Friday, February 5, 2010

Mallia Franklin (c. 1953 - 2010)

Word spread today through the P-Funk online grapevine that vocalist Mallia Franklin has died. She had suffered a stroke last summer.

I hope her passing does not go unnoticed by the news media... at least in her home town of Detroit.

Mallia Franklin was a lead voice in George Clinton’s first female spinoff group, Parlet. Her credited background vocals with Parliament- Funkadelic date back to the 1975 “Chocolate City” album.

Deeper still, Ms. Franklin introduced G. Clinton to a young and struggling Bootsy Collins in 1971, thus changing the course of pop-music history.

Click here to hear the 12-inch version of Parlet’s biggest single, “Ridin’ High,” streaming on my Vox blog. That’s Mallia singing lead.

And she is the first one speaking in the Parlet retrospective vidclip below.

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23 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 5, 2010 at 4:52 PM

    There's a message about Mallia's death on Mudbone Cooper's website, so I think we can consider this more than a rumor. RIP.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 5, 2010 at 4:54 PM

    D'oh! Forgot the URL:
    http://myfunk.ning.com/profiles/blogs/in-loving-memory

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  3. pjebsenFebruary 5, 2010 at 5:14 PM

    The first official-sounding article I saw was a statement by her son on her official Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Official-Mallia-Queen-of-FunkFranklin-Page/199281086088

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  4. Undercover Black ManFebruary 5, 2010 at 5:19 PM

    David, Peter... thank you, my old friends.

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  5. reginald hudlinFebruary 5, 2010 at 7:20 PM

    RIP, a great voice.

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  6. junebugFebruary 6, 2010 at 12:03 AM

    This is BEYOND messed up! This hits close to home, in fact; I'm actually cool with her son Seth, as well as Shirley Hayden of Parlet. Damn, I gotta call them 2morrow, as this is the 1st I'm hearing about it.

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  7. Undercover Black Man's Funk BuddyFebruary 6, 2010 at 3:54 AM

    Yet another member of the Parliafunkadelicment Thang gone too soon.

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  8. Undercover Black ManFebruary 6, 2010 at 4:58 AM

    ^ Keith, welcome.

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  9. Undercover Black ManFebruary 6, 2010 at 5:07 AM

    Reg: When it comes to P-Funk, there were so many voices in the mix, it was often hard for even a fan to know who was who.

    The audio clip I wanted to stream in Mallia's honor was Parliament's "Peek-a-Groove." Years after I'd bought "Trombipulation" -- I mean years -- I gave this track a serious listen.

    The last few minutes of that song, Mallia goes off on some wailing and vocal riffing ("Indebatable..."), and it's just awesome.

    Come to find out, "Trombipulation" isn't available in MP3 format... not even from my usual bootleg resource. And my CDs are in L.A.

    Blows my mind that a major-label Parliament album is absent from iTunes in 2010.

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  10. HIMFebruary 6, 2010 at 12:46 PM

    Wow! I never felt like Mallia or Parlet ever got their just due. I have all three Parlet albums on vinyl and there is some real good stuff on there. And where would the Parliament/Funkadelic Sound be if she never introduced George to Bootsy ?? BTW, UBM, Where in the world is that Parlet retrospective from ????????

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  11. junebugFebruary 6, 2010 at 1:57 PM

    Dre, I can give you a little insight on that footage; it was shot for a long dormant documentary about the P-Funk girls called "She-Funk", directed by Mallia's son, Seth. He and the girls have since been collaborating on a book as well. This has been something that's been in the works for the past 12 years at LEAST! At one point, I was part of it...we shot a "reunion" concert of sorts featuring Dawn Silva (of the Brides), & Jeanette Washington and Shirley Hayden (both of Parlet) @ the now defunct Warehouse Club in Detroit in '99. Seth & a singer named Ping Spells sang backup. Mallia was sick at the time and couldn't make it. I've never uploaded any of the footage to youtube per Seth's request, but take my word for it, those girls KILLED IT!!!

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  12. Undercover Black ManFebruary 6, 2010 at 3:21 PM

    ^ Thanks for that info, junebug.

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  13. Invisible WomanFebruary 6, 2010 at 9:14 PM

    i'm sure u know this, but george clinton's son passed the other day too...i have to find out why.

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  14. HIMFebruary 7, 2010 at 6:43 AM

    TreyLewd ?? I didn't hear anything about that at all!

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  15. Undercover Black ManFebruary 7, 2010 at 6:57 AM

    ^ Not TreyLewd... George Clinton, Jr.

    I don't know any details.

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  16. Invisible WomanFebruary 7, 2010 at 9:51 AM

    check it: http://www.theboombox.com/2010/02/02/george-clinton-son-dead/

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  17. Undercover Black ManFebruary 7, 2010 at 11:04 AM

    ^ Thank you for that, IW.

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  18. papaseanFebruary 8, 2010 at 7:03 AM

    The P wouldn't have been without Mallia...
    Name the ladies on the Up For The Down Stroke album cover...
    Do you know UBM?

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  19. Undercover Black ManFebruary 8, 2010 at 7:13 AM

    ^ Damn... I do not know.

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  20. papaseanFebruary 8, 2010 at 7:32 AM

    Mallia and Dawn (of Tony Orlando)

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  21. papaseanFebruary 8, 2010 at 7:35 AM

    Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson...names would help

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  22. UnknownFebruary 8, 2010 at 5:02 PM

    WOW.... I received the news via SoulPatrol email today. Mallia had been on my heart for the past year. I had been searching the internet focusing on the ATL area and randomly searched LA. Mallia lived with me (Romelle or "Ram")for a few months upon her arrival to Minneapolis. Everyday was a new experience. She educated me on the music industry as well as life. My heart is heavy, she will forever be in my thoughts and prayers. may God ocmfort her family, she is a great loss to all that knew her.

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  23. Undercover Black ManFebruary 8, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    ^ Thank you for commenting here, Romelle.

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