erin petrie fills in for brent johnson with an underrated classic from The Parliaments …
George Clinton is one of those larger than life figures — with the giant, colorful hair; the numerous incarnations of his funk collective; his long, intricate jam sessions.
But we all begin somewhere — and for Clinton, that was the back of a barbershop in Plainfield, N.J., where he used to straighten hair. In 1955, he put together the doo-wop group the Parliaments, his answer to Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. By 1967, after a few minor hits and a lean towards the popular Motown sound, the Parliaments struck gold with an ode to the power of the right woman’s love: “(I Wanna) Testify.”
“Testify” is an infectious masterpiece of Detroit soul, varying between urgent and soft, sexy vocal styles and backed by beautiful gospel harmonies. It peaked at No. 3 on the R&B charts and No. 20 on the pop charts, but is an oft-forgotten part of Clinton’s repertoire.
Ironically, the New Jersey-based Parliaments didn’t have enough money to travel to Detroit to record the single, so George Clinton is the only band member on the record. Those band members eventually followed Clinton as he switched record labels, renamed the group Parliament and continued to evolve his soul music into his trademark P-Funk sound.
