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Maggot Brain is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by bandleader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 and early 1971. [ 1 ]
Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow (1970) and Maggot Brain (1971) were the first three albums, released within two years. All three albums prominently featured Hazel's guitar work. [2] The third album's title song, "Maggot Brain", consists of a ten-minute guitar solo by Hazel.
"Maggot Brain" is an instrumental by the American band Funkadelic, released on their 1971 album Maggot Brain. The original recording, over ten minutes long, features little more than a spoken introduction and an extended guitar solo by Eddie Hazel. Music critic Greg Tate described it as Funkadelic's A Love Supreme. [5]
In a positive review, AllMusic's Ned Raggett felt that both the album and title track are worthy of the credo and that the other songs range from "the good to astoundingly great." [ 8 ] Record Collector magazine's Paul Rigby called Free Your Mind a "superb" album which mixes "a dirty groove with wacked-out sound effects and razor-sharp lyrics ...
AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier said the recordings are "essentially conventional soul songs in the spirit of Motown or Stax -- steady rhythms, dense arrangements, choruses of vocals -- but with a loud, overdriven, fuzzy guitar lurking high in the mix". He deemed the album "a revealing and unique record that's certainly not short on significance ...
The label's most successful and influential act was Funkadelic, including the classic “Maggot Brain”. [1] Its biggest hit was "The Americans" recorded by local news reporter Byron MacGregor in 1974. Westbound was also home to the Ohio Players before they went to Mercury Records and the label had a top 15 hit with "Funky Worm."
Hampton's performances of "Maggot Brain" — which had become more improvised – became regular features of live Parliament-Funkadelic shows, and the song became his signature concert performance. The bonus-EP of Funkadelic's One Nation Under a Groove (1978) included a live version of the song featuring Hampton.
The song opens with the lyrics "So wide, you can't get around it/ So low, you can't get under it/ So high you can't get over it." Though it is not stated where these lyrics originate, it is quite likely that they come from the traditional gospel song "So High", itself having been previously referenced in the Temptations ' song " Psychedelic ...