Funkadelic – Maggot Brain

As noted in the last few entries, I’ve actually added to my completely unnecessary workload on this blog by writing about records I’d already written about. My flawless system of leaving things on the new acquisitions shelf until I’ve written about them only works if I then file them with the rest of the records once I’ve written them up.

In the case of Funkadelic, they’ve been in such constant rotation that it seemed to make no sense to file them away (the new shelf is just easier to reach, is all). So, mistakes were made. But now, with Maggot Brain, I’m confident I haven’t written about this before.

Despite this having achieved legend status as one of the best albums of all time, I never paid it any attention until eight or nine years ago. The title, I’ve gotta say: off-putting. The cover: same. And all those reviews hailing it talked about Eddie Hazel’s guitar genius – and in my narrow view, usually when someone’s guitar genius is being praised, I check out. I don’t play guitar or pretend to, and to me, if the pyrotechnics or dazzling agility aren’t in service to the song, I don’t care – and often, they’re not. Most of the super-skilled guitar greats that people praise just leave me cold. Nothing against them, just don’t care.

But as funk became more a part of my listening some years back, I would have been remiss not to even listen to an acknowledged classic of psychedelic funk. So I got a digital copy and realized the error of my ways. Because Eddie Hazel’s playing is absolutely in service to the song, and there was really nothing like “Maggot Brain” before “Maggot Brain” came along.

This is, of course, the pinnacle of Funkadelic as it was formed – after this, only George Clinton, Eddie Hazel and Bernie Worrell remained in the lineup. Released in July 1971, it was their third album, coming only a year and a half after their debut. What came after was definitely different, with more funk and less psych – but the days of psychedelia waned for everyone as the culture crawled through the ’70s.

I got this on vinyl in March 2023 and like the rest of my Funkadelic collection, it’s been in constant rotation.