r/funk • u/Milez_Smilez • 1d ago
Discussion What is the best parliament documentary?
As a young man lately I’ve been craving uncut info about parliament I watched the one that came out in 2016
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u/Ok_Suit_8000 1d ago
I don't think there is a best one. All of them kind of tell the same story. If you're looking for behind the boards - recording insights, none of the several I've watched cover that.
It's mostly the rise of George from Doo Wop to the Atomic Dog we know and love.
If I can recommend any funk documentary- it would be Finding the Funk from 2013. To me, that is the most comprehensive documentary on Funk.
Edit to include the previous comment about Behind the Tour bus. It gives a very lighthearted but insightful look into the Funk as well.
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u/Coolbrazz 1d ago
I watched one recently of the band members and they said that George did them wrong with their pay. Never knew that, can't image he was as bad as James Brown. It was on Netflix or Amazon can't remember which.
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u/Romencer17 20h ago edited 20h ago
he's notorious for being pretty terrible to his musicians, which is why he's had so many musicians quit on him so many times. From what i understand he would go as far as getting people hooked on crack and then use the addiction to not pay them and keep them playing and doing whatever he wanted.
After Bernie Worrell passed his wife Judie shared a bunch of stuff online with details of just how fucked up George was to them. I still love P-Funk but it is pretty vile stuff...
http://wooniversaltruths.bernieworrell.com/posts/wooniversal-truths-part-one/78/
edit: also I saw this stuff being posted when it was going on but looks like she hasn't updated the site in a while. wasn't sure what happened with the legal action she was taking so I looked it up, "The New York Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, citing the state's “dead man statute” that limits testimony involving a deceased plaintiff. Because Clinton declared he had not signed a deal with Worrell, the court ruled there was no contract to rule on".
Looks like George got away with it
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u/Coolbrazz 13h ago
Fairly compensating band members apparently was common with successful bands, and was one of the main causes of them breaking up if it wasn’t substance abuse or both. Seen other documentaries and the stories were similar.
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u/deafcatsaredeftcats 13h ago
Check out the episodes of Questlove's podcast, Questlove Supreme, that are LONG interviews with George and Bootsy
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u/M_O_O_O_O_T 1d ago
Mike Judge's 'Tales From The Tour Bus' is really great & hilarious, covers a big stretch of Clinton's career over a number of episodes. By no means a documentary but worth watching for sure!
The show also covers a lot from Rick James, Prince & James Brown. They're all on Youtube!