"Poor Willie" is the first single recorded commercially by

The Parliaments The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed doo-wop ...

. The single was released in 1959 by

APT Records Apt Records was a sub-label from ABC-Paramount Records. The label was started in 1958 and released only singles until it was shelved in 1966. ABC briefly reactivated Apt twice, in 1969 and 1972, and also used the Apt name on a line of budget-pr ...

(APT 45-25036), a subsidiary of

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

. Both songs were written by all of the Parliaments, which by this time consisted of George Clinton,

Grady Thomas Grady Thomas (born January 5, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey, United States) is a former member of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funk ...

, Robert Lambert, and Charles Davis. The B-side of the single was entitled "Party Boys". The record was not a hit, but it has become a collector's item, fetching hundreds of dollars at record conventions and on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

References

The Parliaments songs 1958 songs Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) {{1950s-song-stub