Michael Hampton
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Michael Hampton was the guitarist for the band Funkadelic after original guitarist Eddie Hazel departed to join The Temptations in 1975. Like Hazel, Hampton was recruited as a seventeen year old guitar prodigy, first appearing on Let's Take It To The Stage.
Hazel had left the band due to payment problems with Clinton and a drug-related arrest on an airplane in which a stewardess was bitten. The band found itself in need of a lead guitarist that could match Hazel's amazing soloing, but could also restrain himself for long funk workouts.
The answer came in Hampton, who made his debut with the classic album Let's Take It To The Stage in 1976, along with Garry Shider. His excellent guitar playing was evident throughout the album. The album was full of fuzzy, Hendrix inspired licks, wailing harmonics and rhythms that were also meant for the dancefloor.
Around this time, Hampton began playing Eddie Hazel's famous solo "Maggot Brain" in concert and it quickly became his signature concert performance, and he continues to play it today.
In 1981 George Clinton disbanded the Parliament/Funkadelic empire due to financial and legal difficulties. Hampton guested on a number of Clinton's so-called "solo" albums (they featured many P-Funk mainstays) and eventually became a member of Clinton's P-Funk Allstars. He continues to tour and play to this day with George and the rest of the P-funk army and his effect on the world of funk and the funk-rock genre he helped to create will never be forgotten by his fans.
A different person named Michael Hampton was part of the punk band Rites Of Spring.