Customer Reviews

Live: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan - 12 Sept, 1971

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Any live tape of Funkadelic at the peak of their reign as the greatest black rock 'n' roll band ever (the Jimi Hendrix Experience was only one-third black, while the Band of Gypsies didn't hang round long enough) is bound to be worth a listen. The problem with this album, as explained in the excellent sleevenotes, is that rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross had just gone on one acid trip too many and was (permanently it seems) out of commission while the brilliant Tiki Fulwood had just vacated the drum stool - and this was probably the first gig for their respective replacements, Harold Beane and Tyrone Lampkin.

Nonetheless, Beane (from the Isaac Hayes band) acquits himself well enough, but as bassist Billy Nelson takes great pains to point out, Lampkin is all over the place. Maybe he was trying too hard to impress his new employers but Lampkin overplays to an alarming degree, he seems to forget he's playing for Funkadelic not the Mahavishnu Orchestra!

Nonetheless, the version of "Maggot Brain" is pretty good, even if Bernie Worrell debunks the seriousness of the track somewhat by tootling away in an entirely different key at the end of the track (deliberately of course). Talking of Worrell, he runs the late great guitar-god Eddie Hazel pretty close on this album, his playing is amazing: funky as hell one minute, coming on like Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine. And suddenly breaking into Johann Sebastian Bach in the midst of the mantra-like "I Got A Thing" is sheer genius. The vocal performances are a little on the ragged side but given that the most of the band were high as kites that's maybe not surprising. In the end I have to dock a point because the sound quality isn't quite up to par. But, having said all that, if you loved Funkadelic when they were more of a rock band than a funk band - buy this.

This is an amazing time capsule of raw acid funk. Just listenig to George Clinton's blurbs between tracks makes this cd worth the money. The cd was recorded by Westbound engineers and literally warehoused in someone's basement for over 20 years. This cd is a must for any true Funkateers. It is essentially the only known live Funkadelic recording released.

The most important P-Funk release in many many years. This offers an amazing glimpse into the world of early original Funkadelic before the rise of Parliament and the influence of Bootsy. It's a glorious, deep, messy, raunchy, freak out. Try not to miss the whole point of the band. Maybe it wasn't the band's best performance, but it's a Holy Grail none the less. One listen to this and you'll wonder why everyone made such a big deal about punk--this is the hardest music you'll ever hear.

First stop listening to reviews!! I almost did and I would of missed out on this HEAVY-ASS CHUNK OF FUNKADELIC- Now go out and buy this because you love the SUPER FAT FUZZED OUT SOUNDS OF MR. EDDIE HAZEL and the BOTTOM DROPPED OUT OF THE FLOOR FUNKY THUNDERING BASS OF BILLY "BASS" NELSON. Enough said!

this should have came out years ago, not a bad cd, truly this should be the best black rock live cd, next to the band of gypsie's classic, well anyway this performance has really one weakness, and that was trhe abscence of tiki fulwood, his replacement tyrone lampkin-filled in for him, and if you can hear tyrone's out of his league but he tries, other than tyrone's inexperience this is still a bad performance, if you love the first 3 funkadelic cd,s this is for you, if you wanna hear maggot brain live done by eddie hazel you should definetly get this, cause this is really funk fans best chance to hear eddie perform his classic heavy hitter, the singing done mostly by george, and fuzzy was done nicely, reminds me of some motown tripping on acid, p-funk could sing when they wanted to,but that made them unique-a group full of surprises who is still unpredictable to this day, but the real stars are eddie hazel, bernie worrell, and billy bass they funked it for what's it's worth for true funkadelic fans especially those who love maggot brain get this.

Awesome! This live recording reveals the pure power and frightening energy the early funkadelic sound captured. This is a very different brand of funk from later recordings of Dr. Funkenstein and the boys (e.g. Mothershiop Connection), however, no less funkier. This recording is worth buying just for the amazing guitar work of Eddie Hazel alone, however, add to that the thumping bass of Billy Nelson the unreal keyboard work of Bernie Worrell and the vocals of the original Parliaments and you have a recording which is groundbreaking. This is as raw as funk gets and will leave you jonesing for more. Some may disagree but I have to say the guitar work by Hazel is better than Hendrix Band of Gypsies, enough said.

This album rocks! I love this version of Maggot Brain because it shows the true state of mind that Clinton and the rest of the crew has during this period of time. I remember hearing my uncles play these jams during the early 70's, and I was so very happy to see it is now on cd. It may not sound as clean to the ears, but it shows the true skill of the band itself! I could sit back and listen to these tracks over and over and still manage to enjoy them every time.

Never just go by other people's reviews, cause I would of missed out big! Ok, Tyrome's drumming stood out, but hey the whole thing was put together with NO rehersal! "Alice In My Fantasies" was simply amazing. Good choice to start off the show. The little bit longer version of "Maggot Brain" shows off the talent of the late great Eddie Hazel. Despite the annoying drumming, I had to listen to that song over & over again. I heard that the song, "Free Your Mind..." was longer but was cut on the cd. But that could just be a rumor. For the short time it played, it was very good. The only bad song on this cd was, "All Your Goodies Are Gone". Pretty much way too long and pointless to even listen. That's why I did'nt give it 5 stars. Still the other songs make up for it. One thing that bothered me, was George Clinton could of sung more, instead of shouting. A funny thing that happen (if you did'nt know) a minute in the last song, Bill Nelson (bass player) got so upset because of Tyrome's bad drumming, he threw his guitar down & walked off the stage! Anyway, if you get cd, you won't be let down. It's a keeper!

I was living in the Detroit area when Funkadelic was popular, but was not at this particular concert. About 20 years later, I bought the "Maggot Brain" CD, my only Funkadelic recording, which I would rate with 5 stars.

While browsing a used record store, I came across the "Live in Meadowbrook" CD, and noticed it contained many of the tracks I liked.

Unfortunately, the CD was a major disappointment. The band, for the most part, sounds scattered and fragmented. The resemblance of most of the tracks to the original studio recordings is distant. And the sound quality is such that I had to strain to hear many of the vocalizations, aside from the fact that overall, it sounded like an old reel to reel recording with little or no attempt to clean up the sound.

If one is looking for a quality Funkadelic CD, they are well advised to avoid this one.

Not this! The worst Funkadelic album ever features songs which were mercifully cut short (like Free Your Mind) or excessively drawn out versions of others (like All your Goodies Are Gone). There is no groove to this album, just a painfully loud drummer who could not not be more out of place. Every song is worse than it's studio original. If you have ears which can filter out bad drums- I don't - you probably can hear some good stuff by Eddie Hazel and Bernie Worrell. But why make the effort? The Funkadelic discography is huge - no need to parse this product for the infrequent jewel.