Maggot Brain

CTL-E-5288 · Work · album · 1971

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Maggot Brain is the third studio album by Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records on July 12, 1971. Produced by George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit in late 1970 and early 1971, it was the last album made by the band's original lineup. The ten-minute title track is largely an improvised guitar solo by Eddie Hazel, cut in a single take; Clinton has often recounted that he directed Hazel to play as if he had just learned his mother had died, then faded the rest of the band back in the mix. The album reached No. 108 on the Billboard 200 and the top 20 of the R&B albums chart. Its reputation grew for decades: Pitchfork named it the 17th best album of the 1970s, and Rolling Stone ranked it No. 136 on its 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Notes

Staged 2026-10-15 under CTL-GOV-006 (Next Slate D3). Gate A clear (no existing Maggot Brain Work; no song-level namesake in the graph). Gate B met on two authoritative critical sources (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork) cross-checked — no institutional registry covers this album; disclosed rather than padded. Statistics carried: Billboard 200 peak No. 108 and R&B albums top 20 (chart data as reported); Rolling Stone 2020 No. 136; Pitchfork 1970s No. 17. Clinton's direction to Hazel is carried as Clinton's own oft-told recollection (via Songfacts reporting), never as independently verified fact. CTL treatment: CTL Short #31, published 2026-10-07 (Shorts link map, recorded URL); CTL Archive score 90/100 is CTL's judgment, recorded on the CTL org account 2026-10-01 — it appears only in the packet's Curator's Judgment. Photo slot: HELD (cover non-free; no license-verified Eddie Hazel or 1971 band photograph on Commons).

Relationships

• Funkadelic — authored by
  Maggot Brain is Funkadelic's third studio album (Westbound Records, July 12, 1971), billed to Funkadelic on the release.

Sources

• Rolling Stone, “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (2020 revision) — Maggot Brain at No. 136
• Pitchfork, “The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s” (2009) — Maggot Brain at No. 17
• Wikipedia, “Maggot Brain” — release data, personnel, chart positions; cross-checked against Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, October 2026

Record CTL-E-5288 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: PPL-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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