Funkadelic's Final Show With Eddie Hazel, Now On Vinyl

One of the most legendary concerts in Michigan is finally getting its first vinyl pressing, as part of Record Store Day on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Funkadelic Live: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan, will be released for the first time on vinyl ever.

This Rochester Hills concert is pretty legendary since it was the final recording featuring Eddie Hazel on lead guitar and Billy "Bass" Nelson on bass. It’s also interesting because the owner of Westbound Records at the time, Armen Boladian, made the decision to record the show, even though the band had no idea he would be recording it because he had hoped to possibly release it as a live album for the band.

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That ended up not happening, and for 25 years, the album, which was recorded off the soundboard by engineer Ed Wolfram, remained unheard until he released it in 1996.

The album contains the entire 77 minutes and 16 seconds of the show -3 minutes of in-between song banter. For those who aren’t privy to Parliament-Funkadelic, they actually consist of two different groups.

Funkadelic was the instrumental part of the band, whereas Parliament was the vocal group featuring George Clinton, Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady, Thomas, and Ray Davis.

Funkadelic would open up the show and get the crowd pumped up, and then Parliament would hit the stage, and in the end Parliament would make their way off as Funkadelic would end the show.

However, there are a lot of problems during this show, because of two of the newer members of the band that had joined and quite possibly never rehearsed with them before the concert.

There’s a particular moment during the performance of “I Call My Baby Pussycat, “that there’s some sort of musical breakdown, which led to Nelson storming off the stage in frustration before the conclusion of "Free Your Mind, and Your Ass Will Follow." The album contains hits like Maggot Brain, Alice in My Fantasies, and more.

You can find the full list of Record Store Day releases here. As noted here, Spin Dizzy Records gives the details:

Newly remastered by Dave Gardner and sounding better than ever, this deluxe 2LP edition presents the complete, unedited performance on Cosmic Teal and Atomic Red color vinyl. Housed in updated gatefold packaging with new cover artwork by Damon Locks, it also includes Rob Bowman's extensive liner notes, originally written for the 1996 CD release.