Funkadelic

Maggot Brain

1971

What earlier albums had hinted at -- blistering funk jams, spacey soul, the ulitmate guitar freakout -- this record delivers in spades. Ultimately, I suppose this group had the perfect name, but never had it capitalized on the label so exactly, or with such focus.

Beginning with Eddie Hazel's legendary title track, and ending with the all-out pounding of "The Wars of Armageddon", Maggot Brain is the band's finest statement of the early years. A true hybrid of funk and rock: funkier than Hendrix, more soul than Led Zeppelin, and a hell of a lot better singing than James Brown or Iggy Pop. Heavy, but not heavy-handed. After this, they would turn their sights to the pop world, but for one great album, P-Funk was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Maggot Brain: Eddie Hazel. Pure and simple. The young master, and arguably the only black guitar hero after Hendrix, bares his soul and then some on this one. Bluesy, a capella (save some typically freaky sound effects and Hazel's own spare accompaniment) tribute to the meltdown of the earth/society/soul.

Hit And Quit It: Another celebrated player in the P-Funk mob was keyboardist Bernie Worrell. He leads the charge on this funk-rock classic with his fearless vocal and Meters-come-jazz organ solo. Hard and raw, but with the band's unsinkable soul roots.

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

America Eats Its Young

1972

George Clinton is as famous for his entrepreneurial skills as he is for being the leader of the P-Funk mob. On this sprawling double album, the spaced-out haze of the early albums is kept to a minimum, with a new emphasis on groove and melody. Not least responsible for this is new member William "Bootsy" Collins on bass and vocals.

The band really flexes their musical muscles on this album, as just about every style of rock-n-soul is attempted. Some of it is filler, and could easily have been left off, but most is truely entertaining, and a classic representation of state-of-the-70s black pop.

A Joyous Process: Bernie Worrell's glorious homage to the blaxploitation flick theme song. Tough, funky, and more bounce to the ounce than you could shake a stick at. Probably the best combination of wah-wah guitar and "Jesus Loves Me" in the history of music.

Pussy: They were cleaning up, but there were still no angels in Funkadelic. This is actually a slow-n-low remake of a tune originally performed by an early version of Parliament. Great, mischievous harmonies, and a snaky groove that appeals to the more amorous regions of the body.

Biological Speculation: Happy-vibed soul-shuffle about genetic experimentation. The great thing about this band was its constant subversive mentality with a bubblegum veneer. Much of this album, including this song, is not far from then-contemporary musicals like Hair or The Wiz.

Keyboards & Melodica: Bernie Worrell

Percussion: Ty Lampkin, Zachary Frazier, Tiki Fulwood, Frank Waddy

Guitar: Harold Beane, Phelps Collins, Ed Hazel, Garry Shider

Bass: William Collins, Prakash John, Cordell "Boogie" Mosson

Vocals: Harold Beane, Diane Brooks, Phelps Collins, William Collins, Clayton Gunnels, Ronnie Greenway, Prakash John, Steve Kennedy, Ed Hazel, Garry Shider, Frank Waddy, Randy Wallace, Bernie Worrell, George Clinton, Ray Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas

Session brass, strings

Cosmic Slop

1973

Keyboards & Melodica, Strings on 'Broken Heart': Bernard Worrell

Bass: 'Boogie' Mosson

Percussion: Tyrone Lampkin, Tiki Fulwood (Drums on 'Nappy Dugout')

Lead & Rhythm Guitar: Gary Shider

Lead & Rhythm Guitar: Ron Bykowski

Music For Your Mother

1993

Although most of Funkadelic's early triumph's were at the full-length LP level, the band put out a surprising number of singles. Most of the singles were shortened versions of album tracks, though there are plenty of rarities. Perhaps most interesting are the B-sides, as otherwise unreleased tunes or different versions of more familiar songs were often used to fill the flip side of the group's singles.

For the P-Funk novice, this set is as good as any as an overview to the band's sound for the first half of their career. The band would best be served by a career-spanning box set, atleast to include their best album cuts ("Maggot Brain" isn't here; neither is "Super Stupid" or "Pussy"). P-Funk experts need this for the B-sides and the fantastic liner notes.

Can You Get to That: Fantastic track from Maggot Brain. This song must have been a band favorite, as they name-drop it in several other P-funk songs. Sort of Doo-wop meets funk meets a block party. It's hard to imagine this sort of music becoming really popular, but it is joyous in a sense, and certainly tuneful.

Vital Juices: Instrumental jam B-side to "Red Hot Mama". The band really cooks on this one. By 1974, they had largely eschewed this kind of unrestrained playing on albums, but perhaps they felt comfortable enough to put it out as a B-side. Eddie Hazel was also gone by this point, but Gary Shider's guitar is way up in front on this one.

Stuffs and Things: Great tune from their later Westbound period. Bootsy lays down a fantastic bass line, and the group sounds really tight. This is what funk-rock meant in 1975, before it turned into disco. From the Let's Take It to the Stage album.

All members of Funkadelic