish fashion, and surreal humor. They released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker" (1975) and "Flash Light" (1978). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits. Their work would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and techno artists of the 1980s and 1990s, while their collective mythology would help pioneer Afrofuturism.
The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed doo-wop music; after some early personnel changes their lineup solidified with George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas. Clinton was group leader and manager, and part owner of the barbershop where the group convened to entertain customers. The group later changed its style, evolving into the bands Parliament and Funkadelic, which found success in the 1970s.
Parliament was an American funk band formed in the late 1960s by George Clinton as a flagship act of his P-Funk collective. Evolving out of an earlier vocal group, Parliament became associated with a more commercial and less rock-oriented sound than its sister act Funkadelic. Their work incorporated Afrofuturism concepts, horn arrangements, synthesizer, and outlandish theatrics. The band scored a number of Top 10 hits, including the million-selling 1976 single "Give Up the Funk ," and Top 40 albums such as Mothership Connection (1975).
Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s. Funkadelic initially formed as a backing band for Clinton's vocal group the Parliaments, but eventually pursued a heavier, psychedelic rock-oriented sound in their own recordings. They released acclaimed albums such as Maggot Brain (1971) and One Nation Under a Groove (1978).
Clarence Eugene "Fuzzy" Haskins was an American singer. He performed with 1950s and 1960s doo-wop group, The Parliaments, and was a founding member of the groundbreaking and influential 1970s funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, also known as Parliament-Funkadelic. He left Parliament-Funkadelic in 1977 to pursue a solo career. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Funkadelic is the debut album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released in 1970 on Westbound Records.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. He was initially successful at Stax Records with the number-one R&B hits "Who's Making Love" (1968), "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" (1971) and "I Believe in You " (1973), and reached number one on the US pop charts with "Disco Lady" in 1976.
The J.B.'s was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Maceo and the Macks, A.A.B.B., Fred Wesley and the New JBs, The First Family, and The Last Word. In addition to backing Brown, the J.B.'s played behind Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, and other singers associated with the James Brown Revue, and performed and recorded as a self-contained group. In 2015, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but failed to be inducted and can be considered for Musical Excellence in the future. They have been eligible since 1995.
"It's Your Thing" is a funk single by The Isley Brothers. Released in 1969, the anthem was an artistic response to Motown chief Berry Gordy's demanding hold on his artists after the Isleys left the label in late 1968.
Love Child is the fifteenth studio album released by Diana Ross & the Supremes for the Motown label in 1968. The LP was the group's first studio LP not to include any songs written or produced by any member of the Holland–Dozier–Holland production team, who had previously overseen most of the Supremes' releases.
Up for the Down Stroke is an album by the American funk band Parliament. It was the band's second album, and their first to be released on Casablanca Records. The album was released on July 3, 1974. Its title track was Parliament's first chart hit and remains one of the most well-known P-Funk songs. The album also contains a funk reworking of The Parliaments' song "(I Wanna) Testify" under the title "Testify". The original title of the album was Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good, and the cover featured group leader George Clinton hovering over a woman in distress, sporting a black wig and monster-type gloves.
"Testify" is an uptempo soul song by the American rhythm and blues group the Isley Brothers. Written by the Isleys and recorded in 1964, it followed several successful singles by the group and was the first single to appear on their own T-Neck record label.
Zapp is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-box effect. The original line-up consisted of four Troutman brothers—frontman Roger, Larry, Lester and Terry—and non-Troutman family members Bobby Glover, Gregory Jackson, Sherman Fleetwood, Jerome Derrickson, Eddie Barber, Jannetta Boyce and Shirley Murdock. Zapp also worked closely with George Clinton and Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic during its early stages, their support being a factor in the group gaining a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1979.
Maydie Myles is an American soul and jazz singer who is highly acclaimed for her recordings in the 1960s and 1970s when she was known professionally as Debbie Taylor. Her most successful record, "Never Gonna Let Him Know", reached the Billboard pop chart in 1969.
"I'll Try Something New" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and originally released in 1962 by The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. Their version was a Billboard Top 40 hit, peaking at #39, and just missed the Top 10 of its R&B chart, peaking at #11. The song was released later as a joint single by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, also becoming a charting version on the Billboard 100 pop singles chart, peaking for two weeks in April 1969 at number 25.
"Who's Making Love" is a song written by Stax Records staffers Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson and recorded by singer Johnnie Taylor in 1968.
Ruth Copeland is an English-born former singer, based in the United States since the 1960s and known for her collaborations with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic.
2 Live Crew was an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and Brother Marquis. They were considerably controversial in the U.S. due to the sexually explicit content in their songs, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be.
"Steal Away" is a 1964 R&B hit and Top 40 crossover song written and recorded by Jimmy Hughes. It was the first single recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
 | This 1960s R&B/soul music song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |