Editing Maggot Brain

{{About|the album|the instrumental|Maggot Brain (instrumental)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Maggot Brain
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Funkadelic]]
| cover        = Maggot Brain (Funkadelic album - cover art).jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = Other versions of the cover included a skull head instead of the lady's face
| released     = July 12, 1971
| recorded     = Late 1970–early 1971
| venue        = 
| studio       = [[United Sound Systems]], Detroit
| genre        = <!--cited in article body-->
{{Flatlist|
*[[Psychedelic funk]]
*[[funk rock]]
*[[rhythm & blues|R&B]]
*[[acid rock]]
*[[psychedelic soul]]
}}
| length       = 36:56
| label        = [[Westbound Records|Westbound]]
| producer     = [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]]
| prev_title   = [[Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow]]
| prev_year    = 1970
| next_title   = [[America Eats Its Young]]
| next_year    = 1972
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Maggot Brain
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
 | single1date = April 1971
 | single2     = Can You Get to That
 | single2date = September 1971
 | single3     = Hit It and Quit It
 | single3date = January 1972
}}
}}

'''''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 (funk musician)|George Clinton]] and recorded at [[United Sound Systems]] in [[Detroit]] during late 1970 and early 1971.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Lois |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition |publisher=Universe |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2 |editor1-last=Dimery |editor1-first=Robert |chapter=Maggot Brain |editor2-last=Lydon |editor2-first=Michael}}</ref> The album was the final LP recorded by the original Funkadelic lineup; after its release, founding members [[Tawl Ross]] (guitar), [[Billy Bass Nelson|Billy Nelson]] (bass), and [[Tiki Fulwood]] (drums) left the band for various reasons.<ref name="Leone">{{cite magazine|last=Leone|first=Dominique|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11739-funkadelic-free-your-mind-maggot-brain-america-eats-its-young/|title=Funkadelic: Funkadelic / Free Your Mind / Maggot Brain / America Eats Its Young Album Review|magazine=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=May 26, 2020|date=August 3, 2005}}</ref>

The album charted on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|R&B Top 20]].<ref name=pop/> It features a [[Maggot Brain (instrumental)|ten-minute title track]], largely consisting of an improvised solo by guitarist [[Eddie Hazel]].<ref name="Raggett"/> In 2009, ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' named it the 17th best album of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/9/ |title= Top 100 Albums of the 1970s| work= Pitchfork.com| access-date= December 28, 2009}}</ref> In 2020, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked ''Maggot Brain'' the 136th greatest album of all time in its [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|updated list]].<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210712170547/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/funkadelic-maggot-brain-3-1063097/| archive-date= July 12, 2021 |title= The 500 Greatest Albums of all Time|date=September 2020| url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/funkadelic-maggot-brain-3-1063097/ |access-date=July 16, 2021}}</ref>

==Music and lyrics==
The album opens with a spoken word monologue by Funkadelic bandleader [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], which refers to "the maggots in the mind of the universe".<ref name="fender"/> According to legend, the opening [[Maggot Brain (instrumental)|title track]] was recorded in one take when Clinton, under the influence of [[LSD]], told lead guitarist [[Eddie Hazel]] to play as if he had just learned his mother was dead; Clinton instructed him "to picture that day, what he would feel, how he would make sense of his life, how he would take a measure of everything that was inside him and let it out through his guitar".<ref name=fender/><ref name="Tate">{{cite news |last=Tate |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Tate |date=January 12, 1993 |title=Eddie Hazel, 1950–1992 |work=[[The Village Voice]]}}</ref> Though several other musicians performed on the track, Clinton de-emphasized them in the final mix so that the focus would be on Hazel.<ref name=pop/> Hazel utilized [[Distortion (music)|fuzz]] and [[wah pedal|wah]] effects, inspired by his idol [[Jimi Hendrix]], on the track; Clinton subsequently added [[delay (audio effect)|delay]] and other effects during the mixing process, saying: "I [[Echoplex]]ed it back on itself three or four times. That gave the whole thing an eerie feel, both in the playing and in the sound effects."<ref name=fender/> Critics have described the solo as "lengthy, mind-melting" and "an emotional apocalypse of sound."<ref name="allmusic">{{cite book | last = Bogdanov | first = Vladimir |author2=Chris Woodstra |author3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine
 | title = All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul | publisher = Hal Leonard | date = 2002 | page = 440 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Bgn9SGmA4dkC&pg=PA440 | isbn = 978-0-87930-653-3}}</ref>

