description Up for the Down Stroke Overview
Up for the Down Stroke is a 1974 studio album by Parliament, released by Casablanca Records and led by George Clinton. It marked the renewed use of the Parliament name after earlier contractual difficulties and helped establish the recording identity that would develop alongside Funkadelic within the wider P-Funk collective. The album combines ensemble vocals, prominent bass and rhythm parts, horns, and psychedelic elements, and its title track became an enduring part of Parliament's repertoire.
insights Ranking position
Up for the Down Stroke ranks #67 of 204 in the Funk Album ranking, behind Open Our Eyes, ahead of It's a Man's Man's Man's World.
help Up for the Down Stroke FAQ
Why was Up for the Down Stroke important to Parliament's comeback?
The 1974 Casablanca album restored the Parliament name after contractual problems had interrupted its recording career. It also established the label relationship that supported Parliament's major mid-1970s albums.
Is Up for the Down Stroke connected to Funkadelic?
Yes. George Clinton led both groups, and their overlapping musicians formed the collective commonly called P-Funk, although Parliament and Funkadelic recorded under different names and contracts.
Is the title track a completely new Parliament song?
It reworks The Parliaments' earlier song "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" into a heavier 1970s funk arrangement. "Up for the Down Stroke" became the album's defining track.
Where does this album fall in the P-Funk chronology?
It arrived in 1974 before Parliament's Chocolate City and Mothership Connection. Those later Casablanca albums developed the characters, science-fiction imagery, and extended grooves most associated with Parliament.
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