You Make the Call: George Clinton's Maggot Brain versus Metallica's Unforgiven

Monday, September 7, 2009

You Make the Call: George Clinton's Maggot Brain versus Metallica's Unforgiven

Totally random. I just got back from seeing the one and only George Clinton (can you smell the p-funk on me?) at the Africafest in Chicago. Gordon and his queen were also in attendance. At the climax of the show--one song before "Flashlight"--George Clinton's boy Michael Hampton played "Maggot Brain." Am I just that late to the party, but did Metallica borrow some of "Unforgiven's" chord progressions from Parliament's "Maggot Brain?"

In union, Gordon, his queen, and I noticed the similarities between the two songs. Are we crazy? What are some other funk-rock-metal borrowings/samplings/collaborations that are so obvious they have subsequently gone under the radar for most listeners? Enlighten me please as I enjoy adding those selections to my music rotation.

I am still waiting for the mothership!

I wonder if Riley Martin will get me a seat on the next outbound shuttle to Alpha Centauri?

4 comments:

luclonde said...: Eh, not really. I'm a musician and I've studied Metallica, but you can take any song based on three chords and hold it up to another that's also based on three chords and find similarity. I really really like that Parliament video, though. That's a great find!; September 8, 2009 at 4:26 AM
DS Hathaway said...: I'm a old P-funk head and know Maggot Brain note for note...nope not the same. But, great seeing the video again.; September 8, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Anonymous said...: "What are some other funk-rock-metal borrowings/samplings/collaborations that are so obvious they have subsequently gone under the radar for most listeners? Enlighten me please as I enjoy adding those selections to my music rotation."

How about this one - never realized it until I heard them side by side:

"Summertime" by Ricky Nelson (1962):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsVZup02-4

"We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" by The Blues MaGoos (1967):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGRTLn2uKY

"Black Night" by Deep Purple (1970):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqKvfS3Xtk

-Bill the Lizard; September 8, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Lady Zora, Chauncey DeVega, and Gordon Gartrelle said...: Hmmm, maybe it was how it was performed that night--damn creative types who never reproduce a song exactly as it is written...just had to be a bit euro-modernist for a second.

chauncey d; September 8, 2009 at 6:26 PM

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Who is Chauncey DeVega?

I am a political essayist, cultural critic, educator, and host of the podcast known as "The Chauncey DeVega Show".

I have been a guest on the BBC, National Public Radio, Ring of Fire Radio, Ed Schultz, Sirius XM's Make it Plain, Joshua Holland's Alternet Radio Hour, the Thom Hartmann radio show, the Burt Cohen show, and Our Common Ground.

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