The subsequent five tracks have been described as "sour harmony-group meditations heavy with bass, keyboard and [[class consciousness]],"<ref name="Christgau"/> with the band exploring a "[[Psychedelic rock|psychedelic]]/[[funk]] fusion."<ref name="The Rough Guide to Rock">{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1= Matthew |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |page=404}}</ref> "Can You Get to That" features [[Isaac Hayes]]' backing vocal group Hot Buttered Soul,<ref name="Leone"/> and contains elements of [[Country blues|folk blues]] and [[gospel music]].<ref name="Raggett"/> "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" explores interracial love and features electronically distorted drums.<ref name="Raggett"/> "Super Stupid" was described by ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' as a "tale of a dumbass junkie set to a tune [[Black Sabbath]] would have been proud of."<ref name="Leone"/> The nine-minute closing track "Wars of Armageddon" has been described as a "freak-out" jam,<ref name="Raggett"/> and makes use of "paranoid, psychedelic sound effects and crowd sounds."<ref name="Leone"/> Popular music scholar Yuval Taylor described it as "a burning hot prefiguring" of the music that [[Miles Davis]] would perform on his 1975 live album ''[[Agharta (album)|Agharta]]''.<ref name=pop>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Yuval |title=Funk's Death Trip |url=https://www.popmatters.com/funks-death-trip-2496176916.html |website=PopMatters |access-date=May 14, 2020|date=March 23, 2008}}</ref>

==Release==
===Title and packaging===
Reportedly, "Maggot Brain" was the nickname of Hazel.<ref name="funk">{{cite book | last = Thompson| first = Dave | title = Funk| publisher = Hal Leonard| date = 2001| page = 14 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RIEjkWXZdrMC&pg=PA140| isbn = 978-0-87930-629-8}}</ref> Other sources say the title is a reference to band leader George Clinton finding his brother Robert's "decomposed dead body, skull cracked, in an apartment in [[Newark, New Jersey]]."<ref>{{cite book | last = Vincent| first = Rickey | title = Funk: the music, the people, and the rhythm of the one | publisher = Macmillan | date = 1996 | page = 236 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zBwFHNeUF3UC&pg=PA236 | isbn = 978-0-312-13499-0}}</ref><ref name=pop/>

The cover artwork depicts a screaming black woman's head coming out of the earth;<ref name="Vincent">{{cite book |last=Vincent |first=Rickey |title=Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One p. 192 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4668-8452-6}}</ref> it was photographed by [[Joel Brodsky]] and features model [[Barbara Cheeseborough]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sound and Vision: Spooky Psychedelia? Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" |url=https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/photography/sound-and-vision-spooky-psychedelia-funkadelic-s-maggot-brain/ |website=Juxtapoz |access-date=May 20, 2020}}</ref> The album's liner notes are a polemic on fear provided by the [[Process Church of the Final Judgment]].<ref name=pop/> According to author [[Rickey Vincent]], the organization's alleged association with the [[Manson Family]], along with the album's foreboding themes and striking artwork, lent Funkadelic the image of a "death-worshipping black [[Rock music|rock]] band."<ref name=vincent>{{cite book |last1=Vincent |first1=Rickey |title=Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One |date=1996 |publisher=Macmillan |page=236}}</ref>

=== Commercial performance and aftermath ===
[[Westbound Records]] released ''Maggot Brain'' in July 1971. It peaked at number 108 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and reached the top 20 of the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|R&B album charts]], but did not reach the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name=pop/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Agarwal |first1=Manish |title=[[The Mojo Collection]] |last2=Alexander |first2=Phil |last3=Aston |first3=Martin |last4=Barnes |first4=Mike |last5=Batey |first5=Agnus |last6=Black |first6=Johnny |last7=Bradley |first7=Lloyd |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1847676436 |edition=4th |page=251 |display-authors=1}}</ref>

