How George Clinton’s ‘Kidd Funkadelic’ Found His Groove

George Clinton’s massive output with Parliament-Funkadelic continues to open new doors. In early February, the funk legend and members of the group from various eras played with a symphony orchestra at the Detroit Opera House.

Joined by special guests like Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Nona Hendryx and Rahsaan Patterson, it was a special homecoming for the band members, who recorded so much of their legendary work in the Motor City.

It was a cool full circle moment for P-Funk guitarist Michael «Kidd Funkadelic» Hampton, who grew up just a few hours away in Cleveland, Ohio. His early days playing music were pretty simple, though he’s been linked to at least one group in the area, Eddie and the Ant Hill Mob, who eventually released one single, «I’m a Number Runner.»

It was pressed by the now-legendary Boddie Recording Company, though copies from a reported printing of 1,000 copies have interestingly never surfaced. The Numero Group rescued the track from obscurity with a reissue of the single in 2010. Hampton’s actual involvement in the song has been murky, so we asked him about what he had going on in those days.

Michael Hampton’s Early Days Prior to P-Funk

«I was just putting together anybody that could play an instrument. And turns out that there was one saxophone player, Tyrone and a drummer Donnie Green, at that time,» he recalls in a recent interview with UCR, when asked about his first bands in the area and any ties to the Ant Hill Mob. «We were just jamming around on a little porch and playing our little lines and stuff. You know, nothing like a real band band.»

«Later on, I got to play some places that probably weren’t too popular with the musicians’ union,» he continues. «But as a novelty, they’d let some younger kids come in there and play. We weren’t too bad. And being that we were young, you can kind of get away with being like, maybe not as terrible [as some other groups with older members].»

«But you know, it wasn’t too bad,» he laughs, revisiting the memory of those early formative moments. «I can’t say I had a band band, you know, but that Ant Hill Mob sounds familiar [though Hampton also says he doesn’t remember doing any recording with the group, which was led by bassist and producer Eddie Robitson]. I just remember he was playing ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’ and I was wah-wah’ing on the part. It was just him and I playing at this one place.»

«Leo’s Casino was another spot that we got to play,» he adds. «Just before that closed, they had a little stage and I got up there one time and just messed around. But there was no bonafide band [at that moment].»

Learning to Play From Pink Floyd

By the time Hampton was hired on to play with Clinton and Funkadelic as a 17-year old prodigy, he was a seasoned player who had rapidly expanded his chops in a short amount of time. But it all happened fairly organically in the same way that it does for many young musicians. In addition to the jamming he did with musicians in the area, he also was listening to and playing along with a variety of different records.

«I remember actually wanting to go see Sly and the Family Stone, but I wasn’t old enough, you know, so I didn’t really get to the concerts I wanted to go to,» he explains. «That led to trying to play around in the neighborhood or wherever. We’d be in the backyard with an extension cord out the door, trying to play ‘Money’ from Pink Floyd or something,»

«I was borrowing albums from my friends just to learn the things that I did do. Any types of songs that they might have liked, I’d say, ‘Well, look, can I borrow your album?’ They’d let me borrow it and of course, I’d invite them over [and] play along with the album,» he shares. «Then later on, I could do a little bit more from memory. But I’m still learning [even now].»

Listen to Michael ‘Kidd Funkadelic’ Hampton on the ‘UCR Podcast’

The Legend of ‘Maggot Brain’

It’s a well-worn tale that Hampton got his gig with Funkadelic in the early ’70s by playing a note-perfect rendition of the 10-minute solo for «Maggot Brain» at an after-party for the band. When guitarist Eddie Hazel left the group, the 17-year old got a phone call two weeks later, to see if he wanted the job. He told the boss for his paper route that he was out and hit the road to tour with the funk legends.

READ MORE: Top 10 Funkadelic Rock Songs

But as Hampton shares with UCR, the story that he played that whole solo perfectly and identically is a bit of a myth. «[There were] so many nuances, but it was also the effects that they had in the studio,» he explains. «[Also], after I found out how they recorded it. It’s like a studio baby, you know? It’s like an edited thing. So [I’m like], ‘Oh, well, no wonder Eddie probably wasn’t playing it [the same way each night live], you know, he probably played what he played [in the moment during the studio sessions]. He wasn’t thinking about playing what the record was.»

«[Fans] don’t miss the little [variations I might play differently]. They get the basics [and] if I can cover the basics, they seem to be fine with that,» the guitarist says. «The original is in my head when I’m playing, and that’s close as I can get, you know, without actually sitting down and researching it. It’s gonna just [be] putting a whole lot of time into [something] which some people probably wouldn’t even know the difference.»

Listen to Michael Hampton Play ‘Maggot Brain’ With Funkadelic

Hampton Keeps Funkin’

«Kidd Funkadelic,» as he came to be known, might be selling himself a bit short when it comes to his ability to navigate the twists and turns of «Maggot Brain,» if you ask the average P-Funk fan, but his legend is certainly secure. He’s still learning, as he disclosed earlier — and that ongoing education finds the guitarist continuing to work on new music.

His newest EP, Into the Public Domain, takes his collaborative spirit in a whole new direction. Shooter Jennings and Glass Harp’s Phil Keaggy are just a couple of the guests who lent their talents to the recordings, which were captured at a variety of locations, including the legendary Sunset Sound. It’s an intoxicating listen, which of course, blends a variety of styles, with rock and world music melding seamlessly with jazz and Western flavor.

But as the name of the EP suggests, the recording process was only the beginning. The tracks are being released through a public-domain license, which allows artists, marketers and filmmakers to have royalty-free usage of all elements of the music.

Multi-track audio files of each song are being made available online for free remix and sampling purposes. Fans and artists can find links on Hampton’s social media.

Watch Michael Hampton Play ‘Canyon Jam’

«I hope we can all connect on it, you know, like whoever puts up their own versions and music that they create and hopefully continue doing it like that,» he says. «And then you’re not trying to [say], ‘Hey, man, that’s mine.’ Can it just be ours? Look, hey, [go ahead and] use that. Just make it work.»

While the music is available through traditional channels, both as a CD and on streaming services, fans can also access the album in a unique way, via collectible trading cards with QR codes that are included with select purchases from Hampton’s Bandcamp store. There are, shall we say, more methods of distribution these days compared to when the Kidd was first starting out.

But he’s energized by how the music came together for Into the Public Domain, which is the first of a planned series of two EP releases as well as a full album. «I hope we can keep going like that,» he concludes. «You know, it’s [good to not] think on it too much, and just get something going out there.»

Listen to Michael Hampton’s «Into the Public Domain’