Parliament Clones

Live P-Funk Earth Tour is the first and only official live album by Parliament, released as a double record in 1977. It consists of songs recorded during The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein tour, plus a song and a cut-in made specifically for the album. The original vinyl pressing features an early Parliament song, "Fantasy Is Reality", which was left off of this compact disc pressing since its duration would have made it surpass the time limits of a CD. For the lossless version, I have added the FLAC file in a folder called "Bonus Track". The file was taken from the CD First Thangs, which I recently re-upped if you wish to read the EAC/technical info. For the MP3 version, it is included in the lineup as the last song, as originally intended.

Inspired by Motown's assembly line of sound, George Clinton gradually put together a collective of over 50 musicians and recorded the ensemble during the '70s both as Parliament and Funkadelic. While Funkadelic pursued band-format psychedelic rock, Parliament engaged in a funk free-for-all, blending influences from the godfathers (James Brown and Sly Stone) with freaky costumes and themes inspired by '60s acid culture and science fiction. From its 1970 inception until Clinton's dissolving of Parliament in 1980, the band hit the R&B Top Ten several times but truly excelled in two other areas: large-selling, effective album statements and the most dazzling, extravagant live show in the business. In an era when Philly soul continued the slick sounds of establishment-approved R&B, Parliament scared off more white listeners than it courted.

Rocky Mountain Shakedown was recorded on Parliament/Funkadelic's P. Funk Earth Tour on 2 November, 1976. Parliament had released The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein while Funkadelic released Hardcore Jollies, their first record for Warner Bros. Records. Songs from both albums are represented here. The live recording is professionally recorded and from the soundboard. This bootleg was released in 1992 on the Triangle label and easily measures up to, if not surpasses, the official Live: P-Funk Earth Tour album on Casablanca.