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 mi ...

/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 and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of

Parliament-Funkadelic 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 ...

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 Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

, which found itself in need of a lead guitarist after original guitarist

Eddie Hazel Edward Earl Hazel (April 10, 1950 – December 23, 1992) was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 19 ...

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 ...

". 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'', t ...

s.http://www.jpop.com/Michael%20Hampton jpop 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 Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

– became regular features of live

shows, and the song became his signature concert performance. The bonus-EP of Funkadelic's '' One Nation Under a Groove'' (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" from 1979, as well the title track to the

Brides of Funkenstein The Brides of Funkenstein were an American Soul and Funk girl band, originally composed of singers Dawn Silva and Lynn Mabry. History Previously background singers for Sly Stone, singer of Sly and the Family Stone, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva joi ...

's second album ''

Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy ''Never Buy Texas from a Cowboy'', released on Atlantic Records in November 1979, was the second album from the American female funk band, The Brides of Funkenstein. Morphing into a trio on the second album release, the vocalists consisted of ...

''. 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 f ...

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 ...

. In 1998, he released his first solo album entitled ''

Heavy Metal Funkason ''Heavy Metal Funkason'' is the first full-fledged solo album by Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton. It was released through the P-Vine label in Japan on May 25, 1998. The album features appearances by George Clinton, P-Funk bassist ...

'' through the P-Vine label in Japan.

References

External links

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Allmusic guide entry for Michael Hampton AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

br>Interview from the NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Michael 1956 births Living people Musicians from Cleveland American funk guitarists American male guitarists P-Funk members Guitarists from Ohio 20th-century American guitarists