Michael Hampton (born November 15, 1956) is an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

/rock guitarist. He is a member of the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.

Career

Hampton was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and started his professional career when he was recruited as a seventeen-year-old guitar prodigy by the band Funkadelic, which found itself in need of a lead guitarist after original guitarist Eddie Hazel left the band. Hampton impressed Funkadelic's George Clinton by performing a note-for-note rendition of Hazel's ten-minute solo "

Maggot Brain ''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 band leader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 1970 an ...

". Hampton made his debut with the band's album ''Let's Take It to the Stage'' in 1975, which is dominated by his guitar. Hampton's playing included fuzzy, Hendrix-inspired licks and wailing

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

s.Michael Hampton at jpop.com
Due to his young age, Hampton was nicknamed "Kidd Funkadelic". Hampton became a fixture in Funkadelic, and he continued his role as lead guitarist even during Hazel's sporadic returns to the band. Hampton's performances of "Maggot Brain" — which had become more improvised – became regular features of live Parliament-Funkadelic shows, and the song became his signature concert performance. The bonus-EP of Funkadelic's ''

One Nation Under a Groove ''One Nation Under a Groove'' is the tenth studio album by American funk rock band Funkadelic, released on September 22, 1978 on Warner Bros. Records. Recording sessions took place at United Sound Studio in Detroit, Michigan, with one song reco ...

'' (1978) included a live version of the song featuring Hampton. One of his most celebrated performances is the lead guitar solo on the Funkadelic hit single "

(Not Just) Knee Deep "(Not Just) Knee Deep" is a funk song, with a running time of 15 minutes, 21 seconds, on Side 1 of Funkadelic's 1979 album ''Uncle Jam Wants You''. Song information An edited version of the song, appearing as Side A on the single release, reache ...

" from 1979, as well the title track to the Brides of Funkenstein's second album '' Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy''. In 1981 Clinton was forced to disband the

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

musical empire due to financial and legal difficulties. In 1993, Hampton performed on the album ''Under the 6'' with Slave Master. Hampton continued to perform on albums released under Clinton's name, which featured many other P-Funk mainstays as well, and he became a member of the

P-Funk All-Stars Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive fu ...

. In 1998, he released his first solo album entitled '' Heavy Metal Funkason'' through the P-Vine label in Japan.

References

External links

* * Allmusic guide entry for Michael Hamptonbr>Michael Hampton Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2016)] {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Michael 1956 births Living people Musicians from Cleveland American funk guitarists American male guitarists P-Funk members Psychedelic soul musicians Guitarists from Ohio 20th-century American guitarists