Osmium (album)

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Osmium
Studio album by Parliament
Released	September 1970
Recorded	1969–1970
Genre	Psychedelic soul[1]
Length	45:53
Label	Invictus
Producer	George Clinton, Ruth Copeland
Parliament chronology
Osmium (1970) Up for the Down Stroke (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	B[3]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
Uppity Music	(favorable)[5]

Osmium is the debut album of American funk band Parliament, led by George Clinton. The album has a psychedelic soul sound with a spirit of experimentation that is more similar to early Funkadelic than the later R&B-inspired Parliament albums. It was originally released in July 1970 on Invictus Records.^[6] The original vinyl release contained a glossy lyric sheet.

Since its re-release in 1990, Osmium has been distributed numerous times by various labels in the U.S., Europe and Japan, sometimes under alternate titles that have included Rhenium and First Thangs. A number of these reissues have featured material that was not included on the original album, such as unreleased tracks and singles that were recorded around the same time as Osmium.

The personnel for this album included the five Parliaments singers and the five backing musicians known as Funkadelic. The same personnel also recorded as Funkadelic, releasing that act's self-titled debut album also in 1970. After the release of Osmium, contractual difficulties prevented further recording under the name Parliament until 1974, when Clinton signed that act to Casablanca Records and positioned it as an R&B-inspired counterpoint to the more rock-oriented Funkadelic.

The yodeling that arguably uniquely identifies one of De La Soul's early hits, "Potholes in My Lawn" (which eventually appeared on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising), comes from Osmium's "Little Ole Country Boy".^[7]

This is the only Parliament album to be produced by Ruth Copeland, and the only album to feature rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross, before his 1971 departure from the group.