Up for the Down Stroke

Up for the Down Stroke is an album by the American funk band Parliament. It was the band's second album (following 1970's Osmium), 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.

Up for the Down Stroke
Studio album by
Parliament
ReleasedJuly 3, 1974
Recorded1973–1974
Genre
Length39:38
LabelCasablanca
ProducerGeorge Clinton
Parliament chronology
Osmium
(1970)		 Up for the Down Stroke
(1974)		 Chocolate City
(1975)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[3]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[4]
Pitchfork8.3/10[2]
Rolling Stone[5]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin8/10[7]

Up for the Down Stroke is notable in that it regenerated George Clinton's professional relationship with bassist Bootsy Collins, who had taken a two-year hiatus from the group. Collins would play a pivotal role in all of the Parliament albums released through Casablanca Records.

Track listing

Credits taken from LP liner notes.

Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Up for the Down Stroke"George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Fuzzy Haskins, Bernie Worrell5:07
2."Testify"Clinton, Deron Taylor3:29
3."The Goose"Clinton, Eddie Hazel9:09
4."I Can Move You (If You Let Me)"Clinton, Cordell Mosson, Worrell, Collins2:44
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."I Just Got Back (From the Fantasy, Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet)"Peter Chase4:28
6."All Your Goodies Are Gone"Clinton, Haskins, Billy "Bass" Nelson5:02
7."Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good"Clinton, Hazel5:55
8."Presence of a Brain"Clinton, Garry Shider3:18
Total length:39:12
2003 Remastered Bonus Tracks (Previously Unreleased)
No.TitleLength
9."Up for the Down Stroke (Alternate Mix)"5:39
10."Testify (Alternate Mix)"4:03
11."Singing Another Song"3:04
Total length:51:58

The following songs were released as singles:

  • "Up for the Down Stroke" - Casablanca 0013
  • "Testify" - Casablanca 811
  • "The Goose" - Casablanca 0003

"Up For The Down Stroke" was later remade by Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns on their first album A Blow For Me and a Toot For You. "Testify", "The Goose", and "All Your Goodies Are Gone" were remade from old Parliaments tunes from the 1960s. "Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good" was remade from the 1968 tune of the same name by Rose Williams and Funkadelic, however, Funkadelic had revamped it earlier in 1973 with the track "Can't Stand the Strain". There is another version of "The Goose" recorded by Funkadelic in 1970 which showed up on the Toys album released by Funkadelic in 2008. The vocal group the Dells covered "Testify" and "All Your Goodies Are Gone" later in 1978.

Personnel
  • George Clinton – Arrangement, Vocals, Producer
  • Bernie Worrell – Arrangement, Keyboards
  • Eddie Hazel – Guitar, Arrangement, Vocals
  • Bootsy Collins – Bass, Guitar, Drums
  • Garry Shider – Guitar, Vocals
  • Ron Bykowski – Guitar
  • Cordell Mosson – Bass
  • Gary Bronson – Drums
  • Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood – Drums
  • Raymond Davis – Vocals
  • Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins – Vocals
  • Calvin Simon – Vocals
  • Grady Thomas – Vocals
  • Peter Chase – Whistling on "I Just Got Back"
  • Ralph – Engineer
  • Tom "Curly" Ruff – Mastering
  • Rod Dyer – Design
  • Jon Echeverrieta – Design

References
  1. Up for the Down Stroke at AllMusic
  2. Leone, Dominique (April 13, 2003). "Parliament: 'Up for the Down Stroke', 'Chocolate City' and 'Mothership Connection'". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  3. Hsu, Hua. "The Guide: Parliament – Up for the Down Stroke/Chocolate City/Mothership Connection". Blender. New York. Archived from the original on November 3, 2004. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: P". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Ratliff, Ben (May 1, 2003). "Reissues & Anthologies: Parliament – Up for the Down Stroke". Rolling Stone. No. 921. New York. p. 59. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  6. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 619. ISBN 9780743201698. Up for the Down Stroke Parliament.
  7. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-679-75574-6.
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