After the album was released, Funkadelic effectively disbanded.<ref name=pop/> Drummer [[Tiki Fulwood]] was fired due to drug use; guitarist [[Tawl Ross]] reportedly had a traumatic drug experience after getting into an "acid eating contest, then snorting some raw [[Amphetamine|speed]], before completely flipping out", and did not perform with the group again; and bassist [[Billy Bass Nelson|Billy Nelson]] quit over a money dispute with Clinton.<ref name="Leone"/> Subsequently, only Clinton, Hazel, and keyboardist [[Bernie Worrell]] remained from the original Funkadelic lineup.<ref name="Leone"/>

A 2005 reissue included three bonus tracks, among them an alternate mix of "Maggot Brain" featuring more of the full band.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

== Reception ==
===Initial reviews===
Reviewing for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in September 1971, [[Vince Aletti]] negatively described ''Maggot Brain'' as "a shattered, desolate landscape with few pleasures," competently performed but "limited." He was particularly critical of the record's second side, panning it as "dead-end stuff".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine= Rolling Stone |last=Aletti|first=Vince|author-link=Vince Aletti|date=September 30, 1971|title=Funkadelic: Maggot Brain |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090515031255/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/funkadelic/albums/album/182886/review/5943228/maggot_brain|archive-date=May 15, 2009 |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/funkadelic/albums/album/182886/review/5943228/maggot_brain|url-status= dead |access-date=July 17, 2016}}</ref> ''[[Village Voice]]'' critic [[Robert Christgau]] offered qualified praise, calling the title-track "druggy, time-warped super-schlock" and describing "Can You Get to That" as featuring "a rhythm so pronounced and eccentric it could make [[Berry Gordy]] twitch to death"; he added that "the funk pervades the rest of the album, but not to the detriment of other peculiarities."<ref name="CG81"/>

===Retrospective===
{{Album reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Raggett">{{cite web|last=Raggett|first=Ned|date=n.d.|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/maggot-brain-mw0000200912|title=Maggot Brain - Funkadelic|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Christgau">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bl/funkadelic-08.php|title=The Guide: Back Catalogue: Funkadelic|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=August 2008|access-date=July 17, 2016|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
| rev3Score = B+<ref name="CG81">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=F|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=F&bk=70|access-date=May 26, 2020|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|chapter=Funkadelic|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|isbn=978-0857125958|edition=5th}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev5Score = 4.5/5<ref>{{cite book|last=Gabriel|first=Lawrence|editor-first=Gary|editor-last=Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|title=[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide]]|publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]]|location=Detroit|year=1996|isbn=0787610372|chapter=Funkadelic}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev6Score = 9.4/10 {{small|(2005)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11739-funkadelic-free-your-mind-maggot-brain-america-eats-its-young/|title=Funkadelic: Funkadelic / Free Your Mind / Maggot Brain / America Eats Its Young Album Review|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=3 August 2005|access-date=9 January 2024|last=Leone|first=Dominique}}</ref><br />10/10 {{small|(2020)}}<ref name="Segal">{{cite magazine|last=Segal|first=Dave|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/funkadelic-maggot-brain/|title=Funkadelic: Maggot Brain |magazine=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=June 20, 2020|date=June 20, 2020}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Coleman|first=Mark|page=268|editor1-last=DeCurtis|editor1-first=Anthony|editor1-link=Anthony DeCurtis|editor2-last=Henke|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=George-Warren|editor3-first=Holly|chapter=Funkadelic|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=1992|isbn=0-679-73729-4|edition=3rd}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev8Score = 10/10<ref name="Spin">{{cite book|chapter=Funkadelic|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|year=1995|title=[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|location=New York|isbn=0-679-75574-8}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
| rev9Score = {{rating|4.5|5|full=TMT full.svg|half=TMT half.svg|empty=TMT empty.svg|rating=mark}}<ref name="Pelican">{{cite magazine|author=The Pelican|url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/funkadelic-maggot-brain|title=Funkadelic - Maggot Brain|magazine=[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]|access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev10Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|date=n.d.|author=Anon.|url=https://www.oldies.com/product-view/18171N.html|title=Maggot Brain|magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|page=122|access-date=May 26, 2020|via=OLDIES.com}}</ref>
}}
Writing years later for ''[[PopMatters]]'', Taylor called the album "one of the loudest, darkest, most intense records ever made", and stated that the group "captured the odor of the age, the stench of death and corruption, the weary exhalation of America at its lowest."<ref name=pop/> Dominque Leone of ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' called it "an explosive record, bursting at the seams with exactly the kind of larger than life sound a band called Funkadelic should have made."<ref name="Leone"/> Dave Segal, from the same publication, revered it as "a monument of [[psychedelic funk]]" and "a defining document of Black rock music in the early '70s". Additionally, he called its two bookending tracks "the most evocative expressions of birth and annihilation ever put on record" and suggested that the "soulful [[Funk rock|funk-rock]]" tracks in between represent the "hott[est] five-song streak in the Clinton canon".<ref name="Segal"/> ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History'' (2006) claimed that ''Maggot Brain'' and Funkadelic's previous two albums "created a whole new kind of [[psychedelic rock]] with a [[Dance music|dance]] groove".<ref>{{cite book|title= The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: From Arenas to the Underground, 1974-1980 |first= Chris |last= Smith |publisher= [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |year= 2006 |isbn= 0-313-32937-0 |page= 9}}</ref> Music historian [[Bob Gulla]] hailed it as an "iconoclastic funk-rock" record, featuring the best guitar playing of Hazel's career.<ref>{{cite book | last= Gulla |first= Bob| year= 2008| title=Icons of R&B and Soul| publisher= [[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |isbn= 978-0313340468|series=Icons of R&B and Soul: An Encyclopedia of the Artists who Revolutionized Rhythm|volume=2|page=446}}</ref> Author Matthew Grant describes the album as marking where "the band really hit their stride.<ref name="The Rough Guide to Rock"/>

