014: Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (1971)
"Uponst the madness of the world, Funkadelic prevails as the phallic berserker of hope. Yes, battered and blamed by broxinated vapours."
—George Clinton
Do not attempt to adjust your podcast apps. Discord & Rhyme is devoting the whole month of January to the world of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, better known as P-Funk. Though P-Funk eventually came to comprise a single, massive collective of musicians releasing records under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, the two sides of P-Funk have different sounds and histories, and in this episode and the next, we’re going to dive in to what makes each one supergroovalistic. We’re starting with Funkadelic, as Phil takes Ben, Dan, and Mike through 1971’s Maggot Brain, a ragged, scuzzy, surreal album that some consider P-Funk’s crowning achievement. And be sure to come back in two weeks, when Mike will be covering Parliament’s masterpiece Mothership Connection, thus completing the P-Funk cosmology.
Miscellany
We apologize in advance to Lenny Kravitz in the unlikely event that he listens to this episode.
But not the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
If you’re interested in hearing that alternate mix of “Maggot Brain,” we’ve included it on our Spotify playlist.
Ray Davis and Ray Davies are not the same person.
Other links
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Phil Maddox (host)
Rich Bunnell (moderator only)
Mike DeFabio
Benjamin Marlin
Dan Watkins
Maggot Brain tracklist
Maggot Brain
Can You Get to That
Hit It and Quit It
You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
Super Stupid
Back in Our Minds
Wars of Armageddon
Other clips used
Funkadelic:
Mommy, What’s a Funkadelic?
Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow
Standing On the Verge of Getting it On
Biological Speculation
One Nation Under a Groove
Others:
Jerry Goldsmith - Patton March
The Parliaments - (I Wanna) Testify
Ween - A Tear for Eddie
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
Eagles - Those Shoes
Genesis - Broadway Melody of 1974
Tool - Sober
KMFDM - Conillon
Death - Keep On Knocking
Crimson Jazz Trio - 21st Century Schizoid Man
Miles Davis - On the Corner
The Mothers of Invention - Return of the Son of Monster Magnet
Brainticket - Brainticket
Songs we mentioned but didn’t clip
Funkadelic:
I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody’s Got a Thing
I Wanna Know If It’s Good to You
What Is Soul
Others:
The Police - Mother
MGMT - Kids
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd - Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Lenny Kravitz - Can’t Get You Off My Mind
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way
Madonna - Into the Groove
Band/album personnel
George Clinton, Raymond Davis, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, Garry Shider, Hot Buttered Soul (Pat Lewis, Diane Lewis and Rose Williams) – vocals
Eddie Hazel – guitar, vocals
Tawl Ross – guitar, vocals
Bernie Worrell – keyboards, vocals
Billy Nelson – bass guitar, vocals
Tiki Fulwood – drums
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Funkadelic - Hit It and Quit It (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Maggot Brain and other albums by P-Funk at the usual suspects such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Follow Rich @zonetrope, Dan @DanSWatkins, Ben @BenjaminM1019, and Phil @pamaddox. Special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production, editing, and spontaneously morphing into Producer Mike. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.