Maggot Brain
This is the definitive album of the Eddie Hazel-era of Funkadelic, and one of the most influential albums in funk-metal, and rock and roll in general. The music swings through psychedelia, hard rock, gospel and soul music, with tremendous variation between each track.
Track Listing:
- Maggot Brain (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel)
- Can You Get To That (Clinton, Ernie Harris)
- Hit It And Quit It (Clinton, Billy Bass Nelson, Garry Shider)
- You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks (Clinton, Judie Jones, Bernie Worrell)
- Super Stupid (Clinton, Hazel, Nelson, Tawl Ross)
- Back In Our Minds (Fuzzy Haskins)
- Wars Of Armageddon (Clinton, Tiki Fulwood, Ross, Worrell)
- Lead Guitar: Eddie Hazel
- Rhythm Guitar: Tawl Ross
- Keyboards: Bernie Worrell
- Bass: Billy Nelson
- Drums: Tiki Fulwood
- Vocals: Parliament, Gary Shider, Bernie Worrell, Tawl Ross
- Five stars (highest rating)
Chart positions
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album1971 Pop Albums No. 108 1971 Black Albums No. 14 1990 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 92--- Title of song: Maggot Brain
Artist: Funkadelic
Title of album: Maggot Brain (see above)
Year of first release: 1971
According to legend, George Clinton told Eddie Hazel to play like his mother had just died, and the result was the twelve-minute guitar solo for which Hazel is most fondly remembered by many music critics and fans. Though several other musicians began the track playing, Clinton soon realized the power of Hazel's solo and faded them out so that the focus would be on Hazel's guitar. The entire track was recorded in one take.
Seven years later, Michael Hampton (Eddie Hazel's replacement as lead guitarist) performed his own intepretation of the song on 1978's magnum opus, One Nation Under a Groove.
Songwriters: George Clinton, Eddie Hazel
Memorable Lyrics:
- "I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe"
This song has very few lyrics, present only at the beginning of the song before Hazel's solo takes off. The concept of "Maggot Brain" is, however, very important in understanding P Funk mythology. On one level, it is said to refer to Eddie Hazel's drug-riddled brain. In the grand scheme of things, Maggot Brain is a mode of being, thinking and existing, in which one transcends the troubles of Earthly existence, instead revelling in the freedom of Funk.
The liner notes to the album included a lengthy excerpt from the Los Angeles cult The Process.