In a retrospective review for ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'', Christgau described the title track as "indelible" and "Wars of Armageddon" as "Funkadelic's most incendiary freak-out ever".<ref name="Christgau"/> ''[[Stereogum]]'' named it the second best album by the [[Parliament-Funkadelic]] collective, and called it "one of the most cathartic [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] albums ever made."<ref name="Stereo">{{cite web |last1=Patrin |first1=Nate |title=P-Funk Albums From Worst to Best |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1822964/p-funk-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/list/attachment/maggot-brain/ |website=[[Stereogum]] |date=August 10, 2015 |access-date=March 7, 2020}}</ref> John Bush of [[AllMusic]] stated that the group "hit its stride with [the] [[acid-rock]] extravaganza."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bush |first1=John |title=AllMusic Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |publisher=Hal Leonard Corp |page=163}}</ref> ''Happy Mag'' named the album among the five best P-Funk releases, describing it as "an absolute freakout of psychedelic funk sounds", but also "perhaps Clinton’s most lyrically sparse album".<ref name="happy">{{cite web |last1=Happy |title=We've gathered George Clinton's 5 best P-Funk albums |url=https://happymag.tv/counting-down-george-clintons-5-best-albums/ |website=Happy Mag |date=September 11, 2018 |access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref> [[Fender (company)|Fender]] called the album "an eruption of psychedelic [[Agitprop|agit]]-funk that blended the increasingly bleak American story—[[urban decay]], prime time body counts from an ongoing slog through [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], and front page assassinations—with the sounds of Hendrix, [[Motown]], [[James Brown]], [[Cream (band)|Cream]], [[Sly Stone]], [[Blue Cheer]] and [[Vanilla Fudge]]."<ref name=fender>{{cite web |last1=Houghtaling |first1=Adam Brent |title=One-Track Mind: The Passion of Eddie Hazel and Funkadelic's 'Maggot Brain' |url=https://www.fender.com/articles/artists/one-track-mind-the-passion-of-eddie-hazel-and-funkadelics-maggot-brain |website=Fender.com |access-date=May 19, 2020}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' critic [[Geoffrey Himes]] names it an exemplary release of [[progressive soul]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Himes|first=Geoffrey|author-link=Geoffrey Himes|date=May 16, 1990|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/05/16/records/428be2d6-aeac-4263-a825-3b08a82535a2/|title=Records|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 26, 2021}}</ref>

In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked ''Maggot Brain'' #486 on its list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], with the magazine raising its rank in 2012 to #479, calling it "the heaviest rock album the P-Funk ever created".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 2003 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6627651/486_maggot_brain |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317152102/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6627651/486_maggot_brain |archive-date=March 17, 2008 |access-date=July 17, 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref name=":0">Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone&nbsp;– Special Collectors Issue&nbsp;– The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. {{ISBN|978-7-09-893419-6}}</ref> In the 2020 reboot of the list, the album's rank increased again to #136.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=2020-09-22 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/funkadelic-maggot-brain-3-1063097/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226021212/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/funkadelic-maggot-brain-3-1063097/ |archive-date=2022-12-26 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> It was also listed in the 2005 book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref name="Wilson" />

== Influence ==
''Maggot Brain'' was also influential to subsequent artists.<ref name="Weingarten">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/11/arts/music/funkadelic-maggot-brain.html |title=Before & After 'Maggot Brain' |first=Christopher R.  |last=Weingarten |date=July 11, 2021  |work=New York Times |access-date=2023-02-05 }}</ref> [[Vernon Reid]] of the band [[Living Colour]] called the album "a magnum opus of [[rock and roll|rock 'n' roll]]."<ref name="Weingarten" /> Michael Melchiondo ([[Dean Ween]]) of [[Ween]] has said: "When I heard 'Maggot Brain,' it was like, [...] there's this whole other thing, and it's even better, and there's more of it. And I can go see it live, and there's nine guitar players that are this good. So that was the hugest, hugest deal." Melchiondo paid tribute to Eddie Hazel on the track "A Tear for Eddie" from Ween's 1994 album ''[[Chocolate and Cheese]]''.<ref name="Weingarten" /> [[The Mars Volta]]'s 2006 ''[[Amputechture]]'' album features a "Maggot Brain"-inspired guitar solo on the song "Vicarious Atonement".<ref name="Weingarten" /> [[Jazz]] musician [[Angel Bat Dawid]] also drew influence from Funkadelic and "Maggot Brain".<ref name="Weingarten" /> 

The [[alternative rock]] band [[Sleigh Bells (band)|Sleigh Bells]] [[sampling (music)|sampled]] "Can You Get To That?" in their hit song "Rill Rill" from their 2010 album ''[[Treats (album)|Treats]]''.<ref name="Weingarten" /> Rapper [[Esham]], a pioneer of [[horrorcore]], sampled "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" and "Super Stupid" on his 1990 song "Red Rum" from his album ''[[Boomin' Words from Hell]]''.<ref name="Weingarten" /> Rapper [[Redman (rapper)|Redman]] pays tribute to the ''Maggot Brain'' cover art in the art for his 1994 album ''[[Dare Iz a Darkside]]'', which contains a song called "Cosmic Slop" featuring [[Erick Sermon]] and [[Keith Murray]], which takes its name from [[Cosmic Slop|the Funkadelic album of the same name]].<ref name="Weingarten" /> [[Donald Glover|Childish Gambino]]'s 2016 album ''[["Awaken, My Love!"]]'' drew influence from ''Maggot Brain'', as did [[D'Angelo]]'s 2014 album ''[[Black Messiah (album)|Black Messiah]]'', which ''[[The New York Times]]'' said "captured American unrest through the studio murk of Sly Stone, the fervor of Funkadelic and the off-kilter grooves somewhere between [[J Dilla]] and [[Captain Beefheart]]."<ref name="Weingarten" />

"Super Stupid" was the only cover song recorded by the [[alternative metal]] band [[Audioslave]], who were influenced by Funkadelic and included the cover as a live bonus track on their 2005 album ''[[Out of Exile]]''.<ref name="Weingarten" /> [[André 3000]] of the [[Hip-hop|hip hop]] group [[Outkast]] said of ''Maggot Brain'', "That album blew my mind. It made me want to learn to play guitar, and its huge range of styles – funk, [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]], [[country music|country]], [[opera music|opera]] – helped build our sound."<ref name="Weingarten" /> The singer [[Bilal (American singer)|Bilal]] names it among his 25 favorite albums, citing its "loose" creative direction as an influence on his own music.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Simmons|first=Ted|date=February 26, 2013|url=https://www.complex.com/music/2013/02/bilals-25-favorite-albums/the-velvet-underground-the-velvet-underground-and|title=Bilal's 25 Favorite Albums|magazine=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]|access-date=August 28, 2020}}</ref>

==Track listing==
{{tracklist
| headline        = Side one
| title1          = [[Maggot Brain (instrumental)|Maggot Brain]]
| writer1         = {{hlist|[[Eddie Hazel|Edward Hazel]]|[[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]]}}
| length1         = 10:21
| title2          = Can You Get to That
| writer2         = {{hlist|Clinton|Ernest Harris}}
| length2         = 2:50
| title3          = Hit It and Quit It
| writer3         = {{hlist|Clinton|[[Billy Bass Nelson|William Nelson]]}}
| length3         = 3:50
| title4          = You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks
| writer4         = {{hlist|Clinton|[[Fuzzy Haskins|Clarence Haskins]]|Nelson|[[Bernie Worrell|Bernard Worrell]]|Judie Jones (mistakenly credit)}} 
| length4         = 3:36
}}

{{tracklist
| headline        = Side two
| title1          = Super Stupid
| writer1         = {{hlist|Hazel|[[Tawl Ross|Lucious Ross]]|Nelson|Clinton}}
| length1         = 4:01
| title2          = Back in Our Minds
| writer2         = Haskins
| length2         = 2:38
| title3          = Wars of Armageddon
| writer3         = {{hlist|[[Tiki Fulwood|Ramon Fulwood]]|Ross|Clinton|Worrell}}
| length3         = 9:42
}}

* Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–7 on CD reissues.
{{tracklist
| headline        = 2005 CD reissue bonus tracks 
| title8          = Whole Lot of BS
| writer8         = {{hlist|Clinton|Worrell}}
| length8         = 2:11
| title9         = I Miss My Baby
| note9          = United Soul with Funkadelic, from the CD ''[[U.S. Music with Funkadelic]]''
| writer9        = Haskins
| length9        = 5:02
| title10          = Maggot Brain
| note10           = alternate mix, recorded in 1971
| writer10         = {{hlist|Hazel|Clinton}}
| length10         = 9:35
}}

==Personnel==
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref>{{cite book| author = Dean Rudland | title = Maggot Brain | type = album liner notes | year = 2005 | publisher = Westbound Records Inc.}}</ref>

===Funkadelic===
* [[Bernie Worrell]] – keyboards, vocals (lead vocals on track 3)
* [[Eddie Hazel]] – lead guitar, vocals (lead vocals on track 5)
* [[Tawl Ross]] – guitar, vocals (co-lead vocals on tracks 6 and 7)
* [[Billy Bass Nelson|Billy Nelson]] – bass guitar, vocals (lead vocals on track 4)
* [[Tiki Fulwood]] – drums
* [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] – vocals (spoken word on track 1, lead vocals on tracks 6 and 7)
* [[Ray Davis (musician)|Raymond Davis]] – vocals (lead vocals on track 2)
* [[Fuzzy Haskins]], [[Calvin Simon]], [[Grady Thomas]], [[Garry Shider]] – backing vocals
* Hot Buttered Soul ([[Pat Lewis]], Diane Lewis, Rose Williams) – backing vocals (track 2)

===Production===
*[[Record producer|Produced]] by George Clinton
*Executive producer – [[Armen Boladian]]
*Bernie Mendelson in charge of The Eegangas
*Cover [[photography]] by [[Joel Brodsky]]
*Inside cover photography by Ron Scribner
*Artwork design – The Graffiteria/Paula Bisacca
*Art direction – David Krieger
*Album supervision – Bob Scerbo
*Album co-ordination – Dorothy Schwartz
*Model on album cover – [[Barbara Cheeseborough]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|16158}}
* [http://mother.pfunkarchive.com/motherpage/albums_funkadelic/alb-mbrain.html the Motherpage]

{{Funkadelic}}
{{P-Funk}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Funk rock albums by American artists]]
[[Category:Psychedelic funk albums]]
[[Category:Psychedelic rock albums by American artists]]
[[Category:Westbound Records albums]]
[[Category:1971 albums]]
[[Category:Funkadelic albums]]
[[Category:Progressive soul albums